Hagios Vokalensemble Elbcanto & Christof Fankhauser & Helge Burggrabe

"As far as my personal memory reaches, I hear my mother's voice. The songs at my bedside in the evenings, to which I fell asleep, gave comfort and a sense of resonant security," recalls Helge Burggrabe. Burggrabe has established himself throughout Europe as a composer of contemporary church music. For his Berlin Classics debut HAGIOS, he embarks on a search for traces of the mysterious power of singing that has fascinated him since childhood, and discovers centuries-old melodies. Monks of all faiths have always immersed themselves in song to find peace and tranquility — a heritage rooted in ancient Jewish music. So-called "psalmody" — the communal singing of psalms and biblical texts — forms the foundation for the development of the Gregorian chant as much as for the prayer chants of Orthodox liturgy or the Taizé songs of the present day. For the song collection HAGIOS, Burggrabe has drawn on melodies from all of these traditions. The title-giving prayer chant Hagios ho Theos ("Holy art Thou, God") comes from Orthodox liturgy and describes, at its core, the function of these historical chants: the singing of these musical prayers can be experienced as sacred and healing. Burggrabe's compositions likewise open up an imaginary space that invites pause, dreaming, and reflection. Memories of Romantic-era songs often stir as well, as the vocal ensemble Elbcanto and pianist Christof Fankhauser immerse themselves with an airy, otherworldly lightness in these pieces, some of them arranged in canon form. The musical spectrum of HAGIOS ranges from reverent stillness to powerful, jubilant song, conveying to listeners that "resonant sense of security" which Burggrabe found in the songs of his childhood.