“OFFICIUM” BY JAN GARBAREK & THE HILLIARD ENSEMBLE

The farewell concert of “Officium”, the extraordinary project combining refined jazz with classical music, will take place on 7 June in the beautiful Cathedral of Mary Magdalene on ul. Szewska in Wrocław. For connoisseurs of the finest music, this is the last chance to see these wonderful artists perform together, as they have decided to end their concert collaboration in its current form.

The concert will open WrocLove Fest 2014, held to celebrate Wrocław Day, which for several years has presented first-class artists from around the world.

Jan Garbarek is one of the most extraordinary figures in European jazz and world music. For more than 40 years, this Norwegian artist with Polish roots has brought his music to jazz stages, concert halls and cathedrals, as well as the bestselling album charts. He is the leading star of the prestigious ECM label and one of the creators of its distinctive style.

He is fascinated by folk and ethnic traditions and loves musical journeys through time and space. This enriches his music, while also inspiring encounters with artists from different cultures and styles. Hence his collaboration with The Hilliard Ensemble, which began many years ago. The idea of combining the sound of the soprano saxophone with polyphonic vocal music rooted in the Middle Ages and Renaissance proved exceptionally successful, both commercially and artistically.

Their first joint album, “Officium”, released in 1993, received enthusiastic reviews and sold over a million copies. Britain’s Evening Standard called it “the most beautiful music ever recorded”. The Herald Tribune described it as “extraordinarily soothing, lifting the spirit heavenwards”, while the New York Observer wrote of “abolishing every division between jazz and classical, sacred and secular, early and contemporary music”. The double album “Mnemosyne”, released in 1998, expanded the original idea, including contemporary repertoire alongside medieval music.

“Officium novum” is Garbarek and the Hilliard Ensemble’s third album together. It was recorded in late June and early July 2010 at the Austrian monastery of St. Gerold, under producer Manfred Eicher’s watchful eye. This time, traditional Armenian music fills most of the record. Its concept emerged during The Hilliard Ensemble’s travels
in the Caucasus, where they encountered ethnomusicologist and composer Komitas Vardapet’s (1869–1935) arrangements of traditional sacred songs, alongside the traditional secular music of Caucasian bards. Beyond the Armenian repertoire, “Officium Novum” includes an a cappella performance of Arvo Pärt’s “Most Holy Mother of God”, Byzantine chants, two pieces by Jan Garbarek, including a new version of “We are the stars”, and the Spanish court song “Tres morillas”.

“Officium Novum” demonstrates just how far the musicians have developed over seventeen years of collaboration. Garbarek's soprano saxophone forms a fifth voice, providing a counterpoint to the four singers. Based on the harmonies and scales used in Armenian music, his playing is full of passion and improvisational invention. The interpretations are wonderfully free, with the singers, like the saxophonist, boldly improvising around existing compositions.

Jan Garbarek – soprano and tenor saxophones
The Hilliard Ensemble:
David James – countertenor
Rogers Covey-Crump – tenor
Steven Harrold – tenor
Gordon Jones – baritone

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