Conspirare, Craig Hella Johnson – The Sacred Spirit of Russia: Christmas Liturgy from a Russian Cathedral (2014) [Official Digital Download 24bit/88,2kHz]

Conspirare, Craig Hella Johnson – The Sacred Spirit of Russia: Christmas Liturgy from a Russian Cathedral (2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 01:17:55 minutes | 1,22 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © harmonia mundi

Led by Craig Hella Johnson and featuring the distinctive American basso profundo Glenn Miller, Conspirare offers a fervently sung and eclectic collection of choral music such as might be heard in the splendour of Christmas Liturgy from a Russian Cathedral. Featuring works by Alexander Gretchaninov, Alexander Dmitrievitch Kastalsky, Sergei Rachmaninov, and many others.

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Conspirare, Miró Quartet & Craig Hella Johnson – House of Belonging (2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Conspirare, Miró Quartet & Craig Hella Johnson – House of Belonging (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:19:04 minutes | 1,39 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Delos

Conspirare, the nonpareil and GRAMMY®-winning choral ensemble from Austin, Texas, presents an emotionally rich and wide-ranging program with House of Belonging.

Known worldwide for “expanding the boundaries of choral performance” (Wall Street Journal), Conspirare has for this album teamed up with the superb Miró Quartet to present a tapestry of intriguing new works by both well-known and emerging American composers.

Conspirare’s founder and leader, Craig Hella Johnson, commissioned many of the pieces on House of Belonging and composed the opening track himself. The album’s texts convey and explore themes about spirituality, philosophy, the natural world and the human need for deep connection with others.

Composers Kevin Puts, Derrick Skye, Alex Berko, Moira Smiley, Ross Lee Finney, Shara Nova, Michael Schachter and Margaret Bonds were recruited for the project. The emotive texts include verses by Euan Tait, John Muir, William Stafford, Wendell Berry, Rabindranath Tagore, David Whyte, Langston Hughes, Ludwig van Beethoven and Hildegard of Bingen.

Throughout the album, one is struck again and again by the marvels of the Conspirare style — an uncommon transparency of choral sound with ethereal characteristics, surges of power at the right times and exceptional vocal solos.

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Craig Hella Johnson, Conspirare, Conspirare Chamber Players – Pablo Neruda: The Poet Sings (2015) [Official Digital Download 24bit/88,2kHz]

Craig Hella Johnson, Conspirare, Conspirare Chamber Players – Pablo Neruda: The Poet Sings (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 01:13:52 minutes | 1,12 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © harmonia mundi

This spectacular release from GRAMMY® award winning choral ensemble Conspirare features a vibrant tribute to the revered Chilean poet and statesman Pablo Neruda (1904-1973). The recording’s uniquely colorful and sensual program was originally featured as part of Conspirare’s concert series entitled The Poet Sings. Neruda had a gift as a poetic story teller of deep human experience, whether he wrote of love or of common things.

Craig Hella Johnson leads Conspirare in this vibrant tribute to revered Chilean poet and statesman Pablo Neruda (1904-1973), whose life-affirming poetry is the inspiration for these captivating choral settings by Donald Grantham, Shawn Kirchner and Cary Ratcliff, all recorded here for the first time. ‘In this recording, Conspirare focuses its attention and exploration on the greatly revered Chilean poet Pablo Neruda (1904-1973), whose poems have stirred souls around the world. I have heard more than one passionate reader exclaim ‘Neruda IS music!’ Neruda s personal universe and the many realms of feeling, color and texture he envisaged with his words have inspired many artists to respond with new creations. It is our hope that the extraordinary musical settings by Cary Ratcliff, Shawn Kirchner, and Donald Grantham can serve as a conduit for an ever deepening experience with this sublime and powerful poetry. For the uninitiated, may it serve as a portal to his art.’ Craig Hella Johnson ‘So, through me, freedom and the sea will make their answer to the shuttered heart.’

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Craig Hella Johnson, Victoria Bach Festival, Conspirare – Robert Kyr: The Cloud of Unknowing – Songs of the Soul (2014) [Official Digital Download 24bit/88,2kHz]

Craig Hella Johnson, Victoria Bach Festival, Conspirare – Robert Kyr: The Cloud of Unknowing – Songs of the Soul (2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 01:16:45 minutes | 1,24 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © harmonia mundi

Craig Hella Johnson leads Conspirare, soprano Estelí Gomez, baritone David Farwig, and the Victoria Bach Festival string orchestra in this first recording of three choral works by Robert Kyr (b. 1952). Exploring the relationship between human and divine love, his cantatas ‘The Cloud of Unknowing’ (2013) and ‘Songs of the Soul’ (2011) transfixed audiences and critics alike when Conspirare premiered them.

The texts are by the 16th century Spanish mystics St Teresa of Ávila and St John of the Cross, some sung in Spanish, some in English translation. The prelude to the two cantatas, the a cappella anthem, ‘The Singer’s Ode’ is reminiscent of RVW’s ‘Ode to Music’.

Robert Kyr is among the most prolific composers of his generation, having composed 12 symphonies, 3 chamber symphonies, 3 violin concerti, and much chamber music, in addition to numerous vocal works. His choral music is distinguished by a warmly compelling lyricism, as well as by a contrapuntal mastery that arises from his love of early music, especially the work of Dufay, Josquin Des Prez, and above all, Bach…

It is no surprise to a living soul anymore that some of the most beautiful music to be written and performed in the classical tradition in our century is religious choral music.

This is almost shockingly exquisite music – based on the poetry of 16th century Spanish mystic writers (St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross) as well as a 14th century monk and magnificently performed by one of the great current choral aggregates with soloists soprano Esteli Gomez and David Farwig.

The music is almost vengefully tonal, as if anything else would be inhuman violation. It is also deeply moving. Kyr is a 62-year old composer who says that these are two cantatas, a two-part cycle that is “my deepest personal response to the horrific violence of our age, which has only continued to intensify with the massacre of innocents (and innocence) in Newtown, Connecticut, followed by the incomprehensible horror in Boston. Although we live in the 21st century, we are still compelled to plead ‘why?’ with the anguished cry of the psalmist.

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Conspirare & Craig Hella Johnson – The Singing Guitar (2020) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Conspirare & Craig Hella Johnson – The Singing Guitar (2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:11:08 minutes | 1,35 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Delos

Music for choir and guitars with Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, Texas Guitar Quartet, Austin Guitar Quartet and cellist Douglas Harvey.

The wonderful Conspirare chamber choir, known for its interpretive depth and otherworldly sonic lushness, offers another of its captivating programs—this time joined by three superb guitar quartets—in a program remarkably relevant to our time.

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Conspirare & Craig Hella Johnson – Johnson: Considering Matthew Shepard (2016) [Official Digital Download 24bit/88,2kHz]

Conspirare & Craig Hella Johnson – Johnson: Considering Matthew Shepard (2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 01:45:22 minutes | 1,73 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © harmonia mundi

Conspirare performs a passion by Craig Hella Johnson, a musical response to the tragic death of a young man who has become an American icon and a symbol for hope and empowerment. Johnson has set a rich variety of texts by Lesléa Newman, Hafiz, Hildegard von Bingen, Michael Dennis Browne, and others. Many Conspirare singers are featured as soloists, and the vocal group is joined by a small ensemble of strings, piano (Craig Hella Johnson), guitar, clarinet, and percussion.

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Conspirare & Craig Hella Johnson – Joby Talbot: Path of Miracles (2015) [Official Digital Download 24bit/88,2kHz]

Conspirare & Craig Hella Johnson – Joby Talbot: Path of Miracles (2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 01:05:20 minutes | 1,10 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © harmonia mundi

Craig Hella Johnson leads Conspirare on a musical journey along Spain’s famous Camino de Compostela in this inspiring performance of ‘Path of Miracles’ by British composer Joby Talbot. Talbot studied with Simon Bainbridge at the Guildhall and in 2004 was named Classic FM’s first Composer in Residence. The Royal Ballet’s recent revival of Talbot’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’, played to packed houses and rave reviews.

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Conspirare, Craig Hella Johnson – The Hope of Loving (2019) [Official Digital Download 24bit/176,4kHz]

Conspirare, Craig Hella Johnson – The Hope of Loving (2019)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/176,4 kHz | Time – 01:19:10 minutes | 2,44 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Delos

Born in 1986, Jake Runestad, an Illinois native, has studied with such figures as Bernard Rands, David Lang, Tania León, Christopher Rouse and Jake Heggie: all composers with very diverse aesthetics. Runestad is clearly influenced by simplicity in harmony, and classicism in textures, which he will have found in Heggie, Lang or Rands to a lesser extent. His aim as a composer of vocal works? “A desire for beauty”. The music supports lyrics inspired by the poet Todd Boss (a great friend of the composer, upon whom he left a lasting imprint), which tell authentic stories of profoundly human experiences, all within the framework of an immediate, seductive writing style, which encourages communion with others. Jake Runestad is ecumenical, for sure. The works presented here, including the very beautiful Waves which opens the album, are given a magisterial interpretation in all their harmonic splendour, and not without the naïveté which we sometimes find in the performances of Craig Hella Johnson’s Conspirare ensemble, which is well-versed in contemporary music and has created many magnificent albums for harmonia mundi. How could one resist the engrossing Let My Love Be Heard, with its distant echoes of Adagio (or Agnus Dei) by Barber?  – Pierre-Yves Lascar

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