#5138, Prayer, Part 2

Continuing our series of musical prayers in this edition of New Sounds, we study how spiritual compositions emerge across multiple cultures worldwide. Some religious, some purely meditative – but all transcendental, meant to take the listener through a series of contemplative moods, urging introspection.

We start with the collaborative performance of Chinese-American pipa player Gao Hong and Argentine flamenco guitarist Ignacio Lusardi Monteverde, merging their seemingly foreign backgrounds into one human experience in “Prayer”. Then, the ORA Singers come in, singing a hypnotic reflection on William Byrd’s “Ave Verum Corpus”, reimagined by composer Roderick Williams. All that is followed by another “Prayer” from Greek composer and pianist, Eleni Karaindrou; a piece originally written for the Theo Angelopoulos film, The Weeping Meadow.

In contrast, The Gyuto Monks Tantric Choir brings an unnerving and mystic energy with “Praising Chakrasamvara”, chanting in their multi-tonal throat singing style. Right after, Galata Mevlevi Music and Sema Ensemble from Istanbul, Turkiye, asks for “permission for whirling”, in hopes of reaching a spiritual trance, as in the tradition of Sufism.

Later, Amsterdam-based duo, Wanderwelle, will bring you back down to earth with their musical commentary on the climate crisis, “Water Hymn”. From their drones “of a dying organ, fatally wounded in a climate related event”, we’ll return to the traditional and familiar sounds of a Western classical orchestra, with Jan Garbarek and The Hilliard Ensemble’s, "Hymn to the Sun". And though we’ll run out of time before playing Sir John Tavener’s “Mystic Prayer to the Holy Spirit” in its entirety, you’ll hear a glimpse of the influence his conversion to Orthodox Christianity had on his music before we wrap up the show. - Sırma Munyar

Program #5138, Prayer, Part 2 (First aired 5/8/26)

ARTIST: The Gyuto Monks Tantric Choir
WORK: Praising Chakrasamvara [1:46]
RECORDING: Tibetan Chants for World Peace
SOURCE: White Swan Records
INFO: https://www.discogs.com/release/10120115-The-Gyuto-Monks-Tantric-Choir-Tibetan-Chants-for-World-Peace

ARTIST: Gao Hong & Ignacio Lusardi Monteverde
WORK: Prayer [3:48]
RECORDING: Alondra
SOURCE: Naxos Music Group
INFO: https://www.naxos.com/CatalogueDetail/?id=EUCD2969

ARTIST: ORA Singers
WORK: Ave verum corpus Re-imagined
RECORDING: Upheld by Stillness: Renaissance Gems and their Reflections
SOURCE: ORA Choir / Harmonia Mundi UK
INFO: https://www.orasingers.com/videos

ARTIST: Eleni Karaindrou
WORK: Prayer [4:13]
RECORDING: The Weeping Meadow
SOURCE: ECM Records
INFO: https://www.discogs.com/master/607176-Eleni-Karaindrou-The-Weeping-Meadow

ARTIST: The Gyuto Monks Tantric Choir
WORK: Praising Chakrasamvara [7:50]
RECORDING: Tibetan Chants for World Peace
SOURCE: White Swan Records
INFO: https://www.discogs.com/release/10120115-The-Gyuto-Monks-Tantric-Choir-Tibetan-Chants-for-World-Peace

ARTIST: Galata Mevlevi Music and Sema Ensemble
WORK: PART 3, ERLER DEMINE DESTUR ALALIM (Prayer for permission for whirling) [6:00]
RECORDING: The Music of Islam Vol. 9: Mawlawiyah Music of the Whirling Dervishes, Turkey
SOURCE: Celestial Harmonies
INFO: https://www.harmonies.com/releases/13149.htm

ARTIST: Wanderwelle
WORK: Water Hymn [4:51]
RECORDING: All Hands Bury The Cliffs At Sea
SOURCE: Important Records
INFO: https://imprec.bandcamp.com/album/all-hands-bury-the-cliffs-at-sea-2

ARTIST: Jan Garbarek / The Hilliard Ensemble
WORK: Hymn To The Sun
RECORDING: Mnemosyne
SOURCE: ECM Records
INFO: https://www.discogs.com/release/4845025-Jan-Garbarek-The-Hilliard-Ensemble-Mnemosyne

ARTIST: Peter Phillips & The Tallis Scholars and Members of the Chilingirian Quartet
WORK: Sir John Tavener: Mystic Prayer to the Holy Spirit
RECORDING: Ikon of Light
SOURCE: Gimell Records 
INFO: https://www.gimell.com/