Sandström: The High Mass

Elephantine musical masterworks, common in the aroque period, are an increasing rarity as time goes on, and recordings of relatively new ones are rarer even still. In recording Sandström: The High Mass, Deutsche Grammophon has rendered a tremendous service in presenting one such gigantic contemporary work in a top-drawer performance led by Herbert Blomstedt with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, a distinguished cast of soloists and a chorus well trained by Howard Arman. For composer Sven-David Sandström, The High Mass represents the culmination of a phase where he began to reject formalistic methods of composition in order to move to a more personal, eclectic, and emotional style. When it was unveiled in 1993, audiences hailed the work, but the local critical community widely condemned it as "a compilation of audience flattering effects," leaving one to wonder if the hearers are broken among critics in Sweden. The High Mass is still tough-sounding stuff at times, but is rhythmically very exciting, particularly in the "Sanctus-Agnus" section. It might well appeal to listeners who are fond of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana or Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 8; in scale and emotional depth, The High Mass is worthy of both these masterworks, but it clearly stakes out its own territory.
Ingvar Lidholm was Sandström's teacher, and his 1978 orchestral work Kontakion has a magnificent sense of space and continuity, an aspect that has not escaped the notice of conductors; this is its fifth recording. Even though it isn't anything like The High Mass, Kontakion is a great choice of filler for the second disc of this set. Don't expect to take all 90:58 of The High Mass in a single sitting. Although the first disc, containing the "Kyrie" and "Gloria" and totaling only 44:49, may seem like short measure to "music-by-the-yard" zealots, Deutsche Grammophon has chosen this break intelligently, and Sandström's piece has more impact when the interval is observed. The recording, made at the Leipzig Gewandhaus, is generally excellent if a bit furry and indistinct at the edges, but when it gets loud, it is LOUD! Keep an eye on your speakers. ~ Uncle Dave Lewis, All Music Guide