For those unaware, expressing what cannot be expressed, what is sometimes beyond understanding, is a task that has challenged composers of sacred music for centuries. In his latest collection of vocal and choral works, award-winning Canadian composer Christopher Tyler Nickel aims to articulate these complex emotional states.

The works range from Stabat Mater, an intimate portrayal of a mother’s grief poignantly sung by soprano Catherine Redding; a collection of motets, both a cappella and accompanied, including the wonders expressed in a new setting of the O Magnum Mysterium; a meditative setting of the De Profundis; and an uplifting Magnificat.

Chorus master Kari Turunen and the Vancouver Chamber Choir join forces with Clyde Mitchell and the Vancouver Contemporary Orchestra in performances that capture by turns the works’ peace, grief, hope and transcendence through Nickel’s very personal and spiritual musical language.

Stabat Mater** (2021)
1. I. Stabat Mater dolorosa [3:00]
2. II. Cujus animam gementem [3:19]
3. III. Quis est homo, qui non fleret [5:24]
4. IV. Sancta Mater, istud agas [2:18]
5. V. Fac me tecum pie flere [2:52]
6. VI. Fac ut portem Christi mortem [1:32]
7. VII. Flammis ne urar succensus [3:22]
8. VIII. Quando corpus morietur [2:43]

A cappella Motets* (2024)
9. O Magnum Mysterium [4:52]
10. Kyrie [4:25]

Accompanied Motets* (2024)
11. I. Virga Jesse Floruit [3:11]
12. II. Ave Verum Corpus [3:32]
13. III. Pater Noster [4:16]
14. IV. Tenebrae Factae Sunt [4:00]

De Profundis** (2021)
15. I. De profundis clamavi ad te [4:01]
16. II. Sustinuit anima mea in verbo ejus [5:01]

Magnificat* (2024)
17. I. Magnificat anima mea Dominum [4:23]
18. II. Fecit potentiam [4:14]
19. III. Gloria Patri [2:50]
20. IV. Amen [2:00]

This breathtakingly immaculate new recording begins with Stabat Mater: which opens on striking Stabat Mater dolorosa, the sweeping Cujus animam gementem, the emotive Quis est homo, qui non fleret and the formidable Sancta Mater, istud agas, and then we are gifted the affecting beauty of Fac me tecum pie flere, the gently sterner fare of Fac ut portem Christi mortem, the piece rounding out on the affluent Flammis ne urar succensus, closing on the decadent Quando corpus morietur.

Up next is A cappella Motets: whose first part comprises the sheer elegance of O Magnum Mysterium and whose second part is the impassioned Kyrie; and then we get brought forth Accompanied Motets: which opens on the regally-hued Virga Jesse Floruit before we hear the cultured Ave Verum Corpus, the resplendent Pater Noster, with the elegant Tenebrae Factae Sunt culminating the work.

Then comes De Profundis: which begins on the resoundingly demure De profundis clamavi ad te, before ending on a foreboding yearn within the driven Sustinuit anima mea in verbo ejus; the final work being Magnificat: which itself opens on the joyfully uproarious Magnificat anima mea Dominum, before bringing us the laid low ambiance of Fecit potentiam, an elegant drifting breeze within Gloria Patri, closing on the simply beautiful Amen.

**Catherine Redding, soprano
*Vancouver Chamber Choir
Kari Turunen, chorus master & conductor
Vancouver Contemporary Orchestra
Clyde Mitchell, conductor

Official Purchase Link

www.christophernickel.com