Baltic Exchange Choral works by Praulins; Einfelde; Sisask; and Miskinis

"The Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge manage to sound completely authentic with singing of the highest quality. The notes are informative and the sound is marvellously rich and detailed." John Button Dominion Post March 2010

"Layton's Cambridge forces lurch headlong into this music with joyful abandon and Hyperion spots them with rich and deep sound. Easily recommended." **** AudAud.com March 2010

"A very fine selection of imaginative and often quite beautiful choral music by Baltic composers in excellent performances and recordings."
(MusicWeb June 2010)

With choral music at the heart of the musical life of the Baltics it is not surprising that the medium has been a central preoccupation for many of their composers. A degree of isolation from international trends in new music (frequently turning into outright proscription) meant that the centre of gravity for composers in the west of the Soviet Union was very different from that of their colleagues beyond the Iron Curtain. And while there is certainly no such thing as a pan-Baltic style-this recording offers only a glimpse of the choral riches to be found in these three tiny countries-all the composers on the disc share a number of characteristics: a sure-footed handling of choral orchestration, lucidity of texture, a pragmatic use of 'avant-garde' effects (shorn of their ideological baggage), a fondness for cluster-chords and diatonically saturated harmony, and the frequent use of ostinatos.

Stephen Layton has single-handedly brought many of these composers to the attention of audiences and choirs in the West-and through his sensitive and inspirational direction, has won many fans for this repertoire. Together with his brilliant young choir, who sing this repertoire with 'passion and purity', he is the ideal guide to this beautiful and enchanting music.