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Navona Records4
Jan Järvlepp: In Flanders Fields, Earth Song & The Lord’s Prayer
London Voices; members of the London Symphony Orchestra | Benjamin Marquis Gilmore, leader; Ben Parry, conductor
Navona Records, 2025
In Flanders Fields, an EP of choral pieces, not only features John McCrae’s famous poem, but also includes choral settings of the Lord’s Prayer and a 19th-century speech by Chief Seattle, which pleads for environmental unity. Performed with crystal clarity by London Voices, these pieces are cinematic and approachable. Jann Järvlepp is known for combining classical forms with pop and jazz elements, composing in what he describes as “the newer style of neo-tonal music that would not be acceptable to academics.”
Järvlepp is highly adept at text setting; the musical textures do not obfuscate the text but rather amplify it and help to articulate its structure. With In Flanders Fields, the undulating strings anchor the text and drive it forward. Similarly, Chief Seattle’s speech resonates with clarity and power—with a texture that alternates between unity and polyphony. Unified voices convey the force of phrases such as “How can you sell the land? How can you buy the sky?” By contrast, Järvlepp’s progressively polyphonic texture evokes the unfolding movements of nature.
In Lord’s Prayer, the texture progressively brightens and swells to convey the glory of God’s kingdom. The more sombre elements of the prayer—such as “deliver us from evil”— contribute to this larger trajectory toward final glory. Yet, I couldn’t help but wonder if this moment—and others throughout the EP—might lend themselves to a more adventurous harmonic language. Even within the pop-influenced harmonic framework these pieces use, there is ample room for variety. A greater harmonic inventiveness could make the music more engaging on repeated listening.
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