The Azrieli Music Prizes were created in 2014 by Sharon Azrieli, who is also in the Azrieli Foundation, one of the most active and prestigious Jewish philanthropic organisations in Canada. Based in Montreal, the Prizes have been partnered since the beginning with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra (OSM) for the performance of the winning works.
Canadian panorama
The 2024 edition gave pride of place to choirs, present in every chosen score. It begins with a pulsating work by Canadian Jordan Nobles, kanata, for a cappella vocal ensemble. In music that vibrates and breathes thanks to thrilling textures, somewhat like Steve Reich (I especially think of the introduction to Music for 18 Musicians, softer), Nobles evokes, he says, the “vastness and quiet power of Canadian landscape.” It’s beautiful, inspiring, ethereal.
Georgian Roots
Josef Bardanashvili is an Israeli of Georgian origin. In his Light of Path, Bardanashvili evokes some reminiscences of traditional Georgian songs (magnificent!), but in modern harmonic constructions, often dissonant, although without extreme exaggeration. The five movements are based on as many psalms from the biblical Book of Psalms, and testify to various states of faith: from doubt to ecstasy.
Clearly, doubt gives the most space to contemporary rough harmonic textures, while the final gratitude, rather celestial, marries the ancient Gregorian school with the composer’s cultural tradition and a serious modernism. The work is written for choir with saxophone, percussion, and piano accompaniment, but the instruments are barely heard, merging very closely with the voices, thus creating a beautifully “coloured” vocal fabric. A highly sophisticated and accomplished piece of music.
Judeo-Arabic Memory and Faith According to Maimonides
Yair Klartag is Israeli. The Parable of the Palace is inspired by the allegory of the same title written by the mediaeval Jewish philosopher Maimonides, in which the intellectual proposes the image of a palace as the Kingdom of God, and different men who are either far from the palace, closer, inside, or right next to the king. These images evoke, as one might understand, the various levels of faith depending on whether one is unfaithful, sceptical, or fully believing. Simple, even simplistic concept, but one that has made its mark and is, that said, beautifully written. I am not a great supporter of this kind of proselytising propaganda that systematically belittles objectors and proponents of other philosophies or spiritual beliefs, but the goal here is not to comment on a text nearly a thousand years old, no matter how remarkable its author was. In this case, the music will suffice.
And this one is rich and complex, with extensive vocal techniques, ranging from whispers to hisses, slides, grating harmonies, and luminous flights. Moreover, the score is sung in ancient Judeo-Arabic, a now-extinct language! Four double basses support this sophisticated construction, which offers some beautiful challenges to choral ensembles who wish to tackle it.
Diving into Aztec Cosmogony
At the end of the program, there is Simetrías Prehispánicas (Pre-Hispanic Symmetries), for mixed choir and instrumental ensemble by the Mexican Juan Trigos. Trigos has worked alongside Franco Donatoni, among others, and here pays tribute to the Aztec cosmogony of his ancestors by using fragments of texts in Spanish and Nahuatl language that evoke the pre-Hispanic culture of Mexico. The work is divided into eight short movements with astonishing colours and harmonies. Yes, the creation of a strange sound universe adequately creates a feeling of immersion in a fundamentally “other” and timeless culture because it has no precise connection to the Western world, even ancient.
It is true that one could say that about China, for example. But in the case of pre-Columbian cultures, it’s different. These are very rich symbolic worlds that we did not have the time to get ‘’acquainted to.” As soon as we encountered them, they disappeared (through our fault, let’s not forget).
Juan Trigos uses the creative toolkit of ‘’difficult’’ contemporary art music very effectively, but in a way that does not simply drown in abstraction. On the contrary, all harmonic, coloristic, timbral, and vocal gestures are organised into a narrative scheme that is very easily understandable and even attractive. The jury was wise to recognise the originality and expressive power of this score.
A rich heritage of which we are proudly part
The OSM Choir and instrumentalists offer careful, highly successful, and embodied interpretations. A heartfelt bravo.
The Azrieli Music Prizes place Montreal at the center of an important contemporary creativity movement. Jewish art and thought have offered the world a remarkable quantity of masterpieces, and it is continuing brilliantly to this day. It is a tradition that we should all be proud to be part of thanks to this initiative that fully embraces it, with rigour and vision. Montreal and Quebec thus are proudly home for the continuous nurturing of a long and prestigious lineage.
