Gregory Rose’s compelling meditation on the eternal truth that we will all one day join the danse macabre is inspired by a series of medieval paintings that hang in St Nicholas’s church in Tallinn, so it’s natural that he should record his piece in the beautiful acoustic of that very building. Bernt Notke’s pictures show the skeletal figure of death inviting a pope, emperor, empress, cardinal and king to dance with him. Rose gives all these characters – soloists drawn from the extravagantly talented Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir – lithe and generous lines to sing, accompanied by some truly original combinations of instruments. He has the impressive knack of melding a 15th-century text to music informed by Henze, Ligeti and Cage, yet with a fresher, more accessible edge. It’s ripe to be staged – and danced, of course.
