Belgian composer and cellist Jean-Paul Dessy (b.1963) views concerts (and presumably recordings) as liturgy – playing an instrument is a means of meditating, with composition as a kind of prophecy and sound itself as a revelation. His seven-movement Requiems is not a conventional Requiem setting: rather, it takes texts chosen by the writer-theologian Jean-Yves Leloup from different spiritual traditions. Recorded live in January 2018, the Estonian Philharmonic Choir and Tallinn Chamber Orchestra conducted by Risto Joost give a moving account of this largely contemplative, gentle work, which often engenders a hypnotic quality. Dessy is the soloist in the pieces for solo cello.

Look more: Agora Classica