Holmboe’s Requiem for Nietzsche is his largest choral work‚ yet it is also one of his least known‚ despite a flurry of other Holmboe recordings. Composed during 1963­64‚ it sets a series of 11 sonnets by the distinguished poet Thorkild Bjørnvig which together‚ to quote Paul Rapoport’s fine accompanying note‚ ‘create a symbolic interpretation of Nietzsche – his expectations‚ aspirations‚ discoveries‚ conflicts and tragic decline’. Holmboe responded to Bjørnvig’s remarkable sequence with one of his richest and stylistically most diverse scores‚ incorporating some of his most adventurous writing for chorus as well as orchestra. It is also one of his most exploratory in expression‚ the music teeming with ideas‚ the scoring varying from massive tumultuous outbursts to delicate duos and trios – for instance‚ the spectral tenor solo midway through Part Three. It is no easy ride‚ however‚ and this is music that requires close attention and repeated hearings. To those familiar with Holmboe’s output‚ the tonal landscapes of Requiem for Nietzsche are not dissimilar to some of the later motets and the Ninth Symphony (1967­69). The performance is as committed as the music‚ the orchestra alternately shimmering with that beguiling Nordic luminosity that suffuses so much of Holmboe’s work‚ and charting the depths of Nietzsche’s despair. Both vocalists are very fine‚ rich toned and beautifully balanced by sound engineer Jørn Jacobsen. The sound‚ although a little distant‚ catches the full range of this wonderful score in full depth‚ nowhere better than in the concluding fifth section‚ with its final climax and radiant close. This definitely will feature in my Critics’ Choice later this year.