In Monteverdi’s Lament, the Erik Westberg Vocal Ensemble presents two contemporary works that reimagine poetry and music connected to the legacy of Claudio Monteverdi. Drawing on 17th-century sources, these compositions set historical and contemporary choir music in dialogue with interactive technologies and the hyperorgan—an instrument enhanced with digital control functions that allow performance beyond the traditional keyboard. The result is an exploration of the creative tension between past and present, echoing the spirit of innovation that shaped Monteverdi’s music in the early 1600s. Carl Unander-Scharin’s Lamento è più takes inspiration from Ottavio Rinuccini’s libretto for the lost opera Arianna, originally set by Monteverdi in 1607. Created in collaboration with choreographer Åsa Unander-Scharin, this 2023 work expands the expressive potential of the 17th-century text through a dynamic interplay of choreography, choir, and hyperorgan.

The concepts of Romanticism and Late Romanticism steer our thoughts towards musical epochs, but the selection on this CD is based on a word art that encompasses romantic notions and experiences such as sorrow, joy, love, anxiety, despair, expectation, and longing that have existed in all times.