Horizon is a choral work in seven movements by Croatian composer Dalibor Bukvić.  Scored for (mostly) unaccompanied female voices, it’s meant to evoke the ambiance of the prehistoric Vučedol culture, which flourished between 3000 and 2200 B.C. in what is now (mostly) Croatia which could stand in this context for the ritual side of any pre-literate culture.

There is text; Croatian (I think) and Latin, whispered, declaimed and sung but there’s more vocalise and some recorded bird song plus, on a couple of tracks quite sparse and sometimes atonal piano accompaniment.  It does evoke a sense of ritual, mystery and connection to Nature and it’s enjoyable to listen to.

The two choirs are the Brevis Vocal Ensemble and the Women’s Choir of the Academy of Arts and Culture in Osijek conducted by Antoaneta Radočaj-Jerković with Davor Dedić on piano. Clearly these are skilled and versatile choirs who cope with a lot of complexity here.

It’s a digital only release available as MP3 and in 44.1kHz/16bit and 48kHz/24bit WAV and FLAC.  I listened to the hi-res version which atmospheric but quite clear.  There’s no booklet but as is usual with Navona there’s a webpage with bios, notes etc.

Catalogue information: Navona Records NV6669