By John von Rhein
Chicago Tribune Music Critic
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Beginnings

This second release by the University of Chicago-based ensemble eighth blackbird for Cedille may cover a narrower range of music than its predecessor but the music is just as consistently absorbing and beautifully performed.

The album title derives from the fact both "Divinum Mysterium" (2000) and "Vox Balaenae" (1971) were inspired by the mysteries and beauty of creation.

Daniel Kellogg is a gifted and appealing craftsman among the younger U.S. composers. The medieval hymn (known in its Christian church usage as "Of the Father's Love Begotten") is first sung by Chanticleer, later woven through the following four sections before reemerging in the cello and piano at the end. Kellogg's six-part suite moves from spiky, hurtling rhythms to quiet post-minimalist murmurs before exploding into a great final shout of joyous celebration. The six-member ensemble (flutes, clarinets, violin, cello, percussion and piano) gets a thorough workout. "Divinum Mysterium" is a piece one is happy to hear again and again.

George Crumb's "Voice of the Whale" is far better known and has, in fact, enjoyed several previous recordings. Based on songs of the humpback, this trio for electric flute, cello and piano calls for the players to be masked, a stage direction obviously made meaningless on disc. Still, the blackbird bunch renders Crumb's primordial sound-world with a command of its subtle colors and weird sonorities that fascinates the ear for all 22 minutes of the piece.

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