"and a soundtrack featuring a Senegalese singer, five Sardinian voices and a Dutch cellist? is mesmerizing and beyond categorization."
David Jenkins, Sunday Telegraph

"The sountrack is destined for greater things."
Ray Bennett, Hollywood Reporter

"A work of hypnotic beauty with an original soundtrack of bewitching music by Ernst Reijseger and with the enchanting voice notably of Mola Sylla from Senegal."
Fabien Lemercier, CineEuropa

Ernst Reijseger has always been a wanderer between the musical worlds, who feels especially at home with those sounds that our ear doesn’t identify as the usual thing.
Somewhere in between contemporary music, ethnic sounds and improvised avant-garde the Dutch cellist works on the outside of the established culture „industry“. But exactly there one can find the music for exceptional experiments. „Requiem for a dying planet“ illustrates two films by Werner Herzog. Reijseger has involved with the Senegalese singer Mola Sylla and the Voches de Sardinna co-musicians from past projects. Together with them he has created a soundtrack of meditative urgency and beguiling slowness. Very impressive!
Jazzthing, Germany, September/October 2006

The music goes on in voices coming from different places of the world, which complement one another naturally. It interprets religious rites in a new way and soars up [...] to unexpected beauty.. These are powerful chants and a sensuous proof of how an approach between cultures could become reality – apart from all theories – natural und with the impact of the elementary.
Jazzpodium, Germany, October 2006

A cello, a Senegalese singer, who sings in Wolof and Manding, and five members of a Sardinian chorus build a wonderful union. These „Sounds for two films“ are a diversified, fascinating travel through the world. Beginning with Handel’s „Dank sei dir Gott“ the repertoire ranges from newly arranged traditional melodies, one Sanctus and one Kyrie, to sound meditations on desert and cosmos.
Rheinischer Merkur, Germany, Nov 30, 2006

This music is a sensual and fragile-festive addictive substance of highest emotionality… And the music is an enduring proof how far soundtrack compositions can grow beyond the original meaning.
Leipziger Volkszeitung, September 9, 2006

Bringing images to mind of a lonely desert ... the record just goes from strength to strength. Just when you thought Reijseger already produced his best work, he delivers his best effort to date. It’s at times like these that words are disposable. Flawless!
Gazeta, Poland, December 2006

[Herzog’s ] use of music is … unique. For two of his latest movies, The White Diamond and Wild blue Yonder, he used a powerful quintet of Sardinian singers, in combination with cellist Ernst Reijseger, and vocalist and m’bira player Mola Sylla.
Time Out New York, USA, November 3, 2006

Recognized for his efforts with jazz drummer Gerry Hemingway, as well as numerous other roles as a session man and leader, Dutch cellist Ernst Reijseger is also known for his avant/classical/world music proclivities. Requiem For A Dying Planet was brought about when German filmmaker Werner Herzog approached Winter & Winter record label chief Stefan Winter to find “some very personal music” for two documentaries, The Wild Blue Yonder and The White Diamonds. Enter Reijseger with Sengalese vocalist Mola Sylla and the Voches de Sardinna (a Sardinian vocal choir). When the film score was consummated, Reijseger and Winter remixed the final product to yield this sovereign release, which mingles traditional European songs with the cellist’s compositions and arrangements—all molded into a pious statement.
The title of this project foreshadows the name of the first chapter in The Wild Blue Yonder, “Intro Dank Sei Dir Gott.” This outing serves as a standalone program where the Sardinian vocal choir bestows a solemn storyline atop Reijseger’s arching lines. If you’re in need of a spiritual or life-lifting boost, you might want to rethink or perhaps defer spinning this disc. A haunting beauty shines forth from the music, but the music occasionally casts a dark shadow via the cellist’s stark pizzicato choruses and the vocalists’ ritualized chanting. A world beat vibe enlightens some movements, including Sylla’s use of the metal-tongued African mbira, which derives its richly organic sound from tempered steel tines that vibrate when plucked. In addition, the vocal choir’s mantra-like verse bespeaks a self-reckoning of sorts, especially when the music elicits imagery of the near-term end of civilization. At times, these processes convey a mystifying element, often supplanting a world beat-drenched operatic climate with droning undercurrents. Regardless of taste, preference or attitude, this is a curiously interesting progression of musical frameworks, setting forth notions of divine contemplation prior to a doomsday-like event.
ALL ABOUT JAZZ - Glenn Astarita

when making the latest batch of documentaries a couple of years ago, Werner Herzog paid a visit to Stefan Winter's Winter&Winter office in Munich. He was looking for the perfect sound - ideal music that would encapsulate the feeling on celluloid. Stefan proceeded to play a number of albums by Dutch cellist Ernst Reijseger. For hours, Herzog sat and listened in awe to the musician that would end up gracing the audio aspect of his next two films. The album acts as the soundtrack to two of Herzog's latest films "The Wild Blue Yonder" and "The White Diamond". For the purposes of this massive undertaking, Reijseger was re-united with Senegalese singer Mola Sylla and the Sardinian choir, Voches de Sardinna - Tenore e Cuncordu de Orosei. Much in the same way Fred Frith's "Rivers and Tides" album served as a soundtrack to a film, Reijseger realizes the task in a spectacular fashion. There is a certain sense of awe and wonder that strikes the listener at the beginning of the record that only grows larger as the minutes pass by. Voches of Sardinna is an exceptionally disciplined group. With a massive amount of self-restraint and forthright feeling, they take over the proceedings right at the beginning. Listen to "A una Rosa", as they allow Mola Sylla perfect amounts of space during the piece to sing her part in Wolof. When the two factions meet, it's really a golden moment. On "Kyrie", we get a perfect incantation of the choir, Mola Sylla, Reijseger's voice and lovely straining of his cello. One word that best describes the record is spacious. Mixed in such a way so not one part obliterates any others, it works wonders to the mind's eye. Mola Sylla's voice is categorically most recognizable. With a hint of honey and a touch of bass, it speaks volumes above the rest. Brining images to mind of a lonely, desert and cased in the usual Winter&Winter lavish packaging, the record goes from strength to strength. Just when you thought Reijseger already produced his best work, he delivers his best effort to date. It's at times like these that words are disposable. Flawless!
ZAG-ETA - Tom Sekowski

While attending a screening of Werner Herzog's superb "The Wild Blue Yonder", I was struck by the depth and power of the music Herzog had used for the film-- cello and vocal performances that were utterly captivating. A little research and I discovered this record (which as it turns out is not where the soundtrack was drawn from), "Janna" by Dutch cellist Ernst Reijseger with Senagalese vocalist Mola Sylla and percussionist Serigne C.M. Gueye.?
Reijseger has existed pretty much on the edge of my listening knowledge-- the European avant-garde traditions are something I've sort of flirted with but never really embraced. Having heard this piece, I suspect that's about to change.?
The record by and large is a complete synthesis of Sylla and Gueye's Senagalese traditions with Reijseger's sort of European jazz/improv/neoclassical one. What is perhaps most stunning is that the music sounds seemless-- there's no "Europe meets Africa" feel or strings with hand drumming feel to it, it's a completely integrated music that defies categorization and sounds as if it was meant to go together.?
As individuals, the three performers excel at their craft-- Reijseger, whose playing first drew my attention to this work, is clearly immensely talented (his admirers evidentally include famed classical cellist Yo-Yo Ma). He possesses the rare quality of playing pizzicato as confidently as he does arco, and finds rolls for his instrument that would otherwise not be expected. Sometimes he plays rhythmically, sometimes fulfilling a more bass-esque roll, sometimes playing delicate melodies. Sylla is also a revelation-- singing primarily in wolof, a language native to Senegal, he finds a clear level of expression that transcends language--even without the rather interesting liner notes discussing the lyrical meanings, when Sylla sings of pain, you hear it, when he sings of joy, you hear it, when he sings of longing or of the excitement of spending time with someone in love, you hear it. To communicate this directly in a language I've no understanding of whatsoever is, to my mind, downright stunning.?
With Sylla's power as a vocalist and the flexibility of the three as instrumentalists, an extraordinarily wide range of moods and textures are covered, with all three taking spotlights. I've only had the record for a couple days (although it's been in heavy rotation), and some particular favorites have started to emerge-- opener "Jangelma" finds Reijseger setting up a captivating, somewhat indistinct line before giving way to a circular rhythmic figure over with Sylla expresses the pain of a European imposed education system designed to take away the heritage of his people, the a capella "Fier", a rather complex love song, is rendered with such enormous power and sensitivity as to be overwhelming, and the mournful "Doxandeem" finds Gueye as percussionist stealing the show from a both intriguing rhythmic cello performance and a vocal that speaks of betrayal and pain?
I'm generally not one who is inclined towards this sort of frantic level of endless praising, but this album is really beyond words. Even if you're only vaguely curious about this, this is a brilliant recording. Highly recommended.
Michael Stack - A seamless fusion of traditions., February 3, 2006

how did you and the other musicians worked on this project? how did herzog's work give you inspiration?
We had a talk before and he explained he liked the cd i had made with Alan Purves and theTenores e Cuncordu de Orosei, called "Colla Voche" and Heard also my solo cd , "Colla Parte".
He spoke about 'floating movements' in the Air and in Space..not really allowing 'pulsating' rythm's , but long harmonically shifting structures.
That was inspiring. I asked him if i could bring Mola Sylla, singer from Senegal and who i participated with for the cd "Janna", as "alien" in the musical relation between The Tenore e Cuncordu de Orosei and myself. Otherwise the music would be too close to the the previous cd and i like to challenge myself to make something different, specially for Werrner Herzog .

what kind of strategies did you use to meld cello and the different voices of african and sardinian singers.
There was none, no smart plan. I just prepaired the material i knew the Cuncordu never recorded before and knew that we had to find our 'Connection' during the recordingsession 'on the spot' .

what will we see/hear in ferrara?
Hard to say. I prefer to say it is going to be a surprise, because that is what i allways like to feel, even when i rehearsed the music in detail....we will use the music we made for both films, The Wite Diamond and The Wild Blue Yonder as a base. We will play in more of a concertsetting, so no continuing visuals.However i have made a 'potpourri' of great material of both films...
Interview Giornale della Musica