Chant of Darkness was Barati's response to the death of his 34-year-old daughter. This one-movement work is indeed dark, expressing profound grief, but there's a certain nobility that shines through despite the despair. Intended as a counter-balance to the gloom of Chant of Darkness, Chant of Light is certainly lighter in mood, but the atonal language (Barati was impressed by the intellectual rigor it required) precludes any real sense of joy. The real draw of these works is their fascinatingly brilliant construction and instrumentation--an aural treatise if ever there were one. Kováks conducts Chant of Darkness, while Chant of Light receives a full-press performance by Vladimir Válek and the Czech Radio Symphony, who concede nothing to their Hungarian counterparts. Naxos' sound for both venues is vivid and richly detailed, with only a tendency toward brightness keeping it just shy of perfection.