Fern Hill

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Several world premieres highlight this disc from the outstanding Kansas City Chorale, including the title work and a setting of "L'Invitation au Voyage", both by John Corigliano. While these, unfortunately, are uninspiring original works by Jean Belmont and James Mulholland, settings of "Shenandoah" by Conrad Susa and "Deep River" by Roy Ringwald are excellent. Unexcelled performances of Barber's "Reincarnations" round out the program. --David Vernier

Tracks:

At The Earth's Imagined Corners
L'Invitation au Voyage
The Passionate Shepherd To His Love
The Roadside Fire
A Red, Red Rose
Reincarnations, Op. 16: 1. Mary Hynes
Reincarnations, Op. 16: 2. Anthony O Daly
Reincarnations, Op. 16: 3. The Coolin (The Fair Haired One )
Fern Hill
Shenandoah
Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier
Johnny, I Hardly Knew Ye
I'm Goin' Away
Deep River

Amazon.com

Several world premieres highlight this disc from the outstanding Kansas City Chorale, including the title work and a setting of "L'Invitation au Voyage", both by John Corigliano. While these, unfortunately, are uninspiring original works by Jean Belmont and James Mulholland, settings of "Shenandoah" by Conrad Susa and "Deep River" by Roy Ringwald are excellent. Unexcelled performances of Barber's "Reincarnations" round out the program. --David Vernier

Customer Reviews:

Disapointing.......2004-03-17

Uninspired singing, poor recording quality, lack of precision and cohesiveness. Great potential with professional choir, but a disappointing result.

No reservations on this one.......2002-06-04

Never mind the few gripes of the Amazon reviewer. What he decries as "unoriginal" settings by Belmont and Mulholland are wonderful settings by composers who have clearly mastered the art of choral arrangement and composition. Their rich harmonies are colored with wonderfully expressive dissonances which tense and then resolve into lush consonances, but never does the harmony become ponderous or leaden. 'The Passionate Shepherd', 'The Roadside Fire' are totally satisfying, far more so than many more 'original' works which place their originality above emotional expression. 'A Red, Red Rose' is the most beautiful setting of the poem I've ever encountered.
I concur with the reviewer on the rest of the disc. Splendid singing and musical interpretation. I lost my copy of this disc and I am pining for it, so I've come back to buy another. It's that good.

Fantastic blend of voices and styles. A must get!.......1999-03-12

This recording of the Kansas City Chorale is a wonderful collection of American songs ranging from 20th century Barber to spiritual arrangements that are superbly sung. I have sung many of these songs myself, and will heartily recommend this CD to anyone looking for a choir with tremendous expression, musicality, and tone. This CD has a variety of music that music teachers can use to preview pieces for use in their choirs. It isn't often that you can find an album that has such a combination of styles, and it is refreshing to listen to. If nothing else, purchase this CD for the title piece Fern Hill

Fantastic blend of voices and styles. A must get!.......1999-03-12

This recording of the Kansas City Chorale is a wonderful collection of American songs ranging from 20th century Britten to spiritual arrangements that are superbly sung. I have sung many of these songs myself, and will heartily recommend this CD to anyone looking for a choir with tremendous expression, musicality, and tone. This CD has a variety of music that music teachers can use to preview pieces for use in their choirs. It isn't often that you can find an album that has such a combination of styles, and it is refreshing to listen to. If nothing else, purchase this CD for the title piece Fern Hill.

John Corigliano: Fern Hill / L'Invitation au Voyage / Cecil Effinger: Four Pastorales / Four Songs about Birds / Mel Powell: Sweet Lovers Love the Spring / Six Love Songs - Oregon Repertory Singers

Average customer rating:

The best recording of "Fern Hill" yet available

John Corigliano: Fern Hill / L'Invitation au Voyage / Cecil Effinger: Four Pastorales / Four Songs about Birds / Mel Powell: Sweet Lovers Love the Spring / Six Love Songs - Oregon Repertory Singers
John Corigliano , Cecil Effinger , Mel Powell , Oregon Repertory Singers , and Gibert Seeley
Manufacturer: Koch Int'l Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Choruses | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

A Cappella | Folk | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00000DBQR
Release Date: 1998-10-20

Tracks:

Fern Hill
Four Pastorales: No Mark
Four Pastorales: Noon
Four Pastorales: Basket
Four Pastorales: Wood
Sweet Lovers Love The Spring
L'Invitation au voyage
Six Love Songs: Song
Six Love Songs: The Contented Lover
Six Love Songs: What Can We Poor Females Do
Six Love Songs: On A Lady Sleeping
Six Love Songs: The Bee
Six Love Songs: A Lover I Am
Four Songs About Birds: By Seven Senses
Four Songs About Birds: Swallows
Four Songs About Birds: Finches
Four Songs About Birds: And Birds that Flew Away

Amazon.com

The question is, how badly do you want a disc of very well-sung but not so great music? Here is a selective survey of relatively recent American choral music--and heaven knows we could use more first-rate recordings that cover such repertoire. The disc features two substantial works by John Corigliano and some relatively minor and unremarkable choral pieces by jazz pianist Mel Powell and band composer Cecil Effinger. The Corigliano selections were first recorded by the Kansas City Chorale (on Nimbus), and even this outstanding choir couldn't elevate the often meandering, clumsy, and ineffective writing beyond the level of merely interesting. Here, the Oregon Repertory Singers show a fine polish and well-rehearsed enthusiasm that would be far better applied to more substantive scores. Dylan Thomas's "Fern Hill" and Baudelaire's "L'invitation au voyage" quite simply embody such music in their texts that it's merely spoiled in settings that miss the poems' inherent sounds and rhythms. --David Vernier

Customer Reviews:

The best recording of "Fern Hill" yet available.......1999-04-17

"Fern Hill," the major work on this CD, has long been one of my favorite pieces of choral music. Corliagno's setting of the Dylan Thomas text is at times riviting, sometimes mesmerizing, and always quite involving. This recording features similarly excellent singing plus wider dynamics and better sound than the otherwise excellent recording by the Kansas City Chorale. Fans of choral music (and choir directors looking for literature) would be well served by getting both CDs however, as each features a number of shorter works well worth multiple hearings.

Average customer rating:

Robert Manno Chamber Music

Manufacturer: Msr Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Classical | Indie Music | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00004TBAJ
Release Date: 2000-04-17

Tracks:

Sextet for Strings (1995)
Three Poems for 2 Violins and Piano (1987)
Three Poems for 2 Violins and Piano (1987)
Three Poems for 2 Violins and Piano (1987)
A Mountain Path for violin, cello, piano (1993)
Stiller Freund (Rilke) for soprano, violin, piano (1988)
Fern Hill (Dylan Thomas) baritone & chamber ensemble (1973)

Average customer rating:

An underappreciated American classic!

William Mayer: Voices from Lost Realms

Manufacturer: Albany Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Masses | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Noels | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General Christmas | Holiday | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

General Christmas | Holiday Music | Special Features | Music
ASIN: B0000049MB
Release Date: 1995-04-16

Tracks:

Voices From Lost Realms: Butterfly Aria
Voices From Lost Realms: How Far We All Come
Voices From Lost Realms: Kyrie
Voices From Lost Realms: First Song
Voices From Lost Realms: Limited
Voices From Lost Realms: What My Lips Have Kissed
Voices From Lost Realms: The Passionate Shepherd To His Love
Voices From Lost Realms: The Nymph's Reply To The Passionate Shepherd
Voices From Lost Realms: To Electra
Voices From Lost Realms: Abandoned Bells
Voices From Lost Realms: Fern Hill
Voices From Lost Realms: La Belle Dame Sans Merci
Voices From Lost Realms: Alleluia
Voices From Lost Realms: Hist Wist
Voices From Lost Realms: Flotsam
Voices From Lost Realms: Inner And Outer Strings

Customer Reviews:

An underappreciated American classic!.......1999-12-19

Opera lovers in St Louis know the work of William Mayer. His beautifully wrought opera, "A Death in the Family" (based on the posthumous novel of James Agee), was premiered by Opera Theare of St Louis. This production also marked the debut of Dawn Upshaw. Unfortunately, no major recording company has made a complete recording of this beautiful opera. This disc from Albany Records, sporting perhaps the ugliest cover in the history of recordings, offers two hauntingly beautiful arias from the opera, plus several other vocal and orchestral pieces conducted by Gerard Schwarz. This disc is a wonderful introduction to a true American original.

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