Cambridge Singers A Cappella

Editorial Reviews
Album Description
The music heard on this recording is selected from the great wealth of a cappella choral repertoire written in Germany, France and England in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The purity and beauty of the sound of unaccompanied choir was always recognized, but in the seventeenth and eighteenth century virtually no music was written for choir alone, since voices were almost invariable combined with instruments during this period. Under the influence of the Romantic movement, with its love of the past, interest in a cappella singing began to revive in the early nineteenth century, a revival which paralleled the slightly later pre-Raphaelite movement in the visual arts. The Cecilian movement was active in Germany and France, while in England madrigal societies began to revive secular unaccompanied singing for mixed voices, and the glee clues (like their German counterpart the Liedertafeln) cultivated male-voice music. These trends can be seen at work in the music of Pearsall and Schumann, the two earliest composers represented here: Pearsall wrote madrigals for the Bristol Madrigal Society, and Schumann his Op. 141 pieces at the time he was directing a newly-established choral society in Dresden. A little later Brahms instituted a female-voice choir in Hamburg, conducting and composing a cappella music regularly. By the end of the nineteenth century the a cappella medium was firmly re-established, though it retained archaic overtones: Debussy’s Trois chansons de Charles d’Orleans and Ravel’s Trois Chansons both deliberately evoke the style of the Renaissance chanson. Even for the generation of Poulenc and Britten, a sense of looking back remained: Poulenc set traditional rhymes in his Chansons francaises, while Britten used ‘old’ compositional devices in his Hymn to St. Cecilia. Yet Britten instinctively realized and brought to the fore a more crucial quality of the a cappella medium: its essentially pure, distilled nature, enabling it to reflect the inner soul of music itself. It was no accident that unaccompanied choir was his chose medium for setting poetry invoking a saint regarded as the ultimate in purity while at the same time dealing with the profound and mysterious processes of musical inspiration.

Tracks:

The holly and the ivy (arr. H. Walford Davies)*
Blessed be that maid Mary (arr. David Willcocks)
Somerset Wassail (arr. John Rutter)
Shepherds, in the fields abiding (French, arr. Willcocks)*
The Infant King (Basque, arr. Willcocks)
What is this lovely fragrance? (French, arr. Healey Willan)
Gabriel's message (Basque, arr. Willcocks)*
Still, still, still (German, arr. Rutter)
Quittez, pasteurs (French, arr. Rutter)
Un flambeau, Jeannette, Isabelle (French, arr. Rutter)
Personent hodie (German, arr. Rutter)
The shepherds' farewell (Hector Berlioz)
O holy night (Adolphe Adam)
O magnum mysterium (T. L. de Victoria)
Hodie Christus natus est (J. P. Sweelinck)
For unto us a child is born (G. F. Handel)
In dulci jubilo (Samuel Scheidt)
Lully, lulla, thou little tiny child (Kenneth Leighton)*
A New Year Carol (Benjamin Britten)
Balulalow (Peter Warlock)
I saw a fair maiden (Peter Warlock)
The Lamb (John Tavener)
Fantasia on Christmas Carols (Ralph Vaughan Williams)

Album Description

Christmas Never Sounded So Good!

For more than a decade, John Rutter and the Cambridge Singers have shared the Joy of Christmas with the world. The ethereal sound of perfectly blended voices, singing the most beautiful seasonal music ever composed never fails to touch the heart or lift the spirit. This year, John Rutter and the Cambridge Singers have assembled a NEW collection - compiled from the archives, including FOUR NEVER BEFORE RELEASED TRACKS! This is a holiday feast you will NOT want to miss!

Customer Reviews:

Almost angelic.......2007-01-18

Choral music by the Cambridge Singers is always top-notch. An older album that might have sounded better with newer technology but no complaints. Has great vocals and orchestral support.

Great choir, but mostly recycled material.......2005-12-16

I have the utmost respect for John Rutter and his Cambridge Singers, probably the best choir in the world (at least, the English-speaking world). I have almost all their CDs. Two of their Christmas CDs are "desert-island" class for this listener.

Unfortunately, I cannot give this otherwise excellent CD the same high marks. If they wanted to release a "best of Cambridge Christmas" CD, this would not be it. It does a few of the absolute best Christmas selections, including Sweelinck's "Hodie", Willcocks's breathtaking arrangement of "The Infant King", and Rutter's own quirky reading of "Personent Hodie". And it does contain a few tracks not previously released.

However, if you want the best of Cambridge and Christmas, start with "Christmas Night", which is always the first CD I pull out the day after Thanksgiving. The sound of the famliar Persall setting of "In Dulci Jubilo" sets my holiday in motion. And that CD also has Rutter's own magical "There is a flower". After that CD, get "Christmas with the Cambridge Singers", which has "The Infant King" and some other treasures.

So, you can't really go wrong with this CD, especially if you just want an introduction to how this fine ensemble addresses the most choir-friendly holiday of all. But if you're serious about getting all the good stuff, start with the other two mentioned above, then add "Christmas Day in the Morning" and the early "Christmas Star".

Glittering Chrismas Music.......2005-11-15

I own virtually all of the CD's of John Rutter (whom I greatly admire) and the Cambridge Singers, and I am a fan of English Choral music in general. If I were asked to recommend only one of the many Cambridge Singers Christmas albums, or indeed one of any English Christmas album, a hard choice, this would be it. As others have noted, this CD is a compilation of songs from previous cds with four new releases. It is, I believe, longer playing than the other Cambridge albums. In style, it is a mostly quiet sounding collection--in fact several carols are sung a cappella-- with pieces ranging from carols such as "The Holly and the Ivy" to the more robust "Fantasia on Christmas Carols". In sum, this is a sensitively arranged and performed collection of beautiful Christmas music.

The Spirit of Christmas On CD.......2005-06-02

I have never been disappointed by any Cambridge Singers release, so it isnt surprising that I thoroughly enjoyed this offering as well. This CD is a compilation of songs from previous cds with one or two new tracks, so check your library to make sure you arent duplicating your collection in the order to complete your collection. I purchased this disk to obtain a copy of the Fantasia On Christmas Carols by Ralph Vaughn Williams which was originally released on Christmas Day In The Morning. As usual, every song is performed in a precise yet heartfelt manner. If you dont own any cds by the Cambridge singers I would personally recommend Christmas Night as the first disk to own, but if you know and love the Cambridge Singers as I do, then you will enjoy having this wonderful addition to your library.

Superb voices!.......2003-12-22

This CD was beautifully sung by the Cambridge Singers, a boys/mens choir, mostly a' capela. It's the first Christmas CD I've bought that really tempts me to crank up the volume so I can revel in every note.

Average customer rating:

Hail Queen of Heaven
Cambridge Singers , and Rutter
Manufacturer: Collegium
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Ave Verum Corpus: Motets & Anthems
Christmas Star
Christmas Music from Medieval
Sing Ye Heavens - Hymns for All Time
Lighten our Darkness

ASIN: B00006O0OE
Release Date: 2003-02-25

Tracks:

Gregorian Chant: Alma Redemptoris Mater
Guerrero: Ave Virgo Sanctissima
Traditional: There Is No Rose Of Such Virtue
Victoria: Ave Maria (For Four Voices)
Dering: Ave Virgo Gloriosa
Gregorian Chant: Ave Regina Caelorum
Palestrina: Stabat Mater
Bruckner: Ave Maria
Verdi: Laudi Alla Vergine Maria
Stravinsky: Ave Maria
Tchaikowsky: Dostoino Yest
Gregorian Chant: Regina Caeli Laetare
Howells: Regina Caeli
Anon.: Hail! Blessed Virgin Mary
Villette: Hymne A La Vierge
Swayne: Magnificat
Gregorian Chant: Salve Regina
Byrd: Alleluia. Ave Maria
Victoria: Missa Vidi Speciosam
Holst: Ave Maria
Victoria: Ave Maria (For Double Choir)

Album Description

`Performances are excellent . . . in fine sound, you should get this.' In Tune (USA)

Average customer rating:

A Fine Survey of Choral Music
International a cappella
Wonderful collection

Cambridge Singers a Cappella

Manufacturer: Collegium
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Sacred & Religious | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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

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

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

General | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music

A Cappella | Folk | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0000031HV
Release Date: 1993-09-13

Tracks:

Hymn to St. Cecilia
VIER LIEDER: Nun stehn die Rosen in Bluete
VIER LIEDER: Die Berge sind spitz
VIER LIEDER: Am Wildbach die Weiden
VIER LIEDER: Und gehst du ueber den Kirchhof
VIER GESAENGE: An die Sterne
VIER GESAENGE: Ungewisses Licht
VIER GESAENGE: Zuversicht
VIER GESAENGE: Talismane
Lay a garland
The splendour falls on castle walls
RAVEL: Nicolette
RAVEL: Trois beaux oiseaux du Paradis
RAVEL: Ronde
DEBUSSY: Dieu! qu'il la fait bon regarder
DEBUSSY: Quant j'ai ouy le tabourin
DEBUSSY: Yver, vous n'estes qu'un villain
POULENC: Margoton va t'a l'iau
POULENC: La belle se sied au pied de la tour
POULENC: Pilons l'orge
POULENC: Clic, clac, dansez sabots
POULENC: C'est la petit' fill' du prince
POULENC: La belle si nous etions
POULENC: Ah! mon beau laboureur
POULENC: Les tisserands

Customer Reviews:

A Fine Survey of Choral Music .......2006-03-05

John Rutter has long been established as a fine choral conductor as well as an intelligent programmer and this CD further substantiates his preeminent position. For this album Rutter has selected a wide ranging repertoire of songs written for unaccompanied chorus, a tradition that dates back to the plainsongs of the old churches.

Opening with Benjamin Britten's completely enchanting setting of WH Auden's long poem 'Hymn to St. Cecilia' is marked by fluid rhythmic changes, perfect enunciation, and glorious choral singing. This is followed by a set of Brahms songs for female voices alone, Schumann's four songs for full chorus, a lovely performance of 'Lay a garland' by the little known RL Pearsall (1795 - 1856), and the Delius 'The splendour falls on castle walls'.

Rutter and his chorus then survey the French literature with three songs by Ravel (including the perky and mocking 'Nicolette'), three songs by Debussy (with the incomparably beautiful 'Quant j'ai ouy le tamborin', and ends the recital with Francis Poulenc's 'Chansons francaises'. Through out the recital the choral tone is composer-appropriate, well recorded, and there isn't a weak moment in the set. Highly recommended for lovers of choral music. Grady Harp, March 06

International a cappella.......2005-10-02

It may seem somewhat strange for the Cambridge Singers to entitle a piece 'A Capella', given that almost all of their music performance is a capella. However, in this collection, they are performing a repertoire from composers whose usual fare is not a capella composition. This was performed in one of their regular recording haunts, the Great Hall of University College School, London, in 1992.

--Music--
The music here comes from composers in Germany, France and England from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. During the preceding Classical period, very little music was composed for choir/choral groups alone, and it wasn't until the Romantic period that revived interest in a capella music inspired compositions from composers such as those represented here. The twin influences of madrigal societies in Britain and the Cecilian movement on the continent helped fuel the drive for more a capella music.

From England and Germany, the Cambridge Singers perform pieces by Benjamin Britten, Johannes Brahms, Robert Schumann, R. L. Pearsall and Frederick Delius. From France, they perform the music of Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy, and Francis Poulenc. The influences of both Classical times as well as earlier folk songs, chansons and even sacred polyphony figure into the compositions to some degree.

The performances are solid, occasionally stellar. The voices are graceful and lovely, perhaps only occasionally dropping in energy a bit, but always recover nicely.

--Liner Notes--
The notes include an introduction to the CD, a listing of the tracks with composer, arranger and lyrics, together with a brief paragraph about the history of the piece. Where lyrics are in other languages, an English translation is provided. There is a listing of the performers of the Cambridge Singers, but no description of the group, nor biographical information about John Rutter.

--John Rutter--
Rutter was born in London and educated at Clare College, Cambridge. This was where his career as a composer, arranger and conductor began. His early work was with groups at King's College Chapel at Cambridge as well as the Bath Choir and Philharmonic Orchestra. He has worked for the BBC providing music for educational series such as 'The Archaeology of the Bible Lands', until in 1979 he began forming the Cambridge Singers, and has continued a remarkable career of performance and recording as their director ever since.

--The Cambridge Singers--
The Cambridge Singers are a mixed choir of voices, many of whom were members of choir of Rutter's college, Clare College, Cambridge. While they specialise in English and Latin liturgical pieces, they have a wide range of recordings that span from modern compositions (including a remarkable requiem by Rutter) to English folk songs of the Middle Ages. Many are former members of the choir of Clare College and other Cambridge collegiate choirs (hence the name, Cambridge Singers). In the quarter-century since the founding, the Cambridge Singers have produced an impressive body of recordings.

This is a splendid recording.

Wonderful collection.......2002-11-05

This CD is a wonderful collection of mainly French and German song cycles. While I have multiple recordings of the Debussy and Ravel (favorite - Robert Shaw's "Appear and Inspire") and the Britten, the Brahms, Schumann and Poulenc cycles were new to me. All are executed with the pristine clarity and precision we all expect from the Cambridge Singers. My only slight complaint is that the British, with their emphasis on straight-tone singing (which I adore on Renaissance and virtually all English choral music), don't give enough warmth and expansiveness to their tone and emotion on the German and French literature. "Trois Beaux Oiseaux" by Ravel especially suffers from this lack of emotional connection. The soprano soloist, while singing with a lovely tone, sounds like she has no idea that she's singing about the fact that the birds are telling her that her lover is not going to return from war. Very stilted, no sense of arch to the phrase.

That said, these recordings are still a pleasure. The Poulenc in particular are a wonderful find. I have listened to them repeatedly and enjoy the frivolity and pathos which alternate between the movements.

Tracks:

The Blue Bird (Op.119,No.3)
Two Unaccompanied Part Songs: To Be Sung Of A Summer Night On The Water - I
Two Unaccompanied Part Songs: To Be Sung Of A Summer Night On The Water - II
There Is Sweet Music (Op.53, No.1)
My Love Dwelt In A Northern Land
Three Shakespeare Songs: 1. Full Fathom Five
Three Shakespeare Songs: 2. The Cloud-Capp'd Towers
Three Shakespeare Songs: 3. Over Hill, Over Dale
The Sailor And Young Nancy
Brigg Fair
Londonderry Air
The Three Ravens
My Sweetheart's Like Venus
The Oak And The Ash
Quick! We Have But A Second
Five Flower Songs, Op.47: 1. To Daffodils
Five Flower Songs, Op.47: 2. The Succession Of The Four Sweet Months
Five Flower Songs, Op.47: 3. Marsh Flowers
Five Flower Songs, Op.47: 4. The Evening Primrose
Five Flower Songs, Op.47: 5. Ballad Of Green Broom

Amazon.com

If you love choral music you must have this disc. It's one of the all-time best Cambridge Singers recordings--a gold mine of excellent repertoire, perfectly sung. And if you haven't heard Stanford's impressionistic masterpiece The Blue Bird, you'll certainly never forget the impact of its dreamy harmonies and soaring melody once you've heard this inimitable performance. --David Vernier

Customer Reviews:

The Inimitable British Choral Music.......2007-01-08

It is such pleasure to see this re-release of 1986 recording by John Rutter and the Cambridge Singers from the Great Hall of University College School, London. The original recording has long been a favorite of legions of devotees of the British Choral tradition and this collection remains one of the finest samplings of significant a capella songs available.

Opening with the hauntingly simple and beautiful 'The blue bird' by CV Stanford (to whom this album was dedicated), the tone of the CD is set as a stroll through the mists and bogs of the English countryside. Songs by Frederick Delius (one featuring the then unappreciated tenor soloist Mark Padmore!), Edward Elgar, various folk songs beautifully arranged for four-part chorus, the 'Five Flower Songs' by Benjamin Britten, and finally the extraordinary 'Three Shakespeare Songs' set to music by Ralph Vaughan Williams are all included in this generous recital.

Vaughan Williams songs are brief but immaculately written choral works. 'Full fathom five' and 'The cloud-capped towers' find all the mystery in Shakespeare's 'The Tempest' while 'Over hill, over dale' is the quintessential musical rendering of the fairies frolics from 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. Rutter and the Cambridge Singers are splendid and the acoustic of the recording hall adds just the right amount of resonance to complete the magic of these songs. Highly recommended! Grady Harp, January 07

Yes, Indeed there is! Right Here!.......2004-07-13

Gorgeous, acapella choral music. The Cambridge Singers really can sing something besides John Rutter! English Choral sounds at their very best, with magical harmonic resolutions that transcend all emotion. I've listened to it at least 150 times and could never possibly tire of it!

Outstanding music, very well sung.......2003-07-17

This is a wonderful album, featuring some of the best choral music ever to come out of England, and undoubtedly one of the best recordings I have heard from the Cambridge Singers. The folk song arrangements are clever and apt (though I agree with another reviewer's comment that the soloist in 'Brigg Fair' does not really do it justice), and the Shakespeare songs by Vaughan Williams are a vital part of the choral repertoire.

However, it was Elgar's rarely-sung title track that impressed me the most. It is set for 8-part choir, with the men in one key and the women a semitone higher! Now that may sound like it couldn't possibly work, but believe me, the result is inspired. Using Tennyson's classic text, Elgar weaves an eerie harmonic fabric that manages to maintain a soothing yet somehow unsettled quality. Even at the end, as the word "sleep" echoes back and forth in the two keys, one is never quite sure which gender will 'resolve' the conversation and let the listener lie. It's a masterpiece, and only a really good choir could hope to pull it off.

Another highlight is a very well known work, Stanford's 'The Blue Bird', which is extremely well-sung. In fact, I have yet to hear a recorded version of this that is as brilliantly lethargic or controlled.

At times we might desire a more Eastern-European 'bite' to the singing tone (I do not mean to imply that this is just a glorified cathedral choir with pure, non-vibrato projection - far from it!), but this is THEIR music after all, and it has all the more beauty for the treatment it has been given here.

Excellent.......1999-03-25

If you haven't discovered yet how beautiful English choral music is, buy this disc right away. This recording is a collection of some of the most famous compositions by several composers (including folklore arrangements), so this is a perfect initiation for someone new to the genre. The melodies are ethereally beautiful, and the elegant singing by the Cambridge Singers does not dissapoint. The only missed opportunity is Phillip Sheffield instead of Mark Padmore in Brigg Fair. If you want to hear that song the way it REALLY should sound, get Grainger Edition Volume 3 where Padmore sings it.

A Banquet of Voices: Music for Multiple Choirs

Average customer rating:

a voice teacher and early music fan
Nice program...but somewhat lacking compared to others
Haunting Beauty.

A Banquet of Voices: Music for Multiple Choirs

Manufacturer: Collegium
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Sacred & Religious | Classical | Styles | Music

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General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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

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

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

A Cappella | Folk | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0000031I2
Release Date: 2000-02-29

Tracks:

Duo Seraphim
Misere mei, Deus
Crucifixus
Surrexit Pastor bonus
Spem in alium nunquam habui (The Forty-Part Motet)
Ave Regina caelorum
Fest - und Gedenkspruche: 1. Unsere Vater hofften auf dich
Fest - und Gedenkspruche: 2. Wie ein starker Gewappneter
Fest - und Gedenkspruche: 3. Wo ist ein so herrlich Volk
Mitten wir im Leben sind
Heilig
Motet No. 1: Singet dem Herrn ein neuses Lied, BWV 225: 1. Singet dem Herrn
Motet No. 1 : Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied, BWV 225: 2. Wie sich ein Vater erbarmet
Motet No. 1: Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied, BWV 225: 3. Lobet den Herrn in seinen Taten - Alles was Odem hat

Amazon.com

Most recordings of "music for multiple choirs" focus on Gabrieli and perhaps include Allegri's famous Miserere. Here, we get a beautiful Miserere performance, but there's no Gabrieli. Instead, we have rarely performed works by Peter Philips, Brahms, and Mendelssohn, and Bach's motet Singet dem Herrn. It's a terrific program, sung to the usual Cambridge Singers standard--with complementary sound that enhances the multiple choir effect. --David Vernier

Customer Reviews:

a voice teacher and early music fan.......2007-03-26

This recording is a celebration and an exploration, of some of the great wealth of choral music written for multiple choirs. For centuries composers have loved to make use of the spatial effects obtainable from placing two or more choirs antiphonally, and some of the most sumptuous and thrilling sounds in choral literature have resulted.
Polychoral music takes many forms. Common to most of them is the idea of sounds coming from different points in space.
There is no theoretical limit to the number of independent voice-parts that a composer can write for, though beyond a certain number the practical problems of co-ordination in performance and maintaining clarity of sound become unmanageable.
More voices do not,of course, make for better music, yet in the hands of a master such as Thomas Tallis, forty voices are not an extravgance: he uses them to make extraordinary, wonderful, and at times almost overwhelming sounds that could not have been created in any other way.
Now, here are the reasons that this, to my thinking, is not a five-star album. Firstly, if you are going to perform the music of Guerrero, Allegri, Caldara, Bach and Tallis, you MUST not have female sopranos and altos, because their music was written in an era when females were not in choirs (for the most part). It actually offends me when I hear Allegri's lovely 'Miserere' performed with only one lone male alto. As for the Brahhms and the Mendelssohn, its quite proper to use the standard SATB choir minus the male altos and sopranos.
There is something lack-luster about this entire disc, and yet it is not ill-performed; nothing Rutter ever does is done poorly, so I apologize if I am over zealous in my critique.

Nice program...but somewhat lacking compared to others.......2000-10-06

The Cambridge Singers have always been one of my favorite choral groups. Here they present a very unique and ambitious program, giving adequate performances of polychoral music.

Few disks will ever contain Allegri's Miserere and Tallis' Spem in Alium together...but how about this, Bach's Singet dem Herr motet comes along! Other gems include Mendelssohn's Heilig. Again, a very compelling compilation!

Why didn't I give this album 5 stars? Being a sort of choral freak, I get to collect hundreds of choral recordings...and I think all of the major works here have been performed much better by other groups. Just compare the Miserere here to that of Trinity College (another straight tone Cambridge choir). Or check out the reading of the Bach motet of the RIAS Kammerchor and then you'll see what I mean. The performances here are not the best that you'll find. Sure the choir sounds as crisp as ever but you realized it lacks something once you here other superb renditions...

Still, this is a compelling survey. Not to be missed by Cambridge fans and enthusiasts of the choral genre.

Haunting Beauty........1999-08-07

This has to be one of the finest demonstrations of what the human voice can acheive. It's music that that strikes a chord with you. It's music that gives you chills. It captures your soul, and then enriches it. Modern popular is laughable compared to the delicate depths of emotion and spirituality that are expressed here.

Average customer rating:

A really nice sampling of music...
A great intro to THE finest choir around

A Portrait Of The Cambridge Singers

Manufacturer: Collegium
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Oratorios | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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

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

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

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

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

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

General Christmas | Holiday | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

A Cappella | Folk | Styles | Music

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The John Rutter Christmas Album

ASIN: B0000031I8
Release Date: 1990-03-05

Tracks:

Sing Joyfully
Gabriel Faur(from Requiem): Sanctus
John Rutter: O Be Joyful In The Lord
Hear My Prayer, Oh Lord
Beati Quorum Via
This Joyful Eastertide (Dutch carol)
All Things Bright And Beautiful
Out of the deep
Non Vos Relinquam
For Unto Us A Child Is Born
A Little Pretty Bonny Lass
Now Is The Month Of Maying
To Be Sung Of A Summer Night On The Water I
C.V. Stanford: The Blue Bird
O Magnum Mysterium
Myn Lyking
In Dulci Jubilo
John Rutter: Shepherd's pipe carol
John Rutter: Open Thou Mine Eyes
Cantique De Jean Racine

Customer Reviews:

A really nice sampling of music..........2005-12-19

I've had this album for over ten years, when I bought it in college. The Cambridge Singers are a remarkable group. I bought the album for the madrigals, but have really enjoyed all the songs at one time or another, though I don't always listen to the album straight through. One song I had never heard before listening to this cd was "To Be Sung Of A Summer Night On The Water I". It is a beautiful,lush piece of music with a bit of a surprise ending.
This album is especially good listening if you aren't in the mood to concentrate on just one type of choral music for an hour. However, I find myself wanting to purchase other Cambridge Singers albums because this is a bit of a "teaser."

A great intro to THE finest choir around.......1999-08-24

A borrowed copy from the library, many years ago, was my first full introduction to this great choir. I had heard of them from their performances on the Mannheim Steamroller Christmas albums but I think I was probably more drawn to the CD cover more than anything.

The album is a great sampler work of some great performances. It includes a piece from Faure's "Requiem" as well as his incredibly haunting piece "Cantique de Jean Racine"; it also has some beautiful, early Christmas music I never knew existed, the very popular traditional hymn "All Things Bright & Beautiful", and a piece by Rutter himself, "Open Thou Mine Eyes", that holds its own and then some.

The choice of selections put together may seem a bit odd, but it provides a great road map for further exploration of Rutter & the Cambridge Singer's other works, and some of the folk tunes seem a little silly, but all-in-all 'tis a fine album indeed.

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