The Psalms of David [Box set]

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
This complete 12-disc survey of The Psalms of David from St. Paul's Cathedral is both a remarkable historical record of Anglican chant at its finest and an astonishing musical experience. Contained here are all 150 psalms in their traditional English garb from the 1549 Book of Common Prayer, with revised or entirely new musical settings as published in The New St. Paul's Cathedral Psalter, edited by the choir's musical director John Scott, itself a revision of the 1875 Cathedral Psalter. As such, these recordings represent the very backbone of the Anglican liturgy, but even a casual listener will be in no doubt that they also offer music that is both contemplative and richly varied when removed from its liturgical context.

The art of "pointing"--or setting--psalm texts has been essayed by many English composers, from William Croft through the Wesleys and William Boyce in earlier times to the great flowering in the late 19th century under Stainer and Barnby, with further contributions from Parry, Stanford, Elgar, Howells, and a host of choirmasters and organists, including Sir David Willcocks and John Scott himself. All are represented here. Recorded throughout in the vast acoustic of their cathedral, the St. Paul's choristers enunciate the words precisely, backed by inventive though unobtrusive organ accompaniment. Taken individually, it's possible to isolate moments when the choir seem to drag their feet or fail to give due weight to the words (Psalm 125, "They that put their trust in the Lord," seems far too subdued, for example), and the massive Psalm 119 is awkwardly split across discs 10 and 11, but overall this set is nothing less than a document of invaluable cultural and musical significance. --Mark Walker

The Psalms of David, Music, Philip Armes, Robert Ashfield, Ivor Atkins, Thomas Attwood, Sir Edward Cuthbert Bairstow, Sir Joseph Barnby, Jonathan Battishill, George J. Bennett, John Bertalot, Jonathan Bielby, William Boyce, Andrew Carter, Robert Cooke, Joseph Corfe, J. Coward, William Crotch, Sir Henry Walford Davies, John Davy, Edgar Day, Christopher Dearnley, Edward Elgar, George Elvey, Stephen Elvey, Luke Flintoft, George Mursell Garrett, Henry John Gauntlett, Christopher Gibbons, John [composer] Goss, Alan Gray, Thomas William Hanforth, Basil Harwood, William Henry Havergal, Alan Stephen Hemmings, Frederick Alfred Hervey, Edward Hopkins, Herbert Howells, William Jacobs, John Jones, Gerald Knight, Craig Sellar Lang, Henry George Ley, Charles Harford Lloyd, Bertram Luard-Selby, Martin Luther, Charles MacPherson, Sir George Macfarren, Arthur Henry Mann

The Psalms of David from Kings Choir of Kings College, Cambridge, Vol. 1
Average customer rating:

Make a joyful noise!

Just what I wanted.

Analog recording superior

High comfort level

Oldie But a Goodie

The Psalms of David from Kings Choir of Kings College, Cambridge, Vol. 1

Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Great Choral Classics from King's Choir of King's College, Cambridge

ASIN: B000009OQF
Release Date: 1998-08-11

Tracks:

I Was Glad
Like As The Hart/Give Sentence With Me
Praise The Lord, O My Soul
Hear My Crying, O God
The Earth Is The Lord's
I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes
The Lord Is My Shepherd
God Is Our Hope And Strength
O How Amiable
Lord Who Shall Dwell
By The Waters Of Babylon
O Praise The Lord
O Praise The Lord Of Heaven
O Sing Unto The Lord
O Praise God In His Holiness

Customer Reviews:

Make a joyful noise!.......2007-03-13

It's amazing how hearing these settings can help you to understand the Psalms more fully than simply reading them might permit. This performance is clear and precise, and in no way lacks emotion or expression. I have always found these settings to be very moving, and King's College certainly conveys their power. A must buy for those who long for traditional settings, and who find modern "religious" music to be tiresome and unimpressive.

Just what I wanted........2007-01-03

An escape from "modern christian" music. These are the words of the Psalms set to music, sung in a cathedral by angelic voices. This is what Heaven's music sounds like I'm sure!

Analog recording superior.......2005-11-10

This is a fantastic recording from I believe 1968 when the King's Choir was led by Willcocks. In my opinion, these older analog recordings are sharper and more distinct -- you can actually hear individual boys and parts. Perhaps that has more to do with engineering and placement of microphones than digital vs. analog. But the bottom line is this is a vintage recording and is as good as it gets.

High comfort level.......2004-11-07

I would surely like to obtain a complete collection of all psalms by this choir. For years I have looked, searched, for this collection which I heard as a child played every sunday in South America. A great collection, ageless and timeless something have and play in the home for upliftment and inspiration even if you are not a religous person. Endless stars ****************************

Oldie But a Goodie.......2003-03-28

Had this music been recorded digitally, it would have been beyond sublime. Alas, it still has an analog sound to it, despite the remastering. Nonetheless, it is worth the purchase (though for a better recording of the 46th Psalm, check out the Choir of Christ's Hospital recording of it).

The Psalms of David - Choir of King's College, Cambridge - Sir David Willcocks, Sir Philip Ledger

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The Psalms of David - Choir of King's College, Cambridge - Sir David Willcocks, Sir Philip Ledger

Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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The Psalms of David from Kings Choir of Kings College, Cambridge, Vol. 1
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Treasures of English Church Music

ASIN: B0001RVRF4
Release Date: 2006-06-06

Tracks:

Psalm 122: I was glad
Psalms 42 & 43: Like as the heart - Give sentence with me
Psalm 104: Praise the Lord, O my soul
Psalm 61: Hear my crying, O God
Psalm 24: The earth is the Lord's
Psalm 121: I will lift up mine eyes
Psalm 23: The Lord is my shepherd
Psalm 46: God is our hope and strength
Psalm 84: O how amiable are thy dwellings
Psalm 15: Lord, who shall dwell in thy tabernacle
Psalm 137: By the waters of Babylon
Psalm 147: O praise the Lord for it is a good thing
Psalm 148: O praise the Lord of heaven
Psalm 149: O sing unto the Lord
Psalm 150: O praise God in his holiness
Psalm 126: When the Lord turned again
Psalm 65: Thou, O God, art praised in Sion
Psalm 66: O be joyful in God, all ye lands
Psalm 67: God be merciful unto us, and bless us
Psalm 114: When Israel came out of Egypt
Psalm 115: Not unto us, O Lord
Psalm 12: Help me, Lord
Psalm 133: Behold, how good and joyful
Psalm 134: Behold now, praise the Lord

Tracks:

Psalm 81: Sing we merrily unto God
Psalm 22: My God, my God, look upon me
Psalm 78: Hear my law, O my people
Psalm 93: The Lord is King
Psalm 49: O hear ye this, all ye people
Psalm 107: O give thanks unto the Lord
Psalm 45: My heart is inditing
Psalm 37: Fret not thyself
Psalm 53: The foolish body hath said
Psalm 130: Out of the deep
Psalm 131: Lord, I am not high-minded

Krzysztof Penderecki - St Luke Passion, Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima, Polimorphy, String Quartet No. 1, Psalms of David, Dimensions of Time and Silence

Average customer rating:

Chuck Norris once tried to listen to this album while alone in the dark at 11:30 PM. He FAILED.
Get This While You Can

Krzysztof Penderecki - St Luke Passion, Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima, Polimorphy, String Quartet No. 1, Psalms of David, Dimensions of Time and Silence

Manufacturer: Polskie Nagrania - Muza
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Children of Men (Widescreen Edition)

ASIN: B0000SVZWY
Release Date: 1989-01-01

Tracks:

Passio et mors domini nostri Jesu Christi "St Luke Passion" (Parts 1-18)

Tracks:

Passio et mors domini nostri Jesu Christi "St Luke Passion" (Parts 19-24),
Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima
Polimorphy
String Quartet No. 1
Psalms of David
Dimensions of Time and Silence

Album Description

Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima (Tren ofiarom Hiroszimy in Polish) is a musical composition for 52 string instruments, composed in 1959 by Krzysztof Penderecki (b. 1933), which took third prize at the Grzegorz Fitelberg Composers' Competition in Katowice in 1960. The piece swiftly aroused tremendous interest around the world and made its young composer famous.
The piece--originally called 8'37" (at times also 8'26")--applies the sonoristic technique and rigors of specific counterpoint to an ensemble of strings treated unconventionally in terms of tone production. "While reading the score," Tadeusz Zielinski wrote in 1961, "one may admire Penderecki's inventiveness and coloristic ingeniousness. Yet one cannot rightly evaluate the Threnody until it has been listened to, for only then does one face the amazing fact: all these effects have turned out to serve as a pretext to conceive a profound and dramatic work of art!" Indeed, the piece tends to leave an impression both solemn and catastrophic, earning its classification as a threnody. On October 12, 1964, Penderecki wrote, "Let the Threnody express my firm belief that the sacrifice of Hiroshima will never be forgotten and lost."
The piece's unorthodox, largely symbol-based score directs the musicians to play at various vague points in their range or to concentrate on certain textural effects. Penderecki sought to heighten the effects of traditional chromaticism by using "hypertonality"--composing in quarter tones--to make dissonance more prominent than it would be in traditional tonality. Another unusual aspect of Threnody is Penderecki's expressive use of total serialism. The piece creates an "invisible canon," an overall musical texture that is more important than the individual notes, making it a leading example of sound mass composition. As a whole, Threnody constitutes one of the most extensive elaborations on the tone cluster.

Customer Reviews:

Chuck Norris once tried to listen to this album while alone in the dark at 11:30 PM. He FAILED........2006-07-18

These are some of the best performances of Penderecki's music I know of. You really get a sense of how shocking this music was (and at times, still is) when it first came out (particulary the "crowd" scenes involving the chorus in the "St. Luke Passion" and the high string parts in the "Threnody"). Granted, the sound quality is not the best, but the quality of the performances make up for it. These recordings were made around the time this music was still relatively new (or, as in the case of the St. Luke Passion, when the sheet music was still hot off of the presses), and you can tell. The radical spirit of the music shines through (This WAS the 60's, after all). Be warned: This is not Mozart. It is not "classics for comfort". This is brutal, aggressive stuff. It abandons melody and harmony for a kind of "sound field" approach, not unlike the "monolith" music from "2001: A Space Odyssey". It is an acquired taste. However, those of you who are willing to take the plunge and go in with open minds and ears will be richly rewarded.

Get This While You Can.......2006-06-20

No collection of 20th century classical music is complete without this recording. The sound quality is acceptable considering these are original recordings. This is dark, intense stuff. Mel Gibson ain't got nothin' on this.

Average customer rating:

Almost Perfect!
Re-released at Last!!!
probably the best of the MTC recordings - A REAL CLASSIC

Lord's Prayer

Manufacturer: Collectables
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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The Essential Mormon Tabernacle Choir

ASIN: B00000092N
Release Date: 1996-11-05

Tracks:

The Lord's Prayer (Robertson Version)
Blessed Are They That Mourn
How Great The Wisdom And The Love
Holy, Holy, Holy
148th Psalm
For Unto Us A Child Is Born
David's Lamentation
Londonderry Air
Battle Hymn Of The Republic
Heavenly Father! (Ave Maria)
Judas Maccabaeus: Halleluja, Amen
My Shepherd Will Supply My Need
Come, Sweet Death
O Be Joyful
The Redemption: Unfold, Ye Portals
Requiem: Give Unto The Meek
Otello: Lord, Hear Our Prayer
Oratorio From The Book Of Mormon: Old Things Are Done Away
A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
The Lord's Prayer (Malotte Version)

Customer Reviews:

Almost Perfect!.......2007-03-06

I find this CD so frustrating! The Lord's Prayer was the first LP I ever purchased, and it's impact and beauty have never left me. I had all but given-up every seeing it on CD until this reissue came along. Both LPs on one CD, how can you go wrong? You can't actually UNLESS you want the complete first LP. They left out ONE SELECTION ("O, My Father") - probaby a time consideration. In any event, two great LPs, the remastering isn't much. It pales against the original LPs, but its great to have most of the albums.

Re-released at Last!!!.......1999-02-01

I have been waiting to find this on CD for years, and am so happy to have found it. One of the best albums of religious music ever. The interpretations are simple and exquisite, the phrasing clear, and each choice harmonious and moving.

Now if you'd just offer the sequel, "The Lord's Prayer II"...

probably the best of the MTC recordings - A REAL CLASSIC.......1999-01-16

I have been listening to this recording in both its vinal and cd form since about 1966. I think it is the best of the MTC recordings of religious music with a good cross section of both Mormon and Mainline music.

Music by Finzi, Vaughan Williams and Holst

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Delightful!
psalm 86

Music by Finzi, Vaughan Williams and Holst

Manufacturer: Angel Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Fauré · Duruflé - Requiem / J. Blegen · J. Morris · Atlanta SO · Shaw

ASIN: B000005GSD
Release Date: 2002-11-05

Tracks:

Five Mystical Songs: Easter - John Shirley-Quirk
Five Mystical Songs: I Got Me Flowers - John Shirley-Quirk
Five Mystical Songs: Love Bade Me Welcome - John Shirley-Quirk
Five Mystical Songs: The Call - John Shirley-Quirk
Five Mystical Songs: Antiphon - John Shirley-Quirk
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A Choral Fant, H177 - Dame Janet Baker
Psalm 86, No.1 H117 - Ian Partridge/Purcell Singers
Dies Natalis, Op.8: Intrada - Wilfred Brown
Dies Natalis, Op.8: Rhap (Recitativo Stromentato) - Wilfred Brown
Dies Natalis, Op.8: The Rapture (Danza) - Wilfred Brown
Dies Natalis, Op.8: Wonder (Arioso) - Wilfred Brown
Dies Natalis, Op.8: The Salutation (Aria) - Wilfred Brown

Customer Reviews:

Delightful!.......2004-04-24

This recording is absolutely delightful! I first bought this record when I was 18, shorly before I went into the Army. When I was stationed at Ft Gordon, GA, to my suprise I heard it on a radio, a huge console stereo in the dayroom, probably was on a National Public Radio type broadcast station. Then it burned in a fire about 8 years later. Then about 22 years later while stationed in South Korea, I found a copy of this record at a record shop, in perfect condition. The voice of John Shirley-Quirk singing this is the best recording I've heard of Ralph Vaughan William's Five Mystical Songs.

psalm 86.......2002-08-05

I have only heard the Psalm on radio 3 and was struck by its refreshing arrangement. A single male voice (of considerable range) is balanced against a treble chorus singing in deceptively simple harmony at times, lightly accompanied by a small ensemble. The variety of texture, dynamics and orchestration is compelling to hear and much to be recommended for "bath"ing to!!

Average customer rating:

Brilliant Recordings
A- for effort
What can you say?

Psalms of David Complete
Choir of St Paul's Cathedral , and Scott
Manufacturer: Hyperion UK
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00006GO6J
Release Date: 2002-10-08

Amazon.com

This complete 12-disc survey of The Psalms of David from St. Paul's Cathedral is both a remarkable historical record of Anglican chant at its finest and an astonishing musical experience. Contained here are all 150 psalms in their traditional English garb from the 1549 Book of Common Prayer, with revised or entirely new musical settings as published in The New St. Paul's Cathedral Psalter, edited by the choir's musical director John Scott, itself a revision of the 1875 Cathedral Psalter. As such, these recordings represent the very backbone of the Anglican liturgy, but even a casual listener will be in no doubt that they also offer music that is both contemplative and richly varied when removed from its liturgical context.

Customer Reviews:

Brilliant Recordings.......2007-06-11

In our view the changes in pointing, and excellent selection of chants, give deeper meanings to the Psalms than those achieved in the "standard?" Parish Psalter.

We found great Spirituality and a wonderful sense of Worship whilst listening to this set. This is often sacrificed for brilliance of musical performance in other recordings.

Unfortunately the "St.Paul's Psalter" is not available (June 2007) but we are told that a new print run may happen within 12 months. This would be a most valuable companion to the recordings when and if it becomes available.

A- for effort.......2006-02-23

This grand undertaking deserves high praise, and I'm struck, listening to chant after chant, how much Anglican chant as it used to be until the changes of the 70s was one of the great Victorian contributions to English life and art. For anyone who wants to hear almost the entire repertoire of Anglican chant deployed in singing the whole book of Psalms, this is an unrivalled source. It is wonderful, too, to hear the Coverdale translation: you realize what the churches have lost by abandoning the proper & regular singing of the Psalms. So one is immensely grateful to Hyperion for putting out this recording. It's not perfect, though.

The rhythmic pacing, though a little slow for my taste, is steady and sensitive, the diction clear, and the organ accompaniment superb (Providing an expressive accompaniment to a choir singing in 4-part free rhythm, and improvising descants to the melody at the same time, isn't easy). And of course there's the cavernous acoustic of St. Paul's, very impressive in the more thunderous psalms. Unfortunately, though, the "forward" style favored for the St. Paul's boys produces a sound that's unpleasantly chesty in the lower registers and reedy in the higher ones. The poorly integrated choral sound caused by this kind of voice-production can be downright unpleasant for anyone used to, or trained in, the classic English choral style. In fact, one has to wonder why this choir was chosen for such a huge project: even allowing for the near-universal decline in standards of vocal training for boys in England, better sounds than this can still be heard.

What can you say?.......2003-01-03

I almost hate to criticize this terrific thing. After all, where else can you get all 150 Psalms in a single collection sung by one of the world's great choirs?

How much do I like it? I bought it *twice*. I originally bought all the CDs separately, before they came out with a single boxed set. They were stolen from my car (and, God willing, maybe they converted some poor thief to Anglican Cathedral Music and got him into church). After they were stolen, I immediately bought them again.

One of the great pleasures of life is listening to the Morning and Evening Psalms while driving to and from work, and making listening a regular feature of Morning and Evening Prayer.

So what's the criticism? The sound is a bit muddy, so the words can be rather difficult to understand without reading along (which is a real problem when driving), and personally, I prefer the Psalter from the 1979 BCP instead of the old one, from the Great Bible. But that's unreasonable. They ARE a British choir after all. Those are the only criticisms.

Anyhow, if you have a taste for choral cathedral music, this is genuinely indispensible. St. Paul's has given the world a great blessing.

Baltic Voices 1 / Kreek Sandstrom / Rautavaara / Part / Vasks
Average customer rating:

Great 20th century choral music

Some enchanting music

Impeccable performances, soothing music

Ethereally amazing

Not great...

Baltic Voices 1 / Kreek Sandstrom / Rautavaara / Part / Vasks
The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
Manufacturer: Harmonia Mundi Fr.
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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The Powers of Heaven: Orthodox Music of the 17th & 18th Centuries

Arvo Pärt: Da pacem

Veljo Tormis: Litany to Thunder

ASIN: B00006RNHD
Release Date: 2003-02-11

Tracks:

Cyrillus Kreek (from Psalms of David, 1923): Psalm 104 (Bless the Lord, O my soul)
Happy is the Man (from Psalms 1, 2 & 3)
Psalm 141 (O Lord, I call to Thee)
Psalm 121 (The sun will not strike you by day)
Hear my prayer, O Lord (1986), after Henry Purcell (Sven-David Sandstr
Einojuhani Rautavaara: Lorca Suite Op. 72 (1973): Cancie jinete (The Rider)
El Grito (The Scream)
La luna asoma (The Moon)
Malague
Veljo Tormis: Latvian Bourdon Songs (1982): Garais sauciens (Song of meeting)
Rota dziesma (Spring song)
Kazu apdzieda\232anas (Wedding song contest)
Seru dziesma (Funeral song)
Linu druva (The Flax field)
Ligo dziesma (Midsummer song)
Sven-David Sandstrs ist genug (It is enough) (1986)
Arvo P: ...which was the son of... (2000)
Peteris Vasks: Dona nobis pacem (Grant us peace) (1996/97)

Amazon.com

This remarkable collection of choral music by Baltic composers opens our ears to both their similarities and differences. There are folk influences aplenty (from Veijo Tormis in particular), but also some surprises. Sven-David Sandstrom's "Hear my prayer" takes Purcell's piece of the same name as a jumping-off point, and although his treatment is modern, the lamentation remains vivid. Arvo Part's history of Jesus' genealogy, sung in English, is almost fun in its seemingly endless repetition of "which was the son of," while Rautavaara's four-part, seven-minute Lorca Suite is a fascinating study in miniatures. Vasks's "Dona nobis pacem" (the only piece with orchestral accompaniment) has a hypnotic downward vocal sequence that contrasts with the rising strings. The other works hold the interest as well, and the ubiquitous and gifted Paul Hillier leads the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir in lush performances. Fans of the great Eastern choral tradition won't want to miss this. --Robert Levine

Customer Reviews:

Great 20th century choral music.......2007-02-07

This first volume of Baltic Voices, performed by the highly acclaimed Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, is a pure enjoyment for any fans of choral music as well as those interested in folk music. All pieces on this CD were pretty much written in the 20th century, starting with Cyrillus Kreek's enchanting Psalms of David (1923), sung in Estonian, and ending with Arvo Pärt's world premiere recording of "...which was the son of..." (2000)-- a fascinating, yet simple, depiction of the geneaology of Jesus from the Gospel of Luke (performed in English). Veljo Tormis does a beautiful job blending the old folk music themes with some new motives in the Latvian Bourdon Songs (1982). And there is much more to discover from other composers... The singing, the sound, and the recording are simply beautiful. The accompanying booklet offers additional details as well as translations.

Some enchanting music.......2006-12-08

Several tracks on this album are absolutely incredible.

I heard the first track (Bless the Lord, O My Soul) by chance on NPR one evening and was immediately spellbound by its unique phrasing.

The last track (Dona Nobis Pacem), aided by a climactic interplay of voice and string, stung me with a beautiful sensation which reaffirmed to my soul that music captures the reason for being alive.

As a newcomer to choral music, I cannot compare this work to many others. However, I can wholeheartedly declare that this album will appeal to those that kneel in humility to the beauty of the human voice.

Impeccable performances, soothing music.......2005-05-26

The very first time I heard a recording from this CD was on NPR several years ago, and it featured excerpts from the Cyrillus Kreek piece. Needless to say, I was in awe of what I heard and consequently had to get the CD. It was one of the most worthwhile purchases I ever made!

The choir performs with ubiquitous energy and notable vigor when a selection would require it. Furthermore, there are many contrasting works featured on this disc, from the ethereal Cyrillus Kreek selection, to the folk-inspired Spring Song and other, more avant-garde repertoire.

It may be the case that one will not instantly fall in love with every single track on this disc, but I would make a case for the fact that there are a number of universally appealing choral works on this disc that, next to the somewhat affordable price, would certainly warrant the purchase!

Ethereally amazing.......2004-07-02

Many composers from Baltic countries round out this incredible compact disc, sung by a collection of excellent voices. The vocal blending is tremendous, despite isolation of the voices over several parts in, at times, serious dissonance. The music is so haunting, I must say I've listened to it nearly every day since I bought it. I witnessed their concert in Houghton, New York last fall, and immediately bought both this CD and the Powers of Heaven.

Not great..........2004-03-17

Full choral sound, sounding very strident at times. Oddly, the recorded singing sounds distinctly enhanced, giving it a less than natural sound. The repertoire represented on this CD is hit and miss - some good, some unremarkable.

Charpentier: Four Seasons, Psalms Of David / Gester, Rime, Parlement De Musique

Average customer rating:

Beautiful voices and instruments performing a beautiful work

Charpentier: Four Seasons, Psalms Of David / Gester, Rime, Parlement De Musique

Manufacturer: Opus 111
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

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General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Motets | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00000I4K8
Release Date: 1999-02-09

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful voices and instruments performing a beautiful work.......1999-07-26

I am cautious of voices I have never heard, bought this cd used and it has become one of my top five favorites. The voices are decidely "French" in style and the overall performance is a pleasure.

Average customer rating:

A remarkable compilation of 20th century American psalmody.

Make His Praise Glorious

Manufacturer: Gloriae Dei Cantores
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Voices 1900/2000
The Lord Is My Shepherd
Eric Whitacre: Cloudburst and other choral works
Blue Wheat
O Magnum Mysterium

ASIN: B00000JXXD
Release Date: 1998-10-13

Album Description

Recording of twentieth-century American psalm settings features many recorded premieres, including works by Hovhaness, Nelson, Adler, and Hanson. Other composers included are Ives, Starer, Thompson, and Pinkham. This album was recorded in the splendid setting of Methuen Memorial Music Hall with its marvelous organ and acoustics. |

Gloriæ Dei Cantores has a mission to preserve and perform the finest sacred music. From its beginnings, the choir has also felt a special mission and an affinity for American music. There is a rich bounty of great American music that is rarely heard, and for that reason, Gloriæ Dei has now embarked on a series of recordings of American psalm settings.

Customer Reviews:

A remarkable compilation of 20th century American psalmody........2004-05-19

Elizabeth C. Patterson and her Gloriae Dei Cantores (Singers to the Glory of God) chorus had been total unknowns to me prior to about a year ago. The group had been brought to my attention then by Mark O'Connor's publicist, at which time he had been the guest artist on their "Appalachian Sketches" album. But that album, excellent as it was, turned out to be just the small tip of a significant iceberg in terms of choral singing, and particularly the American traditions of sacred choral singing over the last half-millennium.

I've since collected quite a few of their albums, and, to switch metaphors, this "Make His Praise Glorious" album may turn out to be the mother lode. Actually a religious choral community based on Cape Cod, MA, Gloriae Dei Cantores members have literally dedicated their lives to this music genre. In addition to recording at their "home base," they have also recorded frequently in Mechanics Hall, Worcester, MA and at Methuen Memorial Hall, Methuen, MA (where this particular recording was made). (For those who aren't familiar with the organ tradition in America, Methuen Memorial Hall is where the original organ in Boston's Symphony Hall found its "final resting place" after the formation of the Boston Symphony Orchestra rendered it redundant. Fully restored, reconstructed and revoiced in 1947, this organ is one of the finest historical organs in the U.S., and its permanent home-Methuen Memorial Hall-was built specifically for its properties, and for its perpetual preservation as well.)

The music on this album is as wide a variety of settings of the Psalms by 20th century American composers as one could ask for, covering a variety of liturgical points of view. Samuel Adler and Robert Starer (both Jewish refugees from Germany and Austria respectively who settled in the U.S and built significant careers in music afterwards) take their own individualistic approaches to their choices of psalms. Adler's, in English, is heroic, resplendent with two trumpets supporting the chorus. Starer's, in Hebrew, with piano accompaniment, are more reflective and smaller in scale, but equally well-done.

Alan Hovhaness's "Make a Joyful Noise" is a cantata in four parts based on Psalms 54, 55 and 66. Like much of Hovhaness's music, with its reflection of his Armenian roots, "Make a Joyful Noise" is otherworldly; simply a beautiful piece of writing. The opening Prelude is for trombone solo and organ; quite a piece by itself. The remaining three parts are the actual psalms; all three of them have the Methuen organ supporting the chorus and the second and fourth parts in addition have a brass quartet of two trumpets and two trombones. A joyful noise indeed!

There are four brief a capella motets set to psalms by David Pinkham, and excellent sacred choral works by Ronald A. Nelson, Howard Hanson and Randall Thompson. Thompson's setting of Psalm 23 ("The Lord is My Shepherd") is particularly beautiful, with the chorus accompanied by harp. (The booklet notes point out that Thompson set this for chorus plus optional organ, piano or harp. I believe that Elizabeth Patterson made a very wise choice in the harp option; it fits the music perfectly.)

All of the works already described were written in the middle third of the 20th century. All are readily accessible, and none could truly be called "modern." That description best fits the remaining work on the album,Charles Ives's setting of Psalm 90. Originally written in 1894, and possibly performed a few years later, when Ives was organist at the Central Presbyterian Church in New York, the work was then lost, and then reconstructed by Ives in 1923, partially from sketches he had preserved but largely from memory. (Ives had a prodigious memory, apparently, and could reconstruct works decades after they had been lost or abandoned.) Its first true public performance didn't take place until 1966,when the Gregg Smith Singers presented the official premiere. (The Robert Shaw Chorale then performed it the following year.)

This remarkable work is full of many Ives compositional touchstones, made famous in his later works, that belie its original date of composition. Written for chorus, organ and bells, it is in every sense a visionary work, full of unusual harmonies, stacked chords, harmonic ambiguities, and even tone clusters, and, as well, transcendent atmosphere (provided by the bells). Yet, despite this fearsome description of its constituents, the work is fresh and accessible, and, like the very best of Ives, very moving. In a phrase, it is an eleven-minute masterpiece, and easily the shining star of this album. And to think that it is the oldest work on the album, and by so many years!

Gloriae Dei Cantores do a splendid job with this difficult work, and this performance easily suffices as the best example of an Ives psalm in the absence of a remastering of the Gregg Smith Singers LPs that had so many good Ives choral works on them. Better yet, other albums by Gloriae Dei Cantores have additional Ives psalms on them.

As I finish writing these thoughts, we are less than 24 hours away from official observance of the 50th year since Ives's passing. A fitting tribute, I'd like to think.

Bob Zeidler