Gentle Words: Shaker Songs

Editorial Reviews
Fanfare Magazine, September/October 2001
If you care about American music or the art of sublime choral singing, I implore you to buy this recording.

Gentle Words: Shaker Songs, Music, American Traditional, James Whittaker, John Lockwood, Clarissa Jacobs, Paulina Bates, Addah Z. Potter, Ephraim Frost, Cecelia Devyr, Polly M. Rupe, John Whitbey, Issachar Bates, David Stutz, Ann Glusker, Lisa Cardwell Ponten, The Tudor Choir, Doug Fullington, Choral, Choral Music, Classical, Classical Artists, Classical Music, Classical Vocals, Miscellaneous, Miscellaneous Music
Gentle Words: Shaker Songs
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • beauty, simplicity, and utility
  • Words and Music Marry in Siegfried's Arrangements
 Gentle Words: Shaker Songs
Polly M. Rupe , John Whitbey , Issachar Bates , David Stutz , Ann Glusker , Lisa Cardwell Ponten , The Tudor Choir , and Doug Fullington
Manufacturer: Loft Recordings
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

GeneralGeneral | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Classical | Styles | Music
Similar Items:
  1. Simple Gifts: Shaker Chants and Spirituals
  2. Simple Gifts
  3. Early Shaker Spirituals
  4. Tree of Life
  5. The Shapenote Album

ASIN: B00005JIZK
Release Date: 2001-06-05

Tracks:

  1. I Will Bow And Be Simple
  2. In Yonder Valley
  3. All Is Summer
  4. O Lord Make Me Pure
  5. Love Is Little
  6. The Burning Day
  7. Circular March
  8. Help Me, O Lord
  9. Heavenly Display
  10. Followers Of The Lamb
  11. Come To Zion
  12. We Must Be Meek
  13. Lay Me Low
  14. Solemn Song
  15. Beautiful Treasure
  16. Peace
  17. Angels Of Heaven
  18. Hunger And Thirst
  19. Dismission Of Great I
  20. Revelation
  21. Prayer For The Captive
  22. Gentle Words
  23. Beautiful Valley
  24. Jubilee
  25. Ezekiel's Vision
  26. Almighty Savior
  27. Cords Of Love
  28. I Will Go On My Way

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars beauty, simplicity, and utility.......2001-09-12

Of this CD's twenty-eight tracks, eighteen are arrangements by Kevin Siegfried; the remaining ten are straightforward, unadorned performances of Shaker hymns, sung either by the choir in unison, or by a solo voice, as they would have been sung in Shaker services. Occasionally the choir stomps and claps, also as the Shakers would have done. The unison songs and Kevin's settings blend seamlessly together, since Kevin's music is very sensitive to the spirit of the original tunes. His harmonies have an open, rough-hewn quality to them, like early American furniture, sturdy and useful. The music carefully mirrors and supports the text, occasionally employing mixed meter to follow the natural cadences of speech. The settings are largely homophonic, like Lutheran chorales, rendering the text easily comprehensible. Kevin avoids unnecessary embellishments and repetitions, and each piece is a small, well-proportioned gem, averaging about two minutes in length. In the liner notes, Kevin writes of his desire to preserve the Shaker ideals of "beauty, simplicity, and utility" in his settings, and he has succeeded brilliantly; the music is unassuming, serene, and peaceful.

5 out of 5 stars Words and Music Marry in Siegfried's Arrangements.......2001-06-27

This recording of Shaker Hymns arranged by composer Kevin Siegfried and sung by the very fine Tudor Choir of Seattle is magnificent for several reasons chief of which is the careful blending of text and music in the arrangements. The "gentle words" of these hymns come alive through Siegfried's thoughtful soundscapes, providing the right context for the message of these poignant and life affirming hymns. This is no small task and although the Tudor Choir sings beautifully throughout, it is the arranging that has really caught my ear on this cd; you'd be hard pressed to find a recording of choral works with a better marriage of text and music. Well worth your money, time, and ears.

Track Listings:

  1. Glinka - Overtures & Dances
  2. ITALIAN GUITAR CONCERTOS: Friedemann Wuttke, Guitar - New Moscow Chamber Orchestra - Igor Zhukov
  3. Ives: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3
  4. Johann Sebastian Bach: Gamba Sonatas
  5. Just-Spring: Art Songs of John Duke
  6. Kaleidoscope: Music by African-American Women
  7. Lehmann: In a Persian Garden/Dunhill: Songs of the River
  8. Liszt: Complete Tone Poems Volume One
  9. Love Songs [Import]
  10. Marenzio: Il Nono Libro De Madrigali / La Venexiana

Track Listings

track listings

Track Listings

String Tribute to Tool

Sergey Ivanovich Taneyev: Symphonies Nos. 2 and 4

Unnatural World

Out to Lunch

Barbarians

Very Best of [Import]

Two's Company [Cast Recording] [Original recording remastered]

The Spanish Guitar: Fernando Sor

The Thin Line

The London Trumpet Sound, Vol. 1

The Jazz Trio of Hank Jones

Tremenda Sonora

Suerte He Tenido

The Legendary Cleo Brown

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