Cantate Domino

Editorial Reviews
David Vernier, Classics Today, February 1, 2002
"..This release is... what can happen when you put top-notch young singers together with first-class music.”

Album Description
Any children's choir director today would marvel at an ensemble made up entirely of boys: there's nothing quite like that sound and that energy. And what would be the impact on the entire world situation if all boys--and men--were singing wonderful music together instead of, well, a lot of the other things they do? Yes, we can speculate on that forever, but many of us feel that we know the answer--and the director and 50 members of Germany's Knabenchor (boy's choir) capella vocalis certainly appreciate the benefits of singing together, resulting in the lovely music we hear on this outstanding recording from Hänssler, made last year at the church of Peter and Paul in Mössingen. You don't get young people to sing music such as this without real commitment from all concerned--and without exceptional vocal and musical talent. After all, the program features works by Rheinberger (Salve regina), Duruflé (Ubi caritas), Bruckner (Locus iste), Poulenc (Laudes des St. Anton! ias von Padua), Distler (Lobe den Herren), and Grieg (Ave maris stella), as well as more recent works by Siegfried Reda, Otto Olsson, and Günter Raphael.

Cantate Domino, Music, Anonymous, Johann Sebastian Bach, Anton Bruckner, Hugo Distler, Maurice Durufle, Edvard Grieg, Hans Leo Hassler, Heinrich Kaminski, Felix Mendelssohn, Otto Olsson, Francis Poulenc, Gunter Raphael, Siegfried Reda, Joseph Rheinberger, Choral, Choral Music, Classical, Classical Music, Classical Vocals, Miscellaneous, Miscellaneous Music, Motet, Opera/Operetta, Psalm Setting, Romantic Motet, Sacred Choral Music, Sacred Choral Music a capella, Sacred Choral Music for Male Voices

Gloria: The Sacred Music of John Rutter
Average customer rating:

Simply amazing

Gloria: Sacred Music of John Rutter

Gloria: The Sacred Music of John Rutter

Manufacturer: Collegium
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

All Works by Rutter | Rutter, John | ( R ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music
General | Classical | Styles | Music
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Operettas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Masses | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
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Be Thou My Vision

ASIN: B000AA4JBG
Release Date: 2005-09-20

Tracks:

First Movement: Allegro Vivace
Second Movement: Andante
Third Movement: Vivace E Ritmico
All Things Bright And Beautiful
Cantate Domino
O Clap Your Hands
Wedding Canticle
The Lord Is My Shepherd
A Gaelic Blessing
Hymn To The Creator Of Light
Arise, Shine
Praise Ye The Lord
For The Beauty Of The Earth
God Be In My Head
Open Thou Mine Eyes
A Prayer Of Saint Patrick
The Lord Bless You And Keep You

Customer Reviews:

Simply amazing.......2007-06-16

If I do make it to heaven, I don't know what it will look like, but I do know what it will sound like - listen to the vocals in the Second Movement: Andante . They are worth the price of the whole CD.......
a miracle, really.

Gloria: Sacred Music of John Rutter.......2007-05-14

Outstanding music and outstanding recording. A musical treat as soon as you put in the disc. This is a must for anyone interested in choral music by Rutter.

Average customer rating:

a great combination, part and hilliard
Beautiful and Profound
Power and Grace
Rich, lovely, unmatched music
Classical music is not dead

Arvo Pärt: De Profundis

Manufacturer: Harmonia Mundi Fr.
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Sacred & Religious | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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

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

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Arvo Part: Te Deum / Kaljuste, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
Alina - Arvo Part
Lamentate
Arvo Pärt Sanctuary
Tabula Rasa

ASIN: B0000007FL
Release Date: 1997-03-10

Tracks:

De Profundis (Psalm 129)
Missa Sillabica: Kyrie
Missa Sillabica: Gloria
Missa Sillabica: Credo
Missa Sillabica: Sanctus
Missa Sillabica: Angus Dei
Missa Sillabica: Ite missa est
Solfeggio
'And One Of The Pharisees'
Cantate Domino (Psalm 95)
Summa (Credo)
Seven Magnificat Antiphons: O Weisheit
Seven Magnificat Antiphons: O Adonai
Seven Magnificat Antiphons: O Spross
Seven Magnificat Antiphons: O Schlussel
Seven Magnificat Antiphons: O Morgenstern
Seven Magnificat Antiphons: O Konig
Seven Magnificat Antiphons: O Immanuel
The Beatitudes
Magnificat

Amazon.com

Marx and Lenin probably would not have appreciated the irony, but after decades of Communist repression of religion, the former Soviet bloc is the source of a profound outpouring of explicitly Christian expression. This is manifested in the music of such composers as Henryk Gorecki, a Pole, and Arvo Pärt, an Estonian. Part, a refugee from serialism, here writes in a quasi-minimalist style that he calls "tintinnabuli," a sound that echoes medieval composition. A fan of vocal music ("The human voice is the most perfect instrument of all"), he uses choruses to superb effect. This disc includes some of his best work, including the popular Magnificat, beautifully rendered by the Theatre of Voices under Paul Hillier. --Sarah Bryan Miller

Customer Reviews:

a great combination, part and hilliard.......2004-06-21

i purchased this CD recently and was a bit worried. i enjoy part and hillard, but the length of the pieces was often so short. i really enjoy it when part writes long, epic pieces and the vocal work really explores all types of music.

instead, what i found was a collection of many small gems, each of which combine to form the larger work i was looking for. i'm not particularily religious, but i find the deep spiritualism in part's work to be profound and soothing. this disc is no exception, as part and hillaird explore religion, theology and philosophy through music and voice.

this CD is well arranged and orchestrated, and ranks among the best of any of part's works. i've been leary of hearing part work outside of the ECM new series of recordings, but i'm happy i explored. few pairings work as well as hillaird and part, i'm thankful they share their work.

Beautiful and Profound.......2004-02-06

I picked up this wonderful gem on a whim. As sacristan for my Jesuit university campus ministry, I was looking for good and movintg religious music. This surpasses anything being marketed as "liturgical" music for churches.

Part creates music that is beatiful, moving and profound. It transported me to another world; it is a deeply moving experience. Some of these tracks have already become my favorite works of musical art as well as meditative prayers.

Power and Grace.......2002-01-10

Hillier's Theatre of Voices gives an absolutely wonderful rendering of Pärt's work. The music is amazing, recalling medieval choral music as well as contemporary ideas in musical composition. Pärt manages to touch on a wide range of feeling throughout all of these compositions, conveying emotion while maintaining the kind of austerity of sound found in medieval chant. Ultimately, the CD provides a moving and enjoyable listening experience. I would recommend it to both seasoned fans of choral music and neophytes alike.

Rich, lovely, unmatched music.......2001-07-23

This music is gorgeous, whether you think you like choral music or not.

The first time I heard Arvo Part, I was browsing in a music store and stopped to listen with a pair of crummy headphones. The sounds and tone drew me into another world, one made lovely by the rich and carefully-worked composition of a master.

The recording is perfect. The music is like nothing else I've heard, more deeply-felt and inspiring than anything I'm familiar with. I would not call myself a fan of choruses, but Part's work is extraordinary.

Classical music is not dead.......2000-05-18

For anyone who thought that "classical" music had been killed by atonal dissonance or kidnapped into the absurd esoteria of academic abstraction, I recommend the music of Avro Part. Similar in style to another (some would say 'THE' other) great modern composer Gorecki, the music is heavy and religious in tone and absolutely beautiful. I was an immediate convert to Part's music, and, from what I can tell, I am not alone.

Average customer rating:

Nothing but hits

Essential Hyperion, Vol. 2

Manufacturer: Hyperion UK
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Waltzes | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music

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The Essential Hyperion (Label Highlight Compilation)
Essential Purcell

ASIN: B00004RITB
Release Date: 2001-01-09

Customer Reviews:

Nothing but hits.......2001-01-31

As with their first collection of label highlights, Hyperion's new two-disc collection provides a broad sampling of their exceptional catalogue and performers. Particularly rewarding are the selections from Beethoven (Scherzo from String Trio in C minor, op 9 no 3, performed by the Leopold Trio) and Thomas Tallis (Salvator mundi I, performed by the Winchester Cathedral Choir), but experienced and novice listeners alike will find much to enjoy on these discs. It's also a good value--more than 2 1/2 hours of music for less than $10.

Arvo Pärt: Berliner Messe; Magnificat; Summa

Average customer rating:

Gorgeous Choral Music by Pärt, Gorgeously Performed

Arvo Pärt: Berliner Messe; Magnificat; Summa

Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Lamentate

ASIN: B0002TXT5M
Release Date: 2004-10-19

Tracks:

Cantate Domino Canticum Novum
Kyrie
Gloria
Alleluia Verses I & II
Veni Sancte Spiritus
Credo
Sanctus
Agnus Dei
De Profundis
Summa
The Beatitudes
Magnificat

Album Description

With a number of modern classics already to his name, notably the Symphony No. 3, Tabula Rasa, Fratres and Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten, culminating in 1982 with his largest work thus far, the St John Passion, Arvo Pärt has during the past 20 years consolidated his reputation as one of the most significant composers at work today with a sequence of magnificent sacred choral works. The present recording provides an overview of Pärt's mature idiom with works written on either side of the Passion, and in which a gradual expressive openingout and harmonic enrichment of the composer's musical vocabulary can be detected. The Magnificat is perhaps Pärt's most immediately appealing choral work whose alternation of solo and tutti sections imparts a powerful spiritual aura.

Customer Reviews:

Gorgeous Choral Music by Pärt, Gorgeously Performed.......2004-12-02

I will be the first to admit that I have not been a particular fan of the trend in contemporary choral music that partakes rather heavily of ancient methods--music like that of Pärt and John Tavener--and have tended to steer clear of them after a few exposures. I liked Pärt's 'St. John Passion' but felt it went on too long and was just a bit monochrome. I have also not been a big fan of trance music, of which some of this music seems to take part. But for some reason I have really responded positively to this release of choral music by Pärt. Perhaps it is because the performances are so wonderful. The Elora Festival Singers are a group made up of professional singers from Toronto, mostly from, I think, Toronto's well-known Mendelssohn Choir. I have been impressed with other recordings they have made and I suppose that's why I gave this CD a listen. Some, or even perhaps all, of these pieces have been recorded before, some several times, and some by such wonderful groups as the Hilliard Ensemble, the group that first recorded the 'St. John Passion.' Perhaps my positive response also has something to do with the fact that there are several shorter pieces here, pieces that one can easily imagine being performed as part of a church service, rather than an evening long work like the Passion. Amazon has not, as of the date of this review, listed the individual pieces included here. They are:

Cantate Domino Canticum Novum (Psalm 95) (1977, rev. 1996)
Berliner Messe (1990-91, rev. 1992)
De Profundis (1980)
Summa (1977)
The Beatitudes (1990, rev. 1991)
Magnificat (1989)

The largest piece here (23 minutes long) is the seven-movement 'Berliner Messe' which exists in several versions. The one here is for string orchestra and choir. The orchestral accompaniment is very spare (and very lovely) and, as with most of Pärt's choral music, the choir sings a kind of extended Gregorian chant with much unison singing but also with austere choral harmonies that often include added-note triadic chords. The effect is prayerful and serene. The 'Credo' is a rewriting of the earlier 'Summa,' which also appears here as a separate piece. In both the 'Credo' and the earlier 'Summa' there is a medieval-sounding etiolation of Lutheran chorale tunes. The 'Agnus Dei' is particularly haunting.

The setting of the 'Psalm 95' ('O sing unto the Lord a new song') is a simple chant-like setting for four-part chorus and organ with changing harmonies and spare organ accompaniment. 'De Profundis' ('Out of the depths I have called unto Thee') does indeed rise out of the depths, with tenors and basses intoning the main theme; quiet bass drum strokes and a recurring single tubular chime note against a wavering organ ostinato create an incantatory effect. 'The Beatitudes' and 'Magnificat' (the latter possibly the most performed of all of Pärt's choral pieces) are in like vein. The seven-minute 'Magnificat' alternates solo and choral sections and perhaps provides a bit more contrast than others of his works.

Although I have not heard other recordings of these pieces, I cannot praise too highly the limpid, lightly inflected, and reverent singing of the Elora Festival Singers, along with the excellent support of their partners, the Elora Festival Orchestra and organist Jürgen Petrenko, led by their conductor (and Elora founder) Noel Edison. This is music-making at the highest level.

Recommended.

Scott Morrison

Average customer rating:

One of the Best Classical Music of our time
A celestial experience & a wonderful memorial piece
SIMPLY EXQUISITE
Glorious
An Excellent Introduction

John Rutter: Requiem

Manufacturer: EMI Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Sacred & Religious | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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Gloria: The Sacred Music of John Rutter
Rutter: Requiem
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Rutter: Gloria

ASIN: B000009OQB
Release Date: 1998-08-11

Tracks:

1. Requiem Aeternam
2. Out Of The Deep
3. Pie Jesu
4. Sanctus
5. Agnus Dei - DUKE DOBING
6. The Lord Is My Shepherd
7. Lux Aeterna
Veni Sancte Spiritus
What Sweeter Music
Hymn To The Creator Of Light
Cantate Domino
Cantus
Te Deum

Customer Reviews:

One of the Best Classical Music of our time.......2007-03-14

The Rutter's Requiem is one of the most beautiful music written in our time. It has a lyrical and very lovely melody, meaningful words and wonderful SATB voices. Highly recommended.

A celestial experience & a wonderful memorial piece.......2007-01-04

I agree with so much of what's been said in the other reviews ... "it never fails to get me," etc. I wanted to add my 5 stars and a few comments, as well.

I incidentally discovered this work when a local classical radio station broadcast "Pie Jesu," and like the writer above, I scrambled for a pen. Honestly, I still have the same sense of wonder and amazement that I first experienced that day, every time I hear the piece. I've since researched and listened to other versions of "Pie Jesu", and I agree that this is the finest version ever recorded. (I would say the same for the entire "Requiem" on this CD.) This version of this composition is something that you "feel" as much as you hear it.

John Rutter apparently wrote this specifically for the acoustics of King's College Cathedral, and the superb technical quality of this recording adds a lot to the experience. There are wonderful French horn and oboe solos in several pieces (not so in other versions I've heard.) Rutter comments that he wrote it in memoriam, after he suffered a personal loss, and I believe he's musically expressed the human experience of death & loss as well as anyone ever has. So when I lost my father in October 2006, I included several movements in the funeral service: "Pie Jesu", sung in Latin with just a few phrases repeated throughout; Psalm 23, sung in English, at times hauntingly; and Lux Aeterna, again Latin, in which I sense a celebration of one's life, and the beginning of one's healing after a loss.

If you're interested in a CD to listen to, when you're mostly in the mood for a spiritual experience - this one comes highly recommended.

SIMPLY EXQUISITE.......2000-07-28

We had heard of neither Rutter nor Cleobury until a chance airing of "Te Deum" on the local classical station's sacred music concert had us scrambling madly for pen and paper and thence directly to the music store.

This CD contains a stellar cross-section of Rutter's work. He combines the melodic simplicity of Bach with a distinctly modern sensibility. The combined effect of the music's sheer beauty, the exquisite skill of the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, and the magisterial hush of the King's College Chapel make for an ethereal and thoroughly transformative musical experience.

It's truly *lovely.* Words simply cannot convey the listening experience, let alone do it justice. This recording will blow you away, if not change your life.

--VMS/PTS

Glorious.......2000-06-07

This is a fine recording of John Rutter's masterpiece. The Choir of King's is exceptional. The recording features the full orchestral accompaniment with amazing soloists, specifically flute, cello and oboe. I am particularly found of performances by all-male choirs of this composer's music - Pie Jesu is breathtaking as a boy soprano solo. I believe this to be the best recording yet on disc of the Requiem. The programme is rounded out by other secular choral works. The Wallace Collection brass ensemble is a great guest on the disc as well. Highly Recommended.

An Excellent Introduction.......1999-12-08

This CD is a near-perfect introduction to the music of John Rutter, a composer who has forged a place in the hearts of many listeners. Although he has written for most media (including solo instruments and orchestra), it is his choral music that commands the most attention- primarily as there is so much of it! And on this disc, the King's College Choir explores some highlights of the last ten years or so, including a number of works written for them. The Requiem is itself a fine work. I have sung it on two occasions so I know the demands it places on performers; most of these are overcome so well that it sounds like an easy work. There are a few places where the orchestra drowns out the choir (slightly smaller perhaps than Rutter intended) but in general the work is an absolute joy to listen to from beginning to end- every emotion is felt, indeed every note seems to be just right. In the other works, there is even clearer evidence of Rutter's diversity and personal style: most speak for themselves although I was rather surprised by "Hymn to the Creator of Light", the opening of which bears echoes of John Tavener. The final two tracks stand out above all the rest in that they feature the Wallace Collection, surely the most beautiful brass band I have ever heard, in two memorable showcases- "Cantus", a single word setting that makes glad the heart and may well draw tears from sensitive listeners; and "Te Deum", in which the scintillating combination of organ, brass and drums will sweep you away in a wave of pomp and majesty. If you want to discover Rutter, this is the disc for you; if you or your friends and loved ones already know and like Rutter, this disc will make a fine addition to any collection or gift list.

Monteverdi: Mass for four voices; Mass for Six voices 'In Illo Tempore'

Average customer rating:

Monteverdi: Mass for four voices; Mass for Six voices 'In Illo Tempore'

Manufacturer: Hyperion UK
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Palestrina: Missa Papae Marcelli, Missa Aeterna

ASIN: B00009WQVB
Release Date: 2003-10-14

Average customer rating:

Finally!

Cantate Domino (Hybr)
Oscar's Motet Choir
Manufacturer: Proprius Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

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Schubert: Lieder [Hybrid SACD]

ASIN: B0000E64YT
Release Date: 2005-05-17

Customer Reviews:

Finally!.......2007-02-18

I used to have this LP years ago, and it sounded amazing on my old Thorens turntable. Well, now it sounds amazing on my Denon player through my Vandersteen speakers! It's an all-time favorite audiophile recording, and no decent hi-fi store is without a copy. Musically, it's a very satisfying album as well. Beautiful Christmas music, great vocals and organ playing, superb acoustics. Even if you're not into Christmas (I'm not) or into choral music, get it for the sheer realism, inspired performances, angelic voices and mighty organ playing.

Eugene Spoconi

Average customer rating:

One of best lute albums currently obtainable.
Beautiful

The Renaissance Lute

Manufacturer: Dorian Recordings
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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English Renaissance Music
Medieval Dance Music
Sinners & Saints: The Ultimate Medieval and Renaissance Music Collection
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ASIN: B000001Q9Y
Release Date: 1994-02-01

Tracks:

Branle
Branle Gay, C'est Mon Amy
Haulberroys
Haulberroys
Branle De Poictou
Petite Fantasie Dessus L'accord Du Leut
Passemeze
Pavana Bray
Galliard
Forlorn Hope Fancy
Greensleeves
Greensleeves
Greensleeves
John Come Kiss Me Now
Madonna katerina
Christ Is Erstanden (Christ Is Risen)
Und Wer Er Nit Erstanden (And Who Is Not Risen)
Der Hoff Dantz
Der Hoff Dantz (Nach Tantz)
Preambel
Elslein Liebstes Elslein Mein (Dearest Elslein My Elslein)
Ich Klag Den Tag (I Lament the Day)
Ein Welscher Tantz Wascha Mesa
Der Hupff Auff
Fantasia
Conde Claros
Mille Regretz
Passacaglia
Branles De Village
Fantasia
Pavana Alla Ferrarese
Saltarello
Piva
Ricercar #51
Ricercar #16
Ricercar #33
Ricercar #34
O Bone Jesu

Customer Reviews:

One of best lute albums currently obtainable. .......2006-04-11

This album now rates as my favorite from among the lute music offerings readily available from commericial sources in the US. Ronn MacFarlane plays enthusiastically and dynamically, and the great affinity he seems to have for the songs is readily transmitted through the recording. There is nothing monotonous here: each rendition sparkles. Here is an album you can listen to again and again, eagerly anticipating every listen.

Beautiful.......2003-12-30

Ronn McFarlane is great. I'd heard his two Scottish lute CDs, which are wonderful, and The Renaissance Lute is also terrific. McFarlane plays with great sensitivity and touch--bringing out the quiet, reflective nature of the music and also its liveliness--the music is relaxing and lovely.

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

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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Praise to the Lord - Hymns From St. Paul's Cathedral

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.

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

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.

Customer Reviews:

Not the best performances, but still a pretty good collection.......2007-04-20

Naxos has never provided the best performances of the music of Arvo Part--the long line of ECM recordings were made under the composer's supervision and thus may be seen as definitive--but the collection ARVO PART: A PORTRAIT is a nice effort indeed. Issued in 2005, the year of the Estonian composer's 70th birthday, this package features selections from nearly his entire career over two discs, in recordings drawn from the Naxos, BIS, and Nimbus labels, and also contains a 78-page booklet with Nick Kimberley's essay "Arvo Part: A Musical Journey".

Arvo Part came to worldwide attention through the minimalistic and overtly spiritual music he began composing in the mid-1970s, but ARVO PART: A Portrait features some music from his early career as well. Part was something of an enfant terrible in the Soviet music world, and in the 1960s he infuriated the socialist realist musical establishment by producing dodecaphonic and collage works through the 1960s. From this era we get the second movement of the Symphony No. 1, the "Collage ueber B-A-C-H", and the cello concerto "Pro et Contra". One does regret, however, that his important piece "Credo", discussed at some length in Kimberley's piece, is not featured here, but perhaps Naxos could not find a recording that could be licensed for inclusion here.

The bulk of the collection, however, is dedicated to Part's "holy minimalism" output, a style which he calls "tintinnabuli" for its bell-like tones. Two selections from his hour-long masterpiece "Passio" are included here, one begin four minutes long and the other twelve. Of the "Berliner Messe" we have the Kyrie and Credo, and the other late pieces here are included full-length.

"Fur Alina", the exceedingly simple piano piece he wrote in 1976, breaking a silence of nearly a decade, is featured here in its scored form in performance by Alexei Lubimov. The ECM recording of this piece is a much longer improvisation by Alexander Malter, so this Naxos collection (or the BIS disc the selection was drawn from) is a good way to hear the piece at its most simple.

Over the last decade or so, Part has began reconciling his tintinnabuli style to the more fiery spirit of his youth. However, none of those pieces, such as "Como cieva sedienta" are represented here, which is regrettable.

While the Naxos performances of Part's music are not the best available, only the Naxos recording of "Tabula Rasa" by the Ulster Orchestra and Takuo Yuasa is outright unlistenable. The rest are acceptable, and this collection makes a more more economical introduction to Part's career than the many full-price ECM discs. And for established Part fans, the included essay by Nick Kimberley is interesting reading, especially when the only other major English-language coverage of Part, Paul Hillier's Arvo Part (Oxford Studies of Composers), is difficult to find.

A Written and Sound Portrait of One of Our Most Important Composers.......2005-07-13

"Contemporary classical music which genuinely touches people is rare, but the rapt, contemplative music of Arvo Pärt communicates readily, and without pandering to the demands of a mass audience." -- Nick Kimberley

"It is enough when a single note is beautifully played." -- Arvo Pärt

These two comments shed light on Arvo Pärt, both the music and the man. An intensely private man who came of age in repressive Stalinist Soviet Estonia but who always maintained his stalwart religious beliefs, against all fashion, and who, though he started out as an avant-gardist, became the prophet of what has been called 'the new simplicity,' Arvo Pärt is perhaps the most beloved composer of classical music in the world. His music is known by people who have almost no interest otherwise in classical music, largely because of the effect it has on even the casual listener, as reflected in Nick Kimberley's comment above. It also has devoted followers among the musical cognoscenti. His piece 'Fratres,' in its myriad forms, is his most widely performed work, but it is probably his ecstatic 'Passio' that has created the most devoted following, particularly following its first recording by the Hilliard Ensemble on the ECM label.

This release has two CDs chockfull of unfailingly beautiful performances of Pärt's music, generally in complete movements taken from releases by Naxos and other labels. Such disparate works as his spare piano piece, 'Für Alina,' movements of his Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3, the 'Berliner Messe,' the 'Magnificat,' 'Collage über B-A-C-H,' 'Spiegel im Spiegel,' and 'Triodion,' are represented here. Two versions of 'Fratres' are included, one for cello and piano, the other for percussion and strings. His cello and orchestra work, 'Pro et Contra,' is performed by Frans Helmerson and the Bamberg Symphony under Neeme Järvi. Excerpts from 'Passio' ('Passion According to the Gospel of St. John') from the recording by Antony Pitts, Pärt expert and a composer in his own right, and his choral group Tonus Peregrinus are particularly haunting. Celebrated organist Kevin Bowyer is heard playing Pärt's 'Annum per annum.'

The illuminating accompanying essay, 70 pages long, is by Nick Kimberley, a noted British arts critic. All of this is in a glossy booklet enclosed in a cardboard box, typical of Naxos's classy presentation of both recorded music and booklet notes.

This release is for all those who are already devotees of Pärt's music and for those who are just coming to admire his music. The budget price makes it all the more attractive.

2 CDs TT=164mins

Scott Morrison

Track Listings:

Track Listings

track listings

Track Listings

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