May 9, 2008

Holst Singers - Tormis

The Holst Singers are acclaimed as one of England’s greatest non-professional choirs. The talent and commitment of the individual members and the leadership of their mercurial conductor, Stephen Layton, ensure that their performances are always of the very highest standards. Veljo Tormis (born 1930) is - along with Arvo Pärt - Estonia’s most famous living composer, holding an almost mystic status in his home country. He is also the passionate and practical torch-bearer for folk-singing revival, and the integration of an ancient cultural inheritance into thoroughly modern, post-Soviet lives. Interestingly, he trained at the Moscow Conservatory and was steeped in Soviet instruction during his early musical life. His music is almost all written for choirs; few other composers have been so committed to one genre. Tormis’s choral specialization marks him out from Bartók, Kodály, Vaughan Williams and Grainger, whose pioneering interest in folksong was ultimately limited to the use of textless tunes in instrumental or orchestral works. For Tormis, the words and the music are inseparable. The Holst Singers have recently been invited to Estonia to perform Tormis’s music - a great honor, and a mark of their mastery of this repertoire. 8910 SACD 19.95

Posted by acapnews at 1:29 AM

May 6, 2008

Saint Mary's College Women's Choir - Across The Bar..

On the leading edge of the choral art, The Saint Mary's College Women's Choir, under the leadership of conductor Dr Nancy Menk, have assembled a program featuring fine new music from many of the most talked-about new choral composers. American composers William Hawley, Michael Sitton, Frank Ferko and Gwyneth Walker, and Finnish composer Jaakko Mantyjarvi, are just some of the names we'll be hearing about in fine choral music for this generation and the next. The works of these composers, as well as some classics, are assembled and presented here by one of the finest collegiate women's choirs in the U.S. 8906 CD 15.95

Posted by acapnews at 10:59 PM

Choir of New College, Oxford - Nicholas Ludford

The deeply expressive music of Nicholas Ludford (c. 1485-1557) has been re-discovered only relatively recently. Few composers of his stature - comparable to that of John Taverner - have been so comprehensively and so unjustly ignored for nearly fi ve centuries. Recorded in the glorious acoustic of Saint-Martin de Hoff, Sarrebourg - a perfect environment for this extraordinary music - the disc features the Missa benedicta et venerabilis, one of Ludford’s most accomplished festal Masses, with its plainsong propers, and two of his extended votive antiphons: Domine Jesu Christe and Ave cuius conceptio. Under the leadership of Edward Higginbottom, the Choir of New College, Oxford, has gained a worldwide reputation and is known particularly for its stylish performances of Renaissance and Baroque music 8909 CD 18.95

Posted by acapnews at 1:26 AM

April 28, 2008

Notre Dame Glee Club - Beautiful Rain

The Notre Dame Glee Club is a music tradition that began at the University in 1915. Since 1993, Daniel Stowe has led the Glee Club in world-wide tours with great success. Today, Glee Club repertoire is not just football songs, sea shanties and the alma mater theme. In recent years, the choir has been trimmed in numbers to 55 select singers, and their repertoire now focuses upon a wider range of styles: from German art songs, American spirituals, Russian Orthodox, Baroque and Renaissance sacred music, to Barbershop harmony and folk music from nations of the world. The Glee Club's versatility is showcased in the wide variety of genres on this disc.. The musicianship of the Glee Club is all the more remarkable when considering that the Glee Club is a volunteer ensemble, operating independently from music degree programs. Recorded in spring 2007, in the finely-tuned acoustic of Leighton Concert Hall in the newly-finished DiBartolo Performing Arts Center on the campus of University of Notre Dame. 8905 CD 15.95

Posted by acapnews at 11:49 PM

April 5, 2008

Polyphony - Poulenc: Gloria and Motets

Stephen Layton and Polyphony continue to blaze a trail as dazzling interpreters of a wide range of choral music. Here they turn to some of the most bewitching and distinctive choral works of the twentieth century. Francis Poulenc (1899–1963) imbued this well-loved music with a deep expression of his faith and unique personality. Each motet, with its own delightfully etched character, echoes the composer’s study of Bach, Monteverdi, Palestrina, or Gabrieli, but remains stylistically progressive, containing Poulenc’s ingenious chord progressions. The Gloria is one of his most enduringly appealing works. In some ways straightforwardly pious, it is also tinged with mischievous irreverence and a sense of rollicking enjoyment – facets which are deftly captured here by the soprano soloist Susan Gritton, Polyphony, the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge, and the Britten Sinfonia, all led by Stephen Layton. 8881 CD 18.95

Posted by acapnews at 12:35 AM

March 29, 2008

Stile Antico - Heavenly Harmonies

Grammy-nominated vocal ensemble Stile Antico returns with its second recording for harmonia mundi. Heavenly Harmonies juxtaposes the highly expressive Latin motets of William Byrd (c. 1540–1632) with the austere, homophonic psalm tunes of Thomas Tallis (c.1505–1585) in a performance notable for the British group’s “staggeringly beautiful singing” (The Sunday Times) and recorded in a fittingly majestic acoustic. At the heart of the religious disputes which ravaged 16th-century England, the towering figures of the Catholic Tallis and Protestant Byrd embody two opposing tendencies. What is sometimes overlooked is how much the motets from Byrd’s Cantiones sacrae I and II (1589 and 1591) owe to the concise and expressive language pioneered by Tallis a generation earlier, when he also contributed the nine psalm tunes to a new psalter by Archbishop Matthew Parker (1567) – printed but regrettably never offered for sale. The program also includes Byrd’s Mass Propers for Pentecost from his Gradualia of 1607. 8880 CD 18.95

Posted by acapnews at 12:08 AM

March 21, 2008

BBC Singers - Man I Sing, Choral Music of Bob Chilcott

The world-renowned choral composer and conductor Bob Chilcott leads the BBC Singers, as well as the internationally recognised soloists Simone Rebello and Paul Silverthorne, in these new performances of some of his best and most loved choral works. The choir is renowned as an expert ensemble and here they sing splendidly under Chilcott's direction. The selection of music on this disc has been well made to give a good variety of perspectives on Bob Chilcott's choral output - a resourceful composer and one who writes exceptionally well for voices and he is superbly served here by the virtuosity of the BBC Singers. This is a glorious showcase of one of the finest choral composers at work in Britain today. 8883 CD 15.95

Posted by acapnews at 11:49 PM

March 15, 2008

University of Utah Singers - If Music Be the Food of Love

The Singers proudly present their first 2-disc set! Disc 1 features music from the University of Utah Singers triumphant 2006 European Concert Tour, during which they won the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing in Tolosa, Spain! Reminisce with “I Have Had Singing”, “Daemon Irrepit Callidus”, “A Boy and a Girl”, “Cloudburst” and “Ah, El Novio”. Disc 2 offers an engaging program of your favorites from the 2006-2007 season, including Selections from “Into the Woods”, “One of Those Moments”, “Prayer of St. Francis”, “J’entends le Moulin”, “Stars I Shall Find”, “Conversion of Saul”, “How Can I Keep From Singing” and “Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel?” Packed with a delightful variety of music, this album has something everyone will love! 8872 2CDs 24.95

Posted by acapnews at 3:55 AM

March 4, 2008

St. Olaf Choir - Where Peace and Love and Hope Abide

F. Melius Christiansen, founder of the Music Department at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, planned and directed the first St. Olaf Christmas Festival in 1912. Over the next 96 years the Festival has grown to include, as individual groups and as a massed ensemble, the St. Olaf Choir, the St. Olaf Orchestra, the St. Olaf Cantorei, The Manitou Singers and the Viking Chorus and Chapel Choir. The result of the coming together of all this huge and joyous talent easily fills two CDs, 30 pieces with some narration that tell the story of Christmas, beginning with the all-instrumental "Messiah, Prince of Peace" and ending with F. Melius' gorgeous "Beautiful Savior." It's hard to pick favorites, but "For Unto Us a Child is Born" from Handel's "Messiah," Steven Sametz' "Noel!," Carl Schalk's "Before the Marvel of This Night," Donald Fraser's "This Christmastide" (Jessye's Carol), the 6-part medley "Carols for the Choirs" arranged by John Ferguson, F. Melius' lovely "Lullaby on Christmas Eve" and Arthur Honegger's "And God Said: One Day Shall Dawn" (King David) come easily to mind. The recordings from this powerful event never fail to touch and move us. Magnificent! 8703 2CDs 24.95

Posted by acapnews at 12:04 AM

February 15, 2008

Academy of Choral Art - Pearls of Traditional Music

This superb chorus sings a multiplicity of folk masterpieces: Russian, Gregorian, and Ukrainian. The authentic Russian songs offered generously on this program cover a wide range of genre and character, from love songs and coach tunes to peasant dances. The emotional range is broad as well, from subtle lyrics to boisterous joy. Each region represented reveals in its music an enriched experience of the uniqueness of its own culture. Sumptuous sound from top to bottom, pinpoint accuracy, electrifying virtuosity and great expressiveness. Selections range from old favourites like "Dark Eyes," the "Volga Boatman's Song," and "Kalinka," to much less familiar gems like "There is Birch in the Field" (Tchaikovsky Uses this theme in his Fourth Symphony.) The true joy in singing is everywhere evident. 8834 CD 15.95

Posted by acapnews at 12:29 AM

February 8, 2008

Cantus - Cantus

Cantus at its finest represents a great mix of styles and influences. On their latest release they decided to showcase all this variety on one recording. Included is a new commission from Lee Hoiby paired with a “Lullabye (Goodnight My Angel)” by Billy Joel. They include early 20th century Russian sacred music next to early 21st century American sacred music. They are two show-stoppers - the Smokey Robinson tune “Who’s Loving You” and ”I Can’t Tarry” a rousing African-American spiritual An amusing faux-Finnish piece precedes a semi-theatrical setting of “Casey at the Bat” and the lively programming keeps you listening from beginning to end, just as it does in their acclaimed live concerts. 8698 CD 16.95
Listen to "Pseudo Yoik"

Posted by acapnews at 12:09 AM

February 5, 2008

The King's Singers - The Golden Age

The King's Singers "For a group like ours the choice of repertoire for recording often seems bewilderingly large. So why did we choose Portugese, Spanish and Mexican music from the period known as the Siglo de Oro - the Golden Age? The idea came from our church concert programs, where acoustics, space and atmosphere allow great scope for drama. Beginning at the back of the church with Crux fidelis and slowly moving eastwards as the piece unfolds has proved to be a magical way to start. More than one audience member has told us that if the concert had ended after that one piece, they would have gone home happy. But that would have denied them the chance of hearing one of the most famous pieces from this era - Alonso Lobo’s incredible version of Versa est in luctum, which often closes the first half of the concerts." – The King’s Singers 8848 CD 16.95
Listen to "Pia et dolorosa mater"

Posted by acapnews at 12:12 AM

February 2, 2008

BBC Singers - Choral Images: Sir Michael Tippett

When Sir Michael Tippett first worked with the BBC Singers in 1944, the experience was such that he recalled nearly 50 years later that “It was to be the first of many such occasions when a composer’s dreams were brought to fulfillment.” Tippett's relationship with the BBC Singers went back to almost the beginning of his career, and he often expressed intense admiration for them. His faith is rewarded here. Now under the Conductor Laureate, Stephen Cleobury, the present-day BBC Singers return the compliment with this program of his works for choir, both unaccompanied and with organ. The plaintive high solo of the Nunc Dimittis, floating above strange middle-range harmonies, soars worlds away from cosy Anglican convention. The 'sprung' rhythms of Dance Clarion Air and The Windhover have a muscular freedom unlike anything in contemporary English music. The strangely irregular figures Tipett waves around the tune in Over the Sea to Skye may seem over-ingenious at first, but by the end their quite hypnotic, at the same time challenging the ear to re-examine a very familiar melody. 8861 CD 15.95

Posted by acapnews at 1:09 AM