No Walls

No Walls

ASIN: B0001XAN26

Editorial Reviews
JAZZIZ MAGAZINE
NO WALLS was chosen one of the Top Ten CDs of the Year by JAZZIZ MAGAZINE and CADENCE MAGAZINE

Product Description
Straight-ahead creative jazz. Featuring piano great Kenny Barron, Ingrid Jensen on trumpet, Harvie S on bass, Allison Miller on drums, Adam Cruz on percussion, saxophonist/composer/arranger/bandleader Virginia Mayhew. Contains 4 Mayhew originals, plus tunes by Ellington, Coltrane, Kenny Barron, Dave Holland, and Harvie S.

No Walls

Tracks:

Balm in Gilead
Chassidic Chant
Quiet Flows The Don: From Border To Border
Quiet Flows The Don: Oh, How Proud Our Quiet Don
Elijah, Op. 70: The Lord God Of Abraham
The Purest Kind Of Guy
Joe Hill
The Peat-Bog Soldiers
The Four Insurgent Generals
Native Land
Song Of The Plains
Cradle Song
Within Four Walls
By An' By
Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child
John Henry
Water Boy
My Curly Headed Baby
Mah Lindy Lou
Wagon Wheels
The House I Live In
Showboat: I Still Suits Me
Sylvia
Showboat: Ol' Man River
Porgy And Bess: It Ain't Necessarily So

Amazon.com

There was nothing like the Robeson sound, ever. To describe his deep, rich, perfectly equalized instrument is futile. Go instead to "Balm in Gilead," the opening track, and see if you can listen to the last pianissimo phrase without falling to pieces. Robeson was at his best when the music was slow and the words contained spiritual or social messages. Faster, lighter fare like Kern's "I Still Suits Me" or Gershwin's "It Ain't Necessarily So" find the serious-minded singer out of his element, lacking irony and swing. "Old Man River," though, gets a simple, dignified treatment. It's Songs of Free Men, though, that will just keep Robeson's artistry rolling along, especially in Sony's astonishing transfers. --Jed Distler

Customer Reviews:

Robeson on wax.......2007-06-19

I found this album in a thrift store last week, for a couple of dollars. It's the original pressing on four 78 RPM records, in a gatefold format. It's in pristine condition. I really bought it for the incredible cover art, although I hope to be able to listen to it in this format at some point.

The voice, the sound quality and the interpretation.......2004-09-24

Put this on your stereo and if it is good enough the depth and richness of Robeson's voice will make your fillings rattle and your chest rumble. The power of his voice is awesome. This CD is superbly recorded with no audible noise at normal listening levels.

A Voice from the 40s, often dated, often moving.......2002-09-01

"Red diaper babies" have greeted this disc with nostalgic joy, and it captures a time and an aesthetic and a political belief with precision. Anyone interested in the emotional life of the pro-Soviet left of the 1940s should buy this disc. It's something like Henry Wallace set to music. There is much more to Robeson than that, however, and Sony has given us Robeson whole: there are songs by American masters of the musical, there are labor songs, religious songs, as well as the kind of faux-folk songs which the butcher supreme Josef Stalin encouraged and which were not taken seriously inside the USSR (except at gunpoint!!) but which were taken up by dupes around the world. This is Robeson at his least savory - willing propagandist for a vile mass murderer. Songs such as "Native Land" (fittingly, Robeson is referring to the Soviet Union) and the Red Army song are the equivalent of the "Horst Wessel Song", anthems of murder, and it is difficult to listen to the worst of them without retching. On the other hand, Robeson's commitment to American folk culture was real. "Balm in Gilead" is deeply beautiful; "John Henry" is heroic; "By an' By" is both resigned yet hopeful. "Joe Hill" captures an era in labor history. Anyone interested in American popular song should hear these. Turning to Broadway, his "Old Man River" is very fine, though Robeson changed the lyrics for political reasons and Leonard Warren has done the song better. I disagree with the editorial reviewer: "I Still Suits Me" is wonderfully playful and shows Robeson using his gorgeously rich voice to tease and poke fun. However, Marc Blitzstein's "Purest Kind of a Guy" is beyond saving - another example of Robeson recording an unworthy song by a political fellow-traveller. Ugh. But for every miss there are two hits. Robeson performs Mendelssohn's Elijah with nobility, and sings his favorite song, "Water Boy", with joyous pride: "There ain't no hammer that's on these mountains that rings like mine, boys, that rings like mine."
No one need have any fears about the mono sound quality. The orchestra in the second half of the program is at times a little dwarfed by Robeson's voice, but it generally sounds clean and colorful, and the great artist's voice rings like no other.

Robeson at his best.......2000-05-12

It's hard to believe that most of these recordings pre-date the advent of magnetic tape: the CD transfer is superlative. The songs and performance are beyond reproach. Notable is the imaginative packaging in miniature 'record album' format, complete with the original cover art, and a replica of the original Columbia record label applied to the CD.

In response to a previous question: Robeson's performance of Danny Boy (Londonderry Air) can be found on the Vanguard LP entitled "Robeson" (VRS-9037).

some of the greatest songs of the last century.......2000-05-05

In the 1940s, before rabid McCarthyism and racism had taken its toll on him, Robeson made these wonderful recordings of spirituals, classics and pop tunes. Accompanied by the solo piano of the incomparable Lawrence Brown, or by an orchestra, the songs ring out with pride, dignity, skill and unmatched integrity. The shameful treatment that Robeson was subject to from American authorities certainly seem grotesquely absurd to a modern listener. The wonderful version of "The House I Live In" included on this cd should forever kill off any suspicion that Robeson did not love his country deeply. This album ought to be heard by millions of people, world wide. Robeson's voice is nothing less than a glorious high point in 20th century music, and it's hard to think of any recording capturing it to greater advantage.

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No More Walls
Graham Kendrick
Manufacturer: Make Way Music
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Christian & Gospel | Styles | Music
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What Grace
Live in Concert
Join Our Hearts
Praise 19: Glorious Father

ASIN: B0001EMLM0
Release Date: 1997-01-01

Tracks:

7 Reasons To Celebrate
From Where The Sun Rises
Under Our Skin
Reach Out And Take A Hand
Oh The Lord Is Good
Creed
Welcome The King
Joy To The World!
Peace Be To These Streets
God Be Gracious
Say It Loud
See Your Saviour Comes
Come Let Us Return
Turn Our Hearts
Prayer For Reconciliation
Where Two Or Three
Save The People
Hear Our Cry
Say It Loud (Reprise)

Product Description

Song List: 1. 7 Reasons to Celebrate - 4:00 2. From Where the Sun Rises (Kendrick) - 2:40 3. Under Our Skin (Kendrick) - 2:26 4. Reach Out and Take a Hand (Kendrick) - 2:59 5. Oh the Lord Is Good (Kendrick) - 2:58 6. Creed - 0:47 7. Welcome the King (Kendrick) - 2:40 8. Joy to the World (Mason/Watts) - 1:43 9. Peace Be to These Streets (Kendrick) - 2:32 10. God Be Gracious (Kendrick) - 3:05 11. Say It Loud (Kendrick) - 4:53 12. See You Saviour Comes (Kendrick) - 4:54 13. Come Let Us Return (Kendrick) - 4:58 14. Turn Our Hearts (Kendrick) - 3:10 15. Prayer for Reconciliation - 0:39 16. Where Two or Three (Kendrick) - 2:49 17. Save the People (Kendrick) - 5:59 18. Hear Our Cry (Kendrick) - 4:33 19. Say It Loud (Reprise) - 3:16

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This is the voice of Free Men....

Songs for Free Men 1940-1945

Manufacturer: Pearl
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Best of Communism: Revolutionary Songs

ASIN: B000000WRW
Release Date: 1997-05-20

Tracks:

Ballad For Americans
Spring Song
Oh, Give Me Your Hand
Chee La!
Fengyang
Chinese Soldiers Song
Riding The Dragon
'Quiet FLows The Don': From Border To Border
'Quiet Flows The Don': Oh, How Proud Our Quiet Don
'No For An Answer': The Purest Kind Of Guy
Joe Hill
The Peat-Bog Soldiers
The Four Insurgent Generals
Native Land
Song Of The Plains
Op. 1 No. 5: Cradle Song
Within Four Walls
Anthem Of The USSR
The United Nations
By An' By
Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child
John Henry
Water Boy
Go Down Moses
Balm In Gilead
Nobody Knows De Trouble I've Seen
Joshua Fit De Battle Of Jericho

Customer Reviews:

This is the voice of Free Men...........2001-11-03

I've had most of these songs on vinyl and they provide me with many wonderful memories. Paul Robeson had an unusual voice: a bass with baritone colorations, huge and powerful, with what can best be described as a mellow urgency. If that description confuses, then you'll just have to get this album and hear for yourself what I mean.
Robeson championed the cause of the working man through his music. Joe Hill is one of my favorites, in which Paul sinks down to the vocal depths with an astounding ease. The Song of the Plains is a rouser, and, if I remember correctly, it's sung in two languages. The Ballad For Americans is here, and it's a classic... and, for me, it's the very definition of America and the great spirit and soul of its people and its greatness. By and By is one of my favorite spirituals, and this is the version I remember. Who sang spirituals with as much richness and depth of feeling as Paul Robeson? Maybe Marian Anderson, whose voice was unique and whose life broke through so many barriers.
This is an album for those who love freedom and the many races who seek it. God bless Paul Robeson for his incredible contribution to humanity.

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My favorite Virginia Mayhew CD

No Walls
Virginia Mayhew
Manufacturer: Renma Recordings
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Phantoms
Sandan Shuffle
Nini Green

ASIN: B0001XAN26
Release Date: 2004-04-27

Tracks:

Hi-Ya, Mama!
Apple Flambe'
Visit We Missed
Never Enough
Oracle
Grand Central
No Walls
Don't You Know I Care (Or Don't You Care to Know)
Mythology

Album Description

Straight-ahead creative jazz. Featuring piano great Kenny Barron, Ingrid Jensen on trumpet, Harvie S on bass, Allison Miller on drums, Adam Cruz on percussion, saxophonist/composer/arranger/bandleader Virginia Mayhew. Contains 4 Mayhew originals, plus tunes by Ellington, Coltrane, Kenny Barron, Dave Holland, and Harvie S.

Customer Reviews:

My favorite Virginia Mayhew CD.......2007-03-18

I really LOVE my Virginia Mayhew collection. I see her regularly in NYC with the Howard Williams Big Band. All of her CD's are great, but if I had to pick just one, then this is my favorite Mayhew CD. Her tenor sound is rich and big as usual, and she is really great on Soprano on "The Visit We Missed". Four of the cuts on this CD are Mayhew originals, I love them all. The other five cuts are great also, including Coltrane's "Grand Central", Ellington's "Don't You Know I Care" and Kenny Barron's "Mythology". Kenny also plays on this CD. All the musician's are great. A great CD, great musicians, great arrangements and add to that the great bassist Harvie Swartz with Barron, and there you have it. ALSO, very important to me (I am very critical of recording quality) the recording quality is excellent. The recording was done by Katsushiko Naito, the mix by Naito and Steve Vavagiakis. They did a GREAT job. Hop on to this CD. You will love the whole ride.

Puccini - Madam Butterfly / Cheryl Barker, PO, Yves Abel [in English]

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A touching English Butterfly

Puccini - Madam Butterfly / Cheryl Barker, PO, Yves Abel [in English]
Giacomo Puccini , Yves Abel , Cheryl Barker , Paul Charles Clarke , and Simon Birchall
Manufacturer: Chandos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Turandot (Chandos Opera in English)
Puccini - La bohème / Haymon · O'Neill · Opie · McLaughlin · A. Miles · Dazeley · Shore · PO · Parry
Verdi: La Traviata
Tchaikovsky - Eugene Onegin / Te Kanawa · Hampson · Rosenshein · Gedda · Sir Charles Mackerras [in English]

ASIN: B00005QF3K
Release Date: 2001-11-20

Tracks:

Act I: Introduction - Cheryl Barker
Act I: 'So The Walls And The Ceiling...' - Ann Taylor/Stuart Kale
Act I: 'I Think Your Honour's Smiling' - Jean Rigby/Ann Taylor/Stuart Kale
Act I: 'It Can't Be Much Further Now!' - Gregory Yurisich/Stuart Kale/Ann Taylor
Act I: The Whole World Over - Ann Taylor/Gregory Yurisich
Act I: 'Fate Can't Crush Him' - Ann Taylor/Gregory Yurisich
Act I: 'Is The Bride Very Pretty?' - Gregory Yurisich/Stuart Kale/Ann Taylor
Act I: 'True Love Or Fancy' - Ann Taylor/Gregory Yurisich
Act I: 'See Them! They're Climbing The Summit Of The Hill!' - Gregory Yurisich/Cheryl Barker/Gregory Yurisich
Act I: 'We Are Honoured' - Cheryl Barker/Ann Taylor/Gregory Yurisich/Stuart Kale
Act I: 'The Imperial Commissioner' - Stuart Kale/Ann Taylor/Cheryl Barker/Simon Birchall
Act I: 'Oh, Indeed, My Friend, You're Lucky!' - Gregory Yurisich/Cheryl Barker
Act I: 'Come, My Beloved' - Ann Taylor/Cheryl Barker/Stuart Kale
Act I: 'My Fate I Have To Follow' - Cheryl Barker
Act I: 'Silence! Silence!' - Stuart Kale/Roland Wood/Cheryl Barker
Act I: 'Congratulations' - Roland Wood/Ann Taylor/Gregory Yurisich/Frances Brett/Clive Bayley/Stuart Kale
Act I: 'Dearest, My Dearest, Weep No More' - Roland Wood/Ann Taylor/Jean Rigby
Act I: 'Evening Is Falling...' - Roland Wood/Ann Taylor/Jean Rigby
Act I: 'Child, From Whose Eyes The Witchery Is Shining' - Ann Taylor/Cheryl Barker
Act I: 'Ah, Love Me A Little' - Cheryl Barker/Ann Taylor
Act II Part I: 'Izaghi Izanami' - Jean Rigby/Cheryl Barker
Act II Part I: 'One Fine Day' - Cheryl Barker

Tracks:

Act II Part I: 'Come, Let's Enter' - Stuart Kale/Gregory Yurisich/Cheryl Barker
Act II Part I: 'Yamadori, And Has your Unrequited Love Not Yet Released You? - Cheryl Barker/D'Arcy Bleiker/Gregory Yurisich/Stuart Kale
Act II Part I: 'Now, At Last!' - Gregory Yurisich/Cheryl Barker
Act II Part I: 'Just Two Things I Could Do' - Cheryl Barker/Gregory Yurisich
Act II Part I: 'This Child! This Child, Then!' - Cheryl Barker/Gregory Yurisich
Act II Part I: 'Do You Know, My Darling' - Cheryl Barker
Act II Part I: 'I Must Be Going' - Gregory Yurisich/Cheryl Barker/Jean Rigby
Act II Part I: 'Ah! Ah!' - Stuart Kale/Jean Rigby/Cheryl Barker
Act II Part I: 'Look, It's A Man-of-war!' - Jean Rigby/Cheryl Barker
Act II Part I: Flower Duet: 'Shake The Cherry Tree' - Cheryl Barker/Jean Rigby
Act II Part I: Humming Chorus - Geoffrey Mitchell Choir
Act II Part 2: Prelude - Jean Rigby/Cheryl Barker
Act II Part 2: Daybreak Over Nagasaki - Jean Rigby/Cheryl Barker
Act II Part 2: 'It's Morning' - Jean Rigby/Cheryl Barker
Act II Part 2: 'Who Is It?...' - Jean Rigby/Ann Taylor/Gregory Yurisich
Act II Part 2: 'I Know For Such Misfortune There Is No Consolation' - Gregory Yurisich/Jean Rigby/Ann Taylor
Act II Part 2: 'Farewell, Oh Happy Home!' - Ann Taylor/Gregory Yurisich
Act II Part 2: 'Then Will You Tell Her?' - Ann Taylor/Jean Rigby
Act II Part 2: 'Suzuki, Where Are You?' - Cheryl Barker/Jean Rigby
Act II Part 2: 'You, Suzuki, You're Always So Faithful' - Cheryl Barker/Jean Rigby
Act II Part 2: 'Viper! I Want You To Answer' - Cheryl Barker/Jean Rigby/Gregory Yurisich/Ann Taylor
Act II Part 2: 'Your Little Fluttering Heart Is Beating' - Jean Rigby/Cheryl Barker
Act II Part 2: 'Death With Honour Is Better Than Life With Dishonour' - Cheryl Barker

Amazon.com

This performance, the only one available in English, is problematic. Best is Yves Abel's leadership of the orchestra, which sounds wonderful, imbuing Puccini's lush score with just the right exoticism and emphasis. But aside from Gregory Yurisch's fine Sharpless, the singers don't please. Paul Charles Clarke as Pinkerton is lacking stylistically and vocally, and as Butterfly, Cheryl Barker sounds under strain and never pretty. While she has the power and feeling for the big second-act climax (the sighting of the ship), she never for a moment sounds fragile or girlish, not even in the all-important early scenes. English or not, this set isn't in the running. Stick with Callas or Scotto in Italian, and follow the libretto. --Robert Levine

Customer Reviews:

A touching English Butterfly.......2002-03-27

Anyone familiar with Cheryl Barker's Butterfly will be interested in hearing this recording. I have heard her in the role twice - in Auckland and London - and her voice has filled out as the years have gone on. She hasn't a large italianate soprano; the sound is too slender somehow. Yet there is the paradox - it has great carrying power and a decent cutting edge to make itself heard above the orchestral climaxes. What really impresses is the sense of vulnerability and moral strength she imparts, making sense of the big moments of the secong act. The sound in Act one is gorgeous (and a super D flat in theentrance aria) and she differentiates impressively between the child-bride and the embittered woman of the two acts.

She is surrounded by a mixed supporting cast. Jean Rigby is maternal, warm and affecting as Suzuki. Gregory Yurisich makes Sharpless' dilemma more understandable than usual, rather than being completely ineffectual. Paul Charles Clarke perhaps illustrates Pinkerton's arrogance with a degree of vocal swagger, but the sound is rough-hewn and unlovely save for some moments in the love duet. Stuart Kale's Goro is suitable ingratiating and oily.

Abel's conducting is the other chief draw of this set. That he has experience of the score in the theatre means that his pacing is really superb, and the lush orchestration is given its due, the potent intermezzo during the overnight vigil sounding suitably ominous.

Tracks:

Waltz From After The Fall
Wind From The Indies
Pull My Daisy
Brazilian Memories
Sao Paulo
Going North
Tompkins Square Park Consciousness Expander

Customer Reviews:

World Music from the 50s and 60s.......2003-02-17

I bought the vinyl when it was first released and hunted down another after I loaned/lost my original to a "friend." Amram discovered and incorporated Brazilian sounds long before Paul Simon or David Byrne. "Pull My Daisy" evokes the NY coffee house scene of the Beats. His eclectic style is demonstrated on "Wind from the Indies" - it's a combo of West Indian rhythms and Irish and Bombay flutes he plays with a Yugoslav folk technique he learned in Paris. "Brazilian Memories" stems from a 1969 jam session with Bob Dylan at the beach. How cool is that?

Ince: Arches/The Fall Of Constantinople/Remembering Lycia

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Continues to be incredible
Fresh new music
Sweeping Drama
Excellent capture of Turkish view of sypmhonic music
extraordinary work...

Ince: Arches/The Fall Of Constantinople/Remembering Lycia

Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

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Ince: Symphony No. 3 'Siege of Vienna'; Symphony No. 4 'Sardis'

ASIN: B000004CWN
Release Date: 1998-01-13

Tracks:

Arches
Symphony No. 2 'Fall Of Constantinople': I. City And The Walls
Symphony No. 2 'Fall Of Constantinople': II. Haghia Sopia
Symphony No. 2 'Fall Of Constantinople': III. Speeches Of Emperor Constantine And Mehmet The Conqueror
Symphony No. 2 'Fall Of Constantinople': IV. Ships On Rails: The Marine Battle
Symphony No. 2 'Fall Of Constantinople': V. Fall Of Constantinople
Remembering Lycia For Piano And Orchestra: I. Tale Of The Sea
Remembering Lycia For Piano And Orchestra: II. Whispering Night
Remembering Lycia For Piano And Orchestra: III. Pounding Waves
Remembering Lycia For Piano And Orchestra: IV. Eternal Tombs

Customer Reviews:

Continues to be incredible.......2005-11-18

I purchased this CD at the premiere of Arches in 2001 in the new addition of the art musuem in Milwaukee. It was a very rich experience seeing it performed live. It was not until I returned to my apartment and listened to the whole CD that I began to understand just how rich this music was. Symphony No. 2 is one of my favorite pieces of music. I am a painter and a writer and have listened to this CD now weekly for four years while working on numerous projects. Great art influences other art, I believe. And this CD has influenced me in many ways.

Fresh new music.......2002-09-23

Something that I'm certainly never opposed to. Hearing this man's music was both exciting (first rate modern day composers are always great finds) and depressing (WHY HADN'T I HEARD OF HIM SOONER?!).

I don't want to ruin this music by attempting to slot it into some sort of category, however, if I HAD to classify him, I'd put half of him in the minimalist category, the other half in the Neo-Romantic category. An odd combination, yet Ince pulls it off beautifully. Especially in a work such as "Arches" he is able to develop measure after measure of spectacular music from seemingly little material. Likewise with Remembering Lycia, he frequently seems to evoke Adams and Glass (the intro of movement two especially reminds me of Glass's Metamorphoses).

However, at the same time, Ince's music is much larger and grander in scope than most minimalists'. The Second Symphony opens with an almost Wagnerian attack, and the music, while never atonal, frequently employs strongly clashing harmonies.

All in all, a wonderful find!

Sweeping Drama.......2001-03-05

This music is beautiful. It is pure drama and emotion. I highly recommend it for anyone who enjoys the likes of Phillip Glass and other modern composers.

Excellent capture of Turkish view of sypmhonic music.......1999-10-03

Although Ince is considered properly as a minimalist, his 2nd Symphony is a work that "describes" scenes in all their contours. Ince shows that it is not by chance, his winning the Prix de Rome.

extraordinary work..........1999-09-27

Excellent, two thumbs up

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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

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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.

Jazz Music:

Jazz Music

Jazz Music