Chanticleer - Our journey
A compelling journey through American choral music spanning over two centuries
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Traditional, A.M Cagle, Brent Michael Davids, Juan Guitiérrez de Padilla, Stephen Collins Foster, (composers) Various, Juan de Lienas, William Hawley, Steven Stucky, George Gershwin, William Billings, Ann Ronell, Jackson Hill
Genre:
Vocal
Label: Teldec (Warner Classics)
Magazine Review Date: 2/2003
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 78
Mastering:
Stereo
DDD
Catalogue Number: 0927-48556-2
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Guide me, O thou great Redeemer |
Traditional, Composer
Chanticleer Joseph Jennings, Conductor Traditional, Composer |
Credidi |
Juan de Lienas, Composer
Chanticleer Joseph Jennings, Conductor Juan de Lienas, Composer |
Versa est in luctum |
Juan Guitiérrez de Padilla, Composer
Chanticleer Joseph Jennings, Conductor Juan Guitiérrez de Padilla, Composer |
Jefferson (Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken) |
Traditional, Composer
Chanticleer Joseph Jennings, Conductor Traditional, Composer |
(The) Singing Master's Assistant, or Key to Practi, Movement: David the King was grieved (David's Lament) |
William Billings, Composer
Chanticleer Joseph Jennings, Conductor William Billings, Composer |
Soar Away |
A.M Cagle, Composer
A.M Cagle, Composer Chanticleer Joseph Jennings, Conductor |
Whispers |
Steven Stucky, Composer
Chanticleer Joseph Jennings, Conductor Steven Stucky, Composer |
Voices of Autumn ("Aki no ko-e") |
Jackson Hill, Composer
Chanticleer Jackson Hill, Composer Joseph Jennings, Conductor |
The Un-Covered Wagon |
Brent Michael Davids, Composer
Brent Michael Davids, Composer Chanticleer Joseph Jennings, Conductor |
Tre Rime di Tasso, Movement: Fuggi, fuggi, dolor... |
William Hawley, Composer
Chanticleer Joseph Jennings, Conductor William Hawley, Composer |
Tre Rime di Tasso, Movement: Labbra vermiglie e belle |
William Hawley, Composer
Chanticleer Joseph Jennings, Conductor William Hawley, Composer |
Jeanie with the light brown hair |
Stephen Collins Foster, Composer
Chanticleer Joseph Jennings, Conductor Stephen Collins Foster, Composer |
Camptown Races, 'Gwine to run all night' |
Stephen Collins Foster, Composer
Chanticleer Joseph Jennings, Conductor Stephen Collins Foster, Composer |
Goldwyn Follies, Movement: Love walked in |
George Gershwin, Composer
Chanticleer George Gershwin, Composer Joseph Jennings, Conductor |
Willow Weep for Me |
Ann Ronell, Composer
Ann Ronell, Composer Chanticleer Joseph Jennings, Conductor |
Calling My Children Home |
(composers) Various, Composer
(composers) Various, Composer Chanticleer Joseph Jennings, Conductor |
(I) am a poor wayfaring stranger |
Traditional, Composer
Chanticleer Joseph Jennings, Conductor Traditional, Composer |
I'm a Pilgrim |
Traditional, Composer
Chanticleer Joseph Jennings, Conductor Traditional, Composer |
Author: Adrian Edwards
The CD opens with Guide me, O Thou Great Jehovah set to an Appalachian melody in plainsong mode, a refreshing change to Cwm Rhonda. There follows a couple of reminders of Spain’s early contribution to the Americas with the Credidi by Juan de Lienas, a poised and rhythmic double choir setting of Psalm 115 that winds up with a fervent climax at ‘Gloria Patri et Filio’, and in contrast, an unadorned setting of verses beginning ‘My Heart is turned to mourning’ by de Padilla.
Chanticleer adopt a raw, exposed vocal timbre, notably on the alto line, to revive the Colonial spirit of Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken to a tune from 1827. They adopt a similar vocal style for William Billings’ powerful setting of David’s Lamentation and Soar Away, AM Cagle’s spare setting of words from an 1814 collection of hymn and spiritual songs where the supplicant pleads for a sober mind to see the tempter fly.
Three contrasted contemporary pieces give full rein to Chanticleer’s outstanding vocal capabilities. In Whispers, prompted by Walt Whitman’s Whispers of heavenly death, Steven Stucky threads allusions to Byrd’s Ave verum corpus round his own music to suggest how images of death can be metamorphosed through great art into mystical exultation. Whispers haunts the mind long after the music has stopped. Jackson Hill’s Voices of Autumn was inspired by Buddhist liturgical chant. The atmosphere is eerie: the scene is a mountain forest where the cry of a stag and footsteps in fallen leaves (those of the stag?) delineated in a rhythmic pattern (2'46" in) are part of the mesmerising picture. In The Un-Covered Wagon the composer has the choir imitating the ceremonial sounds of Native American tribal music, shakers and drums, encircling the hymn Faith of our Fathers in polyphonic fashion.
On more conservative ground, musically speaking, there are two exquisite settings by William Hawley of short lyric poems by Tasso, a couple of Stephen Foster ballads, his ‘Jeanie’ arranged by Gene Puerling of Hi-Los fame, the Gershwins’ ‘Love Walked In’, and in that same vein Willow Weep for Me, over-indulged I found in director Joseph Jennings’ arrangement. A couple of very inviting bluegrass songs lead to a gospel style finale (I’m a Pilgrim), where the temptation to join in may be irresistible when Chanticleer perform this programme at London’s Barbican on May 1.
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