"The trick to mastering counterpoint lies in mastering it completely...herein lies the glory of this magnificent, essential release. The balance of seriousness with humanity comes through as much as the balanced voices...Patterson clearly has genius in selecting just the right tempos and dynamics...serious, winning, and convincing. If we have ever had a finer Palestrina recording available, I've not heard it."
—Heuwell Tircuit, In Tune Magazine

"They [Gloriae Dei Cantores]have demonstrated a polished musicality, combined with a versatile command of a wide-ranging repertoire of literature and styles...the richness and sonority is almost hypnotically beautiful. Palestrina was, after all, one of the great composers of music for grouped human voices, and there is no reason why we should not enjoy such luscious, expansive (yet stylistically sensitive) realizations of his music. Good notes; full texts and English translations. Alike to the Palestrina collector or the lover of wonderful choral sound, this release is warmly recommended."
—John W. Barker, American Record Guide

This Christmas, give the gift of music – the earliest, purest music of the church. Gregorian chant lifts us out of the ordinary stresses of life and invites us to contemplate the timeless and unchanging love of God. The Chants of Christmas presents some of the most beautiful Gregorian chants, including the Christmas Day Mass. Avoid the commercial frenzy of the season and enjoy this beautiful collection of peace and tranquility. This CD features the well known Introits: Dominus dixit and Puer natus, as well as the Christmas Day Mass and the Antiphons to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

"The Christmas collection offers four different masses that celebrate different parts of the nativity story: anticipation of the holy birth, the traditional hour of Christ's birth, the dawning of Christmas Day, and the Missa in Die that ties it all together. Each mass differs in character and mood, according to its purpose. The Christmas Day mass is the most joyous of the lot. Two sets of medieval Marian antiphons are included, even though they are not strictly a part of Christmas liturgy...Plainchant, despite its outward simplicity, is not easy to sing properly. It has no set rhythm; the melody line follows the flow of the language, and dynamic variation follows its meaning. Coherent phrasing is a constant challenge, requiring much practice and close attention to the texts. Not even the most seasoned monastic group delivers it better than the Gloriae Dei Cantores Schola, a group that specializes in Gregorian chant. They sing in daily services and appear often in concert with (and as part of) the Gloriae Dei Cantores. Like them, the Schola singers are renowned for their smooth sound, rhythmic flexibility, and intense sacred sentiment."
—Lindsay Koob, American Record Guide
"In The Chants of Christmas, the ancient Gregorian melodies deliver a mystical aura that envelops the listener, and the mesmerizing impact is equally effective during the holiday season and throughout the year....the professionalism of this ensemble is self-apparent. The delivery is crisp and balanced, and the intonations move seamlessly as the chants rise and fall. When Gregorian chants are beautifully executed, as they certainly are here, the product provides a magic carpet ride of relaxation, yet stimulation. For me, this music provides the ideal backdrop for contemplation on a cold December night--or any night of the year, really. Every chant has a featured cantor who opens the piece before others join in. There is a lovely balance of male and female chants. Kudos to the Gloriae Dei Cantores Schola for their superb work on The Chants of Christmas. The talent required to deliver the tone quality and control demonstrated here is downright divine!"
—Carol Swanson, Christmasreviews.com
"This recording...is a remarkable success. The music consists of the Mass Propers for the four Masses of Christmas (including the vigil Mass) along with the four final antiphons of the Office in both solemn and simple melodies...Textually, these chants follow the latest edition of theGraduale Romanum, and the final antiphons are taken from the Antiphonale Monasticum, a better edition than the Liber Usualis. As a program it's cohesive, yet it combines familiar chants with the less frequently recorded Vigil and Dawn Masses. About half of the pieces are sung by the men, the rest by the women, with no octave singing; the verses of all the Mass pieces (except for the Offertories) are sung by solo cantors of uniformly high ability. The engineering is expert, favoring clarity. The notes are informative, with texts and translations printed."
—J.F. Weber, Fanfare

Named All-Time Best Recording of the All-Night Vigil by BBC Music Magazine!

Gloriae Dei Cantores releases All-Night Vigil, Op. 37 by Sergei Rachmaninoff, conducted by Peter Jermihov (internationally recognized specialist in Russian and Orthodox Liturgical music). Rachmaninoff’s All Night Vigil is made up of texts taken from the Russian Orthodox All-night vigil ceremony. Critics praised the work as Rachmaninoff’s finest achievement and “the greatest musical achievement of the Russian Orthodox Church.” It was also one of the composer’s favorite compositions, and the fifth movement was sung at his funeral. Gloriae Dei Cantores is joined by members of the St. Romanos Cappella, The Patriarch Tikhon Choir, and The Washington Master Chorale. Protodeacon under the First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, Vadim Gan, sings the clergy exclamations as well as Dmitry Ivanchenko. Soloists, Dmitry Ivanchenko and Mariya Berezovska, from the National Opera of Ukraine in Kiev, join the choir of 77 singers for this landmark collaboration and recording.

REVIEWS:

This new recording has the essential sound of the Russian choirs, with their bass-centered sonority, and tempos which allow the music to unfold in the measured pace of a devotional service. Better yet, the text-based spiritual approach to the music...stirs at least as deeply as [the] ...Russian recordings. While referring to the texts, you will have the pleasure of seeing the gorgeously illustrated booklet, with a background on each hymn and photographs of Russian churches, countryside and icons. The result is one of the very finest recordings this work has ever received.

--Ronald E. Grames, Fanfare

A landmark recording, one that is destined to become the new standard for this work. And if you don't know the Rachmaninoff "All-Night Vigil " yet, THIS is the recording you should get to begin your acquaintance. You will have to wait a long time before something better comes along!"

-- Vladimir Morosan, Musica Russica

We are invited to lift our spirits through a deeply inspired performance of Rachmaninoff's All-Night Vigil. This performance rings with devotional majesty . . . The stunning surround sound comes to us through the combined efforts of Keith O. Johnson and Sean Royce Martin.

-- Gary Lemco, Audiophile Audition

"Recording of the Month... A splendid achievement."

-- MusicWeb International

"An exemplary performance... a superlative recording... beyond glorious."

-- The Buffalo News

Ms. Patterson is a true choral alchemist, and never fails to draw truly golden sound and beautifully nuanced singing from her hard-working musicians. Sacred illumination is their mission, and they achieve it with spiritual sincerity and power."
—Lindsay Koob, American Record Guide

"Is it possible for a mixed choir of 44 voices to sing late Renaissance and early Baroque Flemish, Italian, German, and French anticopolyphony in an artistic, historically informed manner? Probably not very often – that is, unless the mixed choir in question is the Gloriae Dei Cantores. For them, the answer is an emphatic affirmative. This group sings with the clarity and control of a carefully drilled chamber ensemble a fifth their size. Phrasing, intonation, articulation, blend, and color are precisely thought out and perfectly executed."
—The American Organist

"This is quite an astonishing competitor to such celebrated ensembles as The Sixteen . . . This disc will greatly enlarge most collections of Renaissance motets with rare pieces of outstanding worth, sung with skill and devotion."
—J.F. Weber, Fanfare

Anglican chant--a harmonized form of liturgical chanting, primarily of psalms--isn't like anything else in music. Although it's closer in style to speech than traditional monodic Gregorian chant, the harmonizations--and thus the requirement for a particular type of singing ensemble--removes it from the impersonal and functional to the realm of a more artistic, performance-conscious purpose. To sing Anglican chant--and especially to sing it properly--you need a choir of mixed voices who have mastered the myriad aspects and subtleties of phrasing, inflection, articulation, tonal balances, dynamics, and the often debatable rules of pointing, not to mention the necessities of coordinating with the supporting--and sometimes ornamented--organ accompaniment. Outside of British record shops or cathedral gift stores, you rarely see a recording of real live Anglican chant--certainly not on this side of the Atlantic--so it's refreshing to discover that the very fine Massachusetts-based Gloriae Dei Cantores, known for its many Gregorian chant recordings (among many other choral-music projects), has undertaken a three-volume series to explore, and hopefully expose new listeners to, this exceptional, unique, and affecting body of liturgical music.


There are 22 psalm settings covered here, by a wide range of composers writing in predominantly traditional styles--in other words, this volume doesn't contain any of the more recently-composed or harmonically "adventurous" settings some listeners will be familiar with. What we do get is the essence of Anglican chant sound and style--and thanks to the superb efforts of this very sensitive, responsive choir, its knowing director, and a pair of first-rate organists, we experience something of the uniquely expressive power inherent in this manner of psalm-singing, which in its most accomplished form allows phrases to flow and important individual words their full presence and meaning.


I was happy to hear several of my favorite settings--especially the Wesley for Psalms 42 and 43, the Goss for Psalm 11, and Aylward for Psalm 138--as well as many beautiful unfamiliar ones. I only wish that the choir and organ were recorded in a more favorable--that is, less noisy--acoustic. Perhaps a bit more distance, or a slight dampening or reconfiguring of the live, resonant space would help. At any rate, it's a treat to hear this music so well realized and enthusiastically sung (supported by some very nice organ work). I'm looking forward to volume 2!
--David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

Paraclete Press, rooted as it is within liturgical renewal and reform, has provided us with wonderful resources for personal reflection and congregational renewal. "
—The Very Rev. Dr. Donald P. Richmond, Obl.OSB., Forward in Christ

"The singing of Gloriae Dei Cantores and the playing of the Skinner organ at [the] Church of the Transfiguration, Orleans, Mass., enhance the rich text of 20 psalms...Especially helpful is the accompanying booklet that explains Anglican psalmody and includes brief meditations that place each psalm in historical context. An accurate, balanced, pleasing musical aid to meditation on God's love and faithfulness to all generations."
—The Living Church

"What a refreshing musical gift this is! Those familiar with the Gloriae Dei Cantores singers know what a sterling ensemble they are; they deliver all the goods here. Seagull Seven's jazzy arrangement of "Deck the Hall" really rocks! In these and all else, the singers exude joy and cheer through artful, infectious performances that are immaculate and engaging. The rich warmth of tone is balanced by vibrancy and energy. This is musical merriment that will bring great cheer at Christmas time–or any time!"
—James Hildreth, The American Organist

"Here's a joyful and beautifully sung album of seasonal specialties ......this ensemble can claim many choral strengths, but their most remarkable attribute is their spiritual intensity and sincerity. Sound quality is beyond reproach; notes and texts are laid out in a colorful and festive booklet."
—Lindsay Koob, American Record Guide

"The choral artistry for which Gloriae Dei Cantores has become known can be heard in each selection. The ageless and profound wonder of Christmas comes alive with the singing of each word and the playing of each note."
—Wallace Cheatham, Christianity and the Arts

"The singing of these chants by this professional ensemble is wonderful. The sound of the women's voices is particularly striking because of their light and brilliant timbre."
—Loewen, American Record Guide

"The chants are sung by women and men in alternation with occasional octave-singing climaxes. The solo verses are expertly sung. The singing is characteristic of a group that sings chant as a daily service of worship, yet under the influence of Dr. Berry the interpretation leaves nothing lacking that a professional ensemble would bring to the task. This is an unusual presentation that will appeal to many chant enthusiasts."
—J.F. Weber, Fanfare

“I adore well-executed choral music for the holidays, and Gloriae Dei Cantores certainly fills the bill. Sing Noel is an outstanding. . . moving release of intensely lovely seasonal music.”
—Christmasreviews.com

“One of the finest crafted, best blended, and innately musical ensembles with which I have had the pleasure to work.”
— Keith Lockhart, Conductor, Boston Pops