This brand new recording by Harry Christophers and The Sixteen is dedicated to the works of Spanish Renaissance composer Francisco Guerrero and includes his exquisite Missa de la Batalla Escoutez. The Mass is a parody on Janeuqin's famous chanson 'La Guerre' which also features on this disc. Janequin's La Guerre, was so popular in the 16th century that it led to numerous composers, including Janequin himself, writing parody mass settings on it. Missa de la Batalla Escoutez is one of the finest of those settings. Guerrero is a quite astounding and varied composer with a wide expressive range. Heralded in the Renaissance as 'the most extraordinary of his time in the art of music', he was more famous than Victoria and Morales. Despite being a master of expression and sublime melodic invention - skills exemplified by his Missa de la Batalla Escoutez and the other fine works on this disc - Guerrero's work has often been overlooked in favour of that of his contemporaries. With this brand new recording The Sixteen aims to redress the balance.

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.


Villa-Lobos' late masterpiece, Forest of the Amazon, began life as a Hollywood film score, the majority of which was never used. So he developed the music into a huge, 80-minute-long, multi-movement suite that serves both as a tribute to his homeland and a fitting culmination of his personal musical voice. The work has everything: luscious orchestration, great tunes, a "primitive" male choir chanting in a primordial language, some lovely songs for soprano, and passages of wordless vocalise for the same singer evocative of exotic birdsong. Does it sound "Hollywood-esque"? Yes, but only to the extent that Villa-Lobos often works in a similar idiom anyway. More significantly, the piece is chock-full of contrast--but there are also recurring elements (the War Dance, for example) that help to bind it together and give it shape. It's not just 80 minutes of "atmosphere".

The only competition for this recording, for which a new edition of the score was specially prepared, comes from Alfred Heller's very good Moscow recording, which contains a touch less music. Certainly in terms of sheer sonic opulence, the performers' ability to project the style with total confidence and commitment, and the excellence of the singing (soprano Anna Korondi is superb), this vividly engineered SACD sets a new standard. If you've been collecting this Brazilian music series (and you certainly should be), then this new release will be self-recommending. It's simply magnificent.

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

A collection of well-loved traditional Christmas Carols, perfect for creating a warm seasonal atmosphere and to sing along with.

Simple, sincere and thoroughly engaging -- American Record Guide

Frank Martin was arguably Switzerland’s greatest composer.  His shimmering Mass for Double Choir, completed in 1926 as ‘an affair between God and himself’, is one of the finest settings of the 20th century, yet it had to wait forty-one years to be shared with others in its first performance. This collection of his choral music also includes his cantata for Switzerland’s National Day and the Ode to Music, along with some charming part-songs. Eclectic and technically superb these pieces display a style that is serenely individual.

Franz Hauk and the Simon Mayr Chorus and Ensemble have spearheaded the revival of themusic of Johann Simon Mayr who was born in Bavaria but lived in Italy. In the latestinstalment of their critically acclaimed recordings they turn to Il sogno di Partenope, anallegorical staged cantata composed to mark the rebuilding of the Teatro San Carlo in Naplesfollowing a fire in February 1816. Mayr’s significance as an intermediary between the operaseria of the late eighteenth-century and the melodrama of the early-nineteenth is reflected inthis important work, a unique kind of ‘cantata opera’ of which only the second act survives.

In his lavishly scored oratorio the Liturgy of Orpheus Yannis Markopoulos combines fragments of Orphic poems with a narrative text by Panos Theodoridis to create a work brimming with melodies, rhythms and instrumental tone colours, including those of guitar.

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German-born Simon Mayr received his musical training in Italy (he's also properly known by his Italian name Giovanni Simone Mayr), and that's where he spent his career writing both operas and sacred vocal music at the cathedral of Santa Maria Maggiore in Bergamo. One thing's clear about this composer/teacher/choir master: he knew his Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven, and if you like their sacred and theatrical music, you'll enjoy this program featuring two delightful cantatas. L'Armonia, an extended (45-minute) near-opera with three scenes, characters, choruses, virtuoso arias, and well-developed recitatives, was presented on the occasion of a state visit to Bergamo in 1825 by the Emperor Franz I and his entourage. It contains all the conventions of the day to satisfy and impress an imperial audience--the references to classical poets and mythology, symbolic associations to the emperor's benevolence and wisdom (not to mention a surprise tribute to the Empress), grand choruses and florid arias glorifying the defense of the nation's and its people's ideals in battle, and textual quotations espousing the goals of harmony and peace.

But rather than being tedious and predictable, Mayr treats us to some very appealing, expertly crafted music that handily combines some dramatic and very demanding Mozartian opera-style arias--beautifully sung by all three soloists--with choruses right out of the church works of Mozart and Haydn. The pacing is swift and conductor Franz Hauk keeps his forces tightly together most of the time--some ragged instrumental ensemble and choral intonation slips are only occasionally noticeable. Mayr also cleverly uses a harp at opportune moments to add color and for symbolic reference to the Bards, which are among the cantata's "characters".

And speaking of references, if you know Beethoven, you'll have fun picking out Mayr's nifty insertions of excerpts from some of the master's works in the Cantata for the Death of Beethoven. This 15-minute piece was basically cobbled together from original material and from existing works, and again, it's a very satisfying listen marked by strong vocal writing for the soloists and stylish orchestration. Once more I do have to mention the solo singers--soprano Talia Or, tenor Altin Piriù, and bass Nikolay Borchev--all first class and very solid in some very challenging music. They have a lot to do here, and they really carry the show. A pleasant surprise!

--David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

“We group ourselves into nations,” David Lang writes in the program note, “but it has never really been clear to me what that means, or what we get out of it.” In 2014, he wrote The National Anthems, the featured work on Cantaloupe’s new release. The piece uses one line from each national anthem of the United Nations’ 193 countries.

Attempting to find a universal truth in the process of researching the anthems, he instead came to realize they resembled prayers for fleeting freedom rather than confidence in it. By the work's end, what remains sounds like it could be heard inside a church.

Also on the album is his Pulitzer Prize-winning The Little Match Girl Passion. After hearing from nations of people, the piece places similar prayers in the context of one person.

All together, the album has the feeling of clutching hands. Whether you believe in patriotism or not, it reminds us that everyone in the world holds onto something — whether it’s words, a melody or that which we hope is true.

– WQXR-FM (Elena Saavedra Buckley)

This collection of classical favorites of Penderecki's work serves as a compilation of his famous works made available by Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and the Warsaw Philharmonic Choir. Also featured are renowned classical conductor Antoni Wit and other classic artist.

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These early Baroque songs are an outstanding selection of dance forms, chaconnes, and passacaglia, which all honor the Iberian musical art. The composers featured here, Andrea Falconieri and Filippo Coppola, both served as master of the Royal Music Chapel of Naples during the early 17th century. This fresh interpretation offered by the Cappella Musicale di San Giacomo Maggiore in Bologna and the choir of the Accademia dello Spirito Santo in Ferrara shines with their informed historical performance practice.

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Founded in 1988 by artistic director Francisco J. N��ez, the Young People's Chorus of New York City is an internationally renowned multicultural youth chorus with a reputation for superb virtuosity and brilliant showmanship. Transient Glory is a series conceived by N��ez in 2001 to spotlight the YPC as a creative source of inspiration for the works of the world's leading composers. For the superb third collection from this series, composers Terry Riley, Meredith Monk, Michael Gordon, John Corigliano, Paquito D'Rivera and Bora Yoon were commissioned by YPC for performances that form another rich chapter in their groundbreaking repertoire.

You might remember Polish composer Henryk Górecki's best-known work for voice and orchestra, 1976's Third Symphony ("Symphony of Sorrowful Songs"). After all, David Zinman's recording for Nonesuch with soprano Dawn Upshaw raced to the top of the classical and pop charts when it was first released in 1992. It might be tempting to understand Górecki by that singular success; in the case of the Second Symphony and Beatus vir, you wouldn't be too far off base. The Symphony No. 2 "Copernican" was written four years before the Third Symphony; Beatus vir was written in 1979. Both works call for voice and orchestra (as well as mixed choir). By the late 1960s, the composer already had settled into a signature aesthetic that many came to know in the Third Symphony: a lone voice floating over a murmuring pulse, thunderous blows of percussion, massive blocks of orchestral chords, and religiously oriented texts. (The Beatus vir text comes from the Psalms; the Second Symphony, following the work's subtitle, uses the astronomer's own words in praise of God, taken from De revolutionibus orbium coelestium.)


For better or worse (depending on your response to the Symphony No. 3), Górecki's compositional language in these two pieces will be quite familiar. If you find Górecki a compelling artistic voice--and I do--then these performances will be a worthy addition to your library, if not quite as emotionally harrowing an experience as Symphony No. 3. The ethnic connections on this Naxos release run deep: Copernicus was Polish, Beatus vir was commissioned by the Polish Pope, John Paul II (when he was still Cardinal of Cracow), and these artists, uniformly first-rate, are Polish as well. Baritone Andrzej Dobber turns between despondency and strength as the psalms call for, and soprano Zofia Kilanowicz has an appealingly warm tone. Antoni Wit has an admirable track record with Naxos, and this recording is another win for him. The sound is excellent: very focused and rich.
--Anastasia Tsioulcas, ClassicsToday.com

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The US Army Chorus, the US Military's only all-male Chorus has recorded 26 tracks of just about every official army song imaginable from "Ballad of the Green Berets" to "Yellow Ribbon".

It seems a paradox that over the years we have gone to such great lengths to become familiar with the music of Gustav Holst, Ralph Vaughan-Willliams, John Ireland, Frank Bridge, and Arthur Bliss, yet we still know far less of the music of Stanford, their composition teacher at the Royal College of Music! There has been renewed interest in the music of Stanford recently, and with the kind support of the Stanford Society, SOMM now turns the spotlight on Stanford’s Partsongs in the second of a series of recordings with the Birmingham Conservatoire Chamber Choir, which has achieved an enviable reputation under the direction of Paul Spicer. The eight Partsongs Op. 119, set to poems by Mary Coleridge, appear on CD as a complete set for the very first time!

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This album is the first in the "Legacy" series in which the United States Army Field Band honors the lives and music of individuals who have made significant contributions to choral music and education. Randall Thompson, an American composer, composed three symphonies and numerous vocal works, however he is most noted for his choral works. (Altissimo)

The United States Navy Band is the premiere ensemble of the Navy, and is known as “The World’s Finest.” The band supports our troops and government officials through concerts, tours, ceremonies, and recordings, and has been doing so since its creation in 1925. Through its musical mission, the members of this historic group have served to inspire patriotism in its audiences, and to preserve American musical heritage. Designed to emulate a Navy Band concert program, this album contains a balance of patriotic music, marches, and concert band standards, all of which represent the very best recordings of this historic ensemble. Enjoy this exclusive production of the best of the Navy Band.

Simple catchy exuberance and patriotic aggression.

Here is an inexpensive collection of three works by Kabalevsky and one by Rimsky-Korsakov. The Kabalevsky Third Piano Concerto, dedicated to Soviet Youth, is well enough known. It is carefree, catchy, neatly romantic and wonderfully memorable. Hsin-Ni Liu despatches its 18:45 in machine-gun exuberance in the outer movements and in delicate pastels in the central Andante. From a dozen years after the Third Concerto comes Kabalevsky's Rhapsody on the theme of the song School Years. It is dedicated to the Young Musicians of the Volga region. Like the much recorded Third Concerto it makes clever, sparkling and playful use of the woodwind.

The short Rimsky-Korsakov Concerto in one movement is pearly and has the tang of Borodin. The recording allows us to hear the key-click mechanisms of the woodwind soloists’ instruments. The performances are spot-on and seem well prepared yet not drilled to death.

Moving away from the concerto aspect of the disc the sequence ends with a final patriotic and dramatic gesture. Kabalevsky's Poem of Struggle takes us back all the way to the 1930s; it is in fact his first major work. The text which appears in the last segment is bloodcurdlingly acquisitive with the international Revolution being taken to Berlin, Dresden, Paris and Warsaw … and then the Far East. It's a fascinating novelty which speaks with the burning, fearsome and ruthless ardour of its Soviet times. The rushing militaristic writing is directly redolent of Myaskovsky's Fifth and Sixth Symphonies: the Red Flag whips in the wind of violent change. The piece is alive with the concatenating strenuous uproar of trumpet fanfares and tramping militia. The choir exude the fervour of the words which are printed in English but not in transliterated Russian.

Short playing time for which you have the compensation of three works for piano and orchestra. Add to this a very rare early Kabalevsky piece from the youthfully aggressive first maturity of the Soviet Union.

-- Rob Barnett, MusicWeb International

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Charming music, charmingly played. Kabalevksy’s Third Piano Concerto, dedicated to “Soviet Youth” (Oy!) is what you might expect: tuneful, cheerful, short, and rather fun. It offers no special challenges to the performers, and Hsin-Ni Liu has no problem turning in a deft, light, attractive performance. The same holds true for Rimsky’s less than quarter-hour, single-movement concerto—another odd work that is virtually unprogrammable in real life, but very pleasant to hear once in a while on disc. Kabalevksy’s Rhapsody is cut from the same cloth as the concerto, while the Poem of Struggle lays on the Socialist Realist triteness rather heavily. It’s the kind of stuff that Shostakovich was punished for not writing. Thank God. But the disc as a whole is worth considering.

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

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"•The BYU Singers and composer Eric Whitacre have enjoyed a long, close personal and musical relationship. • Conductor Dr. Ronald Staheli first made contact with Mr. Whitacre while the composer was still a Juilliard School student. • Since that time, the BYU Singers have performed his music with great worldly success. • After being out of print for some years, this remastered album preserves its original beauty while taking advantage of today’s technology to deliver the best-sounding recording possible."