Gothic Record’s original recording, The Spirit of Freedom, features the outstanding Washington Men’s Camerata in a spectacular collection of patriotic classics. The 23 selections include the complete “National Anthem” (all 4 verses!), “God Bless America,” “National Hymn (“God of Our Fathers”), “Chester,” “Anchors Aweigh,” “Yankee Doodle,” “Hail to the Chief,” and many more beautifully-sung favorites! (Gothic)

"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

Copland & Thomson: Sacred & Secular Choral Music - Celebrating the centenary of Aaron Copland's birth, Gloriae Dei Cantores presents a broad spectrum of choral music by Aaron Copland and Virgil Thomson. These two musical giants exemplified the ideals of American culture and established a truly American style for music. The centerpiece for this recording is the first American recording in many years of Copland's choral masterpiece In the Beginning, featuring American mezzo-soprano Luretta Bybee. Also included are Thomson's beloved Four Southern Hymns and some of his fascinating early works written during his sojourn in Paris, and a selection of vibrant choral arrangements of Copland's Old American Songs. "Best of all are the Hymns from the Old South, sung with care, elegant but never lost their bright simplicity. Green Fields may be the loveliest hymn I've ever heard." - American Record Guide

RHEINBERGER 3 Motets, op. 133. Mass in F for Male Choir and Organ, op. 190. Hymn, op. 140. Mass in g for Female Choir and Organ, op. 187. Mass in E?, “Cantus Missae,” op. 109 • Elizabeth C. Patterson, cond; David Chalmers (org); Gloriæ Dei Cantores • GLORIÆ DEI CANTORES 121 (74:05 Text and Translation)


This is a retread. Recorded in 1994, it was previously reviewed by John Bauman in 2000 in Fanfare 23:6. What I can’t be sure of is whether or not the original has been remastered, for in Bauman’s headnote it carried a label number of 108 and in its current reincarnation Gloriæ Dei Cantores has renumbered it 121. The discrepancy is significant inasmuch as Bauman complained in his review of engineering that damaged the music, noting a distant perspective that lacked full bass. Since I don’t have the earlier release to compare with the one at hand and, indeed, never heard it, I can only comment on the disc before me. Having listened to it, I’ll venture that nothing has been done to correct or compensate for Bauman’s impression of the recorded sound, for the singers do in fact come at the ear as if from some distant aural space. The effect is compounded, in my opinion, by a kind of churchy acoustic, which is strange, given that the recording was not made in a church but in the splendid acoustic venue of Mechanics Hall in Worcester, Massachusetts.


Besides panning the recording, Bauman expressed little love or patience for Rheinberger’s music, dismissing these works in a few pithy, if amusing, words worth quoting: “Perhaps Rheinberger’s writing reflects the late-19th-century calm of the Catholic Mass that favors the lack of big, almost explosive outbursts. It makes one want to throw the whole of his sacred writing out. Even with the organ, the Masses just seem to go on forever. They last just over 20 minutes, which is really a very short time compared to the Masses of Haydn, Mozart, and Schubert. All of these three Masses are thus afflicted, as well as the short motets and hymns. In short this is well-crafted music that ultimately brings about a big ho-hum. The performances seem to be good but one—at least this listener—just doesn’t care.”


I tend to be more charitable toward Rheinberger, allowing for the fact that even in his own lifetime (1839–1901) he was probably more sought-after as a prominent professor of organ and composition than he was recognized as a great composer. His roll call of students at the conservatory in Munich was long and impressive; it included Humperdinck, Wolf-Ferrari, Horatio Parker, George Chadwick, Henry Holden Huss, and Wilhelm Furtwängler, among others. And though his methods were stern and pedantic, apparently he was beloved by all who came under his wing.


From an entry in the February 1902 issue of Etude Magazine , we get some insight into Rheinberger’s MO from a J. W. Nicholl who had studied organ under him. “At a technical blunder the professor would frown, and if later in the lesson the same mistake occurred he would expostulate. Once, from nervousness or perhaps lack of sufficient preparation, a student made the same mistake three times during the playing of a Rheinberger sonata, the result was that the lesson came to a violent stop, and the unfortunate student left the Conservatorium in a very unenviable state of mind.” Lest you think this shows an impatient and ill-tempered tutor, I think it shows quite the opposite. I’ve known teachers who wouldn’t suffer a student the same mistake twice, let alone three times.


As the opus numbers in the headnote indicate, Rheinberger was nothing if not prolific, churning out a large volume of organ music, as well as numerous Masses, motets, and other sacred vocal works. But he also produced many secular songs and ballads, some chamber music, at least two symphonies I know of, and two or three operas. I can’t say I’ve ever heard an opera by Rheinberger, but I do have a recording of his Symphony No. 2 in F Major with Alun Francis leading the Northwest German Philharmonic on the Carus label, and a two-disc set on MDG of his complete piano trios with the Parnassus Trio, and I find them quite to my liking.


Rheinberger’s style tends to confound expectations for a German-Romantic composer who was almost exactly contemporaneous with Brahms and who couldn’t have escaped the lingering malodor that hung over Munich following the real-life opera starring Wagner, Cosima, von Bülow, Liszt, and King Ludwig.


The works on this disc have very little in common with Brahms’s sacred motets. Rheinberger’s music is not nearly as contrapuntal—the voices move mainly together in harmonic, chorale-style blocks—and it’s regular in its progressions, consonant, and sweet. One writer has suggested that rather than regarding Rheinberger as a lesser Brahms, we should think of him as a “South German Fauré.” That analogy may apply to Rheinberger’s chamber music—there’s definitely a bit of a French accent in his piano trios—but I don’t think it holds up in these Masses. When I think of Fauré and sacred vocal music, I think of his Requiem, and these pieces are nothing like that. They’re of a much more staid and devotional character. If I had to compare them to anything, I’d say they’re a bit reminiscent of some of the sacred vocal works by Bruckner.


Bottom line: I’m not bothered, as Bauman was, by the distant perspective and churchy acoustic. In fact, for me, it tends to enhance the ethereal quality of the music. I can see how one might become bored by more than an hour’s worth of this stuff, which pretty much all sounds alike, but I find it calming, comforting, consoling, and peaceful, much in the way I find a good deal of 16th-century Renaissance vocal polyphony to be. So, on that note, I’m going to recommend this disc with the stipulation that I’ve described the music to you and told you what you can expect.


FANFARE: Jerry Dubins

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

Eclipse: The Voice of Jean Langlais - A centennial celebration of Langlais' legacy of sacred music, featuring three masses and nine anthems for choir, organ works, and rare compositions for brass.

Mozart: Rare Chorale Works - The world has enjoyed the genius of Mozart through his symphonies, operas, chamber and piano music. In addition, his Requiem, left incomplete at his death, remains one of the most beloved of sacred choral works. Gloriae Dei Cantores presents a rare look at a side of Mozart that is not so well known: his contribution to music for the Church. Included in this recording are two rarely heard major works of great beauty and invention: Davide Penitente K. 469 and the Litaniae de venerabili altaris Sacramento K. 243. Also included are a further litany, several motets, and two of the famous church sonatas for small orchestra and organ, giving a rounded picture of Mozart, the sacred musician.

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

The talented American choir Gloriae Dei Cantores offers a selection of music that allows the listener to experience the mandorla a sacred, spiritual space that bridges the human and the divine. Their new Super Audio CD features three visionary works the Mass for Double Choir by Frank Martin, the Four Psalms by Edvard Grieg, and The Cherubic Hymn by Howard Hanson. These three 20th century composers and their works are tied together not by creed, conviction, nationality (although all three have some roots in Scandinavia and the Netherlands), or style, but by their illuminations of humanity s need for salvation and their expressions of the intimacy and glory of these sacred encounters between heaven and earth.

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

Includes work(s) by Luca Pianca, Corinna Korff. Ensemble: Washington Memorial Pipes. Conductor: Frank Albinder.

Jacques Casterede's distinguished career was centered in Paris, but with musical roots in the early twentieth-century traditions of neo-Classicism and Les Six- the wide variety of scope and intent in his work was never meant to compete with the radical avant-garde. The balletic Flutes en vacances has become one of his most popular pieces, while Ciels ('Skies') was a competition piece for the Conservatoire. The colors in Trois moments musicaux d'apres Corot depict paintings in sound while the Sonatine de Mai is more neo-Classical in mood.

Esperanza: A Gift of Spanish Song Gloriae Dei Cantores celebrates the rich contribution of Spanish music and culture to the world. This recording spans 500 years, from the golden age of the Spanish Renaissance, with works by Guerrero, Victoria, and Morales to the 20th century, with music by Rodrigo. Also included are works of Mexican composers de Zumaya (a striking setting of the Miserere) and Carlos Chavez, and Latin-American composers such as Villa-Lobos, Casals, and Joaquin Nin. Esperanza will be a revelation to those unfamiliar with the riches of Spanish literature and a great discovery for all devotees of choral music.

Patterson displays creativity as a soloist and arranger... and a technical virtuosity that is quite impressive. - Trombone Journal. Trombonist Ben Patterson's fiery technique and expansive compositional vision combine for a thrilling quintet session of 10 wide-ranging originals. From the opening title tune, a master-class in form & fire with tight ensemble passages and soaring solos, to the straight-ahead, Messengers-esque "Suits Me Fine," Patterson unveils thoroughly compelling vehicles for his Washington, DC-based group. All inspired soloists and master musicians, Patterson features guitarist Shawn Purcell, pianist Chris Ziemba, Paul Henry on bass and drummer Todd Harrison.

Each year at Christmas, Gloriæ Dei Cantores celebrates the "dawn of redeeming grace" with a traditional candlelit Service of Readings and Carols, retelling the stories of Christ's birth that stir us with memories and hopes for peace and love. Just for a time as you listen to these carols and stories, let your heart fill with gratitude for our many blessings, and with goodwill toward others. Gloriæ Dei Cantores offers this recording with a prayer that the joy of the season brings you renewed hope and a fresh sense of wonder!

Classical Music

On their recording Sacred Songs of France, the first disc in a three-volume French choral pilgrimage, the acclaimed American choir Gloriae Dei Cantores takes listeners on a journey from the earliest days of organum in the Middle Ages to the delights of seventeenth century polyphony. This fascinating collection samples the musical genius and spiritual art of celebrated composers such as Josquin des Prez, and their lesser-known compatriots including Dulot, Goudimel and Mouton. Scholars will appreciate this disc for the generous survey it provides, while choral fans will love the grace, beauty and remarkable clarity of this glorious music.

The Lord Is My Shepherd - The Lord Is My Shepherd is the third volume in the American Psalmody series, a distinguished series devoted to musical interpretations of the psalms by American composers. Of a previous recording in this series, Fanfare Magazine raved, "This interesting collection of sacred music, American style, can hardly miss: God Himself seems to have placed His seal of approval on it."

Includes christmas carol(s) by various composers. Ensembles: Washington Men's Camerata, Washington Symphonic Brass.

"This splendid disc would make an ideal introduction to Russian Orthodox choral music for first-time listeners...There is no doubt of the fervent faith and commitment of the performers, which is convincingly transmitted by the high-definition recording."
—John Miller, SA-CD.net

"With performances as splendid as this, the Liturgy [Tchaikovsky] is likely to gain more of an audience in the West. The recording was made in the Church of the Transfiguration...and the gentle, warm reverberation seems perfectly suited to the program."
—Michael Cameron, Fanfare
"One of the successes of the Gloriae Dei Cantores in the field of sacred music is not undue attention to ancient performance practices or other such scholarly pursuits, but instead a love of and commitment to the spirit of the music as reflected in the spiritual intent of the composer. Their ability to migrate from one genre to the other with nary a wink and a nod is something quite phenomenal in this day and age...this spacious and well-balanced Super Audio sound adds a dimension of projection and sonic splendor that only doubles the value of this already much-desirable disc. Highest recommendation!"
—Steven Ritter, Audiophile Audition

By the Rivers of Babylon - Following on the success of Make His Praise Glorious, Gloriae Dei Cantores continued a distinguished series of recordings dedicated to psalm settings by American composers. By the Rivers of Babylon shows a wide range of style and includes several works recorded for the first time. From the lush romanticism of the setting of Psalm 137 by Charles Loeffler (composed in 1901) to the adventurous setting of de Profundis by Arnold Schoenberg (composed in 1950), Gloriae Dei Cantores explores the great variety of psalm settings by American composers.

Classical Music