Follow the life of Christ: from the Great O Antiphon “O Emmanuel” heralding His birth, to the triumphant chants proclaiming his glorious Resurrection. The Coming of Christ is the first of a series of three albums using the exquisite music of Gregorian chant to describe and illuminate the life of Christ. Well-known pieces alternate with numerous antiphons to bring us closer to the time of Christ’s birth and early childhood. The prophetic announcements, the longing and anticipation of Christ’s birth as well as the joy of the angels’ message are all vividly portrayed in the chant. The Beloved Son, the second recording in the series, celebrates the public life and ministry of Christ. Christ’s Passion, the ultimate sacrifice, is the subject of I Am With You, the third album, which includes the chanted passion narrative according to the Gospel of John, featuring three cantors who assume the characters in the story of the passion. This stirring music evokes the passion, mystery, and beauty of the life of Christ. Sung by the Gloriae Dei Cantores Schola and conducted by Dr. Mary Berry, these renowned experts bring a wealth of experience to the interpretation of the chant. “Dr. Mary Berry is one of the leading Gregorian scholars, and all the singing is excellent, in perfect style… elegant and sincere…” (American Record Guide)

Recorded sound is especially ravishing, capturing Mechanics Hall's warm, yet detailed acoustic. Excellent notes and full texts.
—L. Koob, American Record Guide

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.
—Fanfare

The trick to mastering counterpoint lies in mastering it completely...herein lies the glory of this magnificent, essential release...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

Psalms to Live By - One of the most eloquent forms of sacred music is Anglican Psalmody which came into it's own in the nineteenth century. Since then, it has become one of the most beloved sources of meditation in English parish churches and cathedrals as well as here in America. Gloriae Dei Cantores has re-released a three album set of a selection of psalms that range in emotion from personal sorrow to grateful elation. These are performed in the superb acoustic of Gloriae Dei Cantores' home, the Church of the Transfiguration in Orleans, MA. In their early years, Gloriae Dei Cantores trained under Dr. George Guest, for many years the music director of the choir of St. John's College, Cambridge, England. As a gift to the choir, Dr. Guest gave a copy of his own psalter, with his own interpretations and this forms the basis of these albums. Also heard is the EM Skinner organ of the church, with it's multifaceted and poetic colors beautifully supporting the chant. This set is a marvelous opportunity for prayer and meditation. Along with the sound of the psalms, there are written meditations which guide the listener through the many emotions of the psalms.

Edmund Rubbra: The Sacred Muse (1997) by Br. Francis Hempel (bass baritone), Christine Helfrich (soprano), Lucia Smith (soprano), Nathanael Reese (tenor) Edmund Rubbra (1901-1986) has become recognized as one of the leading British symphonic composers of the second half of the 20th century. In this recording, Gloriae Dei Cantores brings the choral works of Edmund Rubbra to life. Tenebr�, Op. 72 consists of nine motet settings of the Gregorian Chant responsories for Maundy Thursday. Rubbra's expressive and powerful style conveys the depth of these texts that re-tell the passion of Christ. Also recorded are: Missa in Honorem Sancti Dominici, which is generally considered his choral masterpiece; Salutation, Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis Op. 65; and Festival Gloria Op. 94, which completes this landmark recording. "The most comprehensive survey of Rubbra's sacred music yet available... compellingly and imaginatively performed. A 'must have' for all devotees of this fascinating composer." (John Rutter- Composer, Founder, and Conductor of the Cambridge Singers)

"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

Adler: A Prophecy of Peace A Prophecy of Peace: The Choral Music of Samuel Adler celebrates the rich common heritage of Christianity and Judaism. This recording spans more than thirty-five years of works by award-winning American composer Samuel Adler. Adler's fresh and imaginative harmonic and melodic language brings a heightened awareness of the texts of these works as well as giving the listener a personal expression that is unique to each work. Highlights include the first recording of Adler's Transfiguration Mass for choir, organ and brass as well as his Verses from Isaiah for choir, organ, brass, and handbells.

"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

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

The best compilation of standard Russian choral music I have ever heard.
—American Record Guide

"Under the direction of Elizabeth Patterson, Gloriae Dei Cantores deserves high praise for undertaking the exquisite repertoire included on this compact disc. The ensemble's choral sound has the depth and richness required by the material... The Russian Orthodox chant provides the moving highlight of the recording and features excellent singing by bass soloist Andre Papkov and the men of the choir."
—Sharon David Grasto, Choral Journal

"This necessary recording , made during Gloriae Dei Cantores' tour of Russia in 1990 and released the same year, features early post-Glasnost performances of modern Russian sacred composition in Russia's churches and halls. The haunting beauty and emotional power of many of the selections stems both from conductor Elizabeth Patterson's muscular and heartfelt direction, as well as from the strong faith of the singers..."
—Amy Friedman, Chorale

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.

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

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 Gloriae Dei Cantores recording is similarly excellent. I've had the pleasure of listening to and reviewing several of this group's discs, and found the performances uniformly superb, technically and artistically. This one is no exception. Indeed, Brahms and Mendelssohn's motets are ideally suited to the size and color of the ensemble. I doubt, for instance, that Brahms himself...could have imagined a more perfect performance of his wonderful set of choral variations of the chorale, O Heiland reiss. Balance, ensemble, and intonation are perfect as one has come to expect of the Cantores. Enough with superlatives; add this disc to your collection."
—John Ogasapian, The American Organist

"This well-filled disc of Romantic music...focuses on less familiar pieces. The singing is generally on a high level and the organ of Mechanics Hall in Worcester is impressive in the accompaniments...As a broad overview of the music of this era, the disc provides a generous sampling."
—J. F. Weber, Fanfare

"The Gloriae Dei Cantores...sing with excellent intonation, particularly in Brahms' chromatic passages. Their rich legato style, combined with fine choral blend and ensemble, is very appealing for music of this period....This is very fine work, a tribute to American choral singing."
—Paul Althouse, American Record Guide

HOWELLS Behold, O God Our Defender. A Sequence for St Michael. 1 Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis (Chichester Service). Take Him, Earth, for Cherishing. Requiem. 2 Te Deum • Elizabeth Patterson, cond; James Jordan Jr. (org); 1,2 Richard Clegg (ten); 2 Kathy Schuman (sop); 2 Phoenix Marcella Catlin (alt); 2 G. Luke Norman (bar); Gloriae Dei Cantores • GLORIAE DEI CANTORES GDCD 053 (68:18 Text and Translation)


The boomlet of recordings of the choral music of Herbert Howells continues, which should be a cause for great rejoicing. While it is somewhat frustrating that each new Howells CD seems to bring only one or two new works into the recorded realm in tandem with some tried-and-true standards, instead of an entire disc of premiere performances, I am grateful for each new piece that sees the light of day (and the laser beam of my CD player).


I am especially gratified when the recordings are of the high caliber of this release. Gloriae Dei Cantores has had its praises hymned in these pages oft before and with good reason. This is, so to speak, an unabashedly American ensemble—lady sopranos and altos instead of cathedral boys’ choirs, with an ample, robust sound. Not that they ever turn cloudy in the blend of their ranks, or muddy in their diction. Instead, under Elizabeth Patterson’s able direction, they produce a big, thrilling sound that sweeps the listener up in an exhilarating cascade of vocal glory, abetted here by the excellent organ playing of James Jordan and SACD recording technology. Texts are included, and special note should be taken of the unusually elaborate work on the booklet, which is exceptionally intricate and beautiful in its mixture of pictures and typefaces.


The two familiar works on this disc are the Requiem, written in 1935 in response to the death of Howells’s son Michael from polio but suppressed by him until 1980, and Take Him, Earth, for Cherishing , Howells’s contribution in 1963 to memorials for assassinated U.S. President John F. Kennedy. Despite entering the repertoire only three decades ago, the Requiem (which Howells also adapted into his large-scale choral masterwork, the Hymnus Paradisi, which he reluctantly released to the public in 1950) has become a staple of many choirs, being one of his easier pieces to perform. After the oft-recorded Carol Anthems, these two works have more recordings than any others by the composer, a fact also reflected by the number of reviews in the Fanfare Archive. Only recently, in 35:6, I reviewed a recording of it by the Choir of St. Thomas, Fifth Avenue, of New York, which I said was “the equal or superior of any other version available.” I am now pleased to place this version beside it, even possibly slightly ahead of it due to its superior soloists. Similarly, Take Him, Earth receives a ravishing, heartfelt performance that can hold its own with any other in the catalog.


Behold, O God Our Defender was composed by Howells for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1952, and is suitably grand and celebratory in atmosphere. Comparing it to the recording with the St. Paul’s Cathedral Choir on Hyperion (there are several others as well, all but one also by English choirs) is almost like listening to two different pieces of music. Both are excellent, and your preference between American and British choirs will likely determine which you like more; in this case I plump for the home team on the west side of the Atlantic.


In Fanfare 34:1 I reviewed another fine disc of Howells choral music, with the Choir of St. John’s College, Cambridge, under Andrew Nethsinga. That disc contained a performance of A Sequence for St. Michael , my initial acquaintance with that work. There I called it one of Howells’s more “challenging” works and remarked that “the choral writing in both is laden with thorny, unresolved dissonances.” The present performance smooths those out to some degree by the large wash of sound; I find that quite agreeable and consequently prefer this new recording, but those who like Howells on the spicier side will want the Chandos version instead.


To my knowledge the only previous recording of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis for Chichester Cathedral, composed in 1967, was in Volume 2 of the complete series of Howells’s canticles for morning and evening services issued on the Priory label. I have not heard that disc, but this version is certainly an excellent one. I have not been able to ascertain for certain if the Te Deum recorded here is a premiere issue or not, but I believe it is. It is not the same Te Deum that has been recorded previously by several other ensembles, which was written for the Church of St. Mary’s Redcliffe, Bristol. Commissioned by the Washington National Cathedral in 1983, it was originally believed that Howells was unable to do any substantive work on it before his final illness. However, in 1988 John Buttrey discovered the nearly completed sketches for the work in Howells’s manuscripts in the Royal College of Music Library and edited them for publication. In any case, it makes a valuable and welcome addition to the composer’s discography, and to the collection of any Howells aficionado, as does the entire disc.


FANFARE: James A. Altena

HOVHANESS Cantata Domino. Immortality. Unto Thee, O God. Triptych: Ave Maria. Simple Mass. From the End of the Earth. 3 Motets. Psalm 143 . I Will Rejoice in the Lord. Why Hast Thou Cast Us Off? The God of Glory Thundereth. O Lord God of Hosts • Elizabeth C. Patterson, dir; Gloriæ Dei Cantores; David Chalmers, James E. Jordan, Jr. (org); Kathy Schuman (sop); Phoenix Marcela Catlin (alt); Richard Cragg (ten); G. Luke Norman (bs); Lydia Ingwersen, Stephen Velie (ob); Marianne Wierzbinski, Daniel Pfeiffer (hn) • GLORIÆ DEI CANTORES 52 (75:33 Text and Translation)


This CD of religious music by Alan Hovhaness is of such a high quality in performance that it virtually transcends the form of his pieces. In other words, the performers are all so completely wrapped up in this music, and it is sufficiently interesting to maintain one’s attention even if one is not inclined toward religiosity in music, that it commands and holds your attention from first note to last.


A great deal of the credit for this high quality goes to Elizabeth Patterson and her choir, Gloriæ Dei Cantores, the resident choir of the Church of the Transfiguration in Cape Cod. Their blend is clear and well tuned but not creamy-smooth and perfect, and for that I am highly grateful. I’ve had my fill of choirs that sound like their tone was produced on an organ pipe. I like to hear humanity in my choruses, and Gloriæ Dei Cantores fulfills that expectation. (I should also point out that clarity of lines in the chorus also translates, especially here, to clarity of diction, which I also appreciate.) Neither of the two organists on this recording is identified with any specific piece of music, so I cannot tell you who is playing what (there also appear to be unidentified brass players on O Lord God of Hosts ), but the organ-playing as a whole is on a very high level.


Hovhaness’s music employs a number of dissonances and chromatics, yet is never purposely abrasive in a way that shuns the understanding of an average listener. Of course, what audiences of the 1940s wanted and expected to hear and what Hovhaness gave them was not always the same thing, and as the liner notes point out, he faced harsh public judgment of some of his most cherished pieces. Happily, as time went on even the most astringent passages in a Hovhaness piece came to sound almost romantic by comparison. Perhaps one reason for the disparity in acceptance between the 1940–50s and today is at least partially explained by the changes that took place in jazz during the late 1950s and early ’60s. Jazz at that time moved away from strictly tonal chord patterns (and, sometimes, chord patterns in general) and toward modes, stacked chords, and atonality in a highly diverse and sometimes “unpopular” style. Public acceptance and acclaim for such highly developed musicians as John Coltrane, Dave Brubeck, Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, and Bill Evans helped to make listening to Hovhaness an enjoyable and accessible public experience.


Certainly, most of the Simple Mass is very tonal and highly expressive and the Three Motets, sung by a cappella choir, even more so. Here, the music almost floats above the ground, an effect Hovhaness creates through his use of higher chord positions that almost never include the root tonic or heavy low notes for the basses (these chord positions also allow him to move either chromatically or modally within chords). Sister Phoenix Marcela Catlin’s alto solo in the second motet is beautifully phrased. I should also give special recognition to the excellent soprano of Kathy Schuman in Immortality and the Simple Mass. Another unaccompanied chorus, I Will Rejoice in the Lord, contains modes and harmonies that sound almost Hebraic.


These appear to be the only available recordings of these works. Whether or not they are first recordings, I cannot say. But if you are inclined toward religious music in general, and/or Hovhaness in particular, you cannot fail to be moved by this disc. It is, quite simply, terrific.


FANFARE: Lynn René Bayley