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

This album was nominated for the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance.

The Philadelphia Orchestra and the Wanamaker Organ.

More than 80 years after its composition, the Jongen Symphonie Concertante is heard as performed on the organ for which it was written. In a gala concert, Maestro Rossen Milanov and the Philadelphia Orchestra join Grand Court Organist Peter Richard Conte. Also heard are works by Dupre and Elgar in this long-awaited and much heralded concert of 27 September, 2008.

The award-winning East Carolina University Chamber Singers, directed by James Franklin, presents music of hope and illumination. Accompanied by Andrew Scanlon on St. Paul's (Greenville) highly respected C.B. Fisk, Op 126, this performance resonates with a message that rings true today. James Franklin is the Director of Choral Activities at East Carolina University where he conducts the internationally renowned ECU Chamber Singers, directs the graduate program in choral conducting, and teaches undergraduate conducting. In 2020, the Chamber Singers won second place in The American Prize in Choral Performance in the college/university division. Andrew Scanlon, professor in the keyboard department at East Carolina University, directs the graduate and undergraduate pro-grams in organ and sacred music. The tonal design of the Perkins and Wells Memorial Organ, C. B. Fisk, op. 126, is strongly influenced by the French Romantic School. Pipe design and materials, as well as voicing techniques, follow closely in the tradition of Aristide Cavaillé-Coll's late work.

The Gothic Catalog’s recent choral releases showcase a wealth of choral traditions, beautifully performed. The selections on this sampler have been taken from the extensive Gothic choral catalog through the years 2017-2020, making for an exciting and modern production. Some featured favorites include Scott Perkins’ “Because I could not stop for Death” from A New England Requiem, performed by the Da Capo Players & Choir and conducted by Brett Alan Judson, as well as Andrej Makor’s “O Magnum Mysterium” performed by the Georgia State University Singers under the direction of Deanna Joseph.

Dale Warland's group stands on more than 30 years of first-rate performances and acclaimed recordings, and this one from 2002 is a fine representative of its sound and singing style, and of its well-loved Christmas repertoire. It's a warm, unaffected, unforced sound colored by natural resonance rather than the excessive vibrato that defines so many American choirs. The ensemble's legato technique is exemplary, and while all sections of this professional choir are superb, the sopranos are particularly notable for their uniformly lustrous tone. The repertoire titles will be very familiar to Christmas choral music fans, although the particular arrangements may not.


Some of these lesser-known settings include Donna Schultz's Il est né, Kirke Mechem's Fum, fum, fum! and Patapan, and director Warland's own Huron Carol and O little town of Bethlehem (set to the Forest Green tune). There are several fine Stephen Paulus contributions--Gabriel's Message and Three Nativity Carols--along with Jan Sandström's delightfully spooky and increasingly popular version of Es ist ein Ros entsprungen. Traditional favorites such as Wilhousky's Carol of the Bells and Norman Luboff's Joseph Dearest also make welcome appearances, and the disc concludes with Malcolm Sargent's (yes, that Malcolm Sargent) simple and lovely arrangement of Silent Night. Harp, oboe, percussion, and bells add occasional strokes of color, and the sound is ideal. In other words, this is a solidly performed, well-recorded program of the old and new (often combined in the same piece) that will fit nicely into any Christmas music collector's library.
--David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

Ten world premier recordings of new arrangements of African-American spirituals.

On this release, Scott Dettra plays a varied program on the Anglo-American Classic organ of Church of the Incarnation (Dallas). Hailed as a “brilliant organist” (Dallas Morning News) and an “outstanding musician” (The Diapason), Scott Dettra is acclaimed as one of America’s leading concert organists. Mr. Dettra’s playing is praised for its clarity, rhythmic intensity, and musical elegance, and has been described by The American Organist as “music making of absolute authority and sophisticated expression.” He combines an active performance schedule with his post as Director of Music and Organist at the Church of the Incarnation in Dallas, where he leads a vibrant music ministry in one of the country’s largest Episcopal parishes. He is also a member of the organ faculty at Southern Methodist University. Prior to his appointment in Dallas, he was for five years Organist of Washington National Cathedral.

The present release features new commissions based on familiar tunes and other premiere performances make this fifth volume a delightful and entertaining addition to the unique repertoire of organ music for two. America’s celebrated duo organists, Elizabeth and Raymond Chenault, have made a significant contribution to organ repertoire by commissioning, arranging, premiering and recording over 70 organ duets. For their renowned artistry they have indisputably earned the title “The World’s Premiere Duo-Organ Team.” The Cathedral’s organ was designed, built, and installed in 1962 as the Aeolian-Skinner Opus1399. In 1992, after significant acoustical renovations to the Cathedral nave, the organ was re-voiced by John Hendrickson, who previously had worked for Aeolian-Skinner, and had helped to install the Cathedral’s organ. In the mid-1990s, a Tuba stop was added to the Solo division by Austin Organs, Inc. In 2011, anew console was designed, built, and installed by Schoenstein and Co., to replace the original console of 1962.

A celebration of the 25th anniversary of the installation of the 1911 Murray M. Harris organ in Saint James in-the-City (LA). Acclaimed recitalist Todd Wilson demonstrates the organ’s exceptional range of colors and dynamics. His program includes two Widor Symphonies, Reubke’s virtuosic Sonata, Franck’s Chorale in E Major, and settings of hymns and chants well-known to Anglican musicians. Murray M. Harris (1866-1922) is generally regarded as “the Father of Organ building in the West.” This Murray M. Harris organ, now extensively restored and rebuilt, arrived at Saint James in-the-City in April of 1995. This is the first commercial recording. Todd Wilson is head of the Organ Department at The Cleveland Institute of Music, Director of Music at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Cleveland, Ohio, and Curator of the E.M. Skinner organ at Cleveland’s Severance Hall. James Buonemani has been Organist & Director of Music for Saint James in-the-City, Los Angeles, CA, since 1995. A summa cum laude graduate of the Eastman School of Music and the Westminster Choir College. And he holds the title of Honorary Canon of the Cathedral Center of St. Paul, acknowledging his extraordinary contributions to the musical life of the Episcopal Church.

LUX AURUMQUE • Dale Warland, cond; Dale Warland Singers • GOTHIC 49252 (63:51 Text and Translation)


GRETCHANINOFF Of the mystical supper. HANSON A Prayer of the Middle Ages. MIŠKINIS O sacrum convivium. HOWELLS Take him, Earth, for cherishing. CHESNOKOV Salvation is created. RUTTER Hymn to the Creator of Light. LAURIDSEN O magnum mysterium. WHITACRE Lux aurumque. BIEBL Ave Maria. SCHNITTKE Complete this Work. RACHMANINOFF We hymn Thee. ARGENTO To God “In Memoriam M. B.” GOLOVANOV Our Father


For over 30 years the Dale Warland Singers was one of North America’s leading choral ensembles, ending its work in 2004. Its repertoire was broad and it demonstrated a commitment to contemporary music as much as to the classic repertoire, commissioning and performing over 270 new works. It made, in its way, a very American sound, by which I mean that it was full, and unified from top to bottom. Because each part gave its vowels and consonants the same color (sometimes called “tuning the words”), each part was also distinguishable within the whole. This also meant that such difficult intervals to tune as seconds and augmented fourths were completely clear. It also had the commendable habit of everyone beginning and ending exactly together. And did I say they sang dead in tune? This ensemble was a professional musical instrument and Dale Warland was an exceptional trainer of that instrument.


There is no particular theme or development here, save a bow in the direction of works related to light, as the title suggests. The program gives us a tour of what we now can consider high points of the modern choral repertoire. The pieces by Howells, Rutter, Whitacre, Biebl, Rachmaninoff, and Chesnokov are part of the standard concert repertoire for most American choirs. The program includes three American pieces, those by Hanson, Lauridsen (now also in the standard repertoire), and local Minnesota composer Dominick Argento, and some pieces off the beaten path, as well, by Gretchaninoff, Miškinis, Schnittke, and Golovanov. Despite a general conservatism, this is a 20th-century program and constituted of challenging music. It is also ravishing music in the hands of an ensemble as subtle as this one, making it difficult to choose one piece over another.


Those who think Herbert Howells’s motet in memory of President Kennedy can only properly be sung by the choir of King’s College, Cambridge, need to hear this performance. It is dramatic, nuanced, and passionate. Another delight was Argento’s motet to words by Robert Herrick. This begins somewhat in the style of Howells but comes quickly to an acerbity that Howells avoided. It also ends with an Ivesian distant trumpet and the softest recorded ppp I have ever heard a choir make. I am not an unabashed fan of the music of John Rutter, but his double-choir motet, Hymn to the Creator of Light , is one of his very best pieces, especially when done as expressively as it is here. The rest of the music is similarly well done. It will not rock any boats, but the music-making is a pleasure to hear. The dynamic range of this ensemble was enormous and it is well captured by Gothic.


If there is a criticism to be made of this program, it is that it really only shows one side of the choir, mid-20th-century religious music, but this is where American choirs often do their best work. On the evidence here, the Dale Warland Singers stopped at the peak of their form. What a way to go!


FANFARE: Alan Swanson

The worldwide revival of Compline, a late-night service dating from early Christian times, began with this choir and the vision of its founder, Peter Hallock. Today, hundreds of young people fill Saint Mark’s Cathedral (Seattle) every Sunday night to hear this choir, and they are joined by thousands who hear Compline over radio and the Internet.

This recording honors the musical craft of Peter Hallock and Richard Proulx, who wrote much of the music sung by this choir since its founding in the mid-1950s. - Gothic Records

The choir of All Saints Beverly Hills provides a superb sampling of the current state of contemporary Anglican hymnody. Included here are numerous familiar tunes with descants old and new, and a few first recordings as well Among the latter is a tune by Thomas Foster honoring organ builder, C. B. Fisk. The choir is beautifully accompanied by Craig Phillips on an organ refined by Manuel Rosales. - Gothic Records

In this live recording- the second in The Dale Warland Live series- selected works of two 20th century composers, one British and the other American, are performed with exquisite choral acumen. The program consists of Benjamin Britten’s acclaimed ‘A Ceremony of Carols’ and Daniel Pinkham’s ‘Christmas Cantata’ with brass and organ. In addition, Pinkham’s rarely performed ‘Company at the Creche’ is included with four other Christmas works. The distinguished career of choral composer and conductor Dale Warland spans more than six decades and has made a profound contribution to the music of our time. As conductor, composer and founder of the Grammy-nominated Dale Warland Singers, he is one of only three choral conductors inducted into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame.

Arrangements of five Shaker songs by Kevin Siegfried provide the structure for this album of 20th and 21st century choral works. The texts for this program explore themes of peace, a parent’s love, and awe in God’s creation, concluding with two motets for Advent and Christmas. This extraordinary choir is directed by Deanna Joseph and recorded in the warm acoustics of Peachtree Road United Methodist Church in Atlanta. The internationally award-winning Georgia State University Singers is the School of Music’s premier vocal ensemble. In May of 2017, the University Singers won first place in the renowned Marktoberdorf International Chamber Choir Competition. “…the choir sings with great musicality, excellent intonation, clear diction, and a healthy and beautiful pallet of tone colors…” (The Choral Scholar)