Bernstein & Copland: From King's

Leonard Bernstein (Composer), Aaron Copland (Composer), Charles Ives (Composer), Libby Larsen (Composer), William Schuman (Composer), Stephen Cleobury (Conductor), Choir of King's College at Cambridge (Performer), Rachel Masters (Performer), Ameral Gunson (Performer), Peter Barley (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Choir of King's College at Cambridge, Rachel Masters, Ameral Gunson, Peter Barley
• Conductor: Stephen Cleobury
• Composer: Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Charles Ives, Libby Larsen, William Schuman
• Audio CD (August 11, 1998)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: EMI
• ASIN: B000009OQI
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #254,204 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Chichester Psalms, for boy soloist, chorus & orchestra: I. Maestoso ma energico - Allegro molto

2. Chichester Psalms, for boy soloist, chorus & orchestra: II. Andante con moto, ma tranquillo - Allegro feroce - Meno come prima

3. Chichester Psalms, for boy soloist, chorus & orchestra: III. Prelude (Sostenuto molto) - Peacefully flowing

4. Carols of Death, pieces (3) for chorus: The Last Invocation

5. Carols of Death, pieces (3) for chorus: The Unknown Region

6. Carols of Death, pieces (3) for chorus: To All, to Each

7. In the Beginning, for mezzo-soprano & chorus

8. How It Thrills Us for chorus

9. Psalm 90, for chorus, bells & organ, S. 152 (K. 5C37)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well off the beaten track..., September 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Bernstein & Copland: From King's (Audio CD)

If you are looking for something well off the beaten track of choral music from England's finest, this disc is the best you could hope for. Bernstein's "Chichester Psalms" are as close to "West Side Story" as sacred music gets, and is performed with appropriate sensitivity and energy. As for the other works: Schuman's "Carols of Death" certainly live up to their morbid title, although the third stands out as more digestible than the others; Ives gruelling "Psalm 90" and Larsen's "How it thrills us" are similarly well sung and capture as a whole the rich diversity of American choral music. The only real failure on this disc is the Copland setting "In the Beginning"- did Stephen Cleobury really have to employ a mezzo-soprano with such heavy vibrato? It sounds absolutely out of tune whenever she is singing- that kind of voice belongs in the opera house and nowhere else, in my blunt opinion. Nevertheless, a worthwhile hour of material.