Customer Reviews

Early American Choral Music, Vol. 1

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is all music by William Billings, one of the giant figures of early American church music. It is sung by a fine group that specializes in early music. The music is often hearty and pleasing, and the textual themes deal with early colonial life (e.g., harvest & the coming winter) and sometimes complex theology (e.g., pietistic interpretations of the Song of Solomon). The overall sound of the music is straightfoward, as it was no doubt to appeal to the common folk (new world Protestants). But don't let that fool you--there's high quality construction in these hymns that elevates them above folk music. Some of the songs really grab you & stay with you. This is a gift & an important part of our American heritage & culture.

This CD was issued originally as "A Land of Pure Delight" on the Harmonia Mundi label. Billings was the first major American composer, an apparently self taught composer with a distinctive and powerful style. A real American original, Billings' work has several interesting features. He did wonderful things writing for choirs and some of his work seems to sound like earlier, polyphonic music. This recording has features a selection of fine pieces. Lovely performances.

I am fairly new to this series, but I now own 3 cds in this series: Anna Mag. Bach Book, Festive barouque christmas and now this one. I have been looking for a cd with this kind of music, and now my search is done. I enjoy this cd very much, but the only down side is that this cd is too short.

Since buying this a week or so ago, it has rarely left my CD player, and is equally pleasurable at the start or end of the day. The performances are energetic and moving, and make me long for my former days with a cathedral choir, when #16 was one of our favorites. With each hearing, I find more to delight me. (While I agree that the diction is good enough that lyrics on the liner notes aren't strictly necessary, they would have been a nice addition.)

I ended up ordering this CD, as well as Vol. 2, and "Make A Joyful Noise: American Psalmody." I thought the quality was excellent on all three, but I wanted to say that if you're not sure how well you like this kind of music, I would recommend the American Psalmody CD instead of the two CD set. I found myself enjoying the music very much at first, but quickly losing interest as it all began to sound alike to me.

These CDs should appeal to the following types of adventurous listeners: choral music fans who want something fresh and not too far removed from "folk" music; Christian music listeners who may want something a little more eccentric and heartfelt than your typical CCM fare; anybody who likes "Brother Where Art Thou" and songs such as Amazing Grace, Wondrous Love, and Simple Gifts. The wording in particular ("dragons with contagious breath") grabs the listener's attention like a piece of colonial folk art. Volume 1 and 2 are excellent. "Jordan" is a particular favorite of mine, with a perfect encapsulation of religious yearning, as well as the mini-epic "Who is this that cometh from edom?" that features a stunning litany of the names of the son of God, followed by a harrowing crucifixion narrative, and a triumphant conclusion. My only quibble is something that I can't quite put a finger on with the treble voices, which sound a tad harsh to me. But no mind - these recordings are old favorites and I keep returning to them.

This is a wonderful collection of songs unlike anything you've likely heard before. They are definitely not your standard hymns. They have a primitive fire in them that's totally unique and haunting. The sound is bold, strong, and "honest", I don't know how else to put it.

An enjoyable choir cd, relaxing, and at the same time you feel like you're listening to a piece of American history. I often use this to help me drift into sleep.

After several years of singing in a church choir, I got exposed to many, many different styles of choral music. We sang modern versions of some of these songs, which were really nice. This, however, was a spectacular opportunity to hear the same music more closely to the original composition. If you enjoy choral music, this should be at least interesting to you. The performances are all a capella, lending more of a "not modern mass consumption" feel. Of course, I love a capella, so I might be a bit biased there.

Much of it is powerful. All of it is well done. The text is easily understandable - it isn't sung for some 'artistic complexity', like opera (where it sounds nice, but can't really understand what they're singing). If you are interested because of its source material (traditional Christian), you will find it pleasant, if for no other reason than to hear a different version of music you're probably familiar with: e.g. The Lord is Risen Indeed; the Rose of Sharon.

Haven't heard v.2, so can't compare it.

Definately worth the price (well, the price I'm looking at today).