Customer Reviews

Early One Morning

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Early one morning is a collection of traditional English, Irish, and American folk songs. The choir is composed of Adult male choristers and a strong, very talented treble section (boys' choir). Some of the songs included on this lovely album are "Early one Morning", "Loch Lomond", "Greensleeves", "Shenandoah",& "The Minstrel Boy" and "The Londonderry Air" (melody used for "O Danny Boy"). The songs are sung so beautifully a capella that you never notice the lack of instumental backing.I can confidently recommend this album to anyone who appreciates beautiful choral music.

These are some of the most beautiful choral renditions of traditional music I have ever heard. Sung 'a cappella', the voices are exquisite and the simple melodies of these songs I learned as a child are so richly harmonized I get shivers down my back and feel my heart fill to bursting when I listen.

This is a classical choral treatment of songs which are usually sung with one voice. So you shouldn't expect a 'folk' treatment of the songs with a dulcimer...however if you like harmony and choral music I can't imagine how you would not find this album to be one of your greatest treasures. It includes the most beautiful folksongs and traditional melodies of the British Isles and the US like Greensleeves, The Ash Grove, The Skye Boat Song, and Shenandoah, to name just a few. Excellent album!

The world has moved on. The winds of time have blown away almost all signs of the industrial world's rural past. While in exile in Babylon, similarly removed from all signs of what he had known, the Psalmist cried out: "How can we sing the LORD'S song In a foreign land?" (Psalm 137:4) We too live in a world in exile. The post-modern world has little conception of the kind of world that produced the songs of "Early One Morning." Thankfully, we have collections like this CD to remind us of, and preserve the songs of the past.

I still don't know what possessed me to buy this album. "Early One Morning" is like no other recording in my collection. The disc is composed acapella renditions of traditional folk songs--all of which are outstanding. Songs like "Blow the Wind Southerly," "Linden Lea," "Shennandoah," and "Greensleeves" carry the listener away with their simple beauty. The beauty is not one that fades easily either...this CD still gets a lot of play time almost six months after I first heard it. So, even if you are like I was--unfamiliar with and uncertain about trying this kind of music, I highly recommend this disc.

A COLLECTION OF TWENTY FOLK SONGS FROM BOTH SIDES OF THE ATLANTIC.
This folk song anthology contains representative selections of the genre from both sides of the Atlantic. Some of the arrangements are well-known, others have been made especially for this recording and many by Higginbottom, himself, In addition, there are some that have been arranged by classical composers such as Vaughan-Williams and Grainger. The collection, spanning many centuries, from the thirteenth (Summer is icummen in) to the twentieth, celebrates a tradition in which music belongs to everyone. In the musical settings of these simple and artless songs we bridge the gap between folksong as a museum-piece and folksong as a living and vibrant part of our culture.

The New College Choir of Oxford has herein made a truly fine recording, both in selections and performance. The choir's fine tone quality, especially in the trebles, the intelligence of phrasing, clear diction and sensitive shading are all splendid, as one expects from this choir. The soloists are quite good too, outstanding among them being the tenor Philip Cave, who sings beautifully in 'Briggs Fair', Eamonn Dougan, baritone and Nicholas Fuggle, treble who were equally outstanding in the title song 'Early one morning'.

The recorded sound is good, not 'churchy', though it was recorded in a Chapel (January to July, 1997), and the accompanying booklet is attractively presented.

I bought this CD for "The Skye Boat Song" but found that it has one great track after another. Even their wordless acappella version of "Danny Boy" (a song I can normally take or leave) is great. I find myself playing this one again and again when I am in the mood for relaxing, beautiful music. What a bargain price too!

Unlike an earlier reviewer, I find this collection of traditional music to be both magical and supremely executed. Each time I listen to it, I hear more depth, delicacy, and beauty. If you need something to soothe your soul in these troubled times, this is the perfect medicine. Recommended without reservation.

I bought this CD because it had so many tunes I learned as a child, and wasn't expecting more than basic melodies. These arrangements are wonderfullly complex and rich without losing the simplicity of the original tunes. A great collection I play often!

The CD contains many fine old songs and could be a treat to hear if the arrangements and renditions of the songs were not so poor. The heavy emphasis on the treble (soprano) voices (at normal volume on my sound system) resulted in ear piercing sounds that took the joy out of listening. Not all of the songs are treated so badly that they are not reasonably pleasant to hear, but I was unable to play the CD through: after I had had enough of jumping up and down in attempts to attenuate the accented (and somewhat non-melodic) treble voices, I simply put the CD away, never to be played again.