Customer Reviews

Eternal Rest - Phoenix Bach Choir, Kansas City Chorale

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There is little question that I'll run out of superlatives before I get to the end of this review. I was so taken by this CD that features the combined forces of the Phoenix Bach Choir and the Kansas City Chorale that I was actually daunted by the prospect of writing a review that would do it justice. I finally decided I had to jump in and let the plaudits fall where they may, even if the review risks sounding breathlessly sophomoric.

If nothing else this disc proves the assertion that one doesn't have to live in the largest metropolitan centers to hear absolutely top-rank choral singing. Both these professional choirs are directed by Charles Bruffy who, over the last twenty years, has made a real name for himself in American choral circles. This CD can do nothing but elevate his and the choirs' status further.

The disc contains four relatively unknown works. Probably the best known, but hardly known for all that, is the Mass for Double Choir by the Swiss composer Frank Martin, written when he was fairly young and before his harmonic language became more advanced. It is a half-hour work that magically combines Renaissance polyphony with post-impressionist harmonies. It was obviously written with the resonant acoustics of a cathedral in mind; harmonic motion is generally slow, with the ethereal harmonies hanging in the acoustic space and occasionally blurring ecstatically. The Gloria is especially striking in this regard; instead of being a spirited song of praise, it is a musing, introspective meditation on the glory of God. The 'et incarnatus' section of the Credo is mystical, hushed, ecstatic. The Sanctus is quiet, incorporating a haunting descending figure on the words 'sanctus, sanctus, sanctus' ('holy, holy, holy') but when the text reaches 'pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua' ('Heaven and earth are full of your glory') the choral sound, rarely above a mezzo forte up to this point, bursts forth in exuberant praise, all the more effective for the previously sparing use of loud dynamics. The beginning of the Agnus dei has a medieval ars antiqua feel that becomes, at 'miserere', a veritable wail of pain, before it resolves into quiet acceptance at 'dona nobis pacem.' This is a powerfully effective work that deserves to be better known. It must be exceedingly difficult to sing, however, partly because it is a cappella (as is all the music on this CD), harmonically difficult to tune (although very easy for the listener to grasp), and requiring extraordinary breath control, especially for the lower voices who much of the time provide an organum, a harmonic plane supporting the sometimes seemingly disconnected upper harmonies. This is a gorgeous performance; it is hard to imagine it being bettered. I had heard a performance of the Martin Mass only once before, many years ago, and it made a lasting impression. I am thrilled to become reacquainted with it.

The CD begins with the Canticum Calamitatis Maritimae by Finnish composer Jaakko Mäntyjärvi (b 1963). It commemorates a 1994 Estonian maritime disaster in which 852 lives were lost. The work, 13 minutes long, combines the Latin words from Psalm 107 ('They that go down to the sea in ships') with words from the Requiem Mass and a Latin translation of a news report concerning the tragedy. This first track on the CD starts with over twenty seconds of silence out of which grows the quiet voice of a single woman's voice (alto Kira Z. Rugan) intoning what sounds like an Estonian folksong of mourning. Again, harmonic motion is extremely slow and the dynamic generally quite soft; the ability of the combined choirs to maintain pitch, centered tone and extremely long note values is eerily expert. A haunting work.

René Clausen is a choral composer and conductor well-known in American choral circles. His 'In Pace' concludes the disc. It is an eight-minute work honoring the victims of 9/11 [Correction: It was written to commemorate victims of the Holocaust]. The opening line, sung in Latin, is 'In peace I shall lay me down and take my rest' from Psalm 4, followed by 'If I surrender my eyes and eyelids to slumber, I shall sleep and rest' from Psalm 132. Harmonic language is not all that different from that of the Martin and the first time I listened to the CD I was not aware that the Martin had ended and the Clausen begun.

For me the most immediately appealing work (after the Martin) on the disc is Frank Ticheli's 'There Will Be Rest', written in 2000 after the death of the child of some friends. Its text is a lyrical poem by Sara Teasdale and Ticheli has used consolingly lush harmonic language. It is an immensely popular work these days, having aready been recorded several times. I am familiar with the recording of the Austin, Texas choir called Conspirare (whose most recent disc was just nominated for a Grammy) and I have to say that I much prefer the performance presented here by the Kansas City and Phoenix choirs largely because the work requires subtle blending and unending breath support at very soft dynamics, which these choirs provide in abundance. Indeed, one of the amazing things about these combined choirs is that even at the softest dynamics their tone always has body, a center and a spin, a very hard thing to do consistently. [In checking the Internet for more about Ticheli, I noted this from the composer about the present performance: 'Of the half dozen or so recordings of my piece, "There Will Be Rest", this is by far the best of them.']

Finally, a word about the sound on this hybrid SACD from Chandos. The engineering here is absolutely first-rate. In SACD the sound is spectacular, possibly the best choral sound I've ever heard on disc, and frankly sound on the plain stereo layer is not discernibly inferior to the SACD sound. I'm delighted to note that these two choirs are now recording for Chandos because one can rely on the label to give them top-notch production values. I understand that they will have a new release of music by Gretchaninov coming out some time in the next few months. Given the glorious blend (and the marvelous basses, particularly, so necessary for Russian choral music) of these combined choirs, I can only imagine it, too, will be marvelous.

Urgently recommended.

Scott Morrison

Since the break up of the Dale Warland Singers, I have been looking for my next benchmark choir and I believe I have found it in Mr. Bruffy's combined Kansas City Chorale and Phoenix Bach Choir. Perhaps not quite up to the Dale Warland standard, but very close- blend, intonation, balance is absolutely spot on. Occasionally (and this is a nit pic), attacks are not exactly together; by this I mean that if you turn the volume up very high a section of the choir may come in a half second before the rest of the group, however, this does not detract from the music at all and I only mention it here because they are already close to perfection.

As for this disc, I was blown away. I sat, spellbound for an hour. Never once does the choir lose its balance or intensity -difficult to do when the music gets quiet, and rest assured with a title like eternal rest miles and miles of soft singing exists here. In essence this disc includes the best performance of Ticheli's piece I have ever heard and the Martin is a strong contender for best. On a side note, Chandos has some fantastic engineers working for them as every Cd I have heard recorded by them has been phenominally done and this one is no different. Do yourself a favor and buy this disc, I will be snapping up all their other material as well.

Just a brief correction to a previous review: Clausen's "In Pace" was written in 1996-97. Clausen says about the piece:

"I composed 'In Pace' initially in response to ... the Holocaust, following a visit to the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz, Poland, by the Concordia Choir in 1996. Rather than portray the horrible drama of those events, I chose a tone poem which is a supplication for peace and rest for those who lost their lives there."

However, the official dedication is "In Memory of Cantor Stuart Pittle of Temple Jedea of Coral Gables, Florida" (commissioned by the University of Miami Chorale, Jo-Michael Scheibe, Conductor.)

There is another wonderful recording with this piece called "In the New Moon" by the Concordia Choir (all around wonderful recording).

About this disk: Very fine choral singing, and wonderful literature!

While they certainly have a lovely sound, its hard to discount the lack of approach to tuning, especially the opening of the Martin which is down a half step by the second measure of the piece. I have enjoyed their recordings in the past, but the lack to review has caused a severe ensemble issue. Indeed the Gloria follows suit down a half step. etc...

One of the best choir recordings that I ever bought! simply stunning. There will be rest is a highlight but the entire hour is well invested if spent listening to all of it.

The Calamitatus, the first 13 minutes of the disc, certainly is a calamity. I thought that people were talking in the hall during the recording, or that they were performing for a third grade class in an elementary school. Now I realize that the Calamitatus begins with the chorus members doing angry whispering. Swell. How musical. I'm not a music snob, and perhaps that's the problem. I've sung with various choral groups and a major orchestra for 24 years, making three appearances in Carnegie Hall, and I've sung all kinds of classical choral music. After a while, one who's exposed to quite a lot of music develops a philosophy, deciding if the basic function of music is to soothe the troubled soul or to encourage the development of peptic ulcers. This album serves both purposes, the first track the latter and all the other tracks the former. When I play this disc, I now simply start it with Track Two and go on from there, and thus I avoid a headache. I'm sure not everyone would agree with me, and perhaps I really am a bumpkin, thinking that music should be pleasant to listen to. The singers are not to fault; they are magnificent.I plan to buy other albums by this group (or is it groups?), in the hope that the lush beauty I hear on everything but the first number on this one will be found in them. The choir (choirs?) is/are new to me, and I'm delighted. Other reviewers say that this particular album is the greatest ever and cause for dancing in the streets. That lays it on a little too thickly, but the album is mostly wonderful, and that's saying a lot these days.