Heavensong: Music of Contemplation & Light [Enhanced]

Mormon Tabernacle Choir (Artist, Performer), Mack Wilberg (Composer, Conductor), Orchestra At Temple Square (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Mormon Tabernacle Choir
• Orchestra: Orchestra At Temple Square
• Conductor: Mack Wilberg
• Composer: Mack Wilberg
• Audio CD (January 12, 2010)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced
• Label: Mormon Tabernacle Choir
• ASIN: B00308BAJE
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #39,020 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. The Shepherd

2. Sheep My Safely Graze

3. Brother James's Air

4. O Lord Most Holy

5. Be Thou My Vision

6. Pavane

7. O Light of Life

8. O Lord God

9. Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring

10. Meditation from Thais

11. The Lord Is My Shepherd

12. I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes

13. The Prayer (from Quest for Camelot)

14. Alleluia

15. Benediction

Editorial Reviews

Review

Anyone in need of a breather might like to give this a try. It s the real deal. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir keep[s] alive that 1950s tradition of those mighty choruses with their heartland-of-America sentiments. --Buffalo News

Product Description

2010 release. Heavensong features beloved classical selections that will lift and transport you through a journey of light and hope. From new Mack Wilberg compositions to familiar melodies to 'The Prayer', this music is perfect for quiet contemplation. Heavensong is a poignant and beautiful offering unlike anything the Choir has recorded. Longtime fans and new listeners alike will be captivated by this sublime musical feast.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Astonishingly beautiful -- the Choir's sound is transformed!, January 12, 2010

By 

Customer Bob (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Heavensong: Music of Contemplation & Light (Audio CD)

There is much to admire about the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's signature sound - confident, mature, stirring. And when you hear those blazing climaxes at the end of, say, "Battle Hymn of the Republic" or "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing," you can't help but feel certain that's what the Choir was made for. That is why this new recording has left me somewhat at a loss for words. It is an astounding performance - quiet, youthful, fresh, chamberistic, delicately nuanced, subtle, elegant, refined. In short, a revelation.

I don't know what kind of magic it takes to get 360 singers, who from what I've seen are mostly old enough to be grandparents, and transform that choral sound into something like the chamber purity of an English cathedral choir (only with better intonation!). But listening to Howard Goodall's "The Lord is My Shepherd" on this disk convinces me that Mack Wilberg is the magician that made it happen. I have never heard such sweet, innocent, and tender musical phrases coaxed out of this group, or any other large choir for that matter. And yet none of the Choir's trademark warmth or maturity is sacrificed in the process. It is innocent but not naive, rich yet pure, at once fresh and traditional. Another example... the luminous halo of sound the Choir creates around the orchestra in Faure's Pavane and Massenet's "Meditation" is spell-binding - at times I couldn't tell if they were singing or not, so perfectly was the timbre and intonation matched with the instrumental parts. The result, as with virtually everything on this disk, is astonishingly beautiful.

The repertory is something of a throwback to the Richard Condie days when the Choir dipped more often into the classics. But rather than emphasizing versatility and contrasts, as on those old LPs, this recording focuses exclusively on the quiet, sacred, and contemplative. A couple of familiar Bach cantata movements, the Faure Pavane, Franck's "Panis Angelicus," Massenet and Chesnokov constitute the "old" classics, lovingly rendered. And they're matched with some really appealing contemporary works.

Wilberg's own arrangements and compositions are a side dish here, not the main course. They are attractive without being cloying; the arrangement of "Brother James's Air" stands out as a particularly moving work. John Rutter's "I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes" is a great piece (which I can't always say of Rutter - sometimes he lapses into self-parody) and not all that easy to sing. It's given a virtually flawless rendition here. The Goodall Psalm 23 is a gem. Ralph Manuel's "Alleluia" is also a very effective piece, beautifully sung, and David Foster's "The Prayer" (a concession to popular culture, but in character with the rest of the repertory) allows the Choir to release some of that pent-up bravura that was so masterfully held in check for the rest of the recording. The Orchestra at Temple Square plays throughout with a radiance and musical assuredness that would be the envy of many professional orchestras.

The sound engineering is crisp and the sound is very forward on the recording. The microphones pick up every pianissimo whisper and subtle nuance, as well as the odd floor creak, chair squeak, and page turn. But the ambient noise is unobtrusive, a necessary byproduct of the quiet repertory, and I'll happily take it and keep the clarity rather than have it (and much of the recording's humanity and immediacy) removed through filtering and studio manipulation.

There are any number of orchestras and choirs that have fine musical technique and can give clean, polished renditions of pretty much any score you put in front of them. But too often the end result is a splendid surface and a hollow interior. I don't think there's any other team quite like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square, who are able to combine finely-honed musicality with a deep fervor, especially in quiet, sacred repertoire like this. The result is, for me, spiritually rewarding as well as musically stunning, and I'm very eager to see more of this kind of thing from the choir. Bravi, tutti!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LOVE IT, WOW!, January 20, 2010

By 

LT Joel (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Heavensong: Music of Contemplation & Light (Audio CD)

Amazing! They do it again with another great album! I am MOVED by this beautiful CD! Very touching and almost life changing as I listen! Highly recommend to anyone and everyone!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars so worth the wait for this CD, March 13, 2010

By 

Robert K. Rogers "robbie" (Ivy, Va) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Heavensong: Music of Contemplation & Light (Audio CD)

i heard the choir sing Gabriel Faure PAVANE Op.50 in the tabernacle a few months ago, and i was in tears hearing this amazing piece of work written in the 1800's. and then for the choir to add its humm's and oooo's during the piece, was just incredible.
this was my first time i have ever heard this piece of music. never been a big fan of this genre, but i sure am now.

i bought a number of copies of the cd to hand out as gifts to people i know that have a much keener appreciation for this kind of music then i do...and hopefully, i will continue to learn this genre.

and least we forget, DAVID FOSTER'S THE PRAYER, when he stepped onto the podium to play the piano as the choir sung THE PRAYER, it was one of life's moments where one just had to be there to capture the Spirit that came over me with more tears. It was a great day, and I doubt I will forget it anytime soon. truley memorable.

and yes, I am a Mormon, a return missionary and graduated from the BYU, but I don't believe that anyone needs that background to be swept off their feet listening to this CD.

It has added to my life, I downloaded it to my computer, and the CD is in my car. I listen to this CD at least 3 times a week...

thanks
robbie