I Sing the Birth [IMPORT]

William Byrd (Composer), Gregorian Chant (Composer), Clemens non Papa (Jacob Clement) (Composer), William Cornysh (Composer), Peter Maxwell Davies (Composer), Kenneth Leighton (Composer), Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (Composer), Robert Parsons (Composer), baritone Scott Dispensa (Performer), bass-baritone Craig Phillips (Performer)

Product Details

• Performer: baritone Scott Dispensa, bass-baritone Craig Phillips
• Composer: William Byrd, Gregorian Chant, Clemens non Papa (Jacob Clement), William Cornysh, Peter Maxwell Davies, et al.
• Audio CD (October 2, 2007)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Avie
• ASIN: B000V6JHQQ
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #148,807 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #8 in	Music > Classical > Featured Composers, A-Z > ( C ) > Cornysh, William
  #15 in	Music > Classical > Featured Composers, A-Z > ( M ) > Maxwell Davies, Peter
  #96 in	Music > Classical > Featured Composers, A-Z > ( B ) > Byrd, William

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars luxurious polyphony balanced with plainchant, October 11, 2007

By	Joanne K. Bouknight (Connecticut) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm not from NYC but heard these guys in New York a few weeks ago and bought their CD and have listened to it many times since. True, it's not Christmas as I write this, but that really doesn't matter--this music doesn't cover jingle bells and snowmen but many hundreds of years of sacred music from Perotin, Clemens non papa, Cornysh to Leighton and Andrew Smith, born in 1970. Smith's two pieces, by the way, make beautiful bookends for this CD.

You can listen to single tracks of this, but I suggest listening to it as an album--it seems carefully laid out from beginning to end, and great liner notes explain how/why plainchant and polyphony tracks are interwoven and give an overview of composers' times and intentions. I like the three settings of "Lully, lulla"--Leighton, Coventry Carol, and 15th c. English carol. Never heard such a beautiful setting of "Away in a manger" (Normandy traditional) before, and the "The Feder of Heven" by Peter Maxwell Davies is goosebump-inducing (actually, most of the CD is!). I should add that I've not heard many of these pieces before and love discovering new--mostly old!--music.

The individual voices are beautiful in timbre and expressiveness but together they are simply transcending (and a great antidote to rush hour traffic if you play it in your car!). I'm not a musician but a words-and-graphics person, but I do love music and have no reservations in giving this gorgeous CD 5 stars (excellent graphics and type choices, too--easy to read, useful translations).

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Sing the Birth - A Complete Triumph!, October 3, 2007

By	Linda L. Roueche (Kansas City, MO) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is not your ordinary Christmas music! The four men of New York Polyphony sing music from the pre-Renaissance period in hauntingly beautiful tones. The blend of their voices,intricacy of the music, and their sheer musicianship yields a CD where each track is a delight. Bravo!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What's Christmas got to do with it?, October 10, 2007

By	JZ (New York) - See all my reviews

I couldn't agree more with the five-star rating given by the previous two reviewers. However, they labeled this, "Christmas Music". Well, I say: don't wait until Christmas! This CD of early polyphonic music is fabulous, any time, anywhere. The material happens to draw on the Christian tradition, but what stands out is the amazing artistry of the performance. This is a stunning debut; any one who appreciates polyphonic singing would want to own this exceptional CD.