Customer Reviews

Radiant Light - The Trinity Choir, Boston

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Trinity Choir's disc "Radiant Light" is a must not only for lovers of choral music, but anyone wishing to hear some of the most elegant and superb music-making around. This group of seventy-odd voices, based at Boston's famed Trinity Church, sings with pure, beautiful tone, incisive rhythm and a joy for the repetoire obvious in every phrase. Director Brian Jones has taken great care over every aspect of these performances, and it shows. The choir's keen musicianship and Jones' sensitivity to both text and music produces the most committed and heartfelt performances around. This is music-making which communicates! Although every item on the disc offers ample enjoyment, including Biebl's glorious "Ave Maria" and three pieces by John Tavener, the two which stand out for me are Patrick Gowers' "Viri Galilaei" and Richard Dirksen's "Sing Ye Faithful". Gowers' anthem is firmly rooted in twentieth century musical language. Filled with mysterious harmonies and dramatic outbursts, it builds to a tremendous climax before fading away to the misty realms from whence it came. The Choir handles this difficult work with style and elan and Jones' conducting keeps it driving foreward with a real sensitivity for the music's demands. "Sing Ye Faithful" by Richard Dirksen, late of Washington Cathedral, is another gem. Here is a joyous Easter anthem with a jaunty dance-like melody. A truly happy and festive spirit informs the performance-the musicians obviously love this material. In an age when choral music's appeal has waned, Brian Jones and the Trinity Choir have done much to remedy this situation. This disc is a pure joy. I urge you to hear it for yourself.

Heard selections from this CD on WGBH, Boston. That was enough to make me want to buy it. A group of reverent works, peaceful and masterfully performed by a choir which has an outstanding reputation, in a city which is so rich with superb musical groups.

"...sixty-five auditioned volunteers and seven professional singers..."--that's how the CD booklet describes the make-up of Trinity Church-Boston's choir. It's clear from even the most superficial listening that this choir has been able to attract truly talented volunteers. But bringing a mostly volunteer choir to the level of musical attainment evident on this CD requires a director with a number of extraordinary skills: creating a rehearsal ambience with the right mix of challenges and rewards, immense musical sensitivity, intimate knowledge of the human voice's problems and potential, to say nothing of well-honed people skills and great patience. Brian Jones, Trinity Choir's director, obviously has these skills in abundance, and the results are evident on this CD. Perhaps the foremost of all this CD's sterling qualities is the musicality of ensemble--not merely being in perfect sync, but sensing as a corporate entity the subtle gestures, the rise and fall, the ebb and flow of the music. This is choral music at it's most satisfying. The recorded works are all wonderful--but I do believe that Trinity Church Choir and Brian Jones could send us into raptures with a performance of "Mary had a little lamb!"

I bought this for the recording of Lauridsen's "O Magnum Mysterium"; as a singer I have performed this along with other pieces on the CD. I was impressed by all of it. The choir has wonderful dynamic control and great expression. And yes, the Lauridsen moved me to tears as it always does when I sing it. This CD is a must for any lover of beautiful modern choral music

... or perhaps I should say "New, sounding old." Most of the pieces on this CD were written fairly recently, but the sonorities harken back to the chants of old that have become so popular. Now I understand why Taverner and Part are so popular, and the works by Rutter and Thompson show why they're so highly regarded in the choral field.

The Trinity Choir of Boston sounds wonderful, and the Dorian recording is, as usual, beautifully packaged with informative notes. One of my favorite recordings!

A most enjoyable CD. There's nothing atonal here but a diverse and interesting choice of mainstream modern anthems, performing with loving attention to details of diction, tuning, phrasing and expression. Patrick Gowers' 'Viri Galilaei' is a particular tour de force, with impressive sustained increase in tension up to the joyful chorale section, and a beautifully controlled final Alleluia. The polychoral contrasts in Randall Thompson's unaccompanied 'Have ye not known' are also very effective. But there are lots of goodies in this CD. A worthy addition to the library of any lover of sacred choral music. But why is it not available in UK?

This is a beautiful work. This very skilled choir has exceptional tone, and the director knows how to get the best out of his singers in each piece. Franz Biebl's Ave Maria was written for men's choir, but the SATB version here outshines them all. Lauriden's O Magnum Mysterium shimmers as its complex harmonies weave among the parts. You will not be disappointed in this CD!

What can I say. I have actually sung almost all of these anthems but just listening to them brings about such peace and tranquillity that I thought I had died and gone to heaven..a truly orgasmic experience.