Sermons and Devotions

Henryk Gorecki (Composer), Veljo Tormis (Composer), Igor Stravinsky (Composer), Geoffrey Poole (Composer), John Tavener (Composer), Richard Rodney Bennett (Composer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Composer: Henryk Gorecki, Veljo Tormis, Igor Stravinsky, Geoffrey Poole, John Tavener, et al.
• Audio CD (November 15, 2004)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B00069I6RE
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #569,582 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Totus Tuus, for chorus, Op. 60

2. The Bishop and the pagan, for countertenor voice, 2 tenor voices & male cho

3. Pater Noster, for chorus

4. Ave Maria, for chorus a cappella (after Bogoroditse D'vo)

5. Prologue: Ave, rex angelorum

6. Scherzo: Tutivillus

7. Prayer: Mary modyr

8. Epilogue: Blessed Jesu

9. Funeral Ikos, for chorus

10. The Lamb, for chorus

11. A Statue of Snowe

12. A Flowre at Sun-Rising

13. Poore Intricated Soule!

14. The Seasons of His Mercies

15. The Bell Doth Toll

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This will summarize all other reviews., April 23, 2000

By 

"campus-used-media-king" (Savoy, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sermons & Devotions (Audio CD)

The King's Singers showcase their incredibly broad talent. But if you thought "Good Vibrations" was their best CD, beware; this is for head-banger King's Singers fans only. This will not be popular among pop music lovers---only artiste-types.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, December 30, 2003

By 

R. Albin (Ann Arbor, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sermons & Devotions (Audio CD)

Another excellent recording from the versatile and virtuosic King's Singers. The theme of this CD is 20th century sacred music. The performances, as usual, are superb. The choice of pieces is very interesting. Some of these pieces were commissioned by the King's Singers themselves. This CD doesn't have the broad appeal of the King's more popular works or probably even of their fine recordings of early music but is very enjoyable.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Unusual and distinctive, February 26, 2000

By 

Mark Swinton - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sermons & Devotions (Audio CD)

I have heard a good many snippets of this unusual CD. One thing is clear- the King's Singers are not to sneered at: the range they cover given their limited size is almost frightening, particularly given the justice they can do to such weighty material as recorded here.

I am very familiar with the Tavener and Stravinsky on this disc, and it is a constant amazement that with just two counter-tenors against four lower voices, the group managed to achieve a mostly successful balance in them- especially in Tavener's "Funeral Ikos" to which they bring a remarkable shine. It is a pity they tackled the Gorecki "Totus Tuus"; they really could have done with augmentation (just as the Tallis Scholars were augmented to cover the forty parts needed in their recording of Tallis' motet "Spem in alium") and the work does lose something in being scaled down to six parts. That said, the group still manages to capture an intensity in the piece that listeners familiar with it will recognise. Meanwhile, the other works on this disc were written for the group, and in that respect they are easier to listen to. I have performed some Richard Rodney Bennett music in my time and find it to be on the approachable end of the modern music spectrum. He is a thoughtful composer and uses his forces well, as this recording shows.

Not the best showcase of the more familiar works perhaps, but undoubtedly a triumph for the King's Singers.