Stillness And Sweet Harmony

Gregorian Chant (Composer), Gabriel Faure (Composer), William [Composer] Byrd (Composer), John Wilbye (Composer), English Traditional (Composer), Orlando Gibbons (Composer), John [Composer] Sheppard (Composer), Gregorio Allegri (Composer), Giuseppe Verdi (Composer), John Rutter (Composer), London Sinfonia (Orchestra), City of London Sinfonia (Orchestra), John Scott (Performer), Caroline Ashton (Performer), Karen Kerslake (Performer), Ruth Holton (Performer), Nicola-Jane Kemp (Performer), Melanie Marshall (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: John Scott, Caroline Ashton, Karen Kerslake, Ruth Holton, Nicola-Jane Kemp, et al.
• Orchestra: London Sinfonia, City of London Sinfonia
• Composer: Gregorian Chant, Gabriel Faure, William [Composer] Byrd, John Wilbye, English Traditional, et al.
• Audio CD (October 10, 1996)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Collegium
• ASIN: B0000031IC
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #211,683 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Compilations from a performer's catalog are often musically hit-and-miss and programmatically shaky. But when you have a catalog as strong, varied, and musically rich as the Cambridge Singers', the question is not how to find appropriate material but how to reduce the first-rate choices to fit on a single CD. This one offers a wide range of selections, including chant, Renaissance sacred and secular works, folk song, and 20th-century pieces. Every track contains a gem--music and performance--so it's hard to list only a few highlights. There's the Pie Jesu from Fauré's Requiem, Allegri's famous Miserere, several classics by Byrd, Orlando Gibbons's popular "The silver swan," and two masterful folk-song arrangements by Rutter. But among the 15 works featured, John Sheppard's "In manus tuas" (one of the glories of the English Renaissance) and Rutter's "What sweeter music" (his most famous piece) alone make this disc worth owning. --David Vernier

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bad day at work? Enter another realm, July 30, 2005

By 

David Robinson (Oakland, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Stillness And Sweet Harmony (Audio CD)

This is a wonderfully mellow selection of choral works in the English tradition, and a particularly well-balanced program: You can set the CD to play and relax with a good glass of wine.

The Cambridge Singers come across as a single, smooth instrument--not a group of belting soloists. Rutter's arrangements and orchestrations avoid here some of the cutesy movie-style effects on some of the Christmas albums.

This album is a compilation from previous Cambridge Singers recordings, so it's very suitable as a gift from someone who has expressed an early interest in English choral music, to lead them into the area. The CD is a wonderful value and highly recommended.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ahhhh...., June 29, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Stillness And Sweet Harmony (Audio CD)

Very pleasant music for rattled nerves. I'm no expert on choral music, but this is a calming and enjoyable CD to listen to while driving.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely Beautiful Music, June 13, 2008

By 

Peter Gattuso (Warrenton, VA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Stillness And Sweet Harmony (Audio CD)

Stillness And Sweet Harmony
It's like Gregorian Chants with added harmony. Very impressive, and a joy to listen to over and over again.