Agnus Dei II: Music to soothe the soul

Eamon Dougan (Performer), Tomaso Albinoni (Composer), Johann Sebastian Bach (Composer), Georges Bizet (Composer), Johannes Brahms (Composer), Anton Bruckner (Composer), William Byrd (Composer), Gabriel Faure (Composer), Antonio Lotti (Composer), Frank Martin (Composer), Claudio Monteverdi (Composer), Henry Purcell (Composer), Franz Schubert (Composer), Matt Hall (Performer), Matthew Halls (Performer)

Product Details

• Performer: Eamon Dougan, Matt Hall, Matthew Halls
• Composer: Tomaso Albinoni, Johann Sebastian Bach, Georges Bizet, Johannes Brahms, Anton Bruckner, et al.
• Audio CD (June 16, 1998)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Erato
• ASIN: B000006Q25
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #115,701 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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

  #14 in	Music > Classical > Featured Composers, A-Z > ( M ) > Martin, Frank
  #67 in	Music > Classical > Featured Composers, A-Z > ( B ) > Byrd, William
  #69 in	Music > Classical > Featured Composers, A-Z > ( M ) > Monteverdi, Claudio

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Building on the enormous success of the first Agnus Dei disc, its successor offers more of the same musical mood, but with a few surprises too. One of the hits of the first album was John Cameron's arrangement of Elgar's Nimrod, using the words of the Lux Aeterna. Here he really rolls his sleeves up and similarly tackles the Albinoni-Giazzoto Adagio (using the words of the Beatitudes) and the Intermezzo from Bizet's second L'Arlésienne Suite (using the text of the Agnus Dei). The role of the orchestra (the excellent ensemble Capricorn) has been expanded, and Edward Higginbottom himself has arranged a delicious string septet accompaniment to Brahms's Geistliches Lied. Much of the music is of the kind that the choir obviously eats for breakfast--which is not to say that they ever sound bland or tired, just at home. The one weak track is Monteverdi's Beatus Vir, which needs voices of more sophistication and agility than the boys can provide. That aside, this is another album that should do their reputation no harm. --Warwick Thompson

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Awesome music - fidelity a bit lacking, February 15, 1999

By A Customer

The opening song "The Beatitudes" by Albinoni is incredibly moving, so much so that the other songs have a hard time comparing. Overall, excellent, although the fidelity could be greatly improved. I had to crank up my volume 30-40% higher to achieve a comparable volume and noticed some distortion (in the recording, not my system) that was a bit distracting. Still, an outstanding CD.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Could be better, July 7, 2006

By	MDW (Syracuse, NY USA) - See all my reviews

After owning Agnus Dei I for years, and somehow misplacing the CD, I decided to buy both I and II from Amazon. Of the CD's, I is still my favorite. Agnus Dei II is a decent CD, but it doesn't have the fluidity or the dynamics that the first disk has. I guess I got spoiled with the first disk.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good choral CD, but . . . , January 22, 2006

By	Mark Marshall (Corpus Christi, Texas) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Agnus Dei II is a really good choral CD with a more otherworldly sound than most choral offerings. But the first Agnus Dei is better, amazing really. Own both, but if you only want one, get the first one.