The Best Choral Album in the World...Ever!

John Shirley-Quirk (Performer), Daniel Sladden (Performer), James Morris (Performer), Stephen Roberts (Performer), Gregorio Allegri (Composer), Johann Sebastian Bach (Composer), Samuel Barber (Composer), Ludwig van Beethoven (Composer), Hector Berlioz (Composer), Leonard Bernstein (Composer), Alexander Borodin (Composer), Gregorian Chant (Composer), Marc-Antoine Charpentier (Composer), Maurice Durufle (Composer), Edward Elgar (Composer), Gabriel Faure (Composer), Cesar Franck (Composer), Henryk Gorecki (Composer), George Frederick Handel (Composer), Franz Joseph Haydn (Composer)

Product Details

• Performer: John Shirley-Quirk, Daniel Sladden, James Morris, Stephen Roberts
• Composer: Gregorio Allegri, Johann Sebastian Bach, Samuel Barber, Ludwig van Beethoven, Hector Berlioz, et al.
• Audio CD (June 7, 2005)
• SPARS Code: ADD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: EMI Classics
• ASIN: B00002ZZH6
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #9,029 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Gloria, for 3 solo voices, chorus, trumpet, oboe, violin (ad lib), 2 violas, 2 cellos, strings & continuo in D major, RV 589: Gloria

2. Cantata No. 147, 'Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben,' BWV 147 (BC A174): Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring

3. Zadok the Priest, coronation anthem No. 1 for chorus & orchestra, HWV 258

4. Miserere mei Deus (Psalm 51), motet for chorus: vv 1-4, 17-20

5. Veni creator spiritus, hymn in mode 8

6. Requiem for soloists, chorus, and orchestra, K. 626: Lacrimosa

7. Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: For unto Us a Child Is Born

8. Die Schöpfung (The Creation), oratorio, H. 21/2: The Heavens Are Telling

9. Panis angelicus for tenor, organ, harp, cello & bass

10. Vespers (All-Night Vigil), for alto, tenor & chorus, Op. 37: Ave Maria

See all 19 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Cantata No. 140, 'Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme,' BWV 140 (BC A166): Zion hört die Wächter

2. Te Deum, motet for 8 voices, chorus & orchestra, H. 146: Pleni sunt coeli et terra

3. Messiah, oratorio, HWV 56: Hallelujah Chorus

4. Funeral Sentences (for the funeral of Queen Mary), Z. 27: Thou knowest, Lord

5. Veni sancte spiritus, sequence in mode 1

6. Die Schöpfung (The Creation), oratorio, H. 21/2: Awake the harp

7. Elijah (Elias), oratorio, Op. 70: And then Shall Your Light Break Forth

8. L' Enfance du Christ, oratorio for soprano, 2 tenors, baritone, 3 basses, chorus & orchetsra ('trilogie sacrée') H. 130 (Op. 25): L'A

9. Requiem, for orchestra, organ & chorus; for organ & chorus; for small ensemble, organ & chorus, Op. 9 (3 versions): Agnus Dei (reduce

10. Cantique de Jean Racine, for 4-part chorus & organ (or orchestra), Op. 11

See all 21 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Diverse range but the songs are butchered..., July 23, 2005

By	Angie Richardson (Texas, USA) - See all my reviews

Well, this CD isn't horrible by any stretch, but it is irritating to someone who's more than a casual listener of choral music. I'm by no means as musically "literate" as many reviewers out there, but I have a collection of probably twenty-five or thirty choral CD's and this is one that will probably be gathering dust in the back of the CD book.

The peices are well-performed for the most part, but they are hopelessly edited. Beethoven's Ode to Joy is somewhere around twenty four minutes, but this CD only includes an arrangement of about five minutes. The beautiful Miserere is, uncut, almost eleven minutes but is cut down to five and a half minutes here.

Looking back, I should have realized the major editing that would be involved, just by the sheer number of peices on it. I'm familiar with a great many of them and I know they're too long to fit onto a seventy minute disc without some major cutting going on. I just didn't reason that out before I shelled out the money for it.

Bottom line. This CD has decent singing, but is nothing special. If you're a newcomer to this genre, you might get this as a quick overview of the different types of choral music out there, but if you're any kind of an avid listener, this CD will drive you insane with the severity of the cuts. Beginners, if you're looking for a great collection CD, you'd do better to look at "Choral Moods". It doesn't have the diversity in styles of this one, but it will introduce you to incredibly talented composers. To the old hats out there, steer clear of this one and look to CD's by your preferred individual composers themselves. It's more money, but much less frustration in the long run. The old sayings are sometimes the best: You get what you pay for.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars MarMSED, August 26, 2005

By	Mary L. Ledford "MarMSED" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The music selections are extraordinary. The only problem has to do with the balance of sound. There are some parts that are very loud, and some that are so very soft. You have to continually adjust the volume.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love it and I give it as a gift, December 10, 2006

By	From_Plano_TX "a_customer_from_plano" (Plano, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This is the first collection of choral music that I've purchased and I love it. I own copies of operas and requiems and masses, but if you attend choral concerts, as I have been recently, you learn there is a huge colletion of choral music appart from the forms I've been listening to. I appreciate the producers selecting "Song for Athene" by Tavener and "Celebration (Standing Stone)" by McCartney. They are new to me and I love them. Disk 1 ends with "Jerusalem" and Disk 2 ends with "Land of Hope and Glory." As an American I rarely hear these and I am so glad they were included. I believe this album was intended to help popularize choral music and I believe the selections do fine job towards that end.

I know snobs rage against popularizing classical music, but everyone deserves exposure to the beauty of song. I will also mention here "The East Village Opera Company" because they work to popularize opera by setting it to a rock beat. They do a fine job but also get criticized for attempting to popularize classical music.

"The Best Choral Album in the World...Ever" was so popular with my teen-age daughter that it was hard to get it back from her. I give the album as a gift to nephews and nieces.