"If you want to finish a piece feeling emotionally drained then this is the piece for you! I defy anyone not to be moved to tears by the devestating climax!"
"Very, very big and very, very powerful - the second part, based on Goethe's 'Faust' is especially overwhelming. Also on this cd you get Des Knaben Wunderhorn-funny Germanic songs...excellent!"
"The first of my Vaughan Williams choices. Dona Nobis Pacem is RVW's own explicit plea for peace-therefore timeless! Based on biblical, political and poetic texts, this is choral music at its best!"
"This is a funny one but it definately gets better with repeated listenings. Choral only in the seond part but included cos of the spine-tingling Lacrimosa."
"Some more RVW. This is great-esp the first movement! And surprisingly moving as it draws towards the 4th movement. Excellent soloists and excellent price!"
"You get both Poulenc's Stabat Mater and his Gloria on this excellent priced cd from Naxos. The juxtaposition of the sorprano soloist and the choir is what makes both standout pieces"
"No Choral list would be complete without this one and I reckon this recording is one of the best! Also who can be failed to be moved by the climatic 'Worthy is the Lamb'? Even if you don't believe it!"
"Full of beautiful, lyrical moments (the lacrymosa) and pure hell, fire and fury (dies irae!) and the crushing Libera Me! Plus this recordings got Angela Gheorghiu on it-hurrah!"
"Hugely under-rated RVW here! (But then isn't he always?) This is a wonderful xmas cantata with various texts and wonderfully xmassy music! Janet Baker's Lullaby is an emotional highlight!"
"Always compared but only similar in the Libera me, the Durufle and the Faure Req's are the quiet men of the genre! Sad rather than draining-their quiet beauty is a mathc for the power of the Verdi."
"A moving, beautiful piece if music! Sometimes soaring (1st and 7th movements) and sometimes unexpectedly violent (the excellent-to-belt-out 2nd movement), Brahms's req is unbelievably moving!"
