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Product details
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Track Listings
| 1. I was glad when they said unto me Coronation Anthem |
| 2. The Great Service: Magnificat |
| 3. Nunc dimittis |
| 4. Songs of Farewell |
| 5. Hear my words, ye people |
| 6. Judith Oratorio: Long since in Egypt's plenteous land |
| 7. Jerusalem |
Product Description
Review
''Clarity and control in 'cathedral' readings of a Parry choral collection... sung with conviction, rhythmical vitality and sensitively accompanied by Jeffery Makinson.'' --Gramophone (Terry Blain, December 2009)
''All told, this fine CD is an excellent primer to Parry's vocal music.'' --BBC Music Magazine
''Bright-toned trebles, both male and female, immediately catch the ear in Manchester Cathedral Choir's wonderfully confident survey of Parry's sacred choral hits...At budget price, this disc provides an ideal introduction to Parry's art.'' --Classic FM Magazine
''All told, this fine CD is an excellent primer to Parry's vocal music.'' --BBC Music Magazine
''Bright-toned trebles, both male and female, immediately catch the ear in Manchester Cathedral Choir's wonderfully confident survey of Parry's sacred choral hits...At budget price, this disc provides an ideal introduction to Parry's art.'' --Classic FM Magazine
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I, too, own many thousands of Cds and wholeheartedly disagree with the previous review!
A sensitive and musically accomplished performance, Stokes' talented choristers sing with clarity, warmth and rich expression. Sure, there are a couple of wobbly moments but overall this is a really enjoyable recording. A fantastic introduction to Parry, for the novice as well as the seasoned classical listener.
A sensitive and musically accomplished performance, Stokes' talented choristers sing with clarity, warmth and rich expression. Sure, there are a couple of wobbly moments but overall this is a really enjoyable recording. A fantastic introduction to Parry, for the novice as well as the seasoned classical listener.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I wanted to hear some of Parry's choral music after watching the BBC4 documentary, "The Prince and the Composer", in which Prince Charles talked about his love for Parry's music and his view that it deserves to be better known. In my opinion, Parry is as well known as he deserves to be.
When I saw the one star review of this recording, I was struck how the reviewer seemed to find nothing of any merit in it. Surely, it couldn't be that bad. So I have decided to listen to it myself and make my own mind up.
Manchester Cathedral Choir is not known as one of this country's premier cathedral choirs. However, this should not put you off. They sing with a nice blend and pretty good tone. The treble line has a mixture of boys and girls and has a warmth and richness of tone that some boys only choirs can lack. The underlying voices are strong but not overwhelming. However, I did find the overall sonority a little lacking in weight and grandeur in this music and sometimes the microphones catch the upper voices in an unpleasant way.
The first piece is "I was Glad". It is a very good start to the CD, which I enjoyed very much. I was struck by the magical quality of the "Oh Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem" section in the middle with reduced (solo?) forces. Similarly the final track, "Jerusalem" gets a good rousing performance. I just wish the rest of the CD could have been this good.
The most important works on the CD, however, are the "Songs of Farewell". I and many others regard them as Parry's masterpieces. They are reflections on mortality using mainly 17th century English poetry. The words themselves can brings shivers to the spine but the musical execution here did not convince me. There was something rather matter of fact about the performances. I longed for some real engagement with the music and words. After a while, I found the longer anthems a bit of a trial to listen to, they just seemed to lose their way and just subject the listener to a series of notes. For comparison, I listened to a recording made by the choir of New College Oxford in two of the Songs of Farewell and found all the qualities missing from this recording.
I do enjoy Parry's music both as a performer and a listener (I have taken part in performances of 9 of the 12 tracks on this CD) but in all honesty, I cannot be enthusiatic about this particular recording. It has its moments in the shorter pieces but the longer ones lack the necessary sweep and bigger view to be convincing. Sorry.
When I saw the one star review of this recording, I was struck how the reviewer seemed to find nothing of any merit in it. Surely, it couldn't be that bad. So I have decided to listen to it myself and make my own mind up.
Manchester Cathedral Choir is not known as one of this country's premier cathedral choirs. However, this should not put you off. They sing with a nice blend and pretty good tone. The treble line has a mixture of boys and girls and has a warmth and richness of tone that some boys only choirs can lack. The underlying voices are strong but not overwhelming. However, I did find the overall sonority a little lacking in weight and grandeur in this music and sometimes the microphones catch the upper voices in an unpleasant way.
The first piece is "I was Glad". It is a very good start to the CD, which I enjoyed very much. I was struck by the magical quality of the "Oh Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem" section in the middle with reduced (solo?) forces. Similarly the final track, "Jerusalem" gets a good rousing performance. I just wish the rest of the CD could have been this good.
The most important works on the CD, however, are the "Songs of Farewell". I and many others regard them as Parry's masterpieces. They are reflections on mortality using mainly 17th century English poetry. The words themselves can brings shivers to the spine but the musical execution here did not convince me. There was something rather matter of fact about the performances. I longed for some real engagement with the music and words. After a while, I found the longer anthems a bit of a trial to listen to, they just seemed to lose their way and just subject the listener to a series of notes. For comparison, I listened to a recording made by the choir of New College Oxford in two of the Songs of Farewell and found all the qualities missing from this recording.
I do enjoy Parry's music both as a performer and a listener (I have taken part in performances of 9 of the 12 tracks on this CD) but in all honesty, I cannot be enthusiatic about this particular recording. It has its moments in the shorter pieces but the longer ones lack the necessary sweep and bigger view to be convincing. Sorry.
Format:MP3 Download|Amazon Verified Purchase
I bought this record to study some choral pieces. The recording is good but the collection is not complete, but was fine for me.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Really not very good
I downloaded this mostly to hear the Songs of Farewell.
It was pretty unimpressive all the way through - starting from a rendition of I was Glad that was less than... Read more
It was pretty unimpressive all the way through - starting from a rendition of I was Glad that was less than... Read more
Published 9 months ago by J. C. Shaw
Hello & Farewell
I own many thousands of Cd's, DVD's, Vids, tapes and LP's. I love this music.
So, I have to say that this is the worst recording of anything I have ever heard, in all... Read more
So, I have to say that this is the worst recording of anything I have ever heard, in all... Read more
Published 17 months ago by ronkeay
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