Images of Christ

There are so many highlights to this album it becomes cruel to say any piece was not among them. The Barber Adagio/Agnus Dei is a masterwork, and the Cambridge Singers' discipline and pathos make the arrangement come alive in ways the strings simply can't.. The Lotti "Crucifixus" (an enduring classic), Casals "O Vos Omnes" (a beautiful and moving work, conveying the suffering of the Passion without garishness) and Byrd's enchanting "Viri Gallilei" are fantastic and provide more than enough reason to buy the album. The Messaien "O Sacrum Convivium," with its subtly sensuous harmonies and the Bairstow "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence" with its haunting melody and varied textures will silence any who say that church music has become a lost art in the 20th Century. Palestrina's phrases soar as though on the wings of angels (particularly in "Hodie Christus Natus Est.") And Bruckner, as always in his good moments, is as sexy as the Church would let him be.

While the inclusion of some Stanford or Tallis would have been fantastic, this album stands as one that should be in the library of anyone who loves choral music, along with "Hail Gladdening Light" and "Faire is the Heaven."

In short, BUY THIS ALBUM. You'll love it.

--Music--
Selections on this disc come from all over the Western world. They range from as early as eleventh-century France to twentieth-century Russia, a millennium in song and composition. Rutter has selected five major themes - the Coming of Christ (Advent and Christmas), the Words of Christ (lesson texts and prayers, such as the Lord's Prayer, by Stravinsky), the Passion of Christ (Holy Week and Good Friday), the Resurrection and Ascension (Easter), and Christ in the Eucharist (worship and ongoing presence).

Here is a mixture of sacred compositions ranging from standard Gregorian chant and Sarum chant to medieval compositions from Palestrina, de Victoria and Byrd, up to more modern composers such as Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, Bruckner, Barber, and Messiaen. This being said, Rutter states, 'The aim [of this disc] is not a liturgical reconstruction, nor an historical survey, but rather a journey of the imagination.'

--Liner Notes--
The notes for this recording include the titles and words of each anthem or hymn, both in original language and English translation text. The notes for each piece also includes brief biographical information of the composer, and unique information about each work, when particular composers are represented more than once. One thing conspicuously missing is much biographical information about John Rutter, or any descriptive information about the Cambridge Singers. Happily, this disc does have a list of the singers.

--John Rutter--
Rutter was born in London and educated at Clare College, Cambridge. This was where his career as a composer, arranger and conductor began. His early work was with groups at King's College Chapel at Cambridge as well as the Bath Choir and Philharmonic Orchestra. He has worked for the BBC providing music for educational series such as 'The Archaeology of the Bible Lands', until in 1979 he began forming the Cambridge Singers, and has continued a remarkable career of performance and recording as their director ever since.

--The Cambridge Singers--
The Cambridge Singers are a mixed choir of voices, many of whom were members of choir of Rutter's college, Clare College, Cambridge. While they specialise in English and Latin liturgical pieces, they have a wide range of recordings that span from modern compositions (including a remarkable requiem by Rutter) to English folk songs of the Middle Ages. Many are former members of the choir of Clare College and other Cambridge collegiate choirs (hence the name, Cambridge Singers). In the quarter-century since the founding, the Cambridge Singers have produced an impressive body of recordings.