Remember: Music Of Loss And Consolation
Albany, 2023
8/10
Listen to Remember: Music Of Loss And Consolation
A carefully culled collection of Romantic American choral music devoted to loss, commemoration, and consolation, many of the selections here were written at the end of World War I or to mark the tenth anniversary of the truce.
George Chadwick’s “Salute The Sacred Dead” opens the listen with Jonathan Kreamer’s animated piano playing alongside the pretty, harmonic voices that emit much emotion, and “Mass In F Minor: Benedictus” follows with much expressive singing guiding the poetic and lovely mood of the George Whiting piece.
“Death Spreads His Gentle Wings” arrives in the middle and uses calm versus bright moments for much effect that illuminates Marian Bauer’s vision, while “I Hear Thy Voice”, by Edith Lang, displays impressive range among Sydney Szware’s soprano and Elizabeth Jones’ mezzo-soprano, plus Aaron Hungerford’s intimate keys.
Dudley Buck’s “The Legend Of Don Munio: Requiem Aeternam” arrives near the end and illustrates Sándor Kádár’s stirring piano prowess and “By The Waters Of Babylon” exits the listen with Chase Saunders’ soprano and Richard Amoroso’s sublime cello complementing the precise singing of the J.C.D. Parker composition.
A lot of the music present was never performed or even known about until now, and here it lives with incredible attention to detail thanks to DeVenney’s inimitable direction.
Travels well with: String Cosmology: Sinfonietta Of Riverdale; Robert Xavier Rodríguez- Harlequin’s Rainbow