During the past few years Noel Edison and his Elora Festival Singers made three excellent recordings devoted to works by three contemporary composers, each of whom has in his way contributed significantly to new ways of thinking about, hearing, and disseminating choral music: Arvo Pärt with his sparse, minimal style; Morten Lauridsen and Eric Whitacre with their strongly melodic, texture-based style, loaded with affecting dissonance and harmonies just close enough to jazz and pop to excite the ears of millions of new listeners. And speaking of new listeners, Whitacre also is known for creating what’s now described as the “virtual choir”, an online project in which singers from all over theRead more world record themselves singing one of Whitacre’s pieces, after which the whole thing—audio and video—is mixed together in a grand, multi-cultural, multi-media performance, viewable on the web, involving hundreds (now thousands, for the latest effort, Virtual Choir 3) of participants.
Naxos has brought these three composers together with recordings of music containing many of their best-known works: Lauridsen’s O nata lux and O magnum mysterium (see sound clip below); Whitacre’s A Boy and a Girl, Water Night, Lux aurumque, and Sleep; Pärt’s I Am the True Vine, Dopo la vittoria, and Bogoróditse Djévo. You can find complete reviews of each of these CDs in our reviews archive, but if you are new to this music or to this choir, be assured that you will not hear finer performances anywhere of this essential modern choral repertoire: the Elora Festival Singers, a professional ensemble based in the picturesque and musically sophisticated small town of Elora, Ontario, maintains a world-class standard of singing, whether for an Evensong service in the local church, St. John’s, Elora, or for a full concert during Elora’s internationally acclaimed summer music festival (well worth the trip, but don’t wait until the last minute to buy tickets!). And for this set of CDs you won’t find a better offer: it’s available for less than you’d pay for each disc separately.
Lux aeterna: O nata luxby Morten Lauridsen Conductor:
Noel Edison
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Elora Festival Singers
Period: 20th Century Written: 1997; USA Length: 5 Minutes 5 Secs.
Les chansons des rosesby Morten Lauridsen Conductor:
Noel Edison
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Elora Festival Singers
Period: 20th Century Written: 1993; USA
4.
Mid-Winter Songs (5)by Morten Lauridsen Conductor:
Noel Edison
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Elora Festival Singers
Period: 20th Century Written: 1980; USA
5.
O magnum mysteriumby Morten Lauridsen Conductor:
Noel Edison
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Elora Festival Singers
Period: 20th Century Written: 1994; USA Length: 5 Minutes 52 Secs.
6.
Her Sacred Spirit Soarsby Eric Whitacre Conductor:
Noel Edison
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Elora Festival Singers
Period: 20th Century Written: 2002; USA
7.
A Boy and a Girlby Eric Whitacre Conductor:
Noel Edison
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Elora Festival Singers
Period: 20th Century Written: 2002; USA
8.
Water Nightby Eric Whitacre Conductor:
Noel Edison
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Elora Festival Singers
Period: 20th Century Written: 1995; USA
9.
This Marriageby Eric Whitacre Conductor:
Noel Edison
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Elora Festival Singers
Period: 20th Century Written: 2004; USA
10.
Lux aurumqueby Eric Whitacre Conductor:
Noel Edison
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Elora Festival Singers
Period: 20th Century Written: 2000; USA
11.
Little Treeby Eric Whitacre Conductor:
Noel Edison
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Elora Festival Singers
Period: 20th Century Written: USA
12.
When David Heardby Eric Whitacre Conductor:
Noel Edison
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Elora Festival Singers
Period: 20th Century Written: 1999; USA
13.
Leonardo dreams of his flying machineby Eric Whitacre Conductor:
Noel Edison
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Elora Festival Singers
Period: 20th Century Written: 2001; USA
Sleepby Eric Whitacre Conductor:
Noel Edison
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Elora Festival Singers
Period: 20th Century Written: 2000; USA
16.
Little Birdsby Eric Whitacre Performer:
Leslie De'Ath (Piano)
Conductor:
Noel Edison
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Elora Festival Singers
Period: 20th Century Written: USA
17.
Triodionby Arvo Pärt Conductor:
Noel Edison
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Elora Festival Singers
Period: 20th Century Written: 1998 Venue: St. John Chrysostom, Newmarket, Ontario Length: 13 Minutes 36 Secs. Language: English
18.
Tribute to Caesarby Arvo Pärt Conductor:
Noel Edison
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Elora Festival Singers
Period: 20th Century Written: 1997 Venue: St. John Chrysostom, Newmarket, Ontario Length: 5 Minutes 33 Secs. Language: English
19.
Nunc dimittisby Arvo Pärt Conductor:
Noel Edison
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Elora Festival Singers
Period: 20th Century Written: 2001; Germany Venue: St. John Chrysostom, Newmarket, Ontario Length: 6 Minutes 16 Secs. Language: Latin
20.
Kanon Pokajanen: Ode VIIby Arvo Pärt Conductor:
Noel Edison
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Elora Festival Singers
Period: 20th Century Written: 1994 Venue: St. John Chrysostom, Newmarket, Ontario Length: 7 Minutes 37 Secs. Language: Slavonic
21.
I am the True Vineby Arvo Pärt Conductor:
Noel Edison
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Elora Festival Singers
Period: 20th Century Written: 1996 Venue: St. John Chrysostom, Newmarket, Ontario Length: 6 Minutes 50 Secs. Language: English
22.
The Woman with the Alabaster Boxby Arvo Pärt Conductor:
Noel Edison
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Elora Festival Singers
Period: 20th Century Written: 1997 Venue: St. John Chrysostom, Newmarket, Ontario Length: 5 Minutes 26 Secs. Language: English
23.
Dopo la vittoriaby Arvo Pärt Conductor:
Noel Edison
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Elora Festival Singers
Period: 20th Century Written: 1996-1998; Germany Venue: St. John Chrysostom, Newmarket, Ontario Length: 10 Minutes 39 Secs. Language: Italian
24.
Bogoroditse Devoby Arvo Pärt Conductor:
Noel Edison
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Elora Festival Singers
Period: 20th Century Written: 1990; Estonia Venue: St. John Chrysostom, Newmarket, Ontario Length: 1 Minutes 28 Secs. Language: Slavonic
Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review: ( 1 Customer Review )
One IssueSeptember 27, 2017By Thomas W. (Farmington, PA)See All My Reviews"The three discs were filled with wonderful music beautifully performed. My only complaint is that the volume of the recording was so low I had to turn up the volume considerably to hear the music."Report Abuse