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Modern Choral Masters / Elora Festival Singers

Part / Elora Festival Singers
Release Date: 10/30/2012 
Label:  Naxos   Catalog #: 8503264  
Composer:  Morten Lauridsen,  Eric Whitacre,  Arvo Pärt
Performer:  Leslie De'Ath
Conductor:  Noel Edison
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Elora Festival Singers
Number of Discs: 3 
In Stock: Usually ships in 24 hours.  

Notes and Editorial Reviews


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 the Read 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.

-- David Vernierm ClassicsToday.com
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Works on This Recording

1.
Lux aeterna: O nata lux by Morten Lauridsen
Conductor:  Noel Edison
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Elora Festival Singers
Period: 20th Century 
Written: 1997; USA 
 Length: 5 Minutes 5 Secs. 
2.
Madrigali - Fire Songs (6) on Italian Renaissance Poems by Morten Lauridsen
Conductor:  Noel Edison
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Elora Festival Singers
Period: Contemporary 
Written: 1987; Italy 
3.
Les chansons des roses by 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 mysterium by 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 Soars by Eric Whitacre
Conductor:  Noel Edison
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Elora Festival Singers
Period: 20th Century 
Written: 2002; USA 
7.
A Boy and a Girl by Eric Whitacre
Conductor:  Noel Edison
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Elora Festival Singers
Period: 20th Century 
Written: 2002; USA 
8.
Water Night by Eric Whitacre
Conductor:  Noel Edison
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Elora Festival Singers
Period: 20th Century 
Written: 1995; USA 
9.
This Marriage by Eric Whitacre
Conductor:  Noel Edison
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Elora Festival Singers
Period: 20th Century 
Written: 2004; USA 
10.
Lux aurumque by Eric Whitacre
Conductor:  Noel Edison
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Elora Festival Singers
Period: 20th Century 
Written: 2000; USA 
11.
Little Tree by Eric Whitacre
Conductor:  Noel Edison
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Elora Festival Singers
Period: 20th Century 
Written: USA 
12.
When David Heard by Eric Whitacre
Conductor:  Noel Edison
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Elora Festival Singers
Period: 20th Century 
Written: 1999; USA 
13.
Leonardo dreams of his flying machine by Eric Whitacre
Conductor:  Noel Edison
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Elora Festival Singers
Period: 20th Century 
Written: 2001; USA 
14.
Songs of Faith (3): no 3, I thank You God for most this amazing day by Eric Whitacre
Conductor:  Noel Edison
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Elora Festival Singers
Period: 20th Century 
Written: 1999; USA 
15.
Sleep by Eric Whitacre
Conductor:  Noel Edison
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Elora Festival Singers
Period: 20th Century 
Written: 2000; USA 
16.
Little Birds by Eric Whitacre
Performer:  Leslie De'Ath (Piano)
Conductor:  Noel Edison
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Elora Festival Singers
Period: 20th Century 
Written: USA 
17.
Triodion by 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 Caesar by 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 dimittis by 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 VII by 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 Vine by 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 Box by 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 vittoria by 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 Devo by 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 Issue September 27, 2017 By 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
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