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
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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 by Morten Lauridsen
Conductor:
Noel Edison
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Elora Festival Singers
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1987; USA
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
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