September Music Recommendation

September Music Recommendation

The September music recommendation comes after several months of neglect so I need to make this a good one.  After looking down a list of five (5) star selections I decided to recommend A Company of Voices, Conspirare in Concert. My top four selections from the CD are:

• Agnus Dei by Samuel Barber
• Gabriel’s Oboe – Ennio Morricone  [I’ve used this with several slide shows.]
• Requiem – Eliza Gilkyson
• The First Of My Lovers – Sydney Carter

Reviews

“The singing is superb, and the overall uplifting nature of the music and the performances leaves us–as it undoubtedly did the attending audience–feeling like we’ve just been rewarded and revived. Strongly recommended!”
– Classics Today

“artful arrangements and polished, utterly convincing performances… They sound at home in everything… This – like their previous releases – delivers some of the lushest, loveliest, and most exquisitely balances choral singing on record.”
– American Record Guide

“it’s creative, virtuosity fun.”
– The Buffalo News

“the music here strikes me as so hopeful and reassuring, and each new number that came my way settled my soul like no concert has for a long, long while. I found myself sorry that one song was ending at the same time I was enthusiastically and eagerly anticipating the next…the choir sings with an engaging sense of commitment and almost evangelical zeal. I’ll convert to this any day, and you’ll have trouble resisting too. Urgently recommended!”
– Audiophile Audition

“Anyone who might think choral music can’t be psychedelic ought to hear this…Conspirare particularly excels at spirituals and soul music. They also ably explore both country…and contemporary gospel with a surprising majesty and depth…Yet unsurprisingly, it’s the edgiest material here – Eliza Gylkison’s stoic Requiem…an excerpt from Triptych by Tarik O’Regan, and an often spine-tingling take of Samuel Barber’s Agnus Dei that spring the latch, voices and arrangements soaring free”
– Lucid Culture