Track Listing

1. Song for Athene, for chorus
2. Ex ore innocentium, for soprano, alto & piano (or organ)
3. The Lamb, for chorus
4. Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, for chorus, Op. 31: Hymn to the Cherubim
5. Nine sili nebesniye (Rejoice Now Heavenly Powers)
6. Hymn to St. Cecilia, for chorus, Op. 27
7. Ave Maria, for double chorus
8. Crucifixus a 8 Voix
9. Miserere mei Deus (Psalm 51), motet for chorus
10. Esti Dal (Evening Song), folksong for high voice or mixed or male chorus
11. The Dying Soldier, for chorus
12. Psalms (2) for chorus, strings & organ, H. 117: Psalm 148, Lord who has made us for Thine own
13. Faire Is the Heaven, for chorus

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #211165 in Music
• Released on: 2006-11-28
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

Customer Reviews

Simply extraordinary
I get quickly out of my depth when it comes to any classical music, let alone sacred choral music, so I am wary about looking like a right pillock when I review it. But here goes:

This is a truly extraordinary, beautiful, haunting listening experience.

Signum Records seem to be doing its best to hide the fact that it is recording and releasing exquisite classical music. Much of Signum's catalogue is available only through its website, which Signum doesn't seem to have submitted to search engines for indexing. Allegri-Miserere is one of the few Signum releases available on Amazon. If you do nothing else, snap it up before Signum decides to hide this one too!

To my way of thinking, there are three aspects a record like this: The quality of the material performed, the quality of its execution by the choir, and the quality of the recording. In this case, all three are sublime, across the length of the album.

The title track is, of course, one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever written - so beautiful the Vatican forbade, on pain of excommunication, anyone but its own Sistine Chapel Choir from playing it (the story, briefly recounted in the liner notes, of how a young Mozart nicked it from under the Vatican's nose by memorising it in one sitting is a beauty). While I've heard plenty recordings of the Miserere this one - it is a beautifully crisp recording - reveals the complexity and ornamentation of the vocal lines like no other version I've heard, even as between the tenors and basses positioned at the front of the soundstage (I think the Miserere is structured as a song-and-reply between two small choral groups). The sopranos and altos are positioned at the back of the soundstage, and the famous solo treble line is softened and embedded in a glorious natural reverberation giving it a haunting, solemn quality. When the lead soprano (I was surprised to see there are no boy trebles in the choir, by the way - I know it's not supposed to be the same, but I couldn't tell) hits her high C - and it's high in the stratosphere all right, practically in dogs-only territory - and falls away from it down a major scale it really takes your breath away. I almost fell down an escalator at King's Cross St. Pancras with excitement. And I just love the way Miserere resolves delicately into a major, at the very last. Clever man, that Allegri.

Elsewhere, the repertoire fully spans Tenebrae's stated coverage era of 17th-21st century, from Lotti's beautiful 8 Part Crucifix to the more modern works by Taverner, Ireland, Rachmaninov, Britten and Holst.

Not only is the music beautifully selected and recorded, the performance is just extraordinary in its accuracy and tone, dynamism and control. Though the sopranos steal the limelight in the Miserere, the rich bass and beautifully constant tenors are well to the fore throughout, and kick some righteous heavenly butt on Sheremetriev's Now Ye Heavenly Powers. It's spine-tingling, neck-shivering material, and when the basses hit their final bottom note, as low in the subterranea as the sopranos are high in the Miserere, I fell down the stairs with surprise and delight at East Finchley. Marvellous.

I really couldn't recommend this more highly. Treat yourself.

Olly Buxton

Rich gorgeous tapestry of choral music
This CD was recommended to me because I had bought Music for Compline and one other similar CD. While I like the Compline and other CD (which I can't think of the name right now...) this is definitely the best of the genre. The chorus has a rich and full sound -- especially with the pipe organ back up. The selection of music spans the centuries from less familiar to traditional favorites such as Holst's Alleluia.

This music isn't great if you just want a background track while reading or working. It is captures your attention too much and you will find yourself distracted from other mental tasks. It is great for the drive home to help you refocus on real life and the importance of living and calm the road-raging beast within.

While I am a spiritual person, I'm not wild about the "modern music" that is so prevalent in churches today. The music and the performance on this CD is, in my humble opinion, is a gift from a Higher Being as well as a gift FOR a Higher Being. But you don't have to be religious to enjoy it.

Basically, if you enjoy fine classical choral ensembles such as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir or Robert Shaw, you will love this CD.