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DiscountDelight - Words of the Angel
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List Price: $17.98
Our Price: $12.93
Your Save: $ 5.05 ( 28% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Ecm Records
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Average Customer Rating: 
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0028946178225
Label: Ecm Records
Manufacturer: Ecm Records
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Ecm Records
Release Date: 2002-01-29
Studio: Ecm Records
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Good music
Comment: I'm a big fan of religious choral classical music, and this album was not nearly as good as I was expecting it to be. It is good music, and the performers do a fine job, but it is not as awe inspiring as most of the music I listen to.
The music has very little variance of dynamics. Many people like music where one setting of the volume control works throughout the entire piece, but I prefer music that has quieter parts and louder parts. Music is more expressive when it changes dynamics, or especially when the composer tastefully uses silence. These composers did not use any silence at all in their pieces. That, combined with the performers swinging their notes made the pieces feel too hurried. The embellishments were also annoying, because some of the notes just felt unimportant, almost like they were only put in to avoid the singer singing one note for too long. But the embellishments made the piece feel too busy, and not contemplative enough. The only modern piece on the CD (the 19th track, composed by Moody) fits in well with the CD, and is definitely in the old style.
The music does sound distinctively western European, and not similar to the orthodox Christian tradition. As much as I've criticized some aspects of the music in the above paragraph, I do like the music. It does a good job of helping one attain the peaceful spiritual mood it attempts to instill.
However, I give it only a 3 because there are many other pieces which do a better job at giving the listener a peaceful, sometimes mournful, contemplative content mood. I can't go around giving a 5 to every CD I like - it would be unfair to my truly favorite CDs. Some choral pieces that I prefer include Rachmaninov's Vespers & Liturgy to St John, Silvestrov's 4th movement of his Requiem to Larissa, both Szymanowski & Dvorak's Stabat Maters, Henryk Gorecki's 3rd Symphony, Avet Terterian's 6th Symphony, most of Arvo Part's later music (after his switch to tintinnabuli), and a few other modern works from that part of the world.
I do realize that not everyone has the same tastes as me, so there will be those who love this music more than they would love the pieces that inspire me the most. However, reviews are a place to not just hear from those who are the biggest fans of a type of music, but to hear from those who are buying the music even though it is not completely their style of music.
ECM did a fine job on its side. The sound quality is great, and the liner notes were fabulous. There was even more music on this CD than one often finds on ECM releases (they often put well under an hour of music on one CD).
I do recommend this CD, as it is quite accessible to those who do not regularly listen to classical music. It is beautiful music, yet it is still music that most people can appreciate.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Transporting Music
Comment: Trio Mediaeval is the name chosen by three Scandinavian singers who specialize in the early music of the church. Gregorian chant or Plainsong is one of the oldest forms of Western religious music and though much of the original chanting was one-part intoning by the monks, the composers of the time gradually created polyphony and the results are well sampled on this beautifully recorded CD.
Not only does this a cappela trio of women's voices demonstrate a clarity of tone and pitch and timbre, they move through these at times complex harmonies with utter ease. In addition to excerpts from the Anonymous Tournai Mass, the Trio weaves the mysteries of English and Italian chant and even includes a truly beautiful contemporary setting of the chant form by Ivan Moody entitled 'Words of the Angel'.
This is one of those recordings that soothes the mind and soul and confirms the importance of medieval music on the development of music through the ages. A new recording by this group entitled "Stella Maris" is promised soon and having heard that recording it is even better! The Trio Mediaeval is a fine performing arts group that should have a long life. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, September 05
Customer Rating:
Summary: They ARE heavenly songs from angels!
Comment: The title of this CD does a wonderful job to tell what's included. It's the best music I've ever heard. I believe that if there do exist angels in Heaven, their songs could not be better than the ones on this CD!
Customer Rating:
Summary: A step closer to God
Comment: If you are not inspired by these contemplative arrangements, you might want to check your pulse. Very insprired, indeed.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Hauntingly Beautiful
Comment: I bought this CD on an impulse, not knowing what to expect. The three a capella female vocalists harmonize in the most eerily beautiful way -- this CD is as close to transcendental music as I've ever heard. Everyone I've shared it with has had the same reaction -- the music is riviting and relaxing at the same time. A must for Gregorian chant lovers and anyone else who appreciates the majesty of the human voice.
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Editorial Reviews:
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The 14th century "Tournai" Mass, consisting of a Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, and Ite missa est, is the first known complete polyphonic mass to come down to us. Its sections were probably written by different composers, and it's a stunning, fascinating look into early polyphony. This performance is combined with other pieces from the same period, as well as a five-minute piece by contemporary composer Ivan Moody, which--though clearly from six centuries later--blends to make this a gorgeous whole. If you like Anonymous 4, you're in for a real treat here. The three Scandinavian women who make up Trio Mediaeval have astonishingly beautiful voices, with individual timbres that nonetheless mingle seamlessly, whether in simple, chantlike moments or in the high-flying Moody piece. And they sing with feeling, depth, and, well, soul. This is a magnificent disc, not to be missed. --Robert Levine
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