Unlimited Streaming
Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps
Start my trial period and start listening to this albumEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
SubscribeEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
Download not available
Most of Samuel Barber's best-known work today is orchestral, but he wrote a great deal of choral music over his long career. Hearing a large amount of it in one place helps give depth to the common understanding of Barber as a Romantic melodist who would rather have lived half a century earlier. Various modes of tonal music in the twentieth century are represented here. The ultra-lyrical Barber of the Adagio for strings, Op. 11, is heard in the arrangement of the works as an Agnus Dei for chorus and piano. But there is also a rather official piece of hymnlike ceremonial music (the Chorale for Ascension Day), a nice bit of neo-Classic humor ("The Monk and His Cat," from the Hermit Songs, Op. 29), some operatic music, some choral art songs set to poetry by Gerard Manley Hopkins and Emily Dickinson, a Celtic-inspired set of pieces (Reincarnations, Op. 16), and a highly inventive neo-Renaissance work of the 1930s, The Virgin Martyrs, Op. 8/1, in which Barber shows a personality absolutely distinct from that of Stravinsky or Vaughan Williams in similar pieces. The Virgin Martyrs, for female chorus, is both the most interesting and among the most difficult on the disc; the young singers of the Choir of Ormond College at the University of Melbourne in Australia sometimes let you see and hear them sweat, but their spirits never flag. Their earnest sound doesn't reveal deep wells of expression in the texts, but the group evokes the choirs from community and educational organizations for which Barber would have written much of this music. There is nothing distractingly Australian about their diction. The biggest problem here is editorial; no texts are provided. English speakers will miss some of the words, while everyone else will have to search for texts and translations on the Internet. The non-explanatory apology given -- "We regret that we are unable to reprint the sung texts" -- solves nothing. Was this because copyright restrictions interfered? Plenty of other recordings have obtained permissions for similar collections of poetry. Or was it a cost issue? But then why would there be room for two inserts, in color, of advertising for other Naxos materials? The lack of availability of the texts seriously detracts from one's ability to enjoy this recording.
© TiVo
You are currently listening to samples.
Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.
Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.
From $10.83/month
A Stopwatch and an Ordnance Map, Op. 15 (Samuel Barber)
Samuel Barber, Composer - Douglas Lawrence, Conductor - Ormond College Choir, Choir - Stephen Spender, Lyricist - Ben Dickson, Performer
2006 Naxos 2006 Naxos
Under the Willow Tree (Samuel Barber)
Samuel Barber, Composer - Gian Carlo Menotti, Lyricist - Len Vorster, Performer - Douglas Lawrence, Conductor - Ormond College Choir, Choir - Grantley McDonald, Performer
2006 Naxos 2006 Naxos
Two Pieces, Op. 42 (Samuel Barber)
Samuel Barber, Composer - Douglas Lawrence, Conductor - Ormond College Choir, Choir - Louise Bogan, Lyricist - Laurie Lee, Lyricist
2006 Naxos 2006 Naxos
Samuel Barber, Composer - Douglas Lawrence, Conductor - Ormond College Choir, Choir - Louise Bogan, Lyricist - Laurie Lee, Lyricist
2006 Naxos 2006 Naxos
The Monk and his Cat (Samuel Barber)
Samuel Barber, Composer - Wystan Hugh Auden, Lyricist - Len Vorster, Performer - Douglas Lawrence, Conductor - Ormond College Choir, Choir
2006 Naxos 2006 Naxos
Agnus Dei, op. 11 (Samuel Barber)
Samuel Barber, Composer - Mass Text, Lyricist - Douglas Lawrence, Conductor - Ormond College Choir, Choir
2006 Naxos 2006 Naxos
Reincarnations, Op. 16 (Samuel Barber)
Samuel Barber, Composer - James Stephens, Lyricist - Douglas Lawrence, Conductor - Ormond College Choir, Choir
2006 Naxos 2006 Naxos
Samuel Barber, Composer - James Stephens, Lyricist - Douglas Lawrence, Conductor - Ormond College Choir, Choir
2006 Naxos 2006 Naxos
Samuel Barber, Composer - James Stephens, Lyricist - Douglas Lawrence, Conductor - Ormond College Choir, Choir
2006 Naxos 2006 Naxos
Two Choruses, Op. 8 (Samuel Barber)
Samuel Barber, Composer - Emily Dickinson, Lyricist - Douglas Lawrence, Conductor - Ormond College Choir, Choir
2006 Naxos 2006 Naxos
Samuel Barber, Composer - Emily Dickinson, Lyricist - Douglas Lawrence, Conductor - Ormond College Choir, Choir
2006 Naxos 2006 Naxos
4 Songs, Op. 13 (Samuel Barber)
Samuel Barber, Composer - Gerard Manley Hopkins, Lyricist - Len Vorster, Performer - James Agee, Lyricist - Douglas Lawrence, Conductor - Ormond College Choir, Choir
2006 Naxos 2006 Naxos
Samuel Barber, Composer - Gerard Manley Hopkins, Lyricist - Len Vorster, Performer - James Agee, Lyricist - Douglas Lawrence, Conductor - Ormond College Choir, Choir
2006 Naxos 2006 Naxos
Chorale for Ascension Day (Easter Chorale) (Samuel Barber)
Samuel Barber, Composer - Douglas Lawrence, Conductor - Ormond College Choir, Choir - Pack Browning, Lyricist
2006 Naxos 2006 Naxos
Antony and Cleopatra, Op. 40 (Samuel Barber)
Samuel Barber, Composer - Len Vorster, Performer - Douglas Lawrence, Conductor - Ormond College Choir, Choir - Franco Zeffirelli, Lyricist - Deborah Kayser, Performer
2006 Naxos 2006 Naxos
Samuel Barber, Composer - Len Vorster, Performer - Douglas Lawrence, Conductor - Ormond College Choir, Choir - Franco Zeffirelli, Lyricist - Deborah Kayser, Performer
2006 Naxos 2006 Naxos
God's Grandeur (Samuel Barber)
Samuel Barber, Composer - Gerard Manley Hopkins, Lyricist - Douglas Lawrence, Conductor - Ormond College Choir, Choir
2006 Naxos 2006 Naxos
Album review
Most of Samuel Barber's best-known work today is orchestral, but he wrote a great deal of choral music over his long career. Hearing a large amount of it in one place helps give depth to the common understanding of Barber as a Romantic melodist who would rather have lived half a century earlier. Various modes of tonal music in the twentieth century are represented here. The ultra-lyrical Barber of the Adagio for strings, Op. 11, is heard in the arrangement of the works as an Agnus Dei for chorus and piano. But there is also a rather official piece of hymnlike ceremonial music (the Chorale for Ascension Day), a nice bit of neo-Classic humor ("The Monk and His Cat," from the Hermit Songs, Op. 29), some operatic music, some choral art songs set to poetry by Gerard Manley Hopkins and Emily Dickinson, a Celtic-inspired set of pieces (Reincarnations, Op. 16), and a highly inventive neo-Renaissance work of the 1930s, The Virgin Martyrs, Op. 8/1, in which Barber shows a personality absolutely distinct from that of Stravinsky or Vaughan Williams in similar pieces. The Virgin Martyrs, for female chorus, is both the most interesting and among the most difficult on the disc; the young singers of the Choir of Ormond College at the University of Melbourne in Australia sometimes let you see and hear them sweat, but their spirits never flag. Their earnest sound doesn't reveal deep wells of expression in the texts, but the group evokes the choirs from community and educational organizations for which Barber would have written much of this music. There is nothing distractingly Australian about their diction. The biggest problem here is editorial; no texts are provided. English speakers will miss some of the words, while everyone else will have to search for texts and translations on the Internet. The non-explanatory apology given -- "We regret that we are unable to reprint the sung texts" -- solves nothing. Was this because copyright restrictions interfered? Plenty of other recordings have obtained permissions for similar collections of poetry. Or was it a cost issue? But then why would there be room for two inserts, in color, of advertising for other Naxos materials? The lack of availability of the texts seriously detracts from one's ability to enjoy this recording.
© TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 17 track(s)
- Total length: 00:59:57
- 1 Digital booklet
- Main artists: Douglas Lawrence
- Composer: Samuel Barber
- Label: Naxos
- Genre: Classical
- Collection: Naxos American Classics
2006 Naxos 2006 Naxos
Improve album informationWhy buy on Qobuz?
-
Stream or download your music
Buy an album or an individual track. Or listen to our entire catalog with our high-quality unlimited streaming subscriptions.
-
Zero DRM
The downloaded files belong to you, without any usage limit. You can download them as many times as you like.
-
Choose the format best suited for you
Download your purchases in a wide variety of formats (FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF...) depending on your needs.
-
Listen to your purchases on our apps
Download the Qobuz apps for smartphones, tablets, and computers, and listen to your purchases wherever you go.