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This, Anonymous 4's final recording, is a break from their usual "early music" periods and locations; it presents American music, religious in nature, from the 18th and 19th centuries. And it's absolutely beautiful from start to finish. Their normal, exquisite technique and purity here blend to sound the way we imagined the ladies' choir in church meetings in America past might have sounded: sweet, sincere, and with harmonies recognizable yet somehow fresh. Some of the songs begin with the women singing "fa, so la" exercises, which was called "shape note" singing because some places taught singing with notes as shapes--circle, rectangle, diamond, triangle. But it's the music that counts, and there are treasures here. They include two versions of "Amazing Grace," one familiar, one with an unusual melody and a piece called "Blooming Vale" which is as sophisticated as anything on their previous albums. "Shall We Gather at the River" is performed with a clarity and loveliness that makes us forget that it's normally sung as background to movies about the Great Depression. The foursome sometimes sing in rich harmonies and occasionally alone or in pairs or trios. This is glorious Americana and highly recommended. --Robert Levine
American Angels - Songs of Hope, Redemption, & Glory Reviews
American Angels - Songs of Hope, Redemption, & Glory Reviews
| 41 of 41 people found the following review helpful  Delighting the ear, Elevating the soul, By Luke (Florence, AL USA) - See all my reviews This review is from: American Angels - Songs of Hope, Redemption, & Glory (Audio CD) This has to be my favorite Anonymous 4 album. True, it is not Hildegard von Bingen or Tavener, but this music has a beauty of its own. It is able to be both obtainable and transcendent. Talk about a paradox. It floods my heart with memories of my earthly home, while sending my soul in flight to my heavenly one.I do not mean to put down others' opinions, but I really must object to two. First,whoever says that this music is all about the melody has obviously never heard the sound of a Primitive Church Song Meeting. IT'S ALL ABOUT THE HARMONY! Many, many times the melody, which is in the men's tenor, is almost drowned out by the ladies' treble. Singing your part out is encouraged whether you have the melody or not, and since our ear naturally hears the higher part louder, it's not unusual to lose the melody. I actually find it SO much easier to hear the melodies on this album, than in an actual meeting. Also, those claiming that this music is not Southern are... Read more 38 of 39 people found the following review helpful  beautiful, By John Smith "a person" (america) - See all my reviews This review is from: American Angels - Songs of Hope, Redemption, & Glory (Audio CD) The critics of "American Angels" are correct in one sense: this disc is very atypical for an Anonymous 4 recording. But there is good reason for this: the songs are from an era hundreds of years later than their typical choices. So before you read any further, I should warn you that if you desire a selection of medieval or Renaissance vocal stylings, then this disc is not for you.But after over a dozen Early Music recordings, the Anonymous 4 can be forgiven for attempting something new with their swan song disc (they have since disbanded), and they did: this recording consists entirely of American spiritual music from the 18th and 19th centuries. And the results are unspeakably beautiful. In my estimation, these are some of the most beautiful recordings of American religious music ever recorded. All Anonymous 4 recordings will produce vocal music of unparalleled technical brilliance, but on this disc, their always-sonorous voices grant these traditional American... Read more 30 of 31 people found the following review helpful Inspiration sung from the heart., By Callie "chroi" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews Amazon Verified Purchase This review is from: American Angels - Songs of Hope, Redemption, & Glory (Audio CD) Now everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I really disagree with that review that complained about too much harmony. Harmony is just a basic fundamental of music that makes it sound beautiful and gorgeous. So why is harmony so terrible? Anonymous 4 is very harmonious and knows how to enhance the music performance. They are not absent of melody. These tunes stood out to me. Besides, if a I wanted an exact replica of how these songs sounded 150 years ago, I could have gotten a CD of a performance of by a Baptist choir. But I chose this CD because from the time I first heard this ensemble perform these songs on public radio, I was enchanted. They perform songs that are very meaningful to me, such as "Sweet Hour of Prayer" a hymn that I have treasured in my church for ages. I was very inspired by such songs as "Holy Manna" and "Amazing Grace" because they make me imagine the spiritual pioneer experience. Other meaningful treasures are "Wayfaring Stranger" and "Angel Band"... Read more |
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