American Angels - Songs of Hope, Redemption, & Glory
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Music CD Cover
Composer: William MooreComposer: American Traditional
Composer: Anonymous
Composer: William B. Bradbury
Composer: R.F.M. Mann
Composer: Freeman Lewis
Composer: Benjamin Franklin White
Composer: American Anonymous
Composer: Timothy Swan
Composer: Joseph Philbrick Webster
Composer: Storm
Composer: Ananias Davisson
Composer: William Walker
Composer: Robert Lowry
Composer: Justin Morgan
Performer: Marsha Genensky
Performer: Johanna Rose
Performer: Jacqueline Horner
Performer: Anonymous 4
Edition: Music CD
Format: Import
CD Release Date: 2004-02-10
Music Label: harmonia mundi
Soundtracks:
- Holy Manna
- Abbeville
- Wondrous Love
- Sweet Hour Of Prayer
- Jewett
- Dunlap's Creek
- New Britain
- The Morning Trumpet
- Resignation
- Poland
- Wayfaring Stranger
- Sweet By And By
- Blooming Vale
- Idumea (I)/Idumea (II)
- Sweet Prospect
- Shall We Gather At The River
- Amanda
- Invitation
- Parting Hand
- Angel Band
Free Music Notes for American Angels - Songs of Hope, Redemption, & Glory
Free Music Review: Harmonies and stylistics
Hit: 5 Stars
I admit it: this is less a review and more of a compulsion to weigh in on the debate, as both a performer of early music and a longtime shapenote singer.
First of all, this is Anonymous 4, and these women are much to polished and professional to do anything less than magnificent. That being said, this is Anonymous 4, and they worked for years on perfecting their sound and in particular the blend of their four voices. They cannot be expected to sound like four random singers at a Sacred Harp convention, where anyone and everyone is welcome. Those who have said that this sacred music is for everyone are right: it is for everyone, back porch singers and trained professional alike. Anonymous 4 just happens to fall into the latter group. To say that this music only belongs to "common folk" (if you define that as people of little or no vocal training) is just ludicrous. That being said, A4 does have fun with the music. They know they're not singing chants and motets, so they alter the style of their singing, but within the boundaries of how their voices blend best. So are their scoops and slides too much or too little? That's a call that each individual listener will have to make. (Though I've heard back country shapenote singers do a lot more embellishment than what these ladies do!)
Second, in response to the critiques about harmony: that's exactly what shapenote singing is. What's more, this music was traditionally written with the melody in the tenor, not the soprano (which is what we are more used to). So yes, the melody is going to get buried until your ears get used to hearing the melody in the middle of the vocal parts rather than on top. That's not getting carried away with harmonic acrobatics: that's singing the music as it was written.
Finally, as to my rating, I base the 5 stars on how well this ensemble accomplished what they set out to do: supremely well, as always. Is it a CD I listen to everyday? Honestly I don't often listen to any of the A4 CDs I have, simply because I'm not often in the mood for chant! (I will say that I listen to American Angels more than any other A4 CD I own.) But when I do want this kind of music, there's nobody better!
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