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Gloryland


 Rating 5
enlarged image: Gloryland
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100% Recommended by our customers.
Label: Harmonia Mundi Fr.
Catalog: Music
Release date: 2006-09-12
Media: Audio CD
discs number: 1
Format: Import
Ean: 0093046740023
Upc: 093046740023
tip Tip: compare prices with similar classical music CDs

Artists:
Anonymous 4see more Classical Music by Anonymous 4
Darol Angersee more Classical Music by Darol Anger
Mike Marshallsee more Classical Music by Mike Marshall

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Album tracks: (19)
 I'm on My Journey Home (\"O Who Will Come and Go with Me\"), Revival ... - Anonymous 4, Lancaster, Sarah
 An Address for All (William Walker); Like Noah's Weary Dove (American ...) - Anonymous 4, Various Composers
 Wayfaring Stranger, Religious Ballad - Anonymous 4, Traditional, Americ
 Wayfaring Stranger (Instrumental Version) - Anonymous 4, Traditional, Americ
 Where We'll Never Grow Old, Gospel Song - Anonymous 4, Moore, James C.
 Ecstasy (\"Oh, When Shall I See Jesus\"), Revival Song - Anonymous 4, Carter, T.W.
 The Wagoner's Lad, Folk Song - Anonymous 4, Traditional, Americ
 Mercy-Seat (\"From Ev'ry Stormy Wind That Blows\"), Folk Hymn - Anonymous 4, Traditional, Americ
 Return Again (\"Saviour, Visit Thy Plantation\"), Revival Song - Anonymous 4, Traditional, Americ
 The Lost Girl, Folk Song - Anonymous 4, Traditional, Americ
 Palmetto (\"Shall We Gather at the River\"), Folk Hymn - Anonymous 4, Houser, William
 Pleading Savior (\"Gently, Lord, O Gently Lead Us\"), Folk Hymn - Anonymous 4, Traditional, Americ
 Merrick (\"Saviour, Visit Thy Plantation\"), Revival Song - Anonymous 4, Walker, William
 The Shining Shore, Gospel Song - Anonymous 4, Root, George F.
 Saint's Delight (\"When I Can Read My Title Clear\"), Revival Song - Anonymous 4, Price, F.
 Just Over in the Gloryland, Gospel Song - Anonymous 4, Dean, Emmett S.
 You Fair and Pretty Ladies, Folk Song - Anonymous 4, Traditional, Americ
 Medley: Parting Friends; Wayfaring Stranger - Anonymous 4, Traditional, Americ
 Green Pastures, Gospel Song - Anonymous 4, Vanhoose, H.W.

Professional Review:
Having left medieval chant and somewhat later polyphony behind and moved, musically, across the Atlantic with their last CD (American Angels), the women of Anonymous 4 are still exploring. For their move up a few centuries, their impeccable tonal purity remains, but a decidedly American twang has been added to some of the folksier, Southern mountain-based tunes and revival songs. It's as accurate and enchanting as everything else they do. Their sense of history, the when and where of the music they perform, manages to avoid academic stuffiness: this music communicates. Hymns, ballads, and revival songs make up Gloryland, and the 4 have added superb instrumentalists--Darol Anger and Mike Marshall on fiddles, mandolins, and guitars--to the mix on about half the selections. Some of the songs are begun in simple solfege* (fa, sol, la, mi, etc.) and then are sung with the actual text. Some are presented as duets or solos, and "I'm on My Journey Home" is sung by all four women; some are simple, others delightfully rich harmonically. Irresistible. --Robert Levine

* Often called "shape-note" singing because the tones were frequently notated in differently shaped symbols for teaching purposes (fa = triangle, sol = circle, etc.).


User Reviews:
 Rating 5   Written on January 9, 2007
   Summary: Moving and Powerful
The beautiful voices and outstanding harmonies really work in this traditional music.

 Rating 5   Written on January 9, 2007
   Summary: Glorious Gloryland
The recording is excellent. I truly enjoy everything by Anonymous 4. They perform beautifully as always.

 Rating 5   Written on January 5, 2007
   Summary: my old Kentucky home
harmonies very well done .. I spent my Sophmore college year in Pikeville KY. I was in the choir ..we sang some of these ..that was in 1954-55 .. I haven't heard some of these since .. I really like this recording and listen to it frequently.

 Rating 5   Written on December 7, 2006
   Summary: A Revelation
I purchased this CD after hearing the music contained within performed live in concert at Royce Hall on the UCLA campus. The evening was magical and the performance was enlightening.

By enlightening I refer to the fact that Anonymous 4 has some thing to say on this album about American music; and that is, that there is a thread that connects Medieval European music to early American music. Moreover the thread is religious in origin specifically relating to church choirs plying religious tunes to the faithful through the centuries.

In short this recording is best thought of as a church choir version of local old Appalachian Hymns. Albeit, with the most heavenly voices on the planet. No screechy overweight church sopranos here.

The blend and pitch is exquisite, the choice of tunes thoughtful and the accompaniment perfectly balanced to the voices (in concert it was mentioned that this recording was supposed to be "a cappella music with instruments").

I agree with the reviewer who stated that the use of far-miking is distracting to the recording. This was not the case when the group played in concert nevertheless the women all stood about three to four feet from the microphones.

This music is definitely not African-American spiritual music. A rendering by these musicians of that music would be awful indeed.


 Rating 5   Written on September 21, 2006
   Summary: Beautiful, but may not be your cup of tea
This is another gorgeous set of music from Anonymous 4. However, these ladies do come from the classical rather than the vernacular tradition. If you're very committed to either performing style this album may not appeal to you.

As is often the case when classically trained singers sing gospel or popular songs or broadway, pitch and clarity of tone is more important to these singers than emotional commitment (though that's not absent). If you're from the folk side, you may find the performances too formal, even to the point where "all the tunes sound alike."

From the other side, people from a classical background may find the singer's adoption of some traditional phrasing and pronunciations off-putting (though it many cases it's necessary in order for the lyrics to scan). The same problem exists when singing songs from "Guys and Dolls": Do you correct the grammar or sing the words as written?. The two instrumentalists use a rougher tone than people used to classical music may find acceptable (though early-music enthusiasts will probably feel right at home).

In addition, the four singers don't sound close-miked. Instead, the miking creates a sense of space (as if the group was singing in a church or meeting hall). If you're used to the sound created by placing the microphones close to the singer's lips (more typical in recording modern singers) as opposed to a "cathedral-like" effect (more typical of recording classical choral music) the result can be distancing.

However, when traditions collide something new happens. It's hard to predict if the result will appeal to you (or whether you even feel the combination is worth doing). I thought the result was beautiful: not a folk or gospel/bluegrass album nor an album of medieval chant but it still caught at my heart.

Just to offset the reviewer who suggested that Anonymous 4 don't like this kind of music: On this site, Marsha Genensky commented about Emmylou Harris's Angel Band CD, "This album came out not too very long after I first heard hymn singing in a tiny Primitive Baptist church in rural Arkansas. I was hooked. I'm still hooked." People's initial reaction doesn't fully describe how they grow into new things--something that might be remembered when listening to an album the first few times.

Comparison map
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CatalogMusicMusicMusicMusicMusicMusic
Release date2006-09-122004-02-101997-04-102003-10-142000-09-122005-10-11
MediaAudio CDAudio CDAudio CDAudio CDAudio CDAudio CD
discs number111114
FormatImportImportImportImportImportBox set
Ean009304674002300930467326220093046721022093046732523400930467224250093046741129
Upc093046740023093046732622093046721022093046732523093046722425093046741129
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