Search - Theatre of Voices, His Majestie's Clerkes, Andrew Lawrence-King :: Home to Thanksgiving

Second Review

Thomas C. Benson | 09/07/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Paul Hillier takes a global--or at least Western European/North American--view of Thanksgiving in this eclectic program of primarily vocal music from medieval to modern times. Rather than a compilation of American tunes associated with the Thanksgiving holiday (as you might suspect from the Currier & Ives front cover), Hillier's program is centered on the long history of giving thanks to God, whether it was 12th century French monks or an 18th century New England church congregation. The selections are taken from more than a dozen previous Harmonia Mundi recordings that, if nothing else, serve as a nice introduction to Hillier's excellent and unusually varied body of work. Included are performances by Theatre of Voices, His Majestie's Clerkes, harpist Andrew Lawrence-King, and a number of vocal soloists. Among the highlights are chants by Peter Abelard, motets by Thomas Tallis, several early American hymns, a rousing version of Jeremiah Ingalls' "The Apple Tree", and Hillier himself in a gentle, thoughtful rendition of John Cage's "The Year Begins to Be Ripe" from Litany for the Whale." --David Vernier,[...]"