Search - Johannes Brahms :: A Cappella, Volume One - Brahms / Parkman, Danish National Radio Choir

It's possible to appreciate Brahms's Marienlieder--a set of seven songs set to texts honoring the Virgin Mary--solely on the basis of their charm and simplicity. Brahms modestly compared their style to that of "old German church chorales and folksong." But, although several even sound like folksongs and offer no harmonic surprises, the choral writing reveals much more sophistication than implied by the above references. The Danish National Radio Choir gives us bright, confident, musically solid readings of these unjustly neglected works and continues its program with similarly competent renditions of some of Brahms's finest motets, including the Op. 74 masterpiece "Warum ist das Licht gegeben dem Muhseligen?" The recording gives this excellent choir plenty of room, and the sound is full and natural. The singing would benefit from better articulation of musical lines and text, but this seems to be more a function of the recording and not a reflection of the choir's technical ability. --David Vernier