Search - New York Polyphony :: I Sing the Birth

	New York Polyphony I Sing the Birth Genres: Special Interest, Pop, Classical
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CD Details

All Artists: New York Polyphony
Title: I Sing the Birth
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: Avie Records
Original Release Date: 1/1/2007
Re-Release Date: 10/2/2007
Genres: Special Interest, Pop, Classical
Styles: Holiday & Wedding, Vocal Pop, Opera & Classical Vocal, Historical Periods, Early Music
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 822252214123

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CD Reviews

Luxurious polyphony balanced with plainchant

Joanne K. Bouknight | Connecticut | 10/11/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm not from NYC but heard these guys in New York a few weeks ago and bought their CD and have listened to it many times since. True, it's not Christmas as I write this, but that really doesn't matter--this music doesn't cover jingle bells and snowmen but many hundreds of years of sacred music from Perotin, Clemens non papa, Cornysh to Leighton and Andrew Smith, born in 1970. Smith's two pieces, by the way, make beautiful bookends for this CD.

You can listen to single tracks of this, but I suggest listening to it as an album--it seems carefully laid out from beginning to end, and great liner notes explain how/why plainchant and polyphony tracks are interwoven and give an overview of composers' times and intentions. I like the three settings of "Lully, lulla"--Leighton, Coventry Carol, and 15th c. English carol. Never heard such a beautiful setting of "Away in a manger" (Normandy traditional) before, and the "The Feder of Heven" by Peter Maxwell Davies is goosebump-inducing (actually, most of the CD is!). I should add that I've not heard many of these pieces before and love discovering new--mostly old!--music.

The individual voices are beautiful in timbre and expressiveness but together they are simply transcending (and a great antidote to rush hour traffic if you play it in your car!). I'm not a musician but a words-and-graphics person, but I do love music and have no reservations in giving this gorgeous CD 5 stars (excellent graphics and type choices, too--easy to read, useful translations)."

I Sing the Birth - A Complete Triumph!

Linda L. Roueche | Kansas City, MO | 10/04/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is not your ordinary Christmas music! The four men of New York Polyphony sing music from the pre-Renaissance period in hauntingly beautiful tones. The blend of their voices,intricacy of the music, and their sheer musicianship yields a CD where each track is a delight. Bravo!"