Samuel Barber's Adagio For Strings may be the saddest music ever. That's how this music sounded during President Kennedy's funeral. Almost every citizen of the US must have heard it then. Perhaps this was a reason for the composer to give the piece an extra performance option. He did this in 1967 by means of a version for choir. As a text he used the Agnus Dei, the closing prayer of the standard
… Catholic mass. The Agnus Dei is breathtakingly sung here by the vocal ensemble Polyphony. Usually we hear this top ensemble in typical British choral music. However, with this CD Polyphony is on the American tour. The beautiful choral music of Barber alone makes this CD worthwhile. After all, these melancholic choral works are not seen that often, and certainly not in such beautiful performances. Leonard Bernstein's Missa Brevis sounds a lot more extrovert, thanks in part to the exuberant percussion. Also beautiful is the ecstatic jubilation of the opening work: an Alleluia by Randall Thompson. (HJ)more
