A CD with spectacular choral music, of the kind that the Hyperion label seems to have patented. But what is it about? The title New England Choirworks is quite generous. After all, composer Tawnie Olson has her roots in Canada. Composer Roderick Williams (who is much better known as a baritone) comes from Great Britain. Chicago-born Reena Esmail seems to be looking for her ancestors' India in her
… music. The title apparently refers mainly to the vocal ensemble, whose singers come from the prestigious university on the American east coast. The program consists of flamboyant choral works, often with a political or social slant. In Tawnie Olson's Magnificat, Maria is stripped of an overly sweet image. The Schola Cantorum is flanked here by a self-consciously singing Elm City Girls' Choir, in the vein of Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares. Roderick Williams' virtuoso choral symphony (A New England Symphony) voices poems that refer to slavery. In This love between us, Reena Esmail searches for what connects the different religions. (HJ)more
