Search - Elora St John's Choir :: Psalms For The Soul

A Beautiful Muiscal Rendition of the Psalms

Timothy Kearney | Hull, MA United States | 04/19/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"To some extent, the title of this collection PSALMS FOR THE SOUL is a bit oxymoronic. The psalms that are set to music in this collection are from the Bible, and therefore all psalms from scripture would be psalms for the soul, so to speak. I would imagine that the person who came up with the title was trying to market the recording to a broader public than just those who would purchase a religious CD and thought it would be catchy. But I digress and should not poke fun of the people of Naxos who do a tremendous service to classical music lovers by providing a wide variety of music at affordable prices.

This collection contains musical settings of the psalms. Some of the settings are anthems from the Anglican tradition. Other settings are more liturgical stemming from the Benedictine monastic tradition. Some of the settings are contemporary, others traditional. The Choir of St. John's under the direction of Noel Edison and organist Michael Bloss, performs the pieces with both beauty and reverence.This collection is relaxing. It makes wonderful background music while concentrating and could also be used as in prayerful reflective settings as well.
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Haunting beauty

L. Longo | CT USA | 02/14/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This recording sounds good when all extraneous sounds are eliminated. It contains some of the lowest sounds a pipe organ can produce, and has many subtleties in the choral parts that can be heard only when silence prevails in the room. The music has remarkable unity, and shows what is possible when composers isolate themselves for years and produce music that never goes out of style. As has been stated in the previous review, this music is excellent for meditation and prayer. The songs are haunting and truly dramatic, but not easily appreciated in the car."