Thou Art My Refuge: Psalms of Salvation and Mercy
Classics Today
Anglican chant--a harmonized form of liturgical chanting, primarily of psalms--isn't like anything else in music. Although it's closer in style to speech than traditional monodic Gregorian chant, the harmonizations-and thus the requirement for a particular type of singing ensemble--removes it from the impersonal and functional to the realm of a more artistic, performance-conscious purpose. To sing Anglican chant--and especially to sing it properly--you need a choir of mixed voices who have mastered the myriad aspects and subtleties of phrasing, inflection, articulation, tonal balances, dynamics, and the often debatable rules of pointing, not to mention the necessities of coordinating with the supporting--and sometimes ornamented--organ accompaniment. Outside of British record shops or cathedral gift stores, you rarely see a recording of real live Anglican chant--certainly not on this side of the Atlantic-so it's refreshing to discover that the very fine Massachusetts based Gloriae Dei Cantores, known for its many Gregorian chant recordings (among many other choral-music projects), has undertaken a three-volume series to explore, and hopefully expose new listeners to, this exceptional, unique, and affecting body of liturgical music.

There are 22 psalm settings covered here, by a wide range of composers writing in predominantly traditional styles--in other words, this volume doesn't contain any of the more recently composed or harmonically "adventurous" settings some listeners will be familiar with. What we do get is the essence of Anglican chant sound and style--and thanks to the superb efforts of this very sensitive, responsive choir, its knowing director, and a pair of first-rate organists, we experience something of the uniquely expressive power inherent in this manner of psalm-singing, which in its most accomplished form allows phrases to flow and important individual words their full presence and meaning.

I was happy to hear several of my favorite settings--especially the Wesley for Psalms 42 and 43, the Goss for Psalm 11, and Aylward for Psalm 138--as well as many beautiful unfamiliar ones. I only wish that the choir and organ were recorded in a more favorable--that is, less noisy--acoustic. Perhaps a bit more distance, or a slight dampening or reconfiguring of the live, resonant space would help. At any rate, it's a treat to hear this music so well realized and enthusiastically sung (supported by some very nice organ work). I'm looking forward to volume 2!

Classics Today, November 4, 2005
Outside of British record shops or cathedral gift stores, you rarely see a recording of real live Anglican chant—certainly not on this side of the Atlantic—so it's refreshing to discover that the very fine Massachusetts-based Gloriæ Dei Cantores . . . has undertaken a three-volume series to explore, and hopefully expose new listeners to, this exceptional, unique, and affecting body of liturgical music.

Association of Anglican Musicians, November 4, 2005
...a delight to hear. . .this recording could be especially helpful for private prayer and meditation.

The Journal of the Association of Anglican Musicians, November 4, 2005
This disc is unusual - 21 of the more gentle Psalms sung end to end in Anglican Chant! Here are no joyful Psalms like 27, 98, 100, or 148-150, though those chosen are a delight to hear. The chant tunes used represent a fine variety, some familiar to virtually every Anglican director, some entirely new, at least to me. (Not incidentally, the Gloria Patri is added only occasionally - 21 times might be a bit much.)

First, intonation and diction are of the highest order. I tried playing the disc in my car during my otherwise tedious 90 mile commute between houses, and understood every word. Some attention is given to varying dynamics between Psalms, though not within any given Psalm.. And that brings me to my disappointments. Every line marches so many paces to the right and then so many paces to the left, with an occasional drop on a final syllable - there is virtually no attention to accented and unaccented syllables - it becomes a very mechanical approach to chant. It is, of course, their choice to keep the organ in the background and mostly just playing the vocal parts. But having long had the creative accompaniments and registrations of Clive Driskill-Smith and the organ scholars at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, in my ears, I long for the organist to take an integral part in the performance.

The 32-page liner is, indeed, admirable. After some introductory essays, we have a series of articulate meditations on the Psalms sung. In that sense, this recording could be especially helpful for private prayer and meditation.

The Lord is My Shepherd
Gramophone, January 2003
The choir has a full, vibrant sound and sings with great fervor. . . Ned Rorem's Two Psalms and a Proverb is absolutely gorgeous. . . Bruce Neswick's stirring anthem I Will Set His Dominion in the Sea is also first-rate.

Shining Like the Sun: The Chants of Transfiguration
American Record Guide, December 16, 2005
The singing of these chants by this professional ensemble is wonderful. The sound of the women's voices is particularly striking because of their light and brilliant timbre.

Sacred Songs of Russia
Interpreter, May 4, 2002
The selections on this recording present a rich array of the different styles that developed in the Russian church music over the centuries.

American Record Guide, June 4, 1999
Elizabeth Patterson and her choir have done the near-impossible--they sound exactly like a real russian choir,(especially the Slavonic diction), yet maintain tonal sweetness and gorgeously blended balance--all the while letting the dynamic fury of this music have full rein. Gloriæ Dei Cantores floats some of the most cherubic pianissimos I have heard in this type of music, and the result is one of those thrilling experiances that make one thank heaven for the invention of speaker systems. This is the best--the best--compilation of standard Russian sacred choral music that I have ever heard....

Paths of Grace
The Living Church, April 1, 2007
This recording is a compilation of a wide variety of choral compositions recorded by the group Gloriae Dei Cantores between 1991 and 1999 at Methuem Memorial Hall and Mechanics Hall, both in Massachusetts.

Gloriæ Dei Cantores means "Singers to the Glory of God." Their website says that they are 40 members strong, ages 17 to 70, "who are in common . . . commitment." Their mission is to "illuminate truth and beauty through choral artistry, and to glorify God through a faithful interpretation of two millenia of choral music."

With music ranging from the Renaissance to our day, this recording is 72 minutes of just what they say: committed, faithful singing that moves ably from one period to another. These singers are not out to show us how good they are -- though they are good; they are here to show us what music can be.

They do this through well-blended, tasteful singing. They also accomplish this through the selections they chose and the way they ordered the selections. On this recording are works by Palestrina, Brahms, Victoria, Sowerby, Mathias, and various Russian composers, and some lesser-known composers like Pietro Vinci and Giovanni Maria Nanino. Instead of ordering these pieces chronologically, they sing them in a way that flows naturally from one to another. For instance, right when I was about to tire of a cappella adagios, there was a piece with trumpet and percussion. When I thought I could hear not one more thick Russian harmony, the disc moved on to an angular piece by the more modern composer, William Mathias.

A rich, well-made recording that gives us not only a large sampling of worthwhile repertoire, but also reminds us what music making should be about in the first place.

Fanfare, January/February, 2007
This release brings together 17 tracks from nine previous Gloria Dei Cantores CDs, concentrating on “works that capture a reflective and peaceful spirit.” It completes a trilogy of similar re-release anthologies also including “Eternal Light” and “Joy and Gladness.

The result is an unalloyed delight from beginning to end. Blend, intonation, and balance are fully on par with the best choral ensembles recording today. The men’s voices in the Russian repertoire are satisfyingly robust; equally impressive is this group’s capacity for fortissimos that remain perfectly balanced without becoming the least bit screamy. Diction is not obsessively crisp, but more-than-adequately intelligible throughout.

The programming order sets up a nice rhythm between more restful, largely homophonic works and others somewhat more challenging from a harmonic or textural viewpoint. But within that overall concept, the serene homophony of Victoria, the lush Romantic harmonies of Rheinberger, and the piquant chromaticism of Brahms and Mathias are all rendered with equal and equally commendable aplomb. . . . .I can report that my “listening experience” could hardly have been more pleasurable—and one that I look forward to repeating. Warmly recommended.

American Record Guide, January/February, 2007
This anthology of selections from 17 recordings by Gloriae Dei Cantores includes works of Palestrina, Victoria, Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Mathias, Sowerby, Randall Thompson, and others and reveals singing of a very high caliber. Based in a church on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, this ensemble has been recording for many years and has toured extensively. Whether singing in Latin, Russian, German, or English, this chorus is one of the finest amateur vocal ensembles of our time.

The two longest works, fine settings by William Mathias, 'Veni Sancte Spiritus' and 'Angelus', are particularly well sung. The final track, a heavenly setting of the Lord's Prayer by Nikolai Kedrov, Sr., transports the willing listener to a place of divine peace. . . . Tempos are well chosen. The balance of parts is good, and the recorded sound is spacious yet warm and rich. This compilation offers a well-balanced introduction to an excellent choir.

Dallas Morning News, December 16, 2006
Don't buy this one for the lyrics – unless you love Latin. Buy it to calm your spirit when you're stuck in traffic or tired of Christmas ads on the radio, urging you to join in the seasonal tumult. This CD features an anthology of 17 works by Palestrina, Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Mathias and others, all of them reflective and graceful. Gloriae Dei Cantores ("Singers to the Glory of God") is a 40-voice choir dedicated to preserving great choral music from the 11th to the 21st centuries. The music here is meditative, timeless, and just the antidote for the Christmas rush.

Fanfare, January 30, 2007
This is a useful collection of rare choral works by the composer whose 250th anniversary occurs this year. . . . This version fills a significant need. The fine performances are enhanced by the acoustics of the new church at the choir's home. Of the soloists, Christine Helfrich is outstanding in K108 and the closing movement of K243. This is a well-thought-out collection, a useful anniversary issue.

ClassicsToday.com, March 3, 2006
An important anniversary year of a famous composer always brings out recording projects that purport to offer something unusual or rare or somehow different from the mainstream releases. Of course, many don't live up to their billing, or worse, fall short in purely musical value. This is one of the more successful and thoughtfully programmed collections to appear so far in this "Mozart Year", and although many of the works featured have been recorded multiple times--and quite well--the high quality of the performances here, and the presence of the truly and inexplicably "rare" oratorio Davidde penitente, makes this set a very attractive and musically satisfying listen.

Of course, not everything here is top-drawer Mozart--several of the pieces are relatively early works--but even the second-tier pieces readily reveal the trademarks of genius, whether in the orchestral writing (the tidily scored Regina coeli K. 108, from 1771), the mastery of polyphony (Misericordias Domini), or, of course, in the unsurpassed melodic invention, evident throughout, from the earliest to latest compositions. What's interesting is how you can pick up compositional devices in works Mozart wrote in Salzburg in 1771 that are still recognizable in his last choral pieces written in Vienna 20 years later.

As mentioned, the performances are very good, especially the finely executed, energetic, vibrant choral ensemble singing and the equally dynamic and tightly-knit orchestral accompaniment, expertly conducted by Richard Pugsley. In these areas, there are no weaknesses. . . the choral singing is really terrific! . . . richly rewarding, generously programmed CDs.

That said, it's wonderful to have a new and very solid performance of Mozart's Davidde penitente. A reworking of music from his unfinished C minor Mass, with some additional original material, this 45-minute piece (with libretto by da Ponte) features some very impressive solo and choral music, including some challenging, operatic-style arias. Although it's labeled an "oratorio", it doesn't have the depth and cohesive dramatic import of the genre's great masterpieces by Haydn or Handel. Nevertheless, this performance, with some nice contributions by soprano Kathy Schuman, is a highlight--and the work absolutely deserves respect from today's choirs looking to celebrate the best of Mozart's vocal music.

The recording, made in Gloriae Dei Cantores' home venue, the Church of the Transfiguration in Orleans, Massachusetts, is expertly engineered, offering realistic, detailed choral sound, properly balanced with the orchestra, in an acoustic that's warm yet enhanced with an enlivening resonance--ideal for this music. This is a set that should prove attractive to all Mozart lovers, especially valuable for its gathering together of rare works of real merit rather than rarely recorded works that should remain so. This is a real treat--an ambitious and justly rewarding addition to the Mozart recording catalog.

American Record Guide, January/Febuary, 2007
Gloriae Dei Cantores is the only amateur choir I know of that can beat many a professional ensemble at their own game. Here, in a reissue from 1996, is a generous survey of luscious Renaissance choral music performed in a special venue: Mechanics Hall in Worcester, MA -- a restored 19th century edifice that has hosted many notable historical figures, from politicians to musicians. . . .

I've lost count of the albums I've covered from this group -- what can I say about them without sounding like a broken record? . . . Ms. Patterson is a true choral alchemist, and never fails to draw truly golden sound and beautifully nuanced singing from her hard-working musicians. Sacred illumination is their mission, and they achieve it with spiritual sincerity and power.

Recorded sound is especially ravishing, capturing Mechanics Hall's warm, yet detailed acoustic. Excellent notes and full texts.

The American Organist, August 4, 1997
Is it possible for a mixed choir of 44 voices to sing late Renaissance and early Baroque Flemish, Italian, German, and French antico polyphony in an artistic, historically informed manner? Probably not very often—that is, unless the mixed choir in question is the Gloriæ Dei Cantores. For them, the answer is an emphatic affirmative. This group sings with the clarity and control of a carefully drilled chamber ensemble a fifth their size. Phrasing, intonation, articulation, blend, and color are precisely thought out and perfectly executed."

Fanfare, July 4, 1997
This is quite an astonishing competitor to such celebrated ensembles as The Sixteen . . . This disc will greatly enlarge most collections of Renaissance motets with rare pieces of outstanding worth, sung with skill and devotion.

Austin360.com, November 27, 2006
How to tell one chant from another? Not easy for a non-specialist like myself. This is an unusually rich sampling from several requiem masses.

American Record Guide, July 1, 2005
The moment I pushed the start button for this one, and heard the warm, rich strains of Rachmaninoff's Bogoriditse Devo, from his Vespers, I melted into a happy trance. When I "came to" about an hour later, I was surer than ever that the fabulous singers of Gloriæ Dei Cantores make up America's very finest amateur choir, capable of giving even the best professional ensembles a run for their money. I've never heard such rapt and fathomless spiritual intensity from anybody else. I dearly cherish their nearly 40 recordings of the best sacred music.

This collection, like the last one from them that I covered (Prism, M/A 2004, p 243), is a cherry-pick from previous releases, no doubt intended to whet the listener's appetite for more. We hear further intense Russian magic from Tchaikovsky and Glinka, florid Renaissance purity from Palestrina, and German solemnity from Brahms and Rheinberger. There's quite a bit of modern American alchemy from Leo Sowerby, Virgil Thomson, and Dominick Argento, among others. It's all so wonderful that I hate to leave anyone out. The literal, yet rich sound from the choir's home church in Cape Cod enfolds the listener in cozy sonic splendor. We get full texts, but no notes. The booklet's track listings will refer you to the excerpted recordings, to your budgetary peril. You have no idea what you're missing if you haven't yet heard these heavenly musicians.

Fanfare, November 3, 2005
A varied program. . . rendered with exquisite reverence.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 3, 2005
A broad survey of mostly choral works by mostly Spanish composers. It draws much of its material and most of its strength from music of 16th-century Spain.

ClassicsToday.com, August 3, 2005
There seems to be increased interest these days in the music of Spanish composers, both those who worked in Europe as well as in Central and South America. While it's always good to hear the big names--Morales, Victoria, Guerrero--as we do here, occasionally a relative unknown is unearthed and presented with the hope that new listeners will agree that the music is worthy of such an effort. On this very well-sung program that includes Morales' Manus tuae Domine, three delightful Christmas carols by Guerrero, Pablo Casals' beloved O vos omnes, and a late work by Villa-Lobos--a Magnificat-Alleluia for alto solo, chorus, and orchestra--we're treated to a Mass by Victoria contemporary Sebastian de Vivanco. It's a Marian tribute based on Gregorian themes, its lush textures built on scoring for up to eight parts. . . .for me the best singing and recording comes midway through the program, with a small group of men singing Victoria's O sacrum convivium, the singers placed in a more intimate sonic environment. The warmth of the choral tone is perfectly appropriate for conveying the text in Victoria's lovely, prayerful setting. Likewise in Manuel de Zumaya's Miserere, the acoustic ideally captures the church atmosphere yet the choir textures are clear and well-balanced. The singing of the chant interspersed throughout this piece is exemplary. . . . The packaging is very well designed and the liner notes are clearly written and informative.

Crisis, April 1, 1998
As touching as the Mass is lovely. This beautiful disc helps fill out the picture of a major composer, one whose symphonic music has been featured in this column several times.

The American Organist, August 1, 1998
These are good performances and come with texts and helpful notes by Craig Timberlake.

John Rutter, Composer, Founder and Conductor of the Cambridge Singers, November 3, 2005
The most comprehensive survey of Rubbra's sacred music yet available on CD, compellingly and imaginatively performed. A 'must have' for all devotees of this fascinating composer.

George Guest, Former Choirmaster of St. John's College, Cambridge, England, November 3, 2005
[Edmund Rubbra: The Sacred Muse] brings to the fore some of the unjustly neglected choral music of Edmund Rubbra. His disinctive and very personal style is apparent throughout, especially in the ethereal and finely wrought Tenebrae motets.

The Music of Edmund Rubbra, November 3, 2005
The superior performance of the Rubbra choral works by the Gloriæ Dei Cantores choir on this recording is a direct result of the meticulous attention given to two key elements inherent in choral music: intonation and textual clarity. And in every piece the expressive details, so carefully indicated by the composer, are sensitvely and wonderfully realized.

Mark O'Conner, February 2001
Nothing could have prepared me for the day I first heard this music sung back to me. . . . Gloriæ Dei Cantores' voices sounded like angels descending from Heaven, delivering and rendering my music in a way that seemed to shake the rafters and elevate the spirit.

American Record Guide; January 3, 2005

Here is a glowing and long-overdue tribute to the sacred choral music of contemporary American composer Samuel Adler, beautifully sung by perhaps America's finest non-professional chamber choir. . . Performances are impeccable and deeply moving. This group delivers gorgeous, balanced sound and has completely mastered any technical skill you can name. Their ensemble and dynamic subtlety are second to none, including professional choirs. But the best thing about their singing is a kind of utterly rapt, evangelistic spiritual intensity that you simply can't imagine until you've experienced it for yourself. Much of this is thanks to Patterson, one of America's greatest choral conductors. . . The recording quality is, as usual, clear and incredibly detailed, thanks to the literal, yet juicy acoustics of the Church of the Transfiguration at Cape Cod. The booklet contains excellent notes, interesting commentary from the composer, and full texts. If you don't know either Adler's music or this choir, just GET it.

The Living Church

The singers of Gloriæ Dei Cantores give radiant voice to the words I love so much. This group trained in England in its formative years. . . . Deep love and understanding of the words is obvious in their singing. It is prayerful, poetic and joyful.”

Gramophone; January 2003

Gramophone's own Mary Berry conducts with unassailable authority. The singers create an atmosphere that is retained impressively.

American Record Guide; October 30, 1996

Gloriae Dei Cantores Schola certainly knows and loves this music.