In a world steeped in secular music there is a group of young singers keeping the ancient tradition of sacred choral music alive with absolutely gorgeous choral performances like this. VOCES8 has been producing these wonderful recordings for over a decade now, and there seems to be no ceiling on their growth as musicians.
Here we have “Beati Quorum Via,” composed by Charles Villers Stanford. This setting of Psalm 119 was the last of his Three Latin Motets, published in 1905. The work was written in the medieval style at a time when composers were beginning to draw away from polyphony and toward the atonal styles of Schoenberg.
The cascading vocal movements entrance the listener from the beginning and flow with great attention to dynamics and the reverence that this work is due. As always, the eight members of VOCES8 create a broad sound, aided by the high ceilings of the Gresham Center, which is baffling for a group that small.
We continue to be incredibly impressed by VOCES8. The group is helping to revive a sacred art form, one which still has so much value in music and prayer. We thank them for their efforts and eagerly await their next release.
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And today we celebrate...
