Album Description
Sound in Spirit represents another leap forward in power and purpose for Chanticleer. On this recording they explore the profound connection between sound and healing. The repertoire weaves together compositions ancient an… More >>
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I’m a big Chanticleer fan, but I have to say this recording was disappointing. This isn’t really music most of the time, more screaming and percussion and “environments”. That being said, there is still a lot of high quality vocal work going on and you can tell that professional singers are behind it. Still, it’s a boring, weird listen. Victoria’s “O sacrum Convivium” (6) is the only really worthy piece of music on the recording, but the plainsong (5), the Alfonso X de Castille (7), and “Cor Meum Est Templum Sacrum” (13) are also OK.
Many criticized Chanticleer for spending so much time on spirituals, instead of focusing on the Renaissance, which it does best. I didn’t. But Chanticleer has gone way too far from its roots this time.
Rating: 3 / 5
If I didn’t lose the receipt I would have taken this one back.
I was shocked that what I was listening to was really the same Chanticleer on the Rensaissance records I have. I might have enjoyed this more back when I was dropping acid and eatting mushrooms.
Rating: 1 / 5
White spaces, silences, screams, dissonances, weirdness–this album is not worthy of Chanticleer. So much silence that you think your equipment is broken. One star only for including the de Victoria O Sacrum Convivium. Skip this one and hope for something more substantial from Chanticleer.
Rating: 1 / 5
This album spans 800 years of sacred music. The second half of the twentieth century is well represented. If you’re looking for “Christian Contemporary” or something toe-tapping, you will be disappointed. What you will hear requires some discipline to appreciate and more patience and concentration than most members of the Sesame Street Generation can summon up. Nevertheless, those who are prepared to listen to music, as opposed to merely have it as background, will be richly rewarded. The vocal performances are magnificent, of course. Chanticleer performances are never less than vocally perfect. The material, too, is entirely worthy of such an ensemble. True, you will not go around whistling the material, but it is passionate, evocative, and ultimately very spiritual in its effect. I feel closer to God each time I listen to this recording. I cannot think of a higher recommendation.
Rating: 5 / 5
Como pod’a groriosa, a 10 or 12 minute meditative song, track 7 of the album, is worth the entire price of the CD and more. It is a glorious piece of music that starts out with a lone voice, pleading to Mary for help for his lame daughter, then builds to an amazing crescendo as the daughter is healed and strides out into the world. You can hear the power return to the singer/singers, and it is easy to feel “healed” spiritually one’s self, listening to it. I have shared this song with others and their response has been, universally, “Wow.”
Rating: 5 / 5