Three of the composers represented on this collection, Surprised by Beauty: Minimalism in Choral Music, Gavin Bryars, Arvo Pärt, and William Duckworth, have been associated with minimalism or post-minimalism, but only the selections from Duckworth's Southern Harmony actually sound minimalist, as the term is commonly understood. The program notes make clear that the performers here have applied a different, broader definition to the word, one that has to do with the use of minimal musical materials, and by that standard, the works Pärt and Bryars easily qualify. Ruth Lomon's "Transport," a movement from her oratorio Testimony of Witnesses, doesn't sound minimalist by any definition, but it's an affecting piece that uses the writings of Holocaust survivors to paint a devastating picture of the victims' suffering. Bryars' a cappella And so ended Kant's traveling in this world uses a prose account of an incident at the end of the philosopher's life as reported by one of his contemporaries. The spare and understated setting beautifully mirrors the gentle melancholy of the text. Stylistically, it is very similar to Pärt's austere setting of the Beatitudes, which includes a discreet but effective organ part. The seven movements from Duckworth's massive Southern Harmony, a classic post-minimalist treatment of music from the shape-note collections The Southern Harmony & Musical Companion (1835) and The Sacred Harp (1844) demonstrate the composer's marvelous inventiveness in retaining the character of the original pieces while subtly transforming them into recognizably contemporary pieces. Duckworth's characteristic play with the flipping of major and minor modes gives the attractive music a tasty piquancy. Three bonus tracks are devoted to performances of some of the hymn settings on which the Duckworth is based. It's good to hear the original hymns, but the ensemble ignores the research on performance practice of this eccentric repertoire and sings with what, in this case, is inappropriate refinement, blend, and open vocal production. The vocal ensemble Boston Secession, led by Jane Ring Frank, has a broad-ranging repertoire, but specializes in new music, and the group handles the very difficult music on this disc with exceptionally pure, focused tone and sensitive musicianship. The sound is clean and spacious.
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