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Music : American AngelsIn association with Amazon.comfrom: Harmonia Mundi Fr.  List Price: $19.98 Amazon.com's Price: $13.97 You Save: $6.01 (30%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually ships in 10 to 13 days
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Binding: Audio CDEAN: 0093046732622 Format: Import Label: Harmonia Mundi Fr. Manufacturer: Harmonia Mundi Fr. Number Of Discs: 1 Publisher: Harmonia Mundi Fr. Release Date: February 10, 2004 Studio: Harmonia Mundi Fr. Sales Rank: 3231 MPN: 907326 Disc 1:
Editorial Review: Amazon.com: This, Anonymous 4's final recording, is a break from their usual "early music" periods and locations; it presents American music, religious in nature, from the 18th and 19th centuries. And it's absolutely beautiful from start to finish. Their normal, exquisite technique and purity here blend to sound the way we imagined the ladies' choir in church meetings in America past might have sounded: sweet, sincere, and with harmonies recognizable yet somehow fresh. Some of the songs begin with the women singing "fa, so la" exercises, which was called "shape note" singing because some places taught singing with notes as shapes--circle, rectangle, diamond, triangle. But it's the music that counts, and there are treasures here. They include two versions of "Amazing Grace," one familiar, one with an unusual melody and a piece called "Blooming Vale" which is as sophisticated as anything on their previous albums. "Shall We Gather at the River" is performed with a clarity and loveliness that makes us forget that it's normally sung as background to movies about the Great Depression. The foursome sometimes sing in rich harmonies and occasionally alone or in pairs or trios. This is glorious Americana and highly recommended. --Robert Levine Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Harmonies and stylisticsI admit it: this is less a review and more of a compulsion to weigh in on the debate, as both a performer of early music and a longtime shapenote singer. First of all, this is Anonymous 4, and these women are much to polished and professional to do anything less than magnificent. That being said, this is Anonymous 4, and they worked for years on perfecting their sound and in particular the blend of their four voices. They cannot be expected to sound like four random singers at a Sacred ... Read More Rating: - spiritual americanaI have some of the older Anonymous 4 recordings which are more medieval and gregorian in style (I love them!). They move on to cover spiritual basics of the 1800s. If you like classical music, perfect harmonies and spiritual americina, then you will be blessed! Rating: - Rich HeritageAnonymous 4 consistently produces exquisite and authentically beautiful recordings and this one presents early American hymns in ways few groups can manage. Some tunes are highly recognizable while others are 'new' to me but a refreshing reminder of the singing heritage of religious societies in times past. For those who enjoy old hymns and authentic renderings, this is a must buy. Rating: - Superb This collection of American Christian music is not only an enthralling musical experience but a spiritually uplifting one as well. Anonymous Four have transferred their luminous vocal quality to a new space with perfect success. Rating: - Can't walk away from it!My only "complaint" about the CD is that I absolutely HAVE to sit and listen to the entire thing whenever I start it up! I usually have music playing in the background while doing other things, but not this one! There are no tracks that I find myself wanting to skip over as in most collections. In fact, I usually find myself going back and listening to selected tracks again (and again and...) after taking the hour+ to listen to the whole thing through once. These four ladies produce a ... Read More Browse for similar items by category:
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