Ned Rorem: Choral Works | St Martin's Voices; Piatti Quartet; Andrew Earis (director) | Resonus Classics | RES10356

Ned Rorem: Choral Works

£12.99
Total playing time [56:36]

St Martin's Voices
Piatti Quartet
Andrew Earis (director)

Ned Rorem, renowned for his vivid art songs and unapologetic diaries, also composed a vast and underappreciated body of choral works. This album, featuring St Martin's Voices, showcases selections from his impressive choral output spanning seven decades.

From the playful intricacies of Festive Alleluias (1992) to the lush harmonies of Two Psalms and a Proverb (1962), Rorem’s music for chorus—often imbued with religious texts despite his devout atheism—reveals his gift for blending homophony with subtle counterpoint. The album includes pieces like the lyrical Sing my soul, his wondrous love (1955), the haunting Canticle of the Lamb (1971), and the entrancing O Magnum Mysterium (1978), offering a compelling cross-section of Rorem’s choral imagination.

With rich emotional depth, innovative text-setting, and surprising rhythmic shifts, these works—many previously overlooked—finally receive the attention they so richly deserve.

Album Booklet (PDF)

About the Artist: St Martin's Voices; Piatti Quartet; Andrew Earis

Tracklist

1. Festive Alleluias

2. How lovely is your dwelling place
(arr. for choir and string quartet by Tom Shorter)

3. Sing my soul, his wondrous love

4. O magnum mysterium

5. Canticle of the Lamb

6. Little lamb, who made thee?
(arr. for choir and string quartet by Tom Shorter)

Seven Motets for the Church Year
7. While all things were in quiet silence (Christmas)
8. Before the morning star begotten (Epiphany)
9. Lay up yourselves (Ash Wednesday)
10. Praise him who was crucified (Easter)
11. God is gone up (Ascension)
12. Today the holy spirit appeared (Pentecost)
13. Rejoice we all in the Lord (All Saints)

Two Psalms and a Proverb
14. Behold how good and how pleasant it is
15. Wounds without Cause
16. How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord

Four Madrigals
17. Parting
18. Flowers for the Graces
19. Love
20. An Absent Friend

Ode to Man
21. Strophe A
22. Antistrophe A
23. Strophe B
24. Antistrophe B

25. Love divine, all loves excelling

“

'[...] this decades-spanning selection shows it's an area of Rorem's output that is more than worth your time. St Martin's Voices (and the Piatti Quartet in three pieces) more than do justice to this music, imbued as it is with no small amount of drama, soul and great beauty.' Five Stars

- BBC Music Magazine

'[...] this is a flexible, highly accomplished ensemble which sings to a very high standard indeed. [...] sophisticated, polished and refined. Rorem is extremely well served by the performers.'
MusicWeb International

'[...] this decades-spanning selection shows it's an area of Rorem's output that is more than worth your time. St Martin's Voices (and the Piatti Quartet in three pieces) more than do justice to this music, imbued as it is with no small amount of drama, soul and great beauty.'
BBC Music Magazine - Five Stars

© 2025 Resonus Limited
Ⓟ 2025 Resonus Limited
Catalogue No. RES10356
Producer, engineer & editor: Adam Binks
EAN: 5060262793978
Release date: 28 March 2025