Track Listings (13) - Disc #1| All Artists: Bill Douglas Title: Homeland: A Prayer for Peace Members Wishing: 0 Total Copies: 0 Label: Hearts of Space Release Date: 8/13/2002 Genres: Folk, New Age, Pop Style: Meditation Number of Discs: 1 SwapaCD Credits: 1 UPC: 025041140829 |
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Search - Bill Douglas :: Homeland: A Prayer for Peace
 | Bill Douglas Homeland: A Prayer for Peace Genres: Folk, New Age, Pop
Evoking moods that gently flow from reverence to melancholy to serene reflection, composer Bill Douglas once again makes effective use of earthly means to pursue heavenly realizations. On Homeland, his 11th career recordin... more » |
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Amazon.com Evoking moods that gently flow from reverence to melancholy to serene reflection, composer Bill Douglas once again makes effective use of earthly means to pursue heavenly realizations. On Homeland, his 11th career recording, Douglas (piano, synthesizers, bassoon) blends quiet, contemporary-classical instrumental works with choral selections that again showcase the Ars Nova Singers, an impressive collective whose deeply resonant voices fill the vaulted ceilings of your inner cathedral. The disc's subtle beauty is tinged with sadness, as most pieces (embellished with oboe, flute, clarinet, and cello) reflect the recording's introspective subtitle (A Prayer for Peace). Choral works account for six of Homeland's 13 tracks, and if there's a flaw to be found, it's that Douglas has the singers enunciating too many syllables in his interpretations of American folksongs ("Shenandoah," "The Water Is Wide," etc.) and English verse (Wordsworth, Shelly, Blake). At times, this causes listeners to focus on comprehending hard-to-distinguish words rather than letting themselves be swept away by the sheer radiance of the harmonies. Yet it's a tolerable flaw on a meticulously crafted disc intended to comfort and calm a listener's soul. --Terry Wood Similar CDs
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CD ReviewsA Beautiful Offering of Comfort E. M. Holderman | Perryville, Kentucky USA | 08/18/2002 (5 out of 5 stars) "In the two years since Douglas' last cd, alot has happened in our world. Alot has changed. In his much awaited new release, Bill Douglas offers a musical memoriam of September 11, with the cd as a whole, and specifically with a song entitled "In Memoriam (Sept. 11, 2001). The song is taken from the poetry of Lord Alfred Tennyson and adapted to song by Douglas, in accompaniment with the Ars Nova Singers. It is a gentle offering of peace and comfort. Douglas begins the cd with a very stirring tradional version of "Shenandoah," remeniscent of bygone Civil War days. Mostly a cappela, with a hint of music. In his typical, yet always soothing and refreshing style, Douglas incorperates instrumentals amongst those vocals, while also alternating the two, i.e. one vocal seperated by two instrumentals, etc. Instrumentals include the cd title, "Homeland." He concludes the disc with a very moving and beautiful vocal/instrumental arrangement of "The Water Is Wide." I took away honesty and comfort as the theme of this cd. Comfort for a Nation, comfort for those who have been directly affected by 9/11, and comfort to apply in each of our own lives and circumstances. Honesty is most evident in a tradional version of "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child." This is a very healing cd. Tears and goosebumps were companions for me on many songs. On this album, Douglas uses the poetry of William Wordsworth, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and William Blake, in addition to Lord Tennyson. Douglas plays piano, basson, and sythesizers. He is accompanied by other instruments - clarinet, cello, flute, oboe, tabla and percussion - and as always, in song by the Ars Nova Singers, conducted by Thomas Morgan. Bill Douglas' music is great if you're looking for some music to relax with and most especially if you're in need of something with a peaceful overtone. Great gift for someone who is ill or stressed. For those who have long listened to the music of Bill Douglas, this will offer another work of serenity and sentiment. For those who have yet to discover his work, this will powerfully find it's way into your heart, forever. And for those who suffered the greatest losses as a result of September 11, 2001, I would imagine this cd would mean the most to you. I hope and pray it could offer you some small portion of comfort. (Which is the sincerest intention of Bill Douglas, I'm certain.) God be with you." A "5" for any listener seeking the spiritual... G. Michael Pressley | East Lansing, MI USA | 09/23/2002 (5 out of 5 stars) "Every track on this CD is simply gorgeous. After hearing some of Homeland on public radio (Hearts of Space), I knew I wanted to hear it again and again. After discovering the CD was written as a prayer for peace in response to 9/11, I decided when I bought it to make it my 9/11/02 listening experience. Every track evokes feelings of loss but also feelings of future. It permitted the appropriate melacholia such an anniversary demands, and yet, provided hope for every minute of the day. The traditional pieces are as good renditions as I have encountered; the new age compositions seem as they could have been written at any time and fit in any age. I can't quite imagine any listener seeking music that touches the spiritual feeling that Homeland was less than a 5." You MUST buy this CD. Mike Browne | Orangevale, CA United States | 09/28/2002 (5 out of 5 stars) "The sweet melancholy of this music put my mind in the soft twilight of a late afternoon. I wish Mr. Doulgas would tell us more about the Ars Nova Singers. Their voices are angelic."
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