Search - Trinity Choir, Jones :: Radiant Light - The Trinity Choir, Boston

Fantastic Music-making!

Leighton Lee | Calgary, Canada | 12/18/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Trinity Choir's disc "Radiant Light" is a must not only for lovers of choral music, but anyone wishing to hear some of the most elegant and superb music-making around. This group of seventy-odd voices, based at Boston's famed Trinity Church, sings with pure, beautiful tone, incisive rhythm and a joy for the repetoire obvious in every phrase. Director Brian Jones has taken great care over every aspect of these performances, and it shows. The choir's keen musicianship and Jones' sensitivity to both text and music produces the most committed and heartfelt performances around. This is music-making which communicates! Although every item on the disc offers ample enjoyment, including Biebl's glorious "Ave Maria" and three pieces by John Tavener, the two which stand out for me are Patrick Gowers' "Viri Galilaei" and Richard Dirksen's "Sing Ye Faithful". Gowers' anthem is firmly rooted in twentieth century musical language. Filled with mysterious harmonies and dramatic outbursts, it builds to a tremendous climax before fading away to the misty realms from whence it came. The Choir handles this difficult work with style and elan and Jones' conducting keeps it driving foreward with a real sensitivity for the music's demands. "Sing Ye Faithful" by Richard Dirksen, late of Washington Cathedral, is another gem. Here is a joyous Easter anthem with a jaunty dance-like melody. A truly happy and festive spirit informs the performance-the musicians obviously love this material. In an age when choral music's appeal has waned, Brian Jones and the Trinity Choir have done much to remedy this situation. This disc is a pure joy. I urge you to hear it for yourself."

Radiant Light, Trinity Choir, Boston

Joseph DeMarinis | Winchester, MA (suburban Boston) | 12/10/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Heard selections from this CD on WGBH, Boston. That was enough to make me want to buy it. A group of reverent works, peaceful and masterfully performed by a choir which has an outstanding reputation, in a city which is so rich with superb musical groups."

A glorious listening experience!

Quentin Faulkner | Lincoln, Nebraska, U.S.A. | 04/06/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

""...sixty-five auditioned volunteers and seven professional singers..."--that's how the CD booklet describes the make-up of Trinity Church-Boston's choir. It's clear from even the most superficial listening that this choir has been able to attract truly talented volunteers. But bringing a mostly volunteer choir to the level of musical attainment evident on this CD requires a director with a number of extraordinary skills: creating a rehearsal ambience with the right mix of challenges and rewards, immense musical sensitivity, intimate knowledge of the human voice's problems and potential, to say nothing of well-honed people skills and great patience. Brian Jones, Trinity Choir's director, obviously has these skills in abundance, and the results are evident on this CD. Perhaps the foremost of all this CD's sterling qualities is the musicality of ensemble--not merely being in perfect sync, but sensing as a corporate entity the subtle gestures, the rise and fall, the ebb and flow of the music. This is choral music at it's most satisfying. The recorded works are all wonderful--but I do believe that Trinity Church Choir and Brian Jones could send us into raptures with a performance of "Mary had a little lamb!""