CHOIR OF ST. IGNATIUS LOYOLA

• Wondrous Love

"This outstanding 20-voice ensemble boasts the best of New York City ’s professional vocalists, led by one of the city’s leading choral conductors ...The singers possess wide-ranging interpretive abilities, making them equally at home with the American spiritual, twelfth-century organum, the polyphonic complexity of Bach, or the challenges of 20th-century textures...ravishingly beautiful...spirited... spellbinding...[a] deeply moving spiritual journey. Throughout, astounding vocal virtuosity is balanced with sheer elegance and beauty of sound."

The American Organist - March, 2007

"The 18 voices of the St Ignatius Loyola Choir make up the core of one of the nation's finest church choirs...Their singing offers an especially full-throated approach to vocal production, on top of tremendous expressive and dynamic range...Their program is a stunning traversal of mostly ancient and modern music...The Rennaisance pieces...demonstrate their remarkable vocal discipline and finesse...They are recorded very well."

American Record Guide - September/October, 2006

"The first thing to say is that all the music is extremely well served by what is evidently an expert choir that has been splendidly trained. The choir makes an excellent sound that is bright and forward – which I like – and their tuning, balance and diction are all first rate. The various solos that crop up within the recital are all taken by members of the choir and without exception they are taken to excellent effect...The Bach motet is very successful for the bright tone of the singers and the good balance achieved by conductor, Kent Tritle, ensures that Bach’s inventive part-writing is put across with admirable clarity and life...I also admired the way the singers delivered the chastely pure setting of O Sacrum Convivium by Tallis.  The piece by Kevin Oldham is... sung very well here and the brief ecstatic climaxes are conveyed with genuine power. I was also impressed with Calvin Hampton’s Faithful Cross. This is an ecstatic piece that, once again, features complex choral textures. A couple of times a wonderful soprano line soars memorably out of and over the rest of the choir and a solo soprano brings the work to a lovely end... On the whole this is a fine and nicely varied programme that is executed with skill and élan by a fine choir."

MusicWeb International - September, 2006

The Church of St. Ignatius Loyola is a vibrant and active Roman Catholic parish. Its extensive music program aims to celebrate the diverse musical heritage of the Christian tradition, and includes both professional and volunteer participation. The professional Choir of St. Ignatius Loyola is heard regularly at parish liturgical celebrations and has drawn critical acclaim in the Sacred Music in a Sacred Space concert series for its blended sound and stylistic flexibility. The 60-voice volunteer Parish Community Choir participates in a broad spectrum of parish liturgical and concert life. Adding to the program are an active Folk Mass group and the liturgical Children’s Chorus. Founded in 1851 and entrusted to the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1866, the present landmark structure was dedicated in 1898; the N.P. Mander pipe organ heard on this recording was inaugurated April 27, 1993.
Kent Tritle is one New York City’s leading choral conductors and organists. He is founder and music director of Sacred Music in a Sacred Space, the acclaimed series of concerts at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola. As Director of Music Ministries there, he has brought the Choir of St. Ignatius Loyola to critical acclaim, and from 1991-1993 oversaw the design and installation of the church’s magnificent N.P. Mander Pipe Organ. Kent Tritle is also Organist of the New York Philharmonic and Graduate Faculty at The Juilliard School. As a popular figure in the music world, he has been a featured personality on ABC World News Tonight, National Public Radio and Minnesota Public Radio, as well as in The New York Times and numerous other radio and print appearances and interviews. Wondrous Love (The Southern Harmony, 1835) - TEXT: Alexander Means (1801-1853)
Motherless Child (Traditional spiritual, arranged by Adolphus Hailstork, b. 1941)
Neil Farrell (b. 1959): Drop, Drop, Slow Tears - TEXT: Phineas Fletcher (1582-1650)
Pérotin (ca. 1183-ca. 1238): Organum quadruplum: Sederunt - TEXT: Gradual for St. Stephen’s Day
Carlo Gesualdo (ca. 1561-1613): O vos omnes - TEXT: Lamentations 1:12
Crux fidelis and Pange lingua (Gallican liturgy, late 6th century) - TEXT: Venantius Fortunatus (ca. 530 - ca. 609)
Calvin Hampton (1938-1984): Faithful Cross - TEXT: Venantius Fortunatus (ca. 530 - ca. 609) / English trans. by Fr. Edward Caswall (1814-1878)
[9] Misereris omnium, Domine (Gregorian chant; Introit for Ash Wednesday) - TEXT: Wisdom 11: 24-25, 27; Psalm 57: 1
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): Komm, Jesu, komm BWV 229 - TEXT: Paul Thymich (1656-1694)
Neil Farrell (b. 1959): Hosanna Filio David - TEXT: Antiphon for Palm (Passion) Sunday
John Kennedy (b. 1959): Someday - TEXT: Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955)
Thomas Tallis (c. 1505-1585): O Sacrum Convivium - TEXT: St. Thomas Aquinas (ca. 1225-1274)
Kevin Oldham (1960-1993): Chorale - TEXT: Kenneth Ewart Boulding (1910-1993)
James MacMillan (b. 1959): Christus Vincit - TEXT: Worcester acclamations (10th century)
Hallelu - TEXT: Traditional spiritual, compiled by K. Scott Warren
Jacob Praetorius II (1586-1651): Gaudete omnes - TEXT: Advent text based on Psalm 24
Phoebe P. Knapp (1839-1908): Blessed Assurance – A Tribute to Martin Luther King - Arranged by Nancy Wertsch (b.1948) - TEXT: Fanny J. Crosby (1820-1915)  



MSR Classics