The Manitou Singers are a choir comprised of 95 first-year women at St. Olaf College located in Northfield, Minn. They are one of the unique manifestations of vocal traditions fostered at that school which is reknown for it's choirs. Conductor Sigrid Johnsof leads this massive choir of sopranos in an marvelous repertoire of religious and secular music alike. Hymns, gospel tunes, and elements of the Mass find expression next to such works as Debussy's "Claire de Lune," "Three Songs of Innocence" by Robert Wetzler, or Allister MacGillivray's "Away From the Roll of the Sea." While a bit more than half of the songs are enhanced by spare instrumental accompaniment, mostly solo piano, the expression of a mass of angelic voices is the substance of this beautiful recording. |
