"Les Chansons des Roses" is a collection of compositions based on the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke. Says Lauridsend of his selection: "(Rilke') poems on roses struck me as expecially charming, filled with gorgeous lyricism, deftly crafted and elegant in their imagery. There exquisite poems are primarily light, joyous and playful, and the musical settings are designed to enhance these characteristics and capture their delicate beauty and sensuousness."

Songlist: Dirait-on, Contre Qui Rose, De Ton Reve Trop Plein, La Rose Complete, En Une Seule Fleur

Choral Cross-Ties, a mixed 24-singer chorus directed by Bruce Browne who founded the group in 1985, bring us 3 choral cycles by composer Morten Lauridsen, "Mid-Winter Songs," on poems by Robert Graves; "Madrigali: Six Fire-Songs," on Italian Renaissance poems; and "Les Chansons Des Roses," on poems by Rainer Maria Rilke. Reading the beautiful poetry which inspired Lauridsen in the extensive liner notes, the Graves in English, the Madrigali in Italian and the Chansons in French (all with translations), adds to our appreciation and feeling for the music. Lightly accompanied on piano, "The Complete Choral Cycles" is an extensive, demanding work made to look easy by a wonderfully versatile chorus.

Songlist: Lament for Pasiphae, Like Snow, She Tells Her Love While Half Asleep, Mid-Winter Waking, Intercession in Late October, Ov'e, Lass', Il Bel Viso, Quando Son Piu Lontan, Amor, Io Sento L'alma, Io Piango, Luci Serene E Chiare, Se Per Havervi, Oime, En Une Seule Fleur, Contre Qui, Rose, De Ton Reve Trop Plein, La Rose Complete, Dirait-On

Morten Lauridsen is America's preeminent composer of choral music. Characterized by long, arching and highly expressive lines, his works are enjoyed by performers and audiences worldwide. O nata lux, perhaps Lauridsen's most popular work, is a serene evocation of heavenly light, while the searingly intense and technically demanding Madrigali inhabit a more feverish and earthy realm. The refined Les Chansons des Roses employ a design reminiscent of the formal gardens, filled with roses, found in the grounds of the great French chateaux. The unforgettable final movement is the now-famous Dirait-on. The Mid-Winter Songs for chorus and piano are a stunning example of compositional virtuosity. O magnum mysterium, for a cappella chorus, is a setting of a Christmas text that has inspired composers from Victoria to Poulenc.

Songlist: O nata lux, Ov'e, lass', il bel viso, Quando son piu lontan, Amor, lo sento l'alma, Io piango, Luci serene e chiare, Se per havervi, oime, En une seul fleur, Contre qui, rose, De ton reve trop plein, La rose complete/ Dirait-on, Lament for Pasiphae, Like Snow, She Tells Her Love While Half Asleep, Mid-Winter Waking, Intercession in late October, O magnum mysterium

Los Angeles Chamber Singers : Romancero Gitano   

The Castelnuovo-Tedesco work comes as one of my bigger surprises of recent times: written in 1951 upon powerful and emotional texts by Garcia Lorca (translations included in the CD booklet) Romancero Gitano, op. 152 proves to be genuinely attractive work, its wide guitaristic range well essayed by Gregory Newton, whose style suits well the composer's familiar refinement and musical craftsmanship. Is this song accompaniment? Or is it a concerto with voices instead of instruments? Whichever way you look at it, here is an interesting and substantial piece by one of the guitar's 20th century luminaries. Newton is to be congratulated on this revelation (for me, at least), his accomplished playing complementing a fine choir and thus providing a most listenable and substantial item with a real difference. A fascinating timelessness pervades Morten Lauridsen's purely vocal Chansons based on poems by Rilke: simply put, they are quite beautiful in both construction and execution, the eventual arrival of the piano in the fifth (and last) a miniature masterstroke. The Samuel Barber work is as rich as it is brief, while the set of madrigals by Halsey Stevens reveals a fine sonority, as does the group of odes by Randall Thompson: the notes mention that he felt that "a composer's first responsibility is... to write music that will reach and move the hearts of his listeners in his own day." A not unworthy aspiration, and with composition of this ilk it is easy to see how he could justifiably have had the confidence to utter such words. John Chorbajian's Bitter for Sweet, a setting of a Christina Rossetti poem, concludes and - like the music throughout this disc - was all the more touching for its stringency, quite delightful. So, there's only guitar on the Castelnuovo-Tedesco, but that in itself is worth the admission fee: elsewhere the felicitous blend of fine music and equally fine singing makes this CD a pleasing surprise, one to recommend wholeheartedly.

Songlist: Baladilla de los tres rios, La Guitarra, Punal, Procesion - Paso - Saeta, Memento, Baile, Crotalo, En Une Seule Fleur, Contre Qui, Rose, De Ton Reve Trop Plein, La Rose Complete, Dirait-On, Sure On this Shinging Night Op. 12, No. 3, Weepe, o mine eyes, Like as the culver on the bared bough, Go. Lovely rose, Vitas hinnuleo, Felices ter, O fons bandusia, Bitter for Sweet