The Whole Bright World Rejoices
Review by Greg Scheer
There is an uneasy relationship between worship music and worship CDs. It is rare that the same music works well for congregational singing and for private listening. Hilariter's The Whole Bright World Rejoices is an exception. From the first glimpse of the playful cover photo to the last song on the CD, the recording has an infectious charm.
It is surprising that such a wide variety of music - Black Gospel, 17th German, Iona, Hispanic - could work together as a cohesive whole. Perhaps it is the prominent role of the choir that helps weave all these strands together. Most songs are vocally driven, with just enough instrumentation to add a unique musical flavor without overshadowing the voices. In fact, the vocal orientation of the CD is so strong that the two instrumental pieces almost feel like an intrusion. Hilariter is clearly an ensemble that enjoys making music together. That sense of community permeates the recording, inviting the listener into their circle.
Most of these songs would work well in corporate worship. Some are simple, repetitive choruses like "Sanna, Sannanina," "Kwase Kwase/Be Like Him" and "We Will Go Out with Joy." Others have more substantial texts and longer musical forms - "You Walk Along Our Shoreline," "The Glory of God," and "Hilariter." Only the two instrumental pieces and a few of the more complicated vocal arrangements break from the participatory mode of the rest of the music. Among these is Bruce Cockburn's "Festival of Friends" which works surprisingly well in the context of a worship CD, painting a beautiful picture of the eternal banquet.
The Whole Bright World Rejoices is not only an enjoyable CD, it also introduces an exciting repertoire of worship songs and styles for use in local churches.This article originally appeared on the Calvin Institute for Reformed Worship website. Used with permission.
See the Recordings page for more information on this CD.
Come Know my Joy
Review by Richard Leach
Here's another fine recording from Andrew Donaldson and the choir and instrumentalists he leads at Toronto's Beaches Presbyterian Church. Donaldson is co-editor of the Presbyterian Church in Canada's revised Book of Praise, published in 1997, and this CD contains 24 hymns, songs, and liturgical pieces from that hymnal.
This well-programmed CD blends old and new, with hymn texts by Martin Luther and Charles Wesley, as well as Ruth Duck, Amy Grant, Joy Patterson, and Thomas Troeger. The music is similarly varied, drawing on folk music from around the world as well as "standard" hymnody, with a significant number of worthy texts, tunes, and arrangements from Donaldson himself. As is customary for recordings from Beaches Presbyterian, instrumental support is various winds, strings, guitar, piano, and percussion.
Among the highlights are a haunting "Many and Great," with flute and recorder evoking Native American flute; a trio of pieces with Hispanic roots, their mariachi band style accompaniment including nicely played trumpet; and several a cappella performances, one of which is Donaldson's setting of "Silence, Frenzied, Unclean Spirit" -- not outdoing Carol Doran's tour de force setting, but not paling by comparison either.
Donaldson and his choir and instrumentalists bring a natural, unaffected sounding unity to the quite diverse material on this CD. It can't be as easy as they make it sound and I compliment them on that.
Reproduced by permission from THE HYMN, July 1999, Vol.50, No.3. www.thehymnsociety.org
Review by Andrew Fullerton
Once upon a time "Abide with me" was a brand new hymn. At first, people thought it was strange and doleful. "Change and decay around in all I see..." it famously opines. Yet it spoke to people, even those who react to new hymns with suspicion! In time, the Church allowed it into its storehouse of hymns-we-cannot-do-without.
Many new hymns in The Book of Praise (1997) will one day find their way into that storehouse. Their entry is now hastened by the resourceful musicians of Beaches Church in Toronto. They have produced a splendid CD recording of 24 "new" selections from that book, showing how singable these hymns can be.
The Singers and Players of Beaches Church are well positioned to do this. They are led by Andrew Donaldson and Donald Anderson who served as the hymn book's co-editors. A delightful array of instruments accompanies the singing wonderfully well. Lori Gemmell's harp is especially beautiful. In fact, you'll hear no organ on this CD. But you will hear many stringed and wind instruments, with brass and percussion too.
Too modern you say? Nonsense. Don't the musicians of Beaches Church recover the tradition of parish band or orchestra, whose gradual replacement by expensive organs Thomas Hardy lamented in Under the Greenwood Tree? And then there's Psalm 150.
Many selections derive from traditions and regions of the world beginning to find a place in our hymnody. You'll hear a distinctly Celtic strain, for example. Korean and Native American melodies have a place too. The music of South and Central America flavours some hymns, and there's even a Newfoundland folk tune set to the words of 1 Corinthians 13.
I think the fight over "old" and "new" is childish. Too often, it's really a quarrel between "familiar" and "unfamiliar". But it's not the hymn's fault we don't know it, is it? What we call a "new" hymn may have been penned in the 12th century! What we really mean is: "It's new to me. I don't know it."
There's really only one cure for that. Buy the CD. Listen to it. Then sing these hymns to God and be glad.
Originally published in The Record.
See the Recordings page for more information on this CD.
One Gracious Gift
Review by Richard Leach
One Gracious Gift is from Beaches Presbyterian Church in Toronto. Andrew Donaldson (co-editor of the Canadian Presbyterian Church's revised Book of Praise) is Music Director there, and on this recording he leads his choir, guest singers, and instrumentalists in 21 Christmas carols, hymns and songs.
There is a variety of arrangements here, from four part a cappella settings to solo songs. Where there is accompaniment, it is usually guitar, harp, or piano. Percussion, flute, oboe, and violin are effectively added from time to time. The Beaches choir has a warm, well-blended sound, with clear diction.
Most of the pieces will be familiar. "Silent Night" is here, a dash of blues and gospel in its arrangement. There are fresh solo voice settings of the Magnificat and the Song of Simeon. The Oxford Book of Carols is drawn upon for several pieces, including the spooky "Down in Yon Forest." The recording closes with a calypso, "Mary's Little Boy Chile." The discovery on the recording is Donaldson's own "Tree Ever Green," with a marvelous text based on a French carol.
Christmas recordings often become background music. "One Gracious Gift" will be fine in that role. It will also please those who stop what they are doing and listen.
Reproduced by permission from THE HYMN, Oct. 1998, Vol.49, No.4. www.thehymnsociety.org
See the Recordings page for more information on this CD.
The Book of Psalms: A Worship Resource for Reading or Singing the Psalms with Optional Refrains
Review by James Brumm
More and more congregations in the Reformed tradition are looking for varied approaches to reading and singing psalms in worship. For those accustomed to what we generally call "responsive reading"-the reading of alternate lines of text by the worship leader and the congregation-the easiest next step is often that of simply adding a musical refrain. This book was created with just those congregations in mind.
The book includes all 150 psalms, presented in order, with complete texts from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. This in itself is a blessing, since many collections of this type include only snippets of psalms designed for those selections most frequently employed by the Revised Common Lectionary. The presentation of complete psalm texts allows a much greater range of possibilities for worship planners. The first refrain for each psalm is a snippet from a hymn tune, which, the editors note, might be the most accessible sort of refrain for congregations who are new to this form. The other refrains are settings composed by contemporary church musicians, including George Black, John Derksen, Andrew Donaldson, and Hal Hopson. Each psalm has at least two refrains specifically matched to it, a vast improvement over collections where the editors have fallen back on "general" refrains for some psalms, exhausted by the sheer volume of the canon. The book does offer seventeen "general" refrains to expand the options of worshipers even further.
For those who have had greater exposure to responsorial psalmody, the psalms are clearly pointed for chanting, with several useful tones by Andrew Donaldson and John Derksen included. The texts and tunes are clearly printed on bright white stock, and the book is bound in a tastefully embossed, substantial hard cover, making it an attractive addition to parish pew racks. In the back of the book is an exhaustive set of addresses to call for copyright permissions, followed by a complete set of Indices, including one that offers lectionary-based passages for those congregations using the Revised Common Lectionary.
As we enter the twenty-first century, worship planners need no more proof that everything old has become new than to see the variety of ways in which congregations are trying to sing the psalms again. For Reformed congregations who wish to add this ancient practice of responsorial psalmody to our own rich tradition of metrical psalm singing, this book is an invaluable resource. Those of us who live south of the border can only hope that this book soon has a U.S. distributor.
This article by James Brumm originally appeared in Reformed Worship June 1999, no. 52, www.reformedworship.org. Used with permission.
See the Publications page for more information on this worship resource.
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reviews of:
The Whole Bright World Rejoices 
Come Know My Joy (2)
One Gracious Gift
The Book of Psalms