A stunning high-quality CD recording of familiar hymns in choral settings, along with two winning instrumental pieces from a student composition contest sponsored by the ISAE. An inspiring and uplifting recording that will introduce you to these composer's works. You'll want to add it to your personal collection, and it also makes a great gift for your choir members, church workers, and friends. Review ' 'Fill the World with Loudest Praise' is a collection of nine hymn anthems by living American composers. All the hymns are familiar, basic repertory, but these settings breathe remarkable freshness and charm into every piece. The CD cover identifies the choir as St. Paul's Chamber Choir of Houston, Texas; inside the liner notes further identify the church as St. Paul's United Methodist Church. If you have any preconceptions of hymn singing by Methodist Texans, this stunning collection will open your ears and your minds. This very professional choir of 22 voices sings with elegance and grace, with flawless diction and breathtakingly beautiful phrasing. The trebles sing with the pure focus of cathedral choirboys, but these are women singing. Conductor Robert Brewer clearly has a strong vision of the sound he wants. Perhaps the words 'Loudest Praise' in the album title are a bit misleading. There is certainly no blaring or yelling. There is brilliant brass playing in the opening 'Holy, Holy, Holy'(NICAEA) arranged by K. Lee Scott. There is dignified vocal strength where appropriate, but there also are moments of quiet awe. In a similar spirit, Craig Phillips' SAB setting of 'Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken' (AUSTRIAN HYMN) with brass, timpani, and organ manages to avoid the Teutonic bombast which are so often clothes (and smothers!) this tune. There are also moments of intimacy and reflection in this first-class hymn anthem. Phillips is the Music Associate at All Saints Episcopal Church in Beverly Hills, California. Alice Parker is represented with Isaac Watts' first hymn, 'Come, Let Us Join Our Cheerful Songs,' set to NUN DANKET ALL. This is not an a cappella setting, as are so many of her hymn and carol arrangements, but rather is a lively and challenging organ accompaniment, beautifully played by Ken Coleman, which adds welcome punctuation and spice. Hal H. Hopson provides an organ and trumpet accompaniment in his SAB setting of Watts' 'From All That Dwell Below the Skies.' The tune LASST UNS ERFREUEN is kept strongly to the fore, except in the third verse ('Your lofty themes, ye mortals bring') where an original melody in a minor mode provides a welcome change of pace. Carl Schalk uses organ and brass choir in his arrangement of ABERYSTWYTH, to Charles Wesley's 'Jesus Lover of My Soul.' Schalk's dignified and restrained treatment makes the intimacy of the text even more powerful, especially in the a cappella stanza 'Other refuge have I none, hangs my helpless soul on thee.' John Ferguson also uses a brass quartet with organ for 'All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name' (CORONATION), achieving admirable variety and color in the six-stanza setting. A flute, a drum, and a piano provide the accompaniment for David Ashley White's setting of 'On Jordan's Stormy Banks.' The tune is PROMISED LAND, and the instrumentation, the clean counterpoint and open harmonies neatly capture the spirit of an old American camp meeting. Alfred V. Fedak adds a violin to the organ accompaniment in his setting of 'When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.' He does not use t
