Kansas City Chorale - Recordings

Life and Breath
Choral Works by Rene Clausen
Although he writes in all genres, Rene Clausen is today one of America's most popular choral composers, and for more than twenty years he has been the conductor of the internationally acclaimed Concordia Choir of Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. On this release, choral works by Clausen a...

Passion Week
Alexander Grechaninov
"Grechaninov's Passion Week is a companion cycle to his better known, All-night Vigil, and it is wonderful to hear it complete (bits sometime crop up in anthologies here and there, but it's scarcely known outside Russia). The superlatives have already piled up against Charles Bruffy's name, and deservedly so. There can only be one reason for a label to release repertoire they already had in their catalogue, and that is that the new performance is so striking."

Eternal Rest
Mantyjarvl, Ticheli, Martin, Clausen
“…this is one of the finest a cappella choral recordings I’ve ever heard. By any reckoning, this CD features astonishing singing. Pitch, intonation and ensemble are exactly where they need to be. Although there are miles and miles of soft singing on this disc, not once do the singers lose their tonal focus, and the intensity of the sound actually seems to increase as the dynamic level decreases. To pile miracle upon miracle, Chandos has given the singers engineering which is both limpid and powerful. This would be a good disc with which to test your system’s high-end response.

Nativitas
American Christmas Carols
Released in 1994, Nativitas is a collection of American Christmas carols. This recording won "Best Seasonal Recording—Runner Up" from the National Association of Independent Record Distributors.

Rheinberger
Sacred Choral Works
The music of Josef Gabriel Rheinberger (1839 –1901) is quite well known to organists, but his compositions for media other than the organ have been allowed to languish in relative obscurity. Fortunately, this disparity is beginning to be addressed, for Rheinberger has left us a great deal of music in a variety of genres, and the pieces written for the Catholic service are particularly fine.

Oster-Hymne, Op. 134 - for Eight Voices (Double Choir), for Church and Concert
Vier sechsstimmige Motetten, Op 133 - for Church and Concert
Mass, Op. 109 - in E flat major, for Double Choir
Drei geistliche Gesange, Op. 69 - for Mixed Choir
Listen to Tracks

Rakhmaninov
Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom
Released in 1996, the New York Times said of the Chorale's recording of Rachmaninoff's Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, that it's "...a project that must be rated a serious contender for record of the year...the chorus is everywhere remarkable."

Spotless Rose
Hymms to the Virgin Mary
“The more I hear of the American Phoenix Chorale, the more I admire their work. Their English-leaning choral style, impinging on the territory of Polyphony or the Sixteen, feels absolutely right for this repertoire. Their peerlessly blended style makes for persuasive readings.”

Alleluia
Sacred Choral Works
"American music has been the lifeblood of this group since its inception, and it sings American music better than any group I know. Randall Thompson's anthemic "Alleluia" is a perfect example. There is a special understanding, an ineffable rightness, to the chorale's singing of this well-known masterpiece that defies logic."

Fern Hill
Ameircan Choral Music
Released in 1995, Fern Hill, American Choral Music met with exceptional national reviews. "Listening to this new CD was a sublime pleasure, I was immediately struck by the beauty of the choral tone, at once warm and pure.”

Shakespeare In Song
Phoenix Chorale
“Where has this fabulous choir been all my life? I’ve heard several outstanding efforts from Robert Shaw protégé Charles Bruffy with his Kansas City Chorale, but I’ve never heard him at the helm of this brilliant Arizona group before. No choral strength you can name eludes them. They easily surpass the last Shakespeare collection I reviewed (many of the same pieces). Chandos’ usual lucid and unaffected notes, full texts and resplendent SACD-hybrid sound conspire with irresistible choral wizardry to make this an absolute must.”

Brahms
Songs Ring out to the Heavens
Released in 1995, Fern Hill, American Choral Music met with exceptional national reviews. "Listening to this new CD was a sublime pleasure, I was immediately struck by the beauty of the choral tone, at once warm and pure.”