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GMCD 7174 – Canzonetta sing Carter
Canzonetta, Jeffrey Wynn Davies – Conductor
The Delian
Andrew Carter was born in 1939, and here we have 17 short works. There are mostly religious pieces, some with words familiar from other settinhgs, one short solo organ work, and three folksongs. Carter’s style is more or less in the modern ‘lighter’ churchy style to some degree without being religious pap. Some of these pieces were commissioned by churches in the U.S. The a cappella settings of Steal Away, God Be in my head with a disguised nod to Walford Davies’ version, and Love one another I have noted as particularly appealing. But the whole program is worth knowing. The Aria for Organ was written for the sesquialtera and English horn stops in a Fort Wayne church in mind, but the organ used here has neither rank and the substitutes are rather loud for a piece said to be popular at funerals. The folksongs are terrific. Canzonetta does a wonderful job with this music and Carter’s own notes are equally entertaining.
Choir and Organ July/August 2000
Andrew Carter is a prolific composer whose works inclued numerous comissions from home and abroad. His duneful accessible style nevertheless has fresness and originality – always evident in this compilation of short anthems and folksong arrangements. There is also Aria for Organ beguilingly played by Mathew Owens, a most attractive piece. Canzonetta give workmanlike rather than riverting performances of the choral works