Product Description
After last year's 'best of" compilation, Bill Douglas is bac kwith this contemporary choral/instrumental gem. Once again the ARS Nova Singers deliver touching and inspiring harmonies, supported by Bill's sensitive piano playing and brilliantly melodic writing for oboe, bassoon, clarinet and flute. A must for fans.
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Searching for the divine by dawn's early light, pianist/keyboardist Bill Douglas uses his eighth recording to create a gentle paean to the natural beauty of morning and the intangibles of purity and promise that float in on daybreak's first sunbeams. Again employing the rapturous talents of the Denver-based Ars Nova Singers, Douglas composes a calming program anchored by the group's reverential choral passages (featured on seven of the disc's 13 tracks). Douglas's instrumental works (with random guest performances on violin, cello, oboe, clarinet, flute, light percussion, and his own bassoon) create a meditative, jazz-tinged chamber sound. Ultimately, these pieces serve as modest interludes between the more riveting choral sections. Lyrical content comes from an assortment of verse (W.B. Yeats, Emily Dickinson, the Bible's Song of Solomon) and extols the peacefulness and magical quality of early morning, though the words (unrecognizable without the lyric sheet) are secondary to the cathedral-like resonance the group puts forth. Highlights include the opening track, the heavenly, wordless rumination of "Tara," the worshipful/celebratory "Lovely Is the Rose," and the title track, a captivating take on Dickinson's verse. --Terry Wood
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