Music Reviews - CD

For me, The Canadian Brass is still the best of all of the brass ensembles that have sprung up in Canada over the years. Here, in this recording this group truly shines as it combines with the mighty organ of St. Magdalene Church in Toronto in a few of the selections. It's the very church where Healey Willan, Canada's leading church musician, practiced his art.

Special treats on this CD are the new composition by Richard Walters, which gave the CD its name, soprano Mary Lou Fallis, and a rising young baritone, Giles Tomkins. The organist is the incomparable John Tuttle.

This is the kind of CD which leads the mind and the soul to take flight to higher things than the mundane every day occurrences of our lives. While good music should always do this, hymns have this wonderful way of taking us just that step further than any other piece of music toward union with a greater power.

As the liner notes state, "Great hymns have an enduring appeal," and " . . .they combine high-minded religious poetry with noble melodies."

There are 12 selections on this CD, some of which are well known, others are not so. What they have in common here is that they were ably arranged by Peter Tiefenbach and Richard Walters. Of these, the most well known are J.S. Bach's Sheep May Safely Graze, the African-American spiritual, Jacob's Ladder, the early German hymn Praise the Lord, The Almighty, which is sung in almost every Protestant church with English wording, and the early American melody with words by John Rippon, How Firm a Foundation.

But, it doesn't really matter whether or not we know these hymns. One recognizes them instantly for what they are and so arouse in one a sense of longing for the time when we were less riddled by doubts and uncertainties. They have the magic power for a brief moment to lead us back to faith and the belief in the goodness of the world.

As always, the tone of the Opening Day Recordings CD is fine. The Canadian Brass shine in the beautiful acoustics of St. Magdalene's sanctuary. The Elmer Isler Singers show why they one of the leading choral groups in this country through beautifully modulated singing, and Mary Lou Fallis, whom we know more as that light hearted Prima Dona on a Moose, sings in People of faith with the fullness of her voice. One hopes that this new hymn will find its way to many a church choir. It will certainly enrich such a choir's repertoire.