Review of Bob Wendell's Cantus Angelicus CD's

I have just had the intense pleasure of listening to the two CD's
released by the group Cantus Angelicus, under the direction of list
member Bob Wendell.

A mixed choir of between 16 and 18 members, Cantus Angelicus is drawn
from the citizenry of Fairfield, Iowa, population 10,000. What Bob has
done with the group is nothing short of amazing.

Not that they're flawless. Perhaps the most noticeable glitches are
when the sopranos reach for a very high note; sometimes the result is a
tad ragged for a moment. But 99% of the time, the group is right on
pitch, to the best of my ear's ability to discern. And did I mention
that they tune their thirds properly? What a joy this is to my 12-tET
saturated brain!

Somehow, Bob has managed to take people more or less off the street, and
has taught them to discern and produce pitches far more just than are
achieved by most highly trained professionals.

The selection of songs reflects the group's original name, Musica Sacra
Choral Society. Religious songs. Over half are a cappella; the rest
have mainly piano or organ accompaniment. Normally, this is the kind of
music I listen to one or two selections of, then get ansy for something
else. But with treatment so sweet, I just slap the disk on and let it
play!

Both CD's come with excellent information, including translations of
the songs' texts, brief bios of the composers, group photos, etc.
The second, hot off the press, reflects a continued growth of the
choir's polish. The lovely artwork is an added bonus.

Bob issues from an impressively musical family. Both parents and a
sister were prodigies, and his late father played lead trumpet for Tommy
Dorsey's band while on summer break from high school. After flirting
with math and physics in college, Bob surrendered to his love of music.

Can we clone Bob and install a copy in every small town in America?
Not to mention every university! Failing that, I hope that his
techniques will be spread far and wide.

The group sells CD's from its web site, http://www.cangelic.org .
Highly recommended!

JdL

[I wrote:]
>The selection of songs reflects the group's original name, Musica Sacra
>Choral Society. Religious songs.

Bob wrote me off-list to point out that many people associate the phrase
"religious songs" with modern gospel music. To avoid confusion, let me
clarify that Cantus Angelicus performs sacred works of past masters,
including a number of 19th century composers, along with works from many
centuries before, but not including gospel music of the 20th century.

JdL

I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart, John, both for
your patronage and your lovely review! Enjoy! I certainly do it for
the joy and musical fulfillment it brings to me, our members, and our
audiences, both live and recorded. We hope everyone will visit

http://www.cangelic.org

and listen to the streaming audio as well as read about our
performances at an international choral festival near Vienna last
June.

Yours,

Bob
http://www.cangelic.org

P.S. Within minutes of your posting, we already had orders coming in
from the tuning list. The second CD release is unfortunately not yet
available through our site, but can be ordered directly from me at
rwendell@cangelic.org.

Since in this case there is no one in the middle, we just charge the
local rate of $15 per CD and eat the shipping costs. We're non-
profit, so there is no tax. We cannot process credit cards for the
2nd CD till it's posted on the site, so we will just accept personal
checks made out to CACS. If you are sending a check for both CDs or
just the second release, please indicate in the "For" line whether
it's for Vol II or both Vol. I & II.

--- In tuning@y..., "John A. deLaubenfels" <jdl@a...> wrote:
> I have just had the intense pleasure of listening to the two CD's
> released by the group Cantus Angelicus, under the direction of list
> member Bob Wendell.
>
> A mixed choir of between 16 and 18 members, Cantus Angelicus is
drawn
> from the citizenry of Fairfield, Iowa, population 10,000. What Bob
has
> done with the group is nothing short of amazing.
>
> Not that they're flawless. Perhaps the most noticeable glitches are
> when the sopranos reach for a very high note; sometimes the result
is a
> tad ragged for a moment. But 99% of the time, the group is right
on
> pitch, to the best of my ear's ability to discern. And did I
mention
> that they tune their thirds properly? What a joy this is to my 12-
tET
> saturated brain!
>
> Somehow, Bob has managed to take people more or less off the
street, and
> has taught them to discern and produce pitches far more just than
are
> achieved by most highly trained professionals.
>
> The selection of songs reflects the group's original name, Musica
Sacra
> Choral Society. Religious songs. Over half are a cappella; the
rest
> have mainly piano or organ accompaniment. Normally, this is the
kind of
> music I listen to one or two selections of, then get ansy for
something
> else. But with treatment so sweet, I just slap the disk on and let
it
> play!
>
> Both CD's come with excellent information, including translations
of
> the songs' texts, brief bios of the composers, group photos, etc.
> The second, hot off the press, reflects a continued growth of the
> choir's polish. The lovely artwork is an added bonus.
>
> Bob issues from an impressively musical family. Both parents and a
> sister were prodigies, and his late father played lead trumpet for
Tommy
> Dorsey's band while on summer break from high school. After
flirting
> with math and physics in college, Bob surrendered to his love of
music.
>
> Can we clone Bob and install a copy in every small town in America?
> Not to mention every university! Failing that, I hope that his
> techniques will be spread far and wide.
>
> The group sells CD's from its web site, http://www.cangelic.org .
> Highly recommended!
>
> JdL