Aunque Dave Brubeck es uno de los pianistas de jazz más prestigiosos del mundo, su infatigable genio creativo trasciende los terrenos comunes para transitar nuevos caminos, como es el caso de sus numerosas obras corales. Precisamente este compacto está dedicado a su música sacra coral, donde demuestra un profundo dominio de la espiritualidad transportada a sonidos y silencios. Las 11 piezas que componen el registro discográfico se inspiran en las tradiciones seculares del canto coral sacro, y se renuevan con el aliento contemporáneo que Brubeck sabe imponerles. La interpretación está a cargo de The Pacific Mozart Ensemble y el Quartet of San Francisco, dirigidos por Lynne Morrow y Richard Grant. --El Nuevo Herald, Jesus Vega, February 7, 2010Dave Brubeck is a hallmark in Amerian music. His milestone LP, Time Out, with the blockbuster Take Five, was a hundred percenter, solid from start to finish, as, frankly, was the follower, Time Further Out, but he never again scaled the heights to that degree. Part of the reason for this was his refusal to stay in one place and endlessly rehash past glories. Like Paul Winter, Brubeck wanted to be a musician, not a hit factory (though I'm quite sure he wouldn't have objected had any other LPs or songs climbed the heights as dramatically as the Time pair).Thus, with Songs of Praise, Dave ventured into religious waters, a task that has historically yielded interesting returns for such diverse artists as Keith Jarrett, Spooky Tooth (w/Pierre Henry), the Electric Prunes, David Axelrod, and other decidedly non-classicalist composers. Songs, however, is much more augustly slanted, a combination of gospel, chant, and Classical oratorio. With the Pacific Mozart Ensemble and Quartet San Francisco under the conductorships of Lynne Morrow and Richard Grant, he penned an hour's worth of sacred music centered in the Christian tradition--particularly, or so it seems to me, the Catholic bent.This necessarily lends itself to more than one somber recital, as in soprano Mari Marjamaa's handling of Concordia within the Canticles cycle, a beautiful lament and commemoration of the birth of Jesus: lament for the inherent nature of the need of saviorship as against the sins of the world in scriptural canon, commemoration of the incipient salvation. Interestingly, the opening movement of the Salve Mater (Crucifixion) is jubilant upon the life of the Christ and the instrumentality of the Virgin Mary--founts, as the lyrics clearly extol, of hope for humanity. This is perhaps the most engrossing section of the entire CD, alternating between a lively blend of several chant traditions abetted by more modernist modes skillfully indexed, subsiding in quiet reflections on the approaching martyrdom.Then come the more seasonal compositions (Ev'ry Christmas I Hear Bells, etc.) and addressals of Christian staples (Psalm 23 et al), none of which try for popular sentimentality and rhythms but rather pure musicality. Sleep, Holy Infant, Sleep is an excellent example, lullaby and luminous exaltation simultaneously, too complex for incorporation into the season's songbook but, well, beautiful. Even Brubeck's long pensee on The Commandments is engaging, an amalgam of rondo, seriality, and chant that pulls the listener into its enchanting mode, gospel accents interspersed. Thus, don't look to Songs of Praise for light holiday fare or popularized chorales in a jazz tempo; Brubeck was quite quite serious when he sat down to pen all this, and it requires concentrated listening to fully reveal the real depths dwelling in every track. --Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange, Mark S. Tucker, February 2010Dave Brubeck, Sacred Choral Works, Songs of Praise, the Pacific Mozart Ensemble, Quartet San Francisco, Lynne Morrow and Richard Grant, conductors (Dorian Sono Luminus). The Catholic Church should rejoice that it got Dave Brubeck. His feelings are deep and real. These pieces vary wildly. "Sleep, Holy Infant, Sleep" is lovely, an excerpt from Brubeck's Christmas cantata "La Fiesta de la Posada," and I could see it catching on as a Christmas classic. "Why We Sing at Christmas" is actively annoying.  Between these extremes are all kinds of things to chew on. "Commandments" mixes humor with piety. I do not know if Brubeck intended it this way, but I have to laugh when it goes in a scolding rhythm: "Thou shalt not ..." "Thou shalt not ..." "Thou shalt not ..." Sometimes it seems that way! Then it goes in shrill treble: "TELL THE ISRAELITES THIS!"The "Credo" is a complicated case. Brubeck was one of three contemporary composers invited to complete this section from Mozart's unfinished "Great" C Minor Mass. At first assigned "Crucifixus" and "Resurrexit," Brubeck wound up writing an entire Credo. It is fun tracing where he was inspired by chant, where by Mozart, and where from his own disparate musical roots. A simple and lovely Benediction brings the disc to a reverent close. Praise to the Pacific Mozart Ensemble, an a cappella group, for bringing this music off with such bright, workmanlike spirit. --The Buffalo News, Mary Kunz Goldman, February 7, 2010First, a disclaimer is necessary. This is not a jazz disc. That it is included in the section of jazz reviews is purely serendipitous. The link of course is the composer Dave Brubeck, who penned such jazz standards as Blue Rondo Ã  la Turk, In Your Own Sweet Way and The Duke.  This disc is simply an extension of his composing abilities in a musical sphere that complements his jazz-based talents. Now in his 90th year, Brubeck the musician shows no signs of slowing down and is already booked into many of the 2010 summer jazz festivals.All Brubeck's compositions on this disc would be welcomed at any High Anglican or Roman Catholic service, as they have all the requisites for sacred music: solemnity and piety. Leading off with Canticles, this three-part invention offers his sombre musical interpretation in a choral setting, of the Annunciation, Nativity and Crucifixion with all the grandeur and ecclesiastical gravity that can be attributed to these key events in the Christian ritual. The four next selections are all Christmas-oriented and may be somewhat out of place on the disc but nevertheless are beautifully constructed and sung with devotion by the Pacific Mozart Ensemble. None of these pieces could be classified as hummable but nonetheless they exhibit the necessary fidelity to their seasonal nature.Of the remaining compositions, the two most profound are The Commandments and Credo. With the former, there is the recitation of those Christian tenets offered in a variety of formats such as a rondo and chant but with gospel tinges, all of which assist in exhibiting the density of the piece. Credo is sung in Latin which although classified as a "dead language" nevertheless seems to take on wondrous qualities when used in this setting and gives the proper gravity to this polytonal interpretation.Finally, this disc is not going to compare to Brubeck's signature album Time Out in terms of popularity or accessibility. It is a very dense offering and requires a commitment on the part of the listener to seek out its pleasures. --MusicWeb International - Pierre Giroux