Let Your Voice Be Heard and ...against the dying of the light
American Record Guide - March/April 2003
Lindsay Koob

Cantus is a superb and innovative 11-voice professional male choir that works sans conductor. Formed in 1995 at St. Olaf College, Minnesota’s legendary choir school, all its remarkable singers are apparently still in their 20's. The group has made a minor splash in recent years, with a delightfully refreshing and adventurous approach to choral singing. Thier offerings include masterpieces from the past as well as new music, either written for them or arranged from a multitude of other sources.

The only other well-known groups I can think of that are even remotely like them are San Francisco’s Chanticleer and England’s King’s Singers - all of them serve similar musical missions and unconventional repertoire. But Cantus has no countertenors, sticking mostly to the usual TTBB configuration.

Ah, but what they DO with that configuration is enchanting. The singers - solo quality all - produce a wonderfully warm, gutsy and masculine sound (their bass end is stunning) as well as the kind of smooth delivery, overt emotionality, and uncanny sense of ensemble we have come to expect from St. Olaf choirs. But a certain gusto - a sense of boundless joy in music making - keeps this group from lapsing into the occasional blandness of the “St. Olaf Sound”. They achieve amazing precision, balance and interpretive unity - all without a conductor or apparent leader (none is credited).

The bulk of their work is a cappella, though some pieces - usually the folk or exotic foreign ones - employ a variety of percussion instruments (drums, xylophone, hammers, chains and a gong!) One piece gets piano support. We also hear an impressive array of choral effects, such as rhythmic chanting and grunting, droning basses, nasally thin vocal keening, and animal sounds - among others - according to whatever culture’s sound-world they seek to evoke. Arrangements, done exclusively by their own members are invariably imaginative and engaging.

These two collections are actually quite different. Let Your Voice Be Heard is the more laid-back and informal one, offering sheer exuberant choral fun, interspersed with more reflective fare. It celebrates a rich variety of mostly national folk idioms, encompassing domestic, Native American, African, Indian, Chinese and pan-European traditions. Cultural styles explored include Latin, Jewish and Celtic. Most works - and of course all the arrangements - are new to me, though such familiar pieces as ‘Loch Lomond’, ‘Shenandoah’, and ‘What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor’, and the spiritual ‘Were You There’ keep us anchored in the familiar and beloved territory.

...against the dying of the light is a much more serious collection, with works from such masters as Josquin, Schubert, Sibelius, Debussy and Barber keeping it rooted in the classics. Its predominant themes are rather somber, having mostly to do with death and suffering. One of the choirs avowed goals with this release is to prove they can stand toe-to-toe with the big name ensembles - and they succeed most admirably.

Schubert’s original arrangement of ‘Grab und Mond’ is realized with particular depth and sensitivity. Other choral favorites heard here are Pablo Casals’ searing motet, ‘O Vos Omnes’ and Randall Thompson’s ever-popular ‘Alleluia’. Discoveries include the fearful prayer, ‘God Protect us from War’, by Estonian composer Veljo Tormis (b. 1930). The discs title is an excerpt from the text of ‘Do Not Go Gentle Into That Goodnight’, one of Two Laments on Dylan Thomas by Kenneth Jennings (b. 1925), who is new to me. It is a masterpiece of outraged resignation. The only piece I don’t much care for is Carl Orff’s ‘Sunt Lacrimae Rerum’, which sound like a simplistic rehash of Carmina Burana, only without its excitement and moments of beauty.

This pair of releases brings the group’s total discography to five, all distributed by Cantus, their own label. Sound quality is sate-of-the art. Texts are beautifully laid out, but are given in translation only - and rightly so, given the Babel of original languages here. There are some empty pages in the second disc’s booklet but nothing seems to have been left out. Notes are otherwise sparse, especially in the second collection, with no information about the composers or their works and very limited information about the choir. I had to go to their website to learn of their origins and history.

Each of these releases brings tremendous pleasure; male chorus fans are in for rare and enchanting treats here. Watch for this unique and charismatic group - it is just the sort of un-stuffy and engaging ensemble this nation needs more of, if we are to continue generating interest in serious music in an overwhelmingly pop-oriented culture. We are likely to be hearing much more from them.