Albums
Volume 17: Digital Album 5
Title |
Time |
Play |
| Ariel, Visions of Isaiah | 29:13 | ▼ |
| I. Woe to Ariel | 05:34 | |
| II. The Earth Mourneth | 04:51 | |
| III. The Daughters of Zion are Haughty | 02:20 | |
| IV. Fear, and the Pit, and the Snare | 08:04 | |
| V. The Lord Shall Give Thee Rest | 03:47 | |
| VI. Break Forth into Joy | 04:37 | |
| Glorious | 34:45 | ▼ |
| The Lord is My Shepherd (Psalm 23) | 04:00 | |
| Praise Ye (Psalm 117) | 02:19 | |
| Hallelujah | 02:32 | |
| To Everything There is a Season (Ecclesiastes 3:1,2,4,8) | 01:56 | |
| Sing Unto The Lord A New Song (Psalm 98) | 02:11 | |
| O My Son Absalom (2 Samuel 18:33) | 04:04 | |
| So The Sun Stood Still (Joshua 10:13,14) | 02:17 | |
| Out Of The Depths (Psalm 130) | 02:33 | |
| I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes (Psalm 121) | 03:47 | |
| Have Mercy Upon Me (Psalm 51) | 03:43 | |
| My Heart Is Not Haughty (Psalm 131) | 02:56 | |
| So God Created Man (Genesis 1:27) | 02:27 |
Ariel: Visions of Isaiah | Glorious
Robert Starer’s six-movement dramatic cantata, Ariel: Visions of Isaiah, presents a condensed narrative of Isaiah’s vision of the destruction of Jerusalem. It was commissioned by the Interracial Fellowship Chorus of New York and premiered at Town Hall in New York City in 1960. The present recording features soprano Roberta Peters, baritone Julian Patrick, and the Camerata Singers and Orchestra conducted by Abraham Kaplan.
Isaiah is a tumultuous and dramatic episode in which a prophet warns of impending destruction for the people of Ariel for having forsaken their god. (Ariel, “the city where David dwelt,“ is a symbolic name for Jerusalem). Starer’s musical depiction captures and extends this tumultuousness masterfully and expresses a wide gamut of emotions. “Woe to Ariel” bursts with foreboding orchestral swoons. Peters quietly implores God to look away in “Fear, and the Pit, and the Snare.” Percussion and brass dominate the ultimate triumph of God’s love depicted in the closing movement, “Break Forth Into Joy.” At times darkness and loneliness seem all-consuming. The lighter parts, such as the exultant joy of the final movement, provide much-needed respite from this, but on balance darkness overshadows.
Abrahm Kaplan is featured on the second recording as well, but here he conducts his own work. Differing significantly from Starer’s piece, Kaplan’s Glorious is a compendium of biblical verses—most from the Book of Psalms—set to a spritely and highly rhythmic musical accompaniment that bears all the hallmarks of the mid-20th century American sound.