アローン・トゥギャザー

声楽レパートリーの拡大に尽力する
カントゥスのSignum第4弾!

カウンターテナーなし、テノール×4、バリトン×2、バス×2の低声部のみで構成される男声ヴォーカル・アンサンブル「カントゥス」。YouTubeとFacebookで話題となった「ザ・COVID-19・セッションズ」(SIGCD819)、クリスマスをテーマとした作品集「イントゥ・ザ・ライト」(SIGCD723)に続くSignum第4弾。

今作では、COVID-19・パンデミックの最中とそれ以降にテクノロジーの使用によって生まれた繋がりと孤立、そしてその結果社会が受けた精神衛生上の影響を伝える歌の数々を披露しています。ベートーヴェンからサン=サーンス、サイモン&ガーファンクルやマッカートニー&レノン、グラミー賞の受賞経歴もあるアメリカの現代作曲家、リビー・ラーセンによる世界初録音作品まで、ルネサンスから21世紀まで幅広いレパートリーを持つ、彼らならではの注目のプログラムです。
東京エムプラス

The male vocal octet Cantus, which its worth noting is one of the few professional choral groups that has succeeded in making a go of it in the U.S., announces an ambitious concept for its 2025 release Alone Together; the program intends to "reflect the tension in our modern society between technological connectedness and human longing for genuine in-person interaction," with cell phone graphic to match. Its a tall order, especially since, as the performers themselves pointed out, the flavor of this theme changed a bit with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. But the concept does inspire an inventive program, beautifully sung as usual by the group. Cantus starts with a contemporary work by Libby Larsen, You, whose five sections are dispersed across the program, and which is meant to evoke a modern sort of monosyllabic communication. It is set against popular songs, with some very inventive arrangements (check out how the a cappella group evokes the string quartet in the Beatles Shes Leaving Home), and, at the end, more broadly sentimental pieces. Kathleen Allans The Green and Salty Days is a work that neither U.S. or British listeners may know, and it works beautifully in this context. The Larsen work receives its world recorded premiere here, as does Rosephanye Powells spirituals-influenced When We Sing, which provides a rousing conclusion. In general the group has nicely woven together some less familiar material. The Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas in St. Paul, Minnesota, provides a reasonable sonic backgroup here; most of the music is not religious, but it reveals the detail in Cantus vocal textures. Fans of this group and its unusual programming will be well satisfied here, and really anyone who likes ensemble singing may enjoy this album. ~ James Manheim