McKay

McKay

More than a year after their final concert, The Dale Warland Singers are letting their fans down easy by releasing a few last CDs, and the Twin Cities-based a cappella choral group is in characteristically fine form on this outing. I was prepared for a slightly drippy, sentimental effort based on the album’s title, but… Read more »

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NewMusicBox Staff

More than a year after their final concert, The Dale Warland Singers are letting their fans down easy by releasing a few last CDs, and the Twin Cities-based a cappella choral group is in characteristically fine form on this outing. I was prepared for a slightly drippy, sentimental effort based on the album’s title, but the disc captures more of a puritan, hard-working sort of heartland. The brisker temperatures of fall pair especially well with Carol Barnett’s contribution, “McKay,” a selection from her three-part 2003 commission from the Singers, An American Thanksgiving. Using text by Samuel Stennet (1787), the piece is based on arrangements of Appalachian hymns published in The Sacred Harp in 1844. The simple tune and sentiments expressed are transformed into a powerful celebration when harnessed to this 40-voice chorus. Thanks to deadly accurate intonation on the part of the sopranos, the performance might trick listeners into believing they have actually taken flight over the “sweet fields arrayed in living green/ and rivers of delight.”

—MS