St Olaf Choir - Great Hymns of Faith

A collection of the World's best loved hymns. The St. Olaf recording Great Hymns of Faith has been the choir's best selling release.

Dr. Anton Armstrong is the Harry and Thora Tosdal Professor of Music and conductor of the St. Olaf Choir. The interests of Dr. Armstrong, who succeeded Kenneth Jennings in 1990, lie in the tradition of Western European choral music, 20th century compositions and folk music arrangements from the U.S. and the wider global community.

Armstrong grew up on Long Island, New York. He was a member of the American Boychoir, an American counterpoint of the Vienna Boys Choir. Armstrong graduated from St. Olaf in 1978 with a Bachelor of Music degree. He continued his studies at the University of Illinois, earning a Master of Music degree in choral music, and at Michigan State University, where he earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree.

Armstrong is a frequent guest conductor, lecturer, and clinician throughout North America and in Europe, Scandinavia, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, and the Caribbean. Album Description

Music review

This is the second CD by the St. Olaf Choir I have purchased, and I was not disappointed. I do think that some of the hymn arrangements were a bit much, but I am Lutheran after all. Still, the choir is unbeatable in diction, you can understand every word, which is really important. Over all, a good addition to the collection. October 26, 2005

Wonderful choir; Too much arrangements

St Olaf is by far the choir I like the most.

However, the arrangements of some pieces are "too much" for my taste. I would prefer arrangements that show the beauty of simple chorales - what Lutherans are good at. (Other listeners may have a different preference.) July 20, 2005

SOME BEAUTIFUL SELECTIONS AND SOME DISAPOINTMENT

The simple renditions of such hymns as "Great is Thy Faithfulness" and "What a Friend" are by far the most satisfying of the selections of `Great Hymns of Faith' on this recording. The renditions of hymns arranged by John Ferguson and Robert Schultz are also quite appealing. Where this album falls short is in Anton Armstrong's leadership of the three classic hymn arrangements by F. Melius Christiansen, the founder and original director of the St. Olaf Choir. "Praise to the Lord" is particularily disappointing. It is mannered in the extreme and totaly misses the spirit of this great choral standard. To hear this selection sung as it was supposed to be, one must listen to the choir under the direction of its previous conductor Kenneth Jennings (refer to the CD "Reflections of Norway," the Saint Olaf Choir, Dr. Kenneth Jennings, conductor).

The same could be said about the most famous of all the arrangements on this recording, Christiansen's "Beautiful Savior." The soloist has obviously been instructed to strip all color and vibrato from her voice, thus causing her to sound tenative and amaturish. I know (from personal experience) that some of these directors of accapella choirs go for a very `straight' and colorless sound. This is obviously the tone quality for which Mr. Armstrong is striving.

To summarize, when this great choir is allowed to just sing out it sounds fabulous, and is very musically fulfilling. When not...well, you be the judge... October 7, 2004

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