Textura Magazine has a new review for the Richmond Symphony and Chorus and Steven Smith’s Mason Bates: Children of Adam; Vaughan Williams: Dona Nobis Pacem recording:

“This hour-long presentation of choral works by Mason Bates (b. 1977) and Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) works to both composers’ advantage, the former benefiting from the relative familiarity of the Vaughan Williams work and the latter invigorated by its pairing with the later creation; the listener benefits, too, of course, in getting the best of both worlds. … with so many sonic elements in play, the recording is a veritable feast for the ears. … the two works make a satisfying pair despite their compositional differences and the more than eighty years separating their creation. In spite of that, they’re remarkably complementary, due in no small part to the unanimity of vocal and instrumental forces involved; that the writings of Walt Whitman are common to both acts as a powerful connecting thread, too, as does the fact that both composers integrated a variety of textual sources into the respective works.”

—Textura Magazine

See the full review on Textura.org

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