Our Review
Seeking the sweet, soothing comfort of a gentle flute/harp embrace this holiday season? Debra Wendells Cross (flute) and Barbara Chapman (harp) have the perfect instrumental CD for you. After all, what could be more calming and classy than a flute/harp combination, well-crafted and superbly executed? Cross and Chapman are members of the Virginia Symphony and Virginia Chamber Players, and they bring their considerable classical expertise to this excellent offering. Robert Cross completes the lyrical picture, providing appropriate percussive accents from time to time.
Love's Pure Light is contemporary chamber music with a new age bent. Of the 18 tracks, three are Chip Davis (of Mannheim Steamroller fame) arrangements, and the talented Cross and Chapman women provide their own arrangements on two other numbers, including the oh-so-delicate "What Child Is This." Actually, every arrangement is exquisite, and the performances are top notch, as are the production values. The focus here is on ancient carols, most of which will be well familiar. One special pleasure is the "Lullabies" segment, which seamlessly blends four marvelous numbers (two Polish carols, two Welsh melodies) over six minutes of bliss. Hush and goodnight, my babies!
Ah. . . at the end of a busy day, Love's Pure Light will lift you from the doldrums to a wholly different and more ethereal place, where the air is crisp and clean like new-fallen snow, and the fireplace crackles with the warmth of wonderful memories. Let the magnificent music of Debra Wendells Cross and Barbara Chapman bathe you in Love's Pure Light this holiday season; you will never fear the dark again!
--Carol Swanson
(Reviewed in 2005)
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From the liner notes:
Debra Wendells Cross, Flute
Barbara Chapman, Harp
With Robert W. Cross, Percussion
Producers: Barbara Chapman and Debra Wendells Cross
Engineering: Larry Carr
From the Web site:
Barbara Chapman holds the position of Principal Harp for the Virginia Symphony and the Virginia Opera. Ms. Chapman has performed at the Glimmerglass Opera Festival and the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York and toured the United States with the American Harp Society's Concert Artist Program.
Debra Wendells Cross holds the position of Principal Flute for the Virginia Symphony. She also serves on the faculties of William and Mary College and Old Dominion University, and for 17 summers played Principal Flute at the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina. For the 2004-05 season she will serve as principal flutist ot the Buffalo Philharmonic. In addition to several VCP recordings, she can be heard with JoAnn Falletta on the Koch recording Schubert's Guitar.
A graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music, Percussionist Robert Cross has worked with such prestigious conductors as Leonard Bernstein, Sir Colin Davis, Lukas Foss and Seiji Ozawa. He has played with some of the world's top musical organizations including the New York City Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, Boston Symphony, Martha Graham Dance Company and the Kirov Ballet. He has also recorded for Northeastern Records, and NPR Classics. In addition to serving as principal percussionist of the Virginia Symphony, he is the Director of the Virginia Arts Festival.
Barbara Chapman
Love's Pure Light: Christmas Music for Flute and Harp
Artist link
Label: Virginia Chamber Players
Length: 51 minutes
Genre: Classical
Release: 2004
Track List
| Song Title |
|---|
| It Came Upon the Midnight Clear |
| The Holly and the Ivy |
| Il Est Ne |
| O Come, O Come, Emmanuel/Make We Joy |
| What Child is This |
| Carol of the Birds |
| The Virgin Washes Swaddling Clothes |
| In The Bleak Midwinter |
| Bring a Torch, Jeannette, Isabella |
| Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming |
| Jesus Christ Our Salvation |
| How Beautiful are the Feet of Them - GF Handel |
| Still, Still, Still |
| Good King Wenceslas/Ding-Dong Merrily on Hig |
| Patapan/Carol of the Bells |
| Away in the Manger |
| Lullabies |
| Stille Nacht |