The twenty-eight spirituals included are listed in chronological order of publication, which is helpful in program building. The arrangers are all well known, and include distinguished composers of the caliber of Norman Luboff and Robert Shaw . . . Something in fact, for everybody . . . This is a well-prepared collection, and worth including in any good choral society's ... Read morelibrary, while being invaluable to specialists in this field. Well done, Mr Hogan!
Henry Howell, Australian Music Teacher Magazine April 06
This is a well-prepared collection, and worth including in any good choral society's library, while being invaluable to specialists in this field. Well done, Mr Hogan!
Henry Howell, Australian Music Teacher September 03
Overall, this collection covers a wide range of styles and moods . . . The arrangements cover a range of choral abilities and this excellent collection should encourage many more choirs to explore this fascinating repertoire. Sadly, Moses Hogan died earlier this year at the untimely age of 45. He was proud of this publication, and deservedly so; it serves as a fitting memorial to both his scholarship and his enthusiasm.
Alan Bullard, Choir and Organ July 03
Part of the value of this collection is this retrospective look at the growth of the concert spiritual arrangement style over the last century. The Oxford Book of Spirituals represents a "who's who" of spiritual arranging in the European classic concert choral style over the last century.
Choral Journal (US) Vol. 43, No. 8
Any title beginning 'The Oxford Book of . . .
raises expectations of comprehensiveness, academic integrity and distinguished editorship. None of these is disappointed in The Oxford Book of Spirituals . . . The earliest, Listen to the lambs by Nathaniel Dett inhabits the same world as late Dvorak, harmonically and geographically, and the whole collection is notable in displaying the familiar thumbprints of gospel harmony without descending into cliché. cont . . .
. . . cont Apart from its interest and integrity, this is an immensely practical collection. Any choir should be able to tackle the simple textures of Let us break bread together and Little innocent lamb, and the wily conductor can steer a gently developing course towards more complex textures, subtler rhythms and more delicious harmonies. Moses Hogan's spectacular Battle of Jericho with its eight-part divisions need not overshadow the simpler settings, for all are written for those who, in the editor's words, 'listen with the heart as well as the ear.
Rosemary Broadbent, Church Music Quarterly June 02
Arranging and performing spirituals is a big part of Hogan's livelihood, and his inside role disseminating African American culture gives this volume authority . . . But at 236 pages, covering 28 arrangements for SATB chorus of spirituals at their powerful, emotive best, this volume is the real McCoy.
Matthew Greenall, The Singer, May 02
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