Excerpts from reviews of “Wake Ev’ry Breath”
Good recordings of the vocal works of William Billings do not come along very often, but when they do they are welcome, especially since they tend to be very good—like this one. [The album] constitutes a nice cross-section of Billings’s form and styles, with good examples of his hymns and psalms and an especially strong selection of his longer and more ambitious anthems. There are a few of the better-known pieces . . . , but much here is fresh and not often encountered.
[T]he performances are excellent. Appling uses a basic group of 15 mixed voices, augmented by five additional basses at one or two points. They all sing with a combination of polish and spirit that Billings probably would have envied but rarely heard.
Full texts are given, followed . . . by a good bibliography and extensive discography. In the latter, this new disc merits an honorable place beside the outstanding recordings made over the years under Gregg Smith and Paul Hillier.
American Record Guide
For those who don’t know this music, Appling’s CD would be a fine starting point, for these performances present the music vividly in context; we can hear why it happened then, and can understand why it matters now. . . . “Chester”—the most famous march tune of the Revolutionary War—is raucously chanted, even bellowed, by male voices with fife and tabor; so powerful is its impact that we’re tempted momentarily to believe that “New-england’s God for ever Reigns.”
Wilfred Mellers, Musical Times
With his New-England Psalm-Singer of 1770, Bostonian William Billings (1746-1800) broke new ground, producing the very first published volume by an American composer. Here’s a diverse selection of his choral works, ranging from the rousing hymn Chester to the bracing bare fifths and unison octaves of the canon “Wake Ev’ry Breath.” Honest, authentic-sounding performances.
Gramophone Magazine
William Billings was this country’s first great composer, and his rediscovery in the mid-20th century after 150 years of neglect provided American music with the foundations of a genuine history. . . . Much of the music is harmonized so freshly that it can still be heard without any feeling of quaintness, and Billings seems to keep piety at bay. New World’s recording derives from a New York concert in 1996, celebrating the composer’s 250th birthday. William Appling conducts his modest-sized chorus and seven-member instrumental ensemble with infinite care, and the hollow, church acoustic sounds just right.
San Francisco Examiner
a;kldfjl;askjdf