Album

The four women of Anonymous 4 are not the first early music ensemble to release an album of American religious music, but they bring to American Angels their characteristic precise harmony singing and investigative musical spirit. American Angels is largely devoted to shape-note hymnody, a tradition so called because the note heads in its printed hymnals may have square, triangle, or diamond shapes in addition to the usual round ones. The shapes helped rural singers learn to read music, and on several numbers Anonymous 4 follows the curious traditional practice of singing the hymn through in solmization syllables (fa-sol-la-mi) before adding the words on the second go-round. The shape-note tradition gave America "Amazing Grace" and several more of its best hymns.

Travel down Southern back roads far enough and you can still find shape-note singers, also known as Sacred Harp singers after the name of their favorite "tunebook." Listeners who know the tradition may be nonplussed by Anonymous 4's ethereal sound, for regular shape-note singers belt out tunes at an unchanging maximum volume, an approach that a piece like "The Morning Trumpet" seems to demand. Yet there's much to be said for Anonymous 4's approach. Shape-note hymnody, which migrated down the Appalachian spine from the Northeast, features harmonies that would be considered wrong by traditional European standards; its harmonic practices had rural English and ultimately medieval origins. Anonymous 4's singing lets you feel every open fifth, every stark interval.

In addition to two versions of "Amazing Grace," "Wayfaring Stranger," and "Shall We Gather at the River" are other favorites that make the album enjoyable for general listeners even as Anonymous 4 backs up what it does with extensive research. Once again, this remarkable group has managed to take up unfamiliar material and deliver a compelling musical experience.

© James Manheim, All Music Guide

CD 1
William Moore Composer Brethren, We Have Met to Worship Work Anonymous 4 Chorus/Choir
1	Brethren, We Have Met to Worship	2:19			$0.99
American Traditional Composer Abbeville (Come, Holy Spirit, come) Work Anonymous 4 Chorus/Choir
2	Abbeville (Come, Holy Spirit, come)	2:30			$0.99
Anonymous Composer Wondrous Love ("What wondrous love is this"), hymn Work Anonymous 4 Chorus/Choir
3	Wondrous Love ("What wondrous love is this"), hymn	2:40			$0.99
William B. Bradbury Composer Sweet Hour of Prayer Work Anonymous 4 Chorus/Choir
4	Sweet Hour of Prayer	3:17			$0.99
R.F.M. Mann Composer Jewett (Amazing grace, how sweet the sound) Work Anonymous 4 Chorus/Choir
5	Jewett (Amazing grace, how sweet the sound)	3:15			$0.99
Freeman Lewis Composer Dunlap's Creek (My God, my portion and my love) Work Anonymous 4 Chorus/Choir
6	Dunlap's Creek (My God, my portion and my love)	2:20			$0.99
American Traditional Composer New Britain (Amazing Grace) [The Sacred Harp] (Philadelphia) Work Anonymous 4 Chorus/Choir
7	New Britain (Amazing Grace) [The Sacred Harp] (Philadelphia)	3:09			$0.99
Benjamin Franklin White Composer The Morning Trumpet Work Anonymous 4 Chorus/Choir
8	The Morning Trumpet	3:27			$0.99
Anonymous, American Composer My Shepherd Will Supply My Need, hymn (to the tune Resignation) Work Marsha Genensky Vocals, Johanna Rose Vocals
9	My Shepherd Will Supply My Need, hymn (to the tune Resignation)	3:13			$0.99
Timothy Swan Composer Poland (God of my life, look gently down) Work Marsha Genensky Vocals, Anonymous 4 Chorus/Choir
10	Poland (God of my life, look gently down)	2:59			$0.99
American Traditional Composer Wayfaring Stranger, religious ballad Work Anonymous 4 Chorus/Choir
11	Wayfaring Stranger, religious ballad	2:52			$0.99
Joseph Philbrick Webster Composer Sweet by and by for chorus & organ Work Anonymous 4 Chorus/Choir
12	Sweet by and by for chorus & organ	2:54			$0.99
Storm Composer Blooming Vale (O, were I like a feathered dove) Work Anonymous 4 Chorus/Choir
13	Blooming Vale (O, were I like a feathered dove)	2:40			$0.99
Ananias Davisson Composer Idumea I & II Work Jacqueline Horner Vocals, Anonymous 4 Chorus/Choir
14	Idumea I & II	3:39			$0.99
William Walker Composer Sweet Prospect Work Anonymous 4 Chorus/Choir
15	Sweet Prospect	3:08			$0.99
Robert Lowry Composer Shall We Gather at the River, hymn Work Jacqueline Horner Soloist, Anonymous 4 Chorus/Choir
16	Shall We Gather at the River, hymn	4:57			$0.99
Justin Morgan Composer Amanda ("Death like an overflowing stream") Work Anonymous 4 Chorus/Choir
17	Amanda ("Death like an overflowing stream")	2:22			$0.99
American Traditional Composer Hark, I Hear The Harps Eternal (Invitation) Work Anonymous 4 Chorus/Choir
18	Hark, I Hear The Harps Eternal (Invitation)	2:36			$0.99
American Traditional Composer Parting Friends, folk hymn Work Anonymous 4 Chorus/Choir
19	Parting Friends, folk hymn	3:01			$0.99
William B. Bradbury Composer Angel Band (My latest sun is sinking fast) Work Anonymous 4 Chorus/Choir
20	Angel Band (My latest sun is sinking fast)	3:09			$0.99