Robert Shaw - Gloria! Music of Praise and Inspiration (1998)

While America doesn't possess the scholastic and cathedral choir traditions of England, it can lay claim to Robert Shaw. From the 78 rpm days when he was Toscanini's choral director, and through the LP era, when he performed similar services for George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra, Shaw was recognized as a builder and master of choirs without peer. The digital age took him to Atlanta, where he commenced building an imposing legacy of recordings for chorus and orchestra as well as chorus alone, in works ranging from the high baroque to the 20th century. GLORIA! offers a survey of this legacy, featuring sacred works of praise and sanctification. There are some juicy items, such as the entire "Gloria" of Beethoven's 'Missa Solemnis,' and some less often heard things too, like the beautiful "Sanctus" from the Mass for Double Choir by Swiss composer Frank Martin. All the works are performed in the "big" choral tradition and are afforded the superb recorded sound which is the norm for Telarc.