This is one of my personal favorite choral pieces sung by a Polish university choir. It is James Erb's arrangement of a traditional American folk song, Shenandoah. Most people believe this song is written from the perspective of a Union soldier in the USAmerican Civil War. It is very beautiful and very sad. Here are the lyrics:
O Shenandoah, I long to see you
And hear your rolling river
O Shenandoah, I long to see you
'Way, we're bound away
Across the wide Missouri
I long to see your smiling valley
And hear your rolling river
I long to see your smiling valley
'Way, we're bound away
Across the wide Missouri
'Tis seven long years since last I see you
And hear your rolling river
'Tis seven long years since last I see you
'Way, we're bound away
Across the wide Missouri
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WynderThis arrangement was adapted by Chanticleer -- a mens choral ensemble. This is a great version, although some of the mispronunciations make some parts disconcerting.
thepinkyI have been listening to Chanticleer for many years and love them. I ushered at one of their concerts and was able to meet most of them. My brothers and sister had the opportunity to sing with them, and Joseph Jennings himself regularly comes and works with a choir I was a member of for 2 years, so I met him, too. SO you can imagine that I love Chanticleer. And yet, although I love their version of Shenandoah, I am partial to this one (not the choir, the arrangement).
This choir is awesome and I don't mind the mispronunciations at all. The only one that is mildy distracting is when the men pronounce "valley" like "vallay," but it doesn't bother me. I actually think it is charming when foreign choirs sing English songs and mispronounce a little bit.
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LittleRedsays...This is an interesting arrangement - I've never heard this one before, and I've sung this song in several different choirs over the years. The one thing that bothered me wasn't their pronunciation, but their outfits. They all looked different! Ties on different sides of their shirts, some wearing belts... ugh! I guess I'm just used to the "This is the exact outfit you will wear. Everyone orders through the same place. Shirts tucked in. You will get your dress altered to 2" off the floor with shoes on. You are allowed two shades of lipstick - Clinique X or Y..." type of crazy, overbearing choir director.
thepinky^Yeah, my choir director was picky, too. I heard from someone once (can't remember who or when) that European choirs and concerts are much less formal than ours and that they dress and act less formally, move and sway more on stage, etc. I remembered that because I thought it was ironic.
It doesn't bother me, though. This was the best performance of this song I could find. The only thing that bugs me slightly is that during the round part at the end where we are supposed to be imagining the rolling and rippling river (this is why I love the arrangement) the altos are barely audible, and it is the most beautiful part. It isn't the melody, but it is gorgeous. Too bad.
I prefer university choirs above any others because they are better than high school choirs but they have a straight tone and good unison which is often lost by an older group with massive 40-year-old vibratos.
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