Love Bade Me Welcome is a collection of choral music from composer J.A.C. Redford exploring spirituality, love, and the human experience. Blending traditional forms with contemporary harmonies and time-honoured texts, Redford sets the poetry of Shakespeare, Gerard Manley Hopkins, George Herbert, and more. By employing distinctive gestures and a range of vocal timbres, the composer offers sensitive musical interpretations of each poem, from the serene resonance of 'The Singing Bowl' to the Old Testament drama of 'Who Hears the Ocean Roaring in a Tree'...

Over the course of these 16 pieces (1 hr, 06 min, 04 sec) the listener is treated to the choral work of J.A.C. Redford. It's a collection of works that is self-reflective for the listener and reaches deep into the soul to evoke a powerful emotional response.

The album is book ended with two interpretations of 'All Shall Be Well'. It opens with a version which features just the choir, and closes with the choir being accompanied by an orchestra. The final, offering plenty of pause for thought and reflection as the music ebbs away. The penultimate 'Straight for My Home' was another emotional highlight. For me, it's was the melancholic pieces that really resonated with me.

For those that enjoy emotionally rich choral works, Love Bade Me Welcome is a release you'll enjoy for years to come.

01. All Shall Be Well (for unaccompanied choir) (2:08)
02. The Singing Bowl (4:45)
03. Love Bade Me Welcome (4:49)
04. Who hears the ocean roaring in a tree (2:37)
05. Wake Up, My Spirit (4:01)
06. O Sacrum Convivium (3:58)
07. Ave Verum Corpus (4:05)
08. Pied Beauty (3:22)
09. There is a fear men flee not from but to (2:41)
10. A touch of incommunicable pain (3:27)
11. The Mirrors (5:46)
12. She's Like the Swallow (7:03)
13. Time and a Summer's Day (5:08)
14. Great Is the Lord (4:36)
15. Straight for My Home (4:20)
16. All Shall Be Well (for choir and orchestra) (3:27)

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Darren Rea