Having left medieval chant and somewhat later polyphony behind and moved, musically, across the Atlantic with their last CD (American Angels), the women of Anonymous 4 are still exploring. For their move up a few centuries, their impeccable tonal purity remains, but a decidedly American twang has been added to some of the folksier, Southern mountain-based tunes and revival songs. It's as accurate and enchanting as everything else they do. Their sense of history, the when and where of the music they perform, manages to avoid academic stuffiness: this music communicates. Hymns, ballads, and revival songs make up Gloryland, and the 4 have added superb instrumentalists--Darol Anger and Mike Marshall on fiddles, mandolins, and guitars--to the mix on about half the selections. Some of the songs are begun in simple solfege* (fa, sol, la, mi, etc.) and then are sung with the actual text. Some are presented as duets or solos, and "I'm on My Journey Home" is sung by all four women; some are simple, others delightfully rich harmonically. Irresistible. --Robert Levine

* Often called "shape-note" singing because the tones were frequently notated in differently shaped symbols for teaching purposes (fa = triangle, sol = circle, etc.).

Customer Rating:
Summary: Incandescent!
Comment: I'm completely in love with this album, both the performances and the music itself. I know there is a diversity of opinion about a group like Anonymous 4 performing music like this, and I can understand why. They don't do a typical "period" performance of the works, which usually comes out as dry as a stick and about as interesting (and yet still inaccurate somehow). But they also aren't ignoring what scholars have learned about performance practice either. They have managed to strike a balance between the two, and the performances come off as fresh, tasteful and engaging in a genre that has all but fallen off the map.

The music itself presents an interesting sound that will be largely unfamiliar to contemporary listeners. Many reviewers have remarked about the "raw" sound of some of the traditional shape note music, and they're not responding to the quality of the voices or lack thereof per se. Rather, this rawness comes from the compositional technique, namely, a preponderance of open intervals such as the fifth, fourth and octave, coupled with a modal-sounding avoidance of the 3rd and 7th degrees of the scale in the melodic lines. The first track is a typical example, and the sound here is open and raw because it's chock full of fourths, fifths, octaves and little else; the ringing effect is magnified by the group's consistently perfect intonation. These procedures are not modal in the strict sense, yet they do make one think of the Ars Nova of the 11th century and for the same reason. Compare that sound with track 9, "Return Again". This piece spends a lot of time emphasizing the interval of the third and the sixth, so it consequently sounds amazingly sweet and full in contrast.

Then there are the performances. The vocal sound is ravishing, polished with an almost lapidary care. Intonation is spot on, the ensemble is perfect even to the ornaments, breathing, and terminal consonants, and the presentation is highly energetic. The blend of the vocal colors is almost perfectly and very pleasingly matched. The group uses vibrato sparingly if at all, yet the vocal tone quality is unforced and open. They also make an effort to emulate the idiomatic ornaments and quarter-tone slides very convincingly. The only other group I know that comes up to this high level of accomplishment is Chanticleer, an all-boy group with a very different artistic focus.

I'm thrilled that Anonymous 4 has chosen to present a unique and almost unknown genre of music. The American musical heritage is much richer than is supposed, and this disc makes a case for its appreciation.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: heavenly tunes
Comment: I purchased this CD the day after experiencing a performance by Anonymous 4. Friends had invited my husband and I to attend the concert, and I went blindly, having no idea what type of music I was about to hear. My mother had died earlier in the week, and I am convinced that the angels on stage that night sang just for my grieving heart. "Gloryland" continues to speak to my soul. The harmonies are beyond belief. The instrumental work is so closely aligned with the singers' voices that one cannot discern where either begins or ends. I commend this collection to anyone who is fascinated with the wonders of music and its ability to soothe and heal the human heart.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: they do sound like angels
Comment: This group Anonymous 4 sings the finest interpretations of early, middle and late English and European compositions. They do indeed sound like they might be angels. The talent encompassed in the recordings of this excellent quartet are without peer.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: "They all sound the same?????"
Comment: I am responding to Peter Vogel's review that could well discourage potential buyers of this beautiful music. I realize that Peter went on to point out many compelling nuances. However, I have had albums that "all sounded the same"--and this is definitely NOT one of them. For anyone who thinks so, I would invite him/her to examine the perturbations of his/her own soul, asking whether they really require that music should swing wildly from one extreme to another just to feel that they are truly "alive." These songs only "sound the same" if you think that the colors of a rainbow all "look the same" because they shimmer & meld into one another even as you look and try to fix them in your memory. Do not hesitate to buy this beautiful album. I'm glad I did.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Great!!!
Comment: Amazing is the word for this record more than Gloryland. I have been touched by the lyrics and the voices. Coming from a different cultural background allows to understand very well the root information valid for everyone in the songs, hymns, etc they have selected for this record.
I will wait for the next record!

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