Sacred Classics: Best of 2013 (Part Two)

(Photo: Brad Turner)
David Rutherford prepares Best of Sacred Classics 2013

Every new CD to preview for Sacred Classics that lands on my desk is like another Christmas present, a holiday that apparently lasts all year long for me. What is particularly wonderful is just how much new music is being written and performed regularly by choirs around the world.

The culture is so different from that of the orchestra or opera, where you’re deemed “innovative” if you include new music on a concert here and there. In choral concerts, though, the experience of new music is expected and even anticipated, along with a healthy dose of the works we know and love.

The new releases from this past year that I’ve been putting on Sacred Classics reflect that sensibility, even when dealing with music of antiquity. There are a few straight-ahead classics represented in top-notch performances in the stacks of new CDs from 2013, but the number of new works or newly discovered works or premiere recordings of ancient works is staggering.

The list includes...


Next week, I’ll publish the entire list of my picks for the best recordings from 2013 that I’ve featured on Sacred Classics, including my picks from last week. Until then, I hope you’ll join me Sunday morning for Part Two of the retrospective, and hear just how good 2013 sounded.

Sacred Classics airs 6-10 a.m. Sundays on CPR Classical. Listen online at cprclassical.org.