A new recording and the first commercial release of “The Redeemer: A Sacred Service of Music” by Latter-day Saint composer Robert Cundick will be broadcast on KBYU-FM (89.1 and 89.5) Sunday at 7 p.m.
This acclaimed choral and orchestral work was captured in a live performance last January by the BYU Singers, Concert Choir and Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Ronald Staheli. Soloists include Clayne Robison, Barry Bounous, Stephanie Buckley, Paul Busselberg, Veronica Hanson and Kaarin Safsten.
The recording was produced by Mark Sheldon of Minnesota Public Radio with Jon Holloman as recording engineer.
The work in its entirety was also broadcast Thursday evening on Minnesota Public Radio to about 12 regional stations. Sheldon, a BYU graduate, gave an introduction to the piece to the Minnesota listeners including some discussion of the LDS Church and BYU.
Performed by both LDS and non-LDS groups since its premiere in the spring of 1978, “The Redeemer” has been praised as a masterpiece of LDS composition.
Cundick, who served for 26 years as a Tabernacle Organist at Temple Square in Salt Lake City, said, “Every time this piece is performed a special magic happens that I’m quite unprepared for. It has a profound effect on listeners from all backgrounds and lifestyles.”
With a text chosen and adapted from the four LDS standard works by Ralph Woodward, chair of the choral division at BYU, “The Redeemer” is a worshipful tribute to the life and mission of Jesus Christ that is especially appropriate during the Easter season.
But, said director Staheli, “The Redeemer” has a message applicable at any time or season. “The beautiful sounds are as fresh now as they were 18 years ago when the work was first performed,” he said.
The recording also features artwork from the BYU Museum of Art in its fold-out cover of a 19th-century heliogravure, “Christ Healing the Sick,” attributed to Rembrandt and reproduced by A. Durand.
“The Redeemer” is the second recording in Tantara’s new Heritage Series established to record the works of prominent LDS composers and performers. The series also includes a compact disk titled “Leroy Robertson: A Treasury of Chamber Music.”
Funded by a grant from Sloan and Anna Marie Hales, the Heritage Series is administered by Music Department Chair Clyn Barrus and Dean Bruce Christensen of the College of Fine Arts and Communications.
Both recordings are available at the BYU Bookstore, the Harris Fine Arts Center Ticket Office, Deseret Book and other record stores along the Wasatch Front, or by calling 1-800-879-1555. Suggested price is $15.95 for the compact disk and $10.95 for the cassette.
For more information, call (801) 378-2563.
