“Top university choruses ought to consider ‘The Ballad of Don & Dan’ for their touring repertory.”
- Classical Voice of North Carolina
Reviews for William McClelland’s first recording, The Revenge of Hamish, and his other works.
A modern take on the choral ballad boasting vivid writing, vividly sung . . . [Richard Wilbur’s poem]
“A Wood” . . . a dream of a tonal and vocal landscape with chorus and wind quintet joining rapturous, piquant forces.
McClelland’s style moves from the appealing homophonic presentation of
“Collect Pond,” a remarkable hymn . . . to the weaving lines of “Dark Clouds Bring Waters.”
One of the most striking selections is “The Ballad of Don and Dan” . . .
top university choruses ought to consider this for their touring repertory.
McClelland is fully at home in a multiplicity of styles, and we are treated to a wide range of them on this
release . . . In all cases, that point where language ends and music begins is magically blurred.
McClelland’s musical language is . . . drawn from widely diverse sources and is inspired by jazz and gospel, Scottish-Irish
folk music, popular ballads as well as the long and fruitful tradition of romantic Anglo-American choral music.
The level of interpretation and the excellence of the recording are matchless.