Introducing Anam Cara
I often fantasized what kind of choir would be created if people were chosen based not only on their vocal abilities but also on their humanness and shared musical experiences, with the former characteristic taking precedence. When this recording opportunity presented itself, I began the “invitation” process with a core group of singers who were founding members of my ensemble at Westminster—The Westminster Williamson Voices. To complete the roster, I searched my musical memory for current and former students and friends with whom I had shared musical experiences, from Westminster and from other parts of my career, who I believed possessed common core human elements. The serendipity of our coming together, in hindsight, was quite a miracle. I had dreamed of what such an ensemble would sound like, but the realities exceeded both my fantasies and my dreams.

What you will hear on this CD (and hopefully future recordings and live performances) are things we all hoped for: a vibrant, honest sound that—the Yeats poem, Innisfree (also the title of this recording) says it best—resides in “the deep heart’s core.” Anam Cara, the name of this choral group, is Celtic for “soul mates.” I believe the singers heard on this recording are musical soul mates, to be sure.

The roster of Anam Cara consists of a number of singers who are rotated into the ensemble depending upon the musical demands of each piece. However, for any one piece, there were never more than twenty singers in the ensemble. Because of shared music experiences at Westminster, it was possible to have select singers appropriate for each style of music.

It is my joy to introduce this ensemble to you. We hope this birthing recording will mark our first step into the musical world at large, and into your ears for many years to come.

There is a remarkable body of choral repertoire that shares a common bond in the philosophical and life ideals of Hope, Dreams, and Living. These profound messages are carried in each of the pieces chosen for this recording. But it was “Innisfree” by Gerald Custer that made sense of all of it for me—hence the title of this recording.

Yeats’s love, Innisfree, is a real island in Lake Sligo in Ireland. In that poem, born out of his own mind,Yeats pictured Innisfree as a place with meaning for one’s life: beauty that allows the sanctity of self to dream your dreams and deeply appreciate the present through the simple things in life. Music, if it is to have any value, must make our living better. It must have the power to strengthen us when we falter and point the way when life confuses or confounds us. If it does not or cannot do that, then is it worth the performer’s time?

Each piece on this recording possesses this magical quality to teach us how to live: The words of Yeats implores us to live at our deep heart’s core, while the text of “Amazing Grace,” which was born out of human despair, shows us that faith, hope, and belief can help even the most darkened spirit. The setting of “Down by the Riverside” by Roger Ames kindly points out to us the stupidity of war and its effect on the human spirit.The “O magnum mysterium” of my friend, Morten Lauridsen, shows us in sound the awe and wonder of things we cannot explain but can experience.The Brahms “Geistliches Lied” has been a work I have turned to in life when life did not make much sense, and it never fails to provide not only clarity, but the deepest brilliance for living what Peter Gomes calls “The Good Life.” And there is the stunningly simple setting by Benjamin Britten of “A New Year Carol,” that through sheer simplicity and beauty causes us to see a much simpler world, where the past is forgotten and a redemptive spirit can remake a life anew.

Add this music into the acoustic, physical, and spiritual beauty of The Philadelphia Cathedral and you can, I believe, begin to experience all this music as it is best heard.The Philadelphia Cathedral has become our home. It is a place where music seems just a bit more honest because of the way in which the space embraces us as we sing.We wish to thank Richard Giles, Dean of the Cathedral, for having the vision to create such a space.

I hope you will enjoy the Journey that Anam Cara took in recording these pieces.

– James Jordan