There Will Come Soft Rains

Pacific Lutheran University Choir of the West  •  Richard Nance

Signum, 2020

Gramophone Magazine Editor’s Choice (April 2020)
BBC Music Magazine Weekly Top 10
DR Danish Public Radio Featured Album
  • 1
    There Will Come Soft Rains
  • 2
    New Moon
  • 3
    Long Road
  • 4
    Rivers of Light
  • 5
    Northern Lights
  • 6
    Only in Sleep
  • 7
    O, She Doth Teach The Torches To Burn Bright
  • 8
    A Soldier’s Mother’s Lullaby
  • 9
    Spring Rain
  • 10
    My Little Picture Frame
  • 11
    Evening
  • 12
    My Luve Is Like A Red, Red Rose
  • 13
    Stars
  • 14
    Amazing Grace
All recordings

This new release can stand proudly against all rivals. Richard Nance has polished his Pacific Lutheran choristers to perfection. Balance and tuning are beyond reproach, with superb control of a full dynamic range. The soloists’ contributions are another great attraction. Gramophone Magazine Editor’s Choice (Malcolm Riley)

On the evidence of this disc, the Pacific Lutheran University Choir of the West (PLUCW), under their director Richard Nance, sound entirely at home in this programme of 14 short settings (all in English) by the leading Latvian composer Ēriks Ešenvalds. Made up of undergraduate students from a variety of disciplines, their warm, easy tone, impeccable tuning and beautiful blend right across the vocal range (I can’t resist a shout-out to the gorgeous sounding sopranos) is a perfect fit for Ešenvalds’s music. An important release for the Choir as well as for Ešenvalds. (Philip Reed)

The choir shines when singing as an ensemble, bringing out Ešenvalds's clever vocal techniques superbly. (FP)

This is an enjoyable and well-executed anthology of music by one of the most interesting of today’s choral composers. (John Quinn)