by Alfred Reed
Album Title: FOR GOD AND COUNTRY
Recording: Bob Jones University Symphonic Wind Band
Conductor: Dr. Dan Turner
Publisher: Available through Bob Jones University or Sheet Music Plus Old Comrades: A Classic CD Revisited
Very few people know about this superb recording from 1997 but it is one of my favorites and I want to share it with others. For God and Country is a program of music for the soul and the patriot without being preachy or political. Fine crafted settings of America the Beautiful, Amazing Grace, This is My Country, God of Our Fathers and other works capture the essence of this recording. Two major works of Alfred Reed are featured on the recording; Hymn Variants and a rare recording of an overlooked Reed treasure A Sacred Suite. The Ramparts by Clifton Williams is a powerful masterwork that includes a very important optional section that is sometimes omitted; the a cappella mens choir setting of What Greater Thing (the Cadet Wing Hymn of the U.S. Air Force Academy). The men of the Bob Jones University Chorale add their magic to this performance. If you are looking for a different type of band CD the effort to obtain this gem will be well worth it.
.
