“Over the last couple of years, Capella Records has released some quite stunning recordings of choral music.  They most recently received a Grammy nomination for their recording of the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom.  That work, also by Benedict Sheehan, grew out of the Russian Orthodox musical traditions that infuse the work of Russian masters of the 19^th and 20^th Centuries.  The present Vespers takes its inspiration from a similar work by Sergei Rachmaninoff, (All-Night Vigil/Vespers, Op. 37).  … What makes the work fascinating is Sheehan’s references to earlier eras of Russian Orthodox choral music.  This creates moments of some what closer intervallic relationships that blossom into fuller harmonies.  The effect is like moving from the Middle Ages into the current age.  There is also a nod given to Baroque style (highlighted in the setting of the Prokeimenon).  Slavic choral style permeates the work as a whole now brought into English settings where similar approaches are adapted to the language.  The music flows effortlessly from one moment to the next providing opportunity for color changes with various vocal solos.  Perhaps the most intriguing is the Song of Simeon which is essentially a mini concerto for basso profundo (!) requiring a quite extraordinary low range (performed here by the superb Glenn Miller).  A blend of Rautavaara and Lauridsen in moments of the work can help provide that larger link to approaches by popular current choral composers of which this work should sit rather firmly in the midst.… Tossing this into your surround sound system will yield an experience that is quite transcendent.  Sheehan’s Vespers is a beautiful work well performed here by committed choristers bringing a sense of religious adoration that transports the listener.”