“I am not otherwise familiar with the work of Robert Kyr, but this intriguing collaboration with Cappella Romana and the Third Angle New Music String Quartet (actually a trio) makes me very curious to become so…

“Kyr does a very nice job of arranging these texts so that the dialogue never seems forced; he seems to want them all to speak on their own terms, in their own spirit…His music is restrained and tasteful, allowing the texts and ideas to be front and center. The ‘We forget who we are’ refrain in Part II is particularly haunting, as I suppose it should be…

“It is nice to see Cappella championing repertoire like this; it demonstrates an impressive artistic vision. Happily, the performance on the disc demonstrates a very real breadth of ability that is equal to that vision. All of the soloists do marvelously with the score; in particular, Mark Powell and LeaAnne DenBeste — who was excellent as the Mother of God soloist in the Toensing Kontakion — are excellent, with crispness of diction and clarity of voice that serves Kyr’s music very well…”