The recent release There Will Come Soft Rains by Pacific Lutheran University Choir of the West and Richard Nance on Signum receives excellent reviews. The recording was selected as ‘Editor’s Choice’ by Gramophone Magazine: ‘The tender grace — and sometimes drama — of Latvian composer Ešenvalds’s music here meets a choir in very fine form indeed, caught in a rewardingly resonant acoustic.’
‘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 (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.’ Choir & Organ (Philip Reed)
‘The choir shines when singing as an ensemble, bringing out Ešenvalds's clever vocal techniques superbly.’ BBC Music Magazine (FP)
‘This is an enjoyable and well-executed anthology of music by one of the most interesting of today’s choral composers.’ MusicWeb International (John Quinn)
There Will Come Soft Rains was included in BBC Music Magazine’s weekly top 10 and The Playlist, and it was a featured recording at DR Danish national public radio in week 10. The recording was selected by Scala Radio’s Charles Nove for his Top 3 Albums of 2020. The title song was No 1 on iTunes’ Choral Chill list for two weeks.
Ēriks was interviewed by David Smith at Presto Classical about the new release.