Canticum Novum Singers – Harold Rosembaum, Musical Director
Reviews
May 7, 2007
Harold Rosenbaum's adventurous and expert chorus...
The New Yorker
December 29, 2005
Solid, colorful rendering of Host's suite by the orchestra and, offstage, by women of the
Canticum Novum Singers.
Allan Kozinn, The New York Times
December 29, 2005
P.D.Q. Bach has become a durable industry, and Mr. Schickele's annual concerts have become
ornaments of the holiday season as well... Mr. Schickele's roster of fine musicians included...,
The Canticum Novum Singers, conducted by Harold Rosenbaum, ...all of whom contributed
straight-facedly as Mr. Schickele made an art of tomfoolery.
Allan Kozinn, The New York Times
April 18, 2005
In its rousing climax, the composer's setting of Friedrich Schiller's "Ode to Joy," the combined
efforts of the New York Virtuoso Singers, Canticum Novum Singers, and the University of
Buffalo Choir, directed by Harold Rosenbaum, made the choral contribution a powerful one.
Bruce-Michael Gelbert, TheaterScene.net
April 18, 2005
The Brooklyn Philharmonic…celebrated its 50th anniversary… On Saturday evening at the
Brooklyn Academy of Music… Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Mr. Christie's account of the
Beethoven Ninth Symphony was brisk and generally solid... The combined New York Virtuoso
Singers, Canticum Novum Singers and University at Buffalo Choir sang with a celebratory
robustness.
Allan Kozinn, New York Times
May 19, 2002
The skilled choral conductor Harold Rosenbaum works with several groups, including the
Canticum Novum Singers, who are particularly noted for their work in early music. Tomorrow
night the singers present an interesting program...
Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times
April 27, 2001
Chamber choruses don’t come any better than The Canticum Novum Singers , directed by
Harold Rosenbaum.
Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times
May 5, 2000
Harold Rosenbaum’s estimable and adventurous band of singers offers Britten, Isaac…
Bernard Holland, The New York Times
May 14, 1999
This chamber choir, directed by Harold Rosenbaum, typically gives well-prepared performances
of programs that are interesting and diverse.
Allan Kozinn, The New York Times
December 18, 1998
Canticum Novum. In its annual holiday concert this finely polished chorus, directed by Harold
Rosenbaum, offers six centuries of music…
Allan Kozinn, The New York Times
May 15, 1998
Finally, the big day. Here divided between afternoon and evening concerts, are no fewer than 11
of the 25 cantatas the chorus (Canticum Novum Singers) is
presenting this season to celebrate its 25th anniversary. Harold Rosenbaum conducts with an
expert hand, and if the band of period instruments plays as well as the chorus sings, this should
be all any Bach lover could want in one day, maybe more.
James Oestreich, The New York Times
December 19, 1997
The choir, conducted by Harold Rosenbaum, is one of several finely blended ensembles that
keep New York City’s choral life lively and interesting.
Allan Kozinn, The New York Times
November 25, 1997
A fine chorus…Mr. Rosenbaum is an excellent chorus master, and he achieved a refined and
restrained sound from his 26 singers.
James Oestreich, The New York Times
November 21, 1997
An elite chorus.
James Oestreich, The New York Times
September 7, 1997
An excellent chorus, directed by Harold Rosenbaum.
James Oestreich, The New York Times
1997
Although I have only worked with the Canticum Novum Singers once in my life, this was
sufficient for me to decide that the choir is one of the best choirs, not only in New York, but in
the whole of the Eastern United States.
Sir Charles Mackerras
December 28, 1996
Peter Schickele has been presenting his seminars on P.D.Q. Bach’s life, times and music since
1965 and is offering his latest findings at Carnegie Hall…Mr. Schickele shared the podium with
Harold Rosenbaum, whose Canticum Novum Singers were disguised as the Okay Chorale and
kamikaze Choir…”Two Hearts, Four Lips and Three Little Words”, an often gorgeous choral
setting…Wilbur Pauley, Harold Rosenbaum and Peter Schickele sang “Art of the Ground Round”
in a lowlight of the program.
Allan Kozinn, The New York Times
December 18, 1995
Sir Charles Mackerras and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s marched to their own drummer on
Saturday night at Carnegie Hall with Berlioz’s kindest and gentlest choral work, “L’enfance du
Christ.”…The Canticum Novum Festival Singers made handsome work of Berlioz’s choruses.
The men alone were cohesive and burnished, and the women’s unseen Angels, heard in
crystalline tones floating down from Carnegie’s rear balcony, were, well, angelic.
Shirley Fleming, The New York Post
December 18, 1995
The performance Sir Charles Mackerras led with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and the Canticum
Novum Singers at Carnegie Hall on Saturday night was serene, literate and deeply satisfying.
The Canticum Novum singers (Harold Rosenbaum, director) sang with full ness and clarity.
Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times
November 13, 1995
And now for something completely different: Max Bruch’s “Odysseus”…No one but the
indefatigable Leon Botstein and the American Symphony Orchestra would have dusted off this
Hellenic curio…I liked Botstein’s affectionate and committed performance of “Odysseus”, the
spirited contributions of the Canticum Novum Festival Singers, and the warmly expressive
singing of Jeffrey Kneebone and Mary Ann McCormick.
Peter G. Davis, New York Magazine
November 13, 1995
Mr. Botstein’s forces, The American Symphony and the Canticum Novum Singers, had the
sprawling score (Max Bruch’s oratorio “Odyssseus”) well in hand. “Odysseus now really
belongs on records. It would be nice if these performers could put it there.
James R. Oestreich, The New York Times
January 16, 1995
The Canticum Novum Festival Singers showed the benefit of Harold Rosenbaum’s training here
(Bruckner’s Psalm 146) and in two sentimental bits of Bruckneriana for male chorus,
“Germanenzug” and Abendzauber”.
James R. Oestreich, The New York Times
October 1, 1994
The opening concert of the American Symphony Orchestra season at Avery Fisher Hall
celebrated the origins of impressionism in music with excerpts from Offenbach’s “La Vie
Parisienne” and the rarely performed one-act opera by Bizet, Djamileh”…Harold Rosenbaum’s
Canticum Novum Festival singers did very well by the choruses. Sunday’s concert attracted a
large and enthusiastic audience.
Raoul Abdul, New York Amsterdam News
September 29, 1994
The Canticum Novum Festival Singers (Harold Rosenbaum, director) performed with gusto both
as crowds of Parisians and as the carousing friends of an Egyptian slaveowner. The audience,
refreshingly diverse, gave the performers a prolonged ovation.
Anthony Tommasini, New York Newsday
May 5, 1994
Harold Rosenbaum, the Canticum Novum Singers, and the New York Virtuoso Singers brought
Bach’s B-minor Mass to Alice Tully Hall on Saturday night…an excellent combined choir and
first-rate soloists…the sequence Et incarnates est-Crucifixus-Et resurresit was beautifully
sustained. Slow tempos explored the wonders of Bach’s use of keys within keys. The progress
from darkness to light was well thought out and deeply felt.
Bernard Holland, The New York Times
December 23, 1993
Harold Rosenbaum led his Canticum Novum Singers in an unusually varied collection of
Christmas works on Saturday evening…It was sweetly sung, as were the chamber choir’s
accounts of Marenzio’s…”Throw the Yule Log On, Uncle John” was brightly polished, and
Honegger’s “Cantata de Noel” had a hearty, invigorating reading.
Allan Kozinn, The New York Times
December 28, 1991
It’s P.D.Q. Bach and his merry band back at Carnegie Hall. Where else would we hear a Safe
Sextet or an onslaught of outrageous choruses? These were sung by Harold Rosenbaum’s
Canticum Novum Vocalizers, an extraordinary cabal.
Bert Wechsler, Daily News
October 31, 1990
For this listener, the most moving composition on the program was (Berio’s) “Canticum
Novissimi Testamenti,” an a cappella choral work performed by the Canticum Novum Singers,
under the direction of Harold Rosenbaum.
Tim Page, Newsday
October 31, 1990
Only a choir as careful in intonation and as superbly drilled as Harold Rosenbaum’s Canticum
Novum Singers could be expected to clarify its intricate textures (Berio’s Canticum Novissimi
Testamenti).
Donal Henahan, The New York Times
June 5, 1990
The Canticum Novum’s well-conceived and wide ranging concert of English music…a superbly
controlled yet expansive performance. The “Amen” at the conclusion of the Gloria (Byrd’s Mass
for 5 Voices) was a model of balance and tuning…Both Britten works received strong
performances...Mr. Rosenbaum can put together an interesting and demanding program, and on
this occasion his forces met the challenge admirably.
James R. Oestreich, The New York Times
June 30, 1989
The evening offered at the 92nd Street Y by the Canticum Novum Singers and Orchestra so ably
conducted by Harold Rosenbaum, was the kind of evening you enjoy and relish to the fullest and
remember forever. It is not surprising to learn that this group under Mr. Rosenbaum, its founder,
is now in its sixteenth season and has been hailed by critics and audience everywhere it has
appeared…This was an evening I will never forget.
Lillie Rosen, Jewish Journal
June 17, 1989
Handel’s oratorio “Samson” was given a rare hearing Wednesday in the 92nd Street Y by the
Canticum Novum Singers and Orchestra under Harold Rosenbaum. The performance in all facets
was very fine, and authentic Baroque musical practices were observed.
Bill Zakariasen, Daily News
June 17, 1989
The Canticum Novum Singers seem never to be far from one of New York City’s concert stages.
Besides its own series at Merkin Concert Hall, the group is regularly heard in larger productions
that require a chamber chorus…This year’s undertaking was Handel’s oratorio “Samson,”…The
choir, in “Samson,” serves as both the Philistine and Israelite crowds, and Mr. Rosenbaum made
the most of the differences in the music Handel gave each side. As the Israelites, the choir
produced a rich, velvety, beautifully blended sound. And while the blend was never sacrificed in
the Philistine sections, Mr. Rosenbaum elicited a more direct, lusty tone…All told, Mr.
Rosenbaum led his charges through a musicianly, communicative performance.
Allan Kozinn, The New York Times
June 16, 1989
Handel’s oratorio “Samson” received a stirring, dynamic performance Wednesday night by the
Canticum Novum Singers at the 92nd Street Y…very fine chamber choir…Canticum Novum
was a solid presence throughout this concert. Entrances were secure, matters of phrasing,
dynamics and balance were well in hand. Ensemble sound was beautifully focused, with a lovely,
glistening top that never veered from straight, true tone.
Susan Elliott, New York Post
November 3, 1988
The performance ended with the first American performances of five exquisitely harmonized
choral works by Ravel. The Canticum Novum Singers put the works forth with a sweet, lush
sound.
Allan Kozinn, The New York Times
November 2, 1988
The programming was most intriguing, as exemplified by the first integral U.S. performance of
Maurice Ravel’s Five Works for Chorus and Orchestra…These works are simply gorgeous. The
performance featuring the Canticum Novum Singers, seemed ideal.
Bill Zakariasen, Daily News
November 2, 1988
The Riverside Symphony premiered four early unpublished works by Maurice Ravel at Alice
Tully Hall on Monday evening. The chorus was well-prepared and well-balanced.
Joan Kretschmer, New York Post
September 27, 1988
James Galway, wielding his golden flute and a pair of concertos, brought a measure of
sprightliness and virtuosity to the opening concert of the Brooklyn Philharmonic’s 35th season
last Friday evening at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. For the opening and closing works, the
Brooklyn ensemble was joined by the Canticum Novum Singers. The choir’s contribution to
Bach’s mournful Cantata No. 118, “O Jesu Christ Mein’s Lebens Licht,” was beautifully
polished.
Alan Kozinn, The New York Times
June 6, 1988
One of New York’s finest small choruses – founder-conductor Harold Rosenbaum’s Canticum
Novum – celebrated its 15th anniversary Saturday night with an all-Bach concert in Merkin Hall.
All of the elements of superior choral work were here: precision entrances and cut-offs; an
egoless blend; melismatic phrases delivered as if in one lone, continuous breath. Throughout the
program the singers maintained an admirable straight, pure tone. The sopranos had a particularly
ethereal sound.
Susan Elliott, New York Post
June 6, 1988
Mr. Rosenbaum’s readings are often remarkably eloquent. The choir was at its best in the motet
“Jesus Meine Freude,” and Mr. Rosenbaum put his group’s finely blended sound to the service
of elucidating the building and subsiding harmonic tensions in the nine sections Bach put
between the simple hymn settings that begin and end the work.
Allan Kozinn, The New York Times
May 19, 1987
“Joshua,” one of the lesser known Handel oratorios, was performed most ably by the Canticum
Novum Singers and Baroque Orchestra at the 92nd Street Y on Saturday evening. Harold
Rosenbaum, the conductor, drew wonderful sounds from his chorus – energetic, expressive, clear,
and sunny are the adjectives that come most quickly to mind. When the text read “the nations
tremble at the dreadful sound,” their voices trembled and sounded full of dread, and when it read
“Heav’n thunders, tempests roar, and groans on the ground,” there was a nice bit of groaning. Mr.
Rosenbaum showed off a dramatic sensibility, adopting brisk tempos and pacing movements
nicely.
Michael Kimmelman, New York Times
October 1985
What was meant to be, and was, the high point of the (annual American Guild of Organist)
convention was the all-Handel program presented by Harold Rosenbaum and his Canticum
Novum Singers. Quite frankly, this reviewer cannot recall when he last heard singing as good as
this from both soloists and the ensemble, at an AGO convention.
Joseph Fitzer, The American Organist
August 19, 1985
The Canticum Novum Singers pull off a wonderful feat; their ravishing purity of tone is
combined with a robust quality of expression that avoids the anemic and arty sound that used to
be associated with early music groups. Their performance of one of the Bach motets was a high
point of the concert season for me.
Peter Schickele
June 19, 1985
The solid and visionary director, Harold Rosenbaum, conducted. All should be well commended
without exception.
Diario de Noticias, Madeira, Portugal
May 11, 1984
Canticum Novum is the chorus for me. We’ll do a lot more together. Thanks for all the fantastic
work. —Lukas Foss
March 19, 1984
It may be that the time is ripe for the canonization of Charles Ives…For nearly 12 contagious
hours the performers came and went, distinguished names ranging from Jan Gaetani and Paul
Sperry to Canticum Novum and The American Composers Orchestra.
Edward Rothstein, The New York Times
February 1984
The wonderful Canticum Novum Singers
The Village Voice
December 21, 1983
The Canticum Novum Singers, under the direction of Harold Rosenbaum, sang with its
customary clarity and graciousness, with chords and voices balanced and individual lines
attended to without the ensemble being slighted…Henry Purcell’s “Magnificent and Nunc
Dimitis” was elegantly songful. The soloists emerging out of the ranks of the chorus
demonstrated why the chorus as a whole sounds musically acute because its members are.
Edward Rothstein, The New York Times
1983
The performers…were unequivocally superb, and notable especially for their welcome accenting
of all opportunities for human expression.
Bill Zakariasen, Daily News
December 6, 1982
The Canticum Novum Singers were beautifully prepared by their director, Harold Rosenbaum.
There was much love in these performances…Elegantly songful.
Bernard Holland, The New York Times
November 3, 1982
The adventurous Bel Canto Opera presented on Saturday the United States premiere of Johann
Christian Bach’s 1772 “Temistacle.”…The Bel Canto Opera rightly realized that if only one
cause could be served in this production it should be that of Bach’s music. As a result, the
casting was highly professional…The Canticum Novum Singers brought focus and energy to the
choral passages.
Tim Page, The New York Times
June 14, 1982
Harold Rosenbaum, the conductor of the Canticum Novum Singers, is a gifted musician and an
excellent technician. His singers are well trained and respond enthusiastically with vibrant
performances of a most skillfully selected, varied repertory. This group is a valuable addition to
our concert life.
William Schuman
March 9, 1981
At the end of February, in Alice Tully Hall, Continuum presented a concert devoted to the late
music of Debussy. It was good to hear vocal and choral works, and the famous Charles d’Orleans
settings, incisively done by the Canticum Novum Singers.
Nicholas Kenyon, The New Yorker
December 9, 1980
This is the time of year when Christmas music makes its way into concert halls, but it would be
hard to imagine a more pleasant evening of these folk and religious works than the program sung
by the Canticum Novum Singers under the direction of Harold Rosenbaum at the Abraham
Goodman House on Sunday night. Whether intoning the graceful imitations of Josquin or Gustav
Holst’s more contemporary settings, whether singing an early Yankee choral work by William
Billings or Felix Mendelssohn’s version of “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” the group was
sensitive and controlled. In soft transparent settings, the textures were almost tactile. Even Frans
Gruber’s “Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht” sounded freshly musical. The style of the singing shifted
to suit the program. The English version of Haydn’s canon “Die Gewissheit,” with its repeated
line “If I get a Christmas present, I will really not deserve it: This I know full well!” fully
deserved the audience’s accolades. Anonymous medieval songs were simply declaimed with a
folk like elegance. The concert was a fine beginning to this part of the musical season.
The New York Times
May 20, 1980
Mr. Rosenbaum’s mixed chorus hit the mark consistently in both works…His 23-member chorus
delivered delightful results
Donal Henahan, The New York Times
May 10, 1979
Early this season there was a big choral concert in Carnegie Hall to celebrate five centuries of
publishing by the Oxford University Press. Seven choruses took part…The level of execution
ranged from the competent but lackluster, through the capable and committed, to vivid Byrd and
Josquin from the Canticum Novum…
The New Yorker
December 20, 1978
Mr. Rosenbaum, a skilled conductor, shaped this and other passages with affectionate concern,
and dramatized the various textual and musical contrasts without disturbing the lofty tone of the
whole. His 26-voice chorus, now in it sixth season, responded with confidence and
dedication…The Poulenc motets, written in 1952, constitute the composer’s final religious work.
They are quite lovely, and so was the performance.
Joseph Horowitz, The New York Times
June 5, 1978
Mr. Rosenbaum’s smartly trained chorus really came into its own with ensemble singing of
exceptionally high quality…textural transparency, sharp attacks, and good definition of the
music’s dramatically shifting moods.
Peter Davis, The New York Times
April 17, 1977
There was an infectious atmosphere of spontaneity and immediacy about the Canticum Novum’s
concert at Carnegie Recital Hall on Friday night, the kind of musical freshness that a small
chamber chorus – in this case 20 voices – can generate far more successfully than a larger
one…the Caticum Novum’s careful attention to phrase shapes, dynamics and the overall spirit of
the music paid its own special dividends. Bach’s Cantata No. 131 was accompanied by an alert
eight-instrument ensemble whose polished playing provided a perfect complement to the singing.
Harold Rosenbaum conducted, giving the entire performance sharp musical focus. The
remainder of the concert struck a lighter note with a collection of drinking songs and catches.
There a cappella pieces, by turn impish, bawdy and nostalgic, all responded positively to the
Canticum Novum’s flexibility, musical awareness, and sunny vitality.
Peter Davis, The New York Times
December 1976
…so intelligently programmed and so well prepared…The 24-member chorus, now in its fourth
season, is a responsive ensemble skillfully led by Harold Rosenbaum…accurate and
unanimous…scrupulously musical.
The New York Times
April 1976
The Canticum Novum Singers is a homogeneous, forceful ensemble with a good deal of
flexibility and a warm tone.
Patrick Smith, The New York Times