Last month I was channel surfing late one night and came across the AMC channel. The movie was The Passion of Joan of Arc - 1928 silent version. The score for the movie was just phenomenal and moving. I like classical music but this was soooo different. It was an opera/oratorio of voices and violins. I could not change the channel. The movie was moving, but the music was mesmerizing. I researched it on the net and found that composer Richard Einhorn wrote the oratorio for the remastered release of the movie in 1994. I looked all over town but no one carried it, so I was able to order it from Amazon. It arrived last week and has been in constant rotation on my system. It is amazing. First, the music: and ensemble of voices and violins (because Joan heard heavenly voices). Second, the music: The Anonymous 4, a quartet of women, lend their voices to the opera, but others do to. It is just a moving piece written in Latin, old and middle French, and Italian. The lyrics are gathered from old poems, manuscripts, and text from Joan's time. This music does not fail on the massive goose bump factor. I whole heartidly recommend it for anyone who like violins and voices. It is a beautiful CD. Speaking of the CD, it is a SONY recording using their 20 bit recording technology. They record at 20 bit, versus the usual 16 bit, and capture more musical detail. In converting the bits back to 16 bits, a lot of that detail stays. I'll admit it is a clean and hugely dynamic recording, easily passing 200 watt peaks for several seconds in my room.

5 out of 5 stars!!!