LPCDreissues: Looking forward to the past

• Edition: US archival 2-CD compilation
• Contents: Two complete 1968 albums plus 12 bonus tracks from rare early St. Pius X Seminary Choir recordings
• Packaging: Double CD with 28-page illustrated booklet
• Booklet contents: Historical notes, photographs and material supplied from Nick Freund’s personal scrapbook and archives
• Original recordings: 1968

The Sacred and Secular Music of Nick Freund brings together two extraordinary recordings created around the experimental religious-music scene of late-1960s California. Reverend Nicholas “Nick” Freund worked with young musicians to combine contemporary worship, folk rock, psychedelic experimentation and avant-garde electronics in forms far removed from conventional church music.

The first disc presents The Search Party’s Montgomery Chapel, recorded at the San Francisco Theological Seminary’s chapel. Female and male vocals, electric guitar, organ and restrained percussion create a haunting acid-folk atmosphere. Songs such as “Renee Child,” “When He Calls” and “The News Is You” balance spiritual themes with dreamlike West Coast psychedelia, while the nine-minute “So Many Things Have Got Me Down” develops through hypnotic guitar work and increasingly intense ensemble passages.

The second disc contains the St. Pius X Seminary Choir’s Each One Heard in His Own Language About the Marvels of God. Its opening combines choral voices, rock instrumentation and the experimental electronic soundscapes of composer Dary John Mizelle. The programme also incorporates contemporary sacred compositions by Ray Repp and John Ylvisaker, including the complete six-part Mass for the Secular City.

Twelve bonus recordings drawn from exceptionally rare earlier St. Pius X Seminary Choir albums complete the collection. These tracks document the musical development that led to The Search Party and include early appearances by guitarist and vocalist Peter Apps.

1. Speak to Me – 2:50
2. Renee Child – 2:45
3. Melanya – 1:30
4. When He Calls – 4:22
5. So Many Things Have Got Me Down – 9:00
6. You and I – 3:08
7. All But This – 4:00
8. Poem by George Hall – 3:40
9. The Decidedly Short Epic of Mr. Alvira – 3:15
10. The News Is You – 4:40

11. Prayer for Mercy – 1:07
12. Kyrie and Gloria – 4:03
13. Lord, Have Mercy – 1:27
14. Bossa Nova Mass – 3:53
15. Kyrie from “Jazz Mass” – 2:42
16. Love One Another – 4:36
17. They’ll Know We Are Christians by Our Love – 2:31
18. Walking Out Song – 2:55

1. Pentecost Sunday, Double Alleluia – 6:07
2. I Am the Resurrection – 3:29
3. Come, Children, Hear Me – 2:15
4. Who Is This Man – 5:03
5. Get Together – 4:53

6. Introit: Sing to the Lord – 3:33
7. Kyrie: Lament of the City – 4:03
8. Gloria: Joy in the City – 4:45
9. Credo: Death in the City – 5:40
10. Sanctus: Lord of the City – 2:00
11. Agnus Dei: Lord of the City – 2:06

12. Prelude and Fugue in G Minor – 5:12
13. Hail Mary – 1:15
14. Sing of Mary – 2:26
15. Steal Away – 2:25