Revelation is indeed a revelation! Not only does this music pull you right out of your chair and sets your feet to dancing, but it reveals a loving and caring God behind all of the dramatic scenes of strife, plague, and destruction, and thus reveals that same God connecting to each human as he or she deals with the daily temptations, problems, and also good things of humanity. It says it in the music, which reaches your heart and soul, no matter what kind of music you like to listen to.

The oratorio also reveals the Rev. Ken and Laurie Turley's understanding of many forms of music, and power that is generated by their having combined many of these forms in one dynamic work, performed by an excellent assemblage of singers and instrumentalists.

While I was playing the CDs yet again, both because I really like to hear them and because I wanted to make sure I had taken all the notes I needed for this review, the minister of the church where I am organist dropped in, with his three kids. With the music in the background he and I chatted, and the kids were dancing around the living room to the music. Then he tuned into the words for a minute, and said "Wow! What is that? I want to hear all of it - it's wonderful!" And so the CDs will continue to be passed around in East Iceland, where they are making a major impact with all who hear them.

I remember being tremendously moved by the 1988 performance in the Arlington Street Church in Boston. I had looked at the music, played through some of it on piano, unaware of the orchestration; but off the page and in performance it took on glorious life and came across as music with an attitude - a good one. As they say, I was really "blown away" by the power of the work, performed so strongly and beautifully by the same folks who are on the CD set. It doesn't lose anything of that power on the recording.

John Schumacher is an excellent John, of Biblical fame, narrating both in song and speech with many different colors of the voice to convey the intent of what he has to say. The dynamic and wide vocal and stylistic ranges of Louise Cloutier stand out in several places, but my favorite is "The Twelve Gates" in the Final Vision. This section could easily be a major hit as a single, with its great instrumentation, sax solo, and chorus. The prelude/prologue sets a fine tone for the opening, with lovely harmonic progressions in the band and Jaye Churchill's truly angelic soprano soaring heavenward, contrasting tension and comfort. My only criticism of this section is that my ears wanted a larger performing group to better flesh out the wide spacing in harmonies and to carry the solidity of sound that is demanded.

From there, the oratorio progresses selectively but fairly completely through this difficult-but-beautiful book. It is an optimistic reading with excellent variation in instrumentation and in sensitive writing for the voice. The musical styles, rhythms, and tempi are meshed well and varied enough that you are never bored or never over-stressed. And always, the words are clear.

Laurie Turley's beautiful and confident mezzo is shown to good advantage in several sections, in particular in the First Letter, to Ephesus, over a great guitar accompaniment. Others of my favorite parts include the gospel-rock chorus and sax solo in "How long?"; the amazingly wonderful scurrying-insect orchestration and piling up of tension under John's narrative of the plague of locusts; the ragtime with brass band of "Hard-hearted Survivors"; and in the "Hymn to the Lamb," with its drum lead-in, great piano, electric guitar, and sax undergirding a fantastic dance of ecstasy (wow!) there is the great fun of the moment when the narrator says "got down and worshipped," and the performing forces really "get down and boogie," letting you know in no uncertain terms that worship through dance is a powerful and positive medium.

REVELATION is full of life, and full of the rhythm of life. The only problem in this performance is the mechanics of the CD itself - there are gaps between tracks, so the music halts momentarily at those points, allowing the forward movement to pause ever so slightly.

Who would enjoy this recording? Everyone. And it should certainly be in every Swedenborgian's recording collection, for playing anytime and especially when one needs an infusion of good humor and happiness. It is a very well-written interpretation, on several levels, of a complex piece of literature; and if nothing else, the music itself will help in understanding the Book of Revelation in Ken Turley's positive and well-thought-out interpretation. My compliments (and hugs) to Ken and Laurie on this outstanding work, and to John, Louise, Ken, Laurie, and the other musicians for their excellent production of a work that needs to be performed again and again, live, please.

Muff Worden

This is hands down the most unusual submission in this batch of locals, or in a while. It's a recorded version of an extended composition written by the Turleys and originally performed a decade ago in Boston. In form, it is very much like "Hair" or "Godspell," a narrative rendered almost entirely in song. Based on "the Revelation of Saint John the Divine," this sprawling work is a truly impressive accomplishment.

Purists might haggle that the content is only "based" on Revelation, but a little artistic leeway is surely called for. This must have been a monster to write and arrange, particularly when you consider that seven vocalists and thirteen instrumentalists have parts.

That having been said, this is impossible to describe without taking up a dozen pages of text. These two discs contain almost 88 minutes of music divided into three parts - "Introduction," "Visions and War," and "The Final Judgement" - and 43 songs. The musicians do a wonderful job with material that varies greatly in tempo and mood, and the vocalists are nearly as good. This is likely to be of more interest if you're particularly religious, but it stands up, too, as a piece of music.