Highly Acclaimed Anonymous 4 to Give Concert Feb. 19

by Richard Veit

Anonymous 4, the nation's most popular early music vocal quartet, will present an evening of 13th-century motets at 8 p.m. Monday, Feb. 19, as part of the Baylor School of Music's Distinguished Artist Series. The concert-entitled "Love's Illusion: Music from the Montpellier Codex"-will be held in Roxy Grove Hall.
For more than four years, Anonymous 4 has never been off the charts of best-selling recordings, and at one time their first four compact discs were all listed on the charts simultaneously. "Surely this is the sound of heaven," wrote the American Record Guide. "Anonymous 4 produce some of the most exquisitely beautiful, expressive singing I have ever heard." In the words of BBC Music Magazine., "Anonymous 4 have an ethereal clarity that is absolutely captivating." The Chicago Tribune said, "There is no more beautiful music on this earth."
The members of Anonymous 4-Ruth Cunningham, Marsha Genensky, Susan Hellauer, and Johanna Rose-have been performing together professionally for a decade , but their collective careers truly blossomed in 1993 with the release of "An English Ladymass," which was named Classical Disc of the Year by CD Review. Their next disc, "On Yoolis Night," rose to the top of Billboard's classical chart within two months of its release that same year. Then came "Love's Illusion" (containing the same program that will be presented at the concert on Monday), and it made it into the top ten Billboard chart just two weeks after its release. A fourth recording, "The Lily and the Lamb," was released in August of 1995 and was named Record of the Month by CD Review.
Tickets for the Anonymous 4 concert are priced at $10, but students, Baylor faculty and staff, and senior citizens will be admitted for $6. For further information, call the Baylor University School of Music at 755-3991.