The Texas Boys' Choir, made up of twenty-six young vocalists ranging in ages from eight to fifteen, is truly a unique choral group: it has been featured in more than 800 major concert engagements throughout the U.S.A. and Europe and has scored repeated hits on popular radio and television programs, as well as great success in its series of yearly concert tours. And everywhere it has been acclaimed for its exquisite tone quality, remarkable interpretive versatility, engaging showmanship and marvelously disciplined musicianship.

All this, to be sure, reflects the many-sided quality of the Choir's repertoire and the flexibility of their approach, with programs ranging from early liturgical music and delightful English madrigals to lusty Western songs and homespun American folk songs, many performed with special choreographic effects. In addition, they have been responsible for several notable additions to the boy choir repertoire, commissioned especially for them from outstanding contemporary composers.

The twenty-six boys are actually a top-level group selected from a permanent choir organization and year-round choir school headquartered in Fort Worth. Here some one hundred fifty boys, chosen from all over the Southwest in keenly competitive auditions held twice yearly, are trained. They are divided into three groups and given a well-rounded general education along with intensive special schooling in all branches of music. From this total choir is drawn the Concert Group: each year twenty-six youngsters are hand-picked for additional intensive training to form the tour­ing un it. which fulfills professional singing engagements throughout the world.

In the Texas Boys' Choir. we have an inspiring example of a genuine American organization guided by a dedicated group of outstanding local citizens who have. worked to foster what stands today as an authentic representation of their America, for the Choir has since developed into a major cultural force in the Southwest. Also, ever since the group was founded in 1946, George Bragg, its founder and director, has held up the highest standards and ideals to his young charges.

In addition to the prominence and popularity the Choir enjoys in the U.S.A., it has also won signal honors for itself, its state, and its country on the international scene. It has appeared over the combined radio and television networks of the British Broadcasting Company and on the radio in The Netherlands, France, and Switzerland. In personal appearances, the Choir earned the enthusiastic praise of critics at Wales' historic Eisteddfod choir competition, where it emerged in first place among the leading choral aggregations from all parts of the world that participated. The Choir also triumphed in the famous Festival of Holland. prompting the influential Rotterdam newspaper, Algemeen Dagblad, to write: "Twenty-six boys from Texas showed that America can be proud of having a choir that can sustain comparison with the best of Europe!" In response to invitations to appear at some of the historic cathedrals of Europe, the Choir was honored to sing at Westminster Abbey in London, Notre Dame and Sacred Heart Cathedrals in Paris, the cathedral in Pisa and St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome.

The present album offers a generous selection of fifteen hymns, known and loved by generations of Americans. A deeply religious atmosphere pervades the performance, and the Texas boys, whom George Bragg has trained so thoroughly, sing with extraordinary composure and rare beauty of tone. Their singing is heart-felt and unaffected, reflecting their feeling of deep reverence, making this truly a rich devotional treasure for every record collector's lasting listening pleasure.

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