One can certainly think of more devout ways to celebrate All Saints’ Day than with those marginalia of anonymous Irish monks that inspired Samuel Barber to compose his cycle of ten Hermit Songs (Opus 29). However, there is something to be said for texts the celebrate those of us who are merely human and can only aspire to any higher plane. Barber’s selection certainly covers a broad swathe of human attributes, with ribaldry at one extreme:

Read the full review on Examiner.com…