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Post by jk on Jul 9, 2020 5:53:47 GMT -5
I've given choral music a thread of its own on other forums and it's high time I did the same here. It helps to take the weight off the classical thread and I know there are those who appreciate choral music but don't necessarily want to plough through a general classical topic to find it. Let's kick off with a thrilling slab of Handel, his Coronation Anthem Zadok the Priest:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zadok_the_Priest
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Post by jk on Jul 10, 2020 4:51:45 GMT -5
This one went missing in the "Stravinsky" topic after I did a runner first time round. Allegri's Miserere has a fantastic history--real truth-is-stranger-than-fiction stuff. Wikipedia (to whom I profusely apologize for not donating but you see I've sworn off internet donations with a single exception) can tell the story best (see below). This for me is the definitive version from 1963 with a young Roy Goodman taking the soaring treble solo--surely one of the seminal moments in all recorded choral music: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miserere_(Allegri)
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Post by jk on Jul 12, 2020 5:21:28 GMT -5
I love Fauré's Requiem, particularly René Leibowitz's luminous rendition, but the closing section, "In Paradisum", was quite a difficult listen this morning on UK radio. (I'm not sure the image here is helping things either.) Rest in peace, my friend. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Requiem_(Fauré)
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Post by jk on Aug 2, 2020 7:47:38 GMT -5
This morning I heard this little choral gem by Sam Barber, as aeijtzsche calls him. I'd like to dedicate "Mary Hynes" to her and hope she's doing okay.
Samuel Barber: Reincarnations for mixed chorus (1939-40) 1. Mary Hynes 2. Anthony O'Daly 3. The Coolin (The Fair Haired One) Words by Antoine Ó Raifteiri in translation by James Stephens
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Post by jk on Aug 17, 2020 4:56:37 GMT -5
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Post by jk on Nov 2, 2020 4:35:16 GMT -5
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Post by jk on Nov 2, 2020 8:06:07 GMT -5
Actually I came here to post this. I've been a fan of the choral music of the Estonian composer Cyrillus Kreek ever since the choir I used to accompany at rehearsals introduced a number of his Psalm settings into their repertoire. My love for his music increased after we visited the Baltic States three years ago. And this weekend I heard a choral work of his that included parts for two unusual instruments, a kannel and a pair of nyckleharpor (see the page linked below for more details of this recording). This is the Estonian folk-hymn From Heaven Above the Earth I Come, wonderfully sung by Vox Clamantis: www.planethugill.com/2020/05/essential-listening-for-anyone.html
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Post by jk on Nov 4, 2020 5:33:35 GMT -5
This is gorgeous. On their Spring 2020 album Hush!, Papagena sing "songs sacred and profane, tender, consoling, witty, urbane". I heard Don Macdonald's "Moonset" on the radio a few days ago. I'm a sucker for choral works for female voices only: Moonset is the first movement of a seven movement song-set titled Fire-Flowers featuring the poetry of Emily Pauline Johnson. The work was commissioned by the University of Western Ontario Women's Choir. [ Source]
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Post by jk on Nov 7, 2020 17:28:37 GMT -5
This is for Silken, who I hope is faring well. I heard this gem by the American composer Caroline Shaw, "and the Swallow", this morning on UK radio: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_Shaw
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Post by jk on Dec 28, 2020 12:42:44 GMT -5
Well, seeing that we still have nine days of Christmas to go, time, I would say, for a mini series featuring nine settings of O Magnum Mysterium. The first is by the Spanish Renaissance composer Cristóbal de Morales (c. 1500–1553), sung by Zephyrus, a vocal ensemble hailing from Charlottesville, Virginia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cristóbal_de_Morales
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Post by jk on Dec 29, 2020 9:14:15 GMT -5
The next composer in line -- I'm doing this chronologically, in order of date of birth -- is Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c. 1525–1594). His O magnum mysterium (it seems two lower-case m's are the norm) is performed here in a truncated version by the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, conducted by Philip Ledger: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_magnum_mysterium_(Palestrina)
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Post by Silken on Dec 29, 2020 20:30:14 GMT -5
Why didn't I see this thread before?? Thank you, John, for sharing choral music. I'll make a playlist on YouTube with your recommendations
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Post by jk on Dec 30, 2020 6:50:12 GMT -5
Why didn't I see this thread before?? Thank you, John, for sharing choral music. I'll make a playlist on YouTube with your recommendations Well it's been low on page one for quite a while, which is probably why you missed it. Thank you, S! I'm truly flattered. I'll look out for it. The next in this brief run of O magna mysteria (h'mm) is by William Byrd (died 1623), who together with Thomas Tallis pretty well defined English music during the Renaissance. On the sixth day of Christmas, John Eliot Gardiner conducts the Monteverdi Choir: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Byrd
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Post by Silken on Dec 31, 2020 12:16:43 GMT -5
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Post by jk on Dec 31, 2020 16:12:15 GMT -5
It's so gratifying to know others look in on this thinly populated corner of the forum and here's solid proof that they do! I'm quite lost for words. Thank you so much, S -- now this makes it all worthwhile. A Happy New Year to you too. Oh, and to everyone else who sees this. Today's setting is by Tomás Luis de Victoria (c. 1548–1611), one that "my" now-defunct choir used to sing: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomás_Luis_de_Victoria
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Post by Silken on Jan 1, 2021 21:04:01 GMT -5
Today's setting is by Tomás Luis de Victoria (c. 1548–1611), one that "my" now-defunct choir used to sing: I LOVE this piece (and I've watched this video dozens of times - I'm a huge fan of sheet music videos, they help me improve my reading).
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Post by jk on Jan 2, 2021 6:07:47 GMT -5
Today's setting is by Tomás Luis de Victoria (c. 1548–1611), one that "my" now-defunct choir used to sing: I LOVE this piece (and I've watched this video dozens of times - I'm a huge fan of sheet music videos, they help me improve my reading). Silken, I'll do my best to stick to sheet music videos! I like them too (even orchestral scores--unlike you, I seem to remember) although at the end of the day it's the performance that counts. Yes, it's wonderful how this text has inspired so many composers to such great heights. Curiously, the next in the chronological sequence brings us some three and a half centuries further, to the setting by Francis Poulenc (1899–1963), which was also in my choir's repertoire. Part one of Poulenc's Quatre motets pour le temps de Noël, it was written in 1952. Why the huge leap in time, I wonder? Were there no settings of O magnum mysterium in the Classical and Romantic eras? Or were they unable to stand the test of time? Lots of questions! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Poulenc
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Post by jk on Jan 3, 2021 7:36:26 GMT -5
A new name I came across last week whilst trudging through cyberspace is that of John Harbison (born 1938). Hailing from New Jersey, Harbison's many compositions include three operas, six symphonies and a mass of choral music, not least this 1991/2 setting of O Magnum Mysterium, which won out over several other recent settings jostling for inclusion in this mini-series. It is sung here by the BBC Singers conducted by Stephen Cleobury: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Harbison
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Post by jk on Jan 4, 2021 4:34:41 GMT -5
On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me… Probably the best loved O magnum mysterium of all. Morten Lauridsen (born 1943) set the text in 1994 and it made him famous overnight. He has never surpassed it, in my opinion -- indeed, it must surely rank as one of the finest choral compositions ever sung. It's my favourite setting too, folks: seven minutes of heaven. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_magnum_mysterium_(Lauridsen)
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Post by jk on Jan 5, 2021 5:02:14 GMT -5
Our final setting is by the youngest composer in this Yuletide mini series, Ola Gjeilo (born 1978). He has chosen to call it Serenity, a commodity we can all do with from time to time. This is for Silken, in gratitude for setting up a YouTube playlist of tracks from this humble thread. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ola_Gjeilo
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Post by jk on Jan 14, 2021 7:40:04 GMT -5
This morning I heard on Dutch radio an astonishing 36(!)-part Deo Gratias that some atttribute to Johannes Ockeghem (1410/1425–1497), although others dispute this. Sung by the peerless Huelgas Ensemble directed by Paul Van Nevel, the sound builds in waves that wash over the listener in a process not a million miles away from today's minimal music. Absolutely mesmerizing! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deo_gratias
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Post by jk on Jan 17, 2021 6:48:31 GMT -5
Aww. Silken , I see now you've even called your playlist "A choral miscellany"! ^^^ This is one I found while poking around on "my" hobby forum. The choir in which my chorister friend sings soprano performed this gem by Paul Mealor in a marathon concert they put on a few years ago. Locus Iste was commissioned by the University of Aberdeen to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the consecration of King's College Chapel in 2009. Here it is sung by Tenebrae: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Mealor
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Post by jk on Jan 31, 2021 8:57:55 GMT -5
Hear my tale of woe and shudder! Well, the amateur choir I used to accompany at rehearsals almost always held their concerts in churches. Very occasionally, they would take advantage of the fact that there was an organ on the premises, and that there was at least one friendly professional organist prepared to play it. Now, Arvo Pärt's The Beatitudes is difficult enough for an amateur choir to perform anyway, without the problem of keeping in perfect pitch with the organ. This plays long, low, quiet pedal notes as the choir builds in intensity before choir and organ combine forces at the climax. Thankfully I wasn't there to hear the first performance but while working towards that climax the choir, blissfully unaware of what the organ was doing, continued to drop in pitch until the moment supreme… need I say more? Some members actually left the choir in embarrassment. The next time they did it, with the same friendly organist in attendance, the conductor asked him to beef up those pedal notes -- pianissimo be damned! And then it went fine. The version linked below comes courtesy of Theatre of Voices (conductor Paul Hillier) with Christopher Bowers-Broadbent on the organ. The organ cadenza (here at 6:43) never fails to remind me of Richard Wright's solo on Pink Floyd's "Cirrus Minor"... www.arvopart.ee/en/arvo-part/work/512/
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Post by jk on Feb 10, 2021 16:12:23 GMT -5
This afternoon my favourite Dutch classical radio presenter Hans Haffmans played two pieces back to back by the Icelandic composer María Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir. Kom vinur ("Come friend") and its companion piece Maríuljóð ("Mary's poem", heard in the bottom link) are settings of poems by fellow countrywoman Vilborg Dagbjartsdóttir. They are sung here by Schola Cantorum led by its conductor Hörður Áskelsson. Both poems are reproduced in the lower link. "María Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir (b. 1980) began studying violin at the Reykjavík College of Music and continued with composition at the Iceland Academy of the Arts. While in college she was a founding member of a string quartet which later became the group * amiina*. She works frequently with pop artists such as Sigur Rós, Spiritualized, and Lee Hazlewood, and has played on the soundtracks for films. In 2012 she received an honorary mention at the International Rostrum of Composers for her work Sleeping Pendulum. Her compositions include Clockworking (for string trio and electronics) for Nordic Affect, and the scores for director Mike Ott's films Pearblossom Hwy (2012) and Lake Los Angeles (2014)." [ Source] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilborg_Dagbjartsdóttirwww.mariasigfusdottir.com/kom-vinur
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Post by jk on Feb 24, 2021 10:32:29 GMT -5
One of the presenters on the official Dutch classical station, an otherwise erudite man, insists on pronouncing our next composer's name as "Gust of Holst". Although Gustav Holst is almost exclusively known to the casual music-lover for his orchestral suite The Planets, he wrote a great many other splendid compositions. Indeed, Holst was bewildered by The Planets' success, as he didn't consider it one of his best works. Unbelievably, Holst taught himself Sanskrit so that he could make his own translations for his settings of choral hymns from the Rig Veda. The ones for female choir and harp seem to float off the planet. This morning I heard the sumptuous "Hymn to Vena", the third hymn in the third group of hymns, sung by the Etherea Vocal Ensemble with Grace Cloutier (harp). This is for Silken , who I hope is doing well: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_Holst
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