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Post by jk on Feb 27, 2021 9:06:54 GMT -5
From Holst to Howells is but a small step. I only ever met the latter, be it in questionable circumstances. Like as the Hart (1941) is Howells' setting of the first three verses of Psalm 42. Like as the hart desireth the waterbrooks, so longeth my soul after thee, O God. My soul is athirst for God, yea, even for the living God. When shall I come to appear before the presence of God? My tears have been my meat day and night, while they daily say unto me, "Where is now thy God?" It is sung here by Tenebrae, a vocal ensemble I have increasingly come to love: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Howells
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Post by jk on Mar 14, 2021 5:38:40 GMT -5
Mozart was not a name that came to mind when I heard this mesmerizing vocal work on Dutch radio yesterday. It's his Kyrie in G Major (K. 89/73k) for soprano voices. Written in 1770 or 1772, it has been described here as a "five-part canon at the unison, thought to have been written when Mozart was receiving tuition from Padre Martini." If the latter fact is true, the year 1790 given on that ChoralWiki page is clearly a slip of the keyboard. Curiously the video, which has had less than 40 views in well over three years, makes no mention of the singers and is illustrated by a remarkable succession of seemingly random images: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Battista_Martini
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Post by jk on Mar 17, 2021 4:28:27 GMT -5
As it's St Patrick's Day today, I'd like to dedicate Anúna's sublime version of "Danny Boy" to my late penpal, who had Irish blood in her and occasionally sent me St Patrick's Day greetings cards, now arranged in front of me on my desk. May she sleep well. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anúna
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Post by jk on Mar 27, 2021 5:09:42 GMT -5
Intrigued and amused by the alias of the person who uploaded Brian Eno's Thursday Afternoon (which I listened to last Thursday afternoon), I discovered he had the only version on YouTube of John Tavener's The Peace that Surpasseth Understanding, performed by the Westminster Abbey Choir under James O'Donnell with Robert Quinney (organ). "Dedicated to the Fallen of both World Wars, The peace that surpasseth understanding was commissioned jointly by the Dean and Chapter of Westminster Abbey and the Ministry of Defence, and premiered on Armistice Day 2009. "'In this setting of Saint Paul's great statement,' Tavener said, 'I have tried in a simple and primordial manner to suggest majesty, solemnity and a radiance of peace and bliss. I have also given the music a ceremonial nature by inserting "Alleluias" sounding from Heaven (semi-chorus), gradually rising in pitch until they are answered by "Alleluias" from the World (main choir). The music forms a gradual crescendo reflecting the meaning of the words. At the musical and spiritual climax, the full organ sounds four chords which represent the Four Angels before the Throne of God. The final chord then transforms into the sacred monosyllable "OM" [sung pianissimo, so turn up the volume], which hums around the building, representing the Peace and Beatitude of God's Presence.'" [ Source] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Tavener
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Post by jk on Mar 28, 2021 15:33:16 GMT -5
"[Nicolas Gombert (c. 1495–c. 1560)] was one of the leading composers of his generation, and one of the most technically advanced composers of polyphonic vocal music in Western history. Highly regarded by his contemporaries as a great innovator, he favoured dense textures and often used dark, rich timbres. He used pervading imitation more consistently than anyone of his own or an earlier generation, creating textures in which the voices tend to be equally important. Gombert was born in a village in Flanders, in the vicinity of Lille, now a part of France. He later became choir master to the most prestigious court in Europe, that of Emperor Charles V in Spain. His position allowed him to travel throughout the continent, together with the Imperial entourage. Contemporaries suggested that Gombert had been a student of Josquin Des Préz, but the details of this possible association are unknown. "Gombert's compositions are entirely vocal, some for ensembles of up to twelve distinct voices. As opposed to his Italian contemporaries, who had begun work on a more animated and harmonically oriented idiom, Gombert kept entirely within the domain of strict counterpoint and in fact seemed to hold the new musical developments of the time in low regard. His contrapuntal language is based on that of Josquin, but taken to the next level of complexity. A substantial volume of Gombert's compositions survive, including masses, a large number of motets, secular chansons, a set of eight Magnificats (one in each mode), and various isolated movements. Shortly after his death, Gombert was mourned as the last of the great masters of vocal polyphony. Indeed, his style continued to represent the most advanced development of imitative counterpoint, at least until the elaboration of the fugue in the Baroque era. His music continued to be printed until long after his death." (From micrologus2's highly informative YouTube blurb.) Media Vita, a motet for 6 voices (year unknown), is sung here by the superb Huelgas Ensemble directed by Paul Van Nevel: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Gombert
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Post by jk on Apr 17, 2021 16:50:49 GMT -5
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Post by jk on Jul 1, 2021 15:06:51 GMT -5
Vincenzo Bertolusi (c. 1550–1608) was an Italian composer and organist who studied in Vienna, served at the courts of Sigismund III in Poland and Christian IV of Denmark and composed madrigals as well as a number of motets for multiple choirs.
His (deep breath) Promptuarium musicum, Pars Tertia: Osculetur me osculo oris sui is performed here by the vocalists of the Pygmalion ensemble under its conductor Raphaël Pichon:
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Post by jk on Jul 10, 2021 16:02:14 GMT -5
I heard this briefest of choral works this morning on my favourite Dutch religious music programme. William Harris (1883–1973) composed Holy is the True Light around 1947. It sets words from the Salisbury Diurnal, translated by G.H. Palmer: "Holy is the true light, and passing wonderful, lending radiance to them that endured in the heat of the conflict: from Christ they inherit a home of unfading splendour, wherein they rejoice with gladness evermore. Alleluia." This was the version I heard, sung by the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge, conducted by Graham Ross: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Henry_Harris
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Post by jk on Jul 31, 2021 5:22:58 GMT -5
Last night was the First Night of the BBC Proms. We are avid fans and listen (and occasionally watch) every year in NL. (This year we were unable to acquire the Proms catalogue thanks to bloody Brexit.) You can hear the whole of last night’s concert here (until 28 August), maybe depending on where you live. It includes a fantastic rendition of Poulenc's Concerto for Organ, Timpani and Strings. Shown on TV, it was a feast for the eye as well as the ear -- it was fascinating to watch soloist Daniel Hyde at work! They opened with Vaughan Williams' magical Serenade to Music (hence the choice of thread). This is the performance of that work at the Proms two years ago: Nadine Benjamin soprano Idunnu Münch mezzo-soprano William Morgan tenor David Ireland bass-baritone English National Opera Chorus BBC Singers BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra Martyn Brabbins conductor en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serenade_to_Music
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Post by jk on Sept 8, 2021 3:18:31 GMT -5
This is an arrangement by Geoff Lawson of "Atomos XI", part of a ballet score composed by an ambient duo rejoicing in the name of A Winged Victory for the Sullen (Dustin O'Halloran and Adam Wiltzie, see link). Sung by Voces8, it comes from their brand new (August) album Infinity. My spies tell me they are accompanied by a cello, a harp and two bowed vibraphones: web.archive.org/web/20150929181024/http://drownedinsound.com/releases/18459/reviews/4148317
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Post by jk on Sept 9, 2021 14:42:32 GMT -5
I heard this gorgeous work on Dutch classical radio this morning and it sounded so sad. But this was clearly the intention, as I see it was written on the death of Philip II. Guerrero, Morales and of course Victoria are familiar Spanish names to me from my choir-accompanying days but that of Alonso Lobo not at all. That said, I have heard his music before on the radio, not too long ago, so hopefully it will soon enjoy a revival. Versa est in luctum (1598) is sung here, as it was this morning, by Stile Antico: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alonso_Lobo
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Post by jk on Sept 15, 2021 4:23:45 GMT -5
Brahms's Alto Rhapsody has always struck me as a powerfully evocative work, conjuring up images of woods and a cloudy sky at night illuminated by the moon. This morning I heard this fine 1989 rendition by Dutch mezzo-soprano Jard van Es with the San Francisco Symphony and Chorus conducted by Herbert Blomstedt (the accompanying images are surprisingly effective): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alto_Rhapsody
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Post by jk on Sept 20, 2021 3:21:00 GMT -5
Here are two fascinating examples of ancient Russian liturgical music as sung by members of the Ex Libris Ensemble conducted by their founder Daniil Sayapin. These * concert programme notes* describe the music most succinctly. Ancient they may be (16th- to 18th-century) but they sound remarkably modern to these ears. The first one is easy enough for the average score-reader to follow... ...but the second, more complex example may present some problems: * This* may help, although getting to grips with the so-called stolp notation might take a while!
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Post by jk on Sept 22, 2021 4:42:41 GMT -5
A few posts ago, I described my first conscious encounter with Stile Antico through the music of Alonso Lobo. Since then, I have been exploring this UK vocal ensemble (who it transpires have quite a reputation and following), particularly the Spanish portion of their repertoire. This includes at least one work by another (for me) lesser-known Spanish renaissance composer, Rodrigo de Ceballos (c.1525–c.1581). His * Hortus Conclusus* was first published in 1852 (looks like a typo but isn't): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stile_Antico_(vocal_ensemble)en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodrigo_de_Ceballos
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Post by jk on Oct 14, 2021 6:09:58 GMT -5
On Photography is one of Gavin Bryars' few works for choir, in this case accompanied by piano and harmonium (one or both of which are played, I understand, by the composer). Dedicated to the memory of * Susan Sontag, it began life as an aria Bryars composed for the "Marseille" section of Robert Wilson’s massive "opera" * the CIVIL warS*. Bryars' three-part work is performed by the Latvian Radio Choir conducted by Kaspars Putniņš, two names familiar to us from memorable concerts we have been lucky enough to attend: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gavin_Bryars
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Post by jk on Oct 15, 2021 5:22:06 GMT -5
Now here's a joyous work by the best that NL has to offer, namely Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1562–1621), who shamefully has no statue in his home town of Amsterdam. However, my spies have discovered that one has indeed been designed and a bronze model made of the design. The Sweelinck Society and Amsterdam city council have yet to agree about where the statue should be placed. The aim is to unveil it this autumn, 2021 being the quatercentenary of Sweelinck’s death. To place Sweelinck in time: the young Bach walked to Lübeck to meet his idol Buxtehude, who when he himself was a boy attended a school in (I believe) Helsingor that had works by Sweelinck in its library that the pupils there used to sing and/or play. Ainsi qu'on oit le cerf bruire (Ps. 42) is here sung by Cappella Amsterdam conducted by Daniel Reuss: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Pieterszoon_Sweelinck
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Post by jk on Oct 26, 2021 6:14:43 GMT -5
Little is known of the early years of the Frenchman Claude Goudimel (c. 1514 to 1520–1572) and even the nature of his death is a mystery, but what we do know about this High Renaissance composer is fascinating (see the wiki page). It seems he was a pioneer in giving the top voice the melody in his four-part settings of psalms, as can be heard in his setting of Psalm 130, Du fond de ma pensée, here sung by Doulce Mémoire under their director Denis Raisin Dadre: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Goudimel
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Post by jk on Nov 7, 2021 10:39:18 GMT -5
"The winner of numerous prestigious prizes, including several Gramophone Awards, the vocal ensemble Vox Luminis, founded by Lionel Meunier in 2004, is now regarded as a benchmark in the interpretation of the great works of German Baroque music. Its unfailingly faithful and lively approach to such masters as Bach, Buxtehude and Scheidt has made the group’s reputation, but this new recording features a major work by Heinrich Biber, a composer hitherto absent from its discography: his Requiem in F minor for 14 voices, composed around 1692. This recording marks the beginning of a collaboration between Vox Luminis and another internationally renowned ensemble, the Freiburger Barockorchester, heard here in its Consort formation."[ Source] "The performers here underscore the work's emotional antitheses in an account by turns dramatic, serene, vehement, hushed, disconsolate, resigned. Though there are versions that have a weightier choral sound, the advantage of this one is that the Requiem's words (which so fuelled the composer’s creative imagination) and all the details of Biber's complex musical tapestry cut through with glassy clarity. Intense but never histrionic, the performance captures the work's power and its intimacy." — BBC Music MagazineThis is part two, "Dies Irae". The three trombones give the work a majestic edge and a distinctive dark colour: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Ignaz_Franz_Biber
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Post by jk on Nov 22, 2021 9:33:06 GMT -5
Here’s a Monteverdi vocal gem (with a big thank-you to my "music friend") to soothe the nerves and set one afloat in these troubled and uncertain times. If my spies have got it right (and there seems to be quite a bit of confusion here), Adoramus te was published in 1620: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudio_Monteverdi
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Post by jk on Jan 22, 2022 4:50:50 GMT -5
Today, the religious music programme we listen to every Saturday morning played this otherworldly gem by the Latvian composer Ēriks Ešenvalds (born 1977). Oddly, the announcer described it as being influenced by Arvo Pärt. I don't hear it -- if any composer comes to mind as an influence, it's the American Morten Lauridsen. This is for Silken , who I know looks in here from time to time to see what I've been getting up to in the choral music department. The Heaven's Flock is sung here (as it was this morning) by The Portland State Chamber Choir conducted by Ethan Sperry: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ēriks_Ešenvalds
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Post by jk on Jan 30, 2022 7:09:25 GMT -5
This is the version I heard on BBC classical radio this morning of "For Now I Am Winter", sung by the incomparable Voces8 with Eleanor Turner (harp), Benjamin Roskams (viola) and Stephanie Oade (cello): And here is the equally dreamlike original performed by its composer Ólafur Arnalds (born 1986), with vocals by Arnór Dan of the Icelandic band Agent Fresco: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ólafur_Arnalds
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Post by Silken on Jan 30, 2022 14:36:40 GMT -5
Today, the religious music programme we listen to every Saturday morning played this otherworldly gem by the Latvian composer Ēriks Ešenvalds (born 1977). Oddly, the announcer described it as being influenced by Arvo Pärt. I don't hear it -- if any composer comes to mind as an influence, it's the American Morten Lauridsen. This is for Silken , who I know looks in here from time to time to see what I've been getting up to in the choral music department. The Heaven's Flock is sung here (as it was this morning) by The Portland State Chamber Choir conducted by Ethan Sperry: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ēriks_EšenvaldsParts of it reminded me of this:
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Post by jk on Jan 30, 2022 17:32:08 GMT -5
Parts of it reminded me of this: I see what you mean! Whitacre's beautiful piece was written in 2002, twelve years before Ešenvalds'. Thanks for sharing, S. Despite the resemblance, which can't have been deliberate, I'd say the more blissed-out choral works to soothe the soul and elevate the spirit in these crazy times, the better.
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Post by jk on Feb 13, 2022 5:19:29 GMT -5
Visiting a country makes all the difference to how one hears its music. This is "Jaanilaul" (St John's Song), the seventh and last in the song cycle Jaanilaudud (St John's Day Songs, 1967) by the Estonian composer Veljo Tormis (1930–2017), sung here by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir conducted by Paul Hillier: Veljo Tormis (left) and Arvo Pärt in Käsmu, Estonia, in 1958 ( Source): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veljo_Tormis
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Post by jk on Feb 19, 2022 7:15:12 GMT -5
Visiting a country makes all the difference to how one hears its music. This is "Jaanilaul" (St John's Song), the seventh and last in the song cycle Jaanilaudud (St John's Day Songs, 1967) by the Estonian composer Veljo Tormis (1930–2017), sung here by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir conducted by Paul Hillier: This is from another Baltic State visited by yours truly... Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks' Laudate Dominum (2016) is one of those works you might expect to hear on passing through the pearly gates. Here, as this morning on the radio, it is performed by the Latvian Radio Choir and Sinfonietta Rīga conducted by Sigvards Kļava: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pēteris_Vasks
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