The Smiley Smile Message Board

I used to have a topic of this name at my old forum that went AWOL. It served to take the strain off the "classical" thread and it can do the same here. The title comes from a line in the Christmas carol "The Holly And The Ivy".

We recently attended a concert that included these movements from a stunning new Requiem by the Spaniard Bernat Vivancos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nM1de-iiEdg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCRJZTuzJ2g

http://www.classical-music.com/review/ives-romanc-ne-ieva-ezeriete-and-latvian-radio-choir-perform-vivancos-requiem

My favourite a capella choral work right now is a toss-up between Herbert Howells' Requiem and this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn5ken3RJBo

"[Morten Lauridson's] O magnum mysterium is pervaded by the same tenderness and refinement found in Lux aeterna; indeed, this refulgent work was written in 1994, just before Lauridsen began to contemplate the composition of the larger score. The composer has disclosed that this motet is an ‘affirmation of God’s grace to the meek—a quiet song of profound inner joy’. With a text from Christmas Matins that has been set by such disparate composers as Victoria and Poulenc, Lauridsen’s O magnum mysterium expresses mystical awe at the mystery of the Incarnation as well as the very human tenderness of the Virgin Mary for her newborn child." [Source (https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dw.asp?dc=W1682_GBAJY0544914)]

This is for Silken, who I know looks in from time to time. It's my favourite version of this beautiful work with its extraordinary history:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piPiVndX7kw

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miserere_(Allegri) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miserere_(Allegri))

I have always been fascinated by architect J.M. Luthmann's concrete "cathedral" at the centre of Radio Kootwijk transmitter park (NL). Yesterday I heard an extraordinary choral work dedicated to the radio-telephonic transmission established between Radio Kootwijk and the Dutch East Indies in 1928. Called Mass Transmission, it was written by the polarizing American composer Mason Bates. It was the swooping electronics imitating the fine-tuning of radio signals that first caught my ear. After that I was riveted. (The full text is reproduced here (https://aphramusic.com/products/mass-transmission-score-and-parts).)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQrsfzGd1Xo

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Kootwijk

(https://www.staatsbosbeheer.nl/-/media/radio-kootwijk/radio-kootwijk-1.jpg?mw=1120&hash=0D5E687B21A8353466C20D6BC242DAC638048F33)

Youth is one of the most visually beautiful films I've ever seen, with some of the best film music, not least David Lang's hypnotic Just (After Song of Songs):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTGtgvMQFm8

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youth_(2015_film) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youth_(2015_film))

I heard this movement from Dutch composer Joep Franssens' Harmony of the Spheres this morning. It suits my contemplative mood right now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6PJITm02lM

Joep Franssens' Harmony of the Spheres: a conductor's analysis (https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.nl/&httpsredir=1&article=3599&context=gradschool_dissertations)

I was determined not to like this (I can't stand the choral arrangement of Barber's Adagio for Strings) but I think this vocal version of Mahler's famous "Adagietto" sounds fantastic. Maybe it wouldn't in the hands (or throats) of a lesser choir. See what you think.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YA1c9jZmdag

https://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/19/arts/classical-music-a-dirge-no-it-s-a-love-song.html

My chorister friend will be singing this moving choral work (SATB with SATB soloists) by Carl Nielsen with 15 others in an impromptu concert for a fellow chorister who is terminally ill. "Sænk kun dit hoved, du blomst" (with license, "Just bow your head, little flower") is one of several pieces that chorister requested. Truly heartbreaking.         

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5A7meWbR9gI

I'm utterly unfamiliar with the music of Bohuslav Martinů, so I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the mesmerising vocal work I heard this morning was by him. "The Ascension of the Lord" (Nanebevstoupení Páne) comes from Three Sacred Songs (Three Legends), which Martinů wrote in 1952.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt4DM1uNe4M

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohuslav_Martinů

Today's BBC Radio 3's Sunday morning feature "Sounds of the Earth", which broadcasts field recordings of nature around the world, took us to Russia's Lake Taymyr in the Arctic Circle in 1990. The sounds of nature alternate with (usually) three pieces of music, one of which today was this choral gem by Alexander Gretchaninov, "Lord, Now Lettest Thou":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd1LoFiqcIQ   

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Gretchaninov

http://magic-ays.com/Lake/LakeTaymyr.htm

Regrettably I had to attend a funeral yesterday (someone from our street) and the choir in attendance sang Max Reger's "Der Mensch lebt und bestehet nur eine kleine Zeit", not the easiest of pieces to interpret I'm told although an absolute gem:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0aD9pGm1TI

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Reger

"My" choir had this big concert last night (and I mean big--it went on for ever). I've already linked some of the pieces they sang but not this breathtakingly beautiful Locus Iste by Paul Mealor, who seems to be something of a superstar among living UK composers (see the wiki page):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0stt4Vm8uO8

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Mealor

I heard this today on an early morning programme of religious music. Kreek's Psalms (including this "Onnis on inimene"), which I had the honour of accompanying at choir rehearsals years ago, mean more to me since I visited the Baltic States and experienced the openness (at times, the desolation) of the landscapes there.   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGPLLedbSoc

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrillus_Kreek

I've probably said this before but every Sunday morning on BBC Radio 3 (the UK "classical" station), they have this feature called "Sounds of the Earth", where they play a field recording of natural sounds (this can be from anywhere in the world) interspersed and sometimes juxtaposed with short musical interludes chosen for their appropriateness in some way. Today's "Sounds" came from somewhere in India and the last piece they played was "Dawn", the third track from Meredith Monk's 1990 album Book of Days. Everything on Radio 3 is listed at their website except this feature, which means writing it down when they mention it afterwards. All part of the Sunday morning ritual (along with the boiled egg). This is a live version by Alter Ratio:     

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCEr7y6vkJU

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meredith_Monk

Bless you for keeping this going.

This morning at Mass, our setting was a new to me piece by Duruflé (not his requiem mass), who, along with some other later French romantics, is really growing on me.  The mass was buttressed by motets by Widor and Poulenc--our music director puts together nice themes.  There is something about the French that can be very understatedly powerful.

Wow, JH, you're the first person to post here other than myself! I really appreciate that.

So you sing in a church choir. I used to accompany an amateur choir at rehearsals for many years.

The Duruflé piece at Mass may have been the sublime "Ubi caritas et amor", one of his Four Motets::

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1BTWCpEFRQ

The other three are "Tota pulchra es", "Tu es Petrus" and "Tantum ergo".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quatre_Motets_sur_des_thèmes_grégoriens (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quatre_Motets_sur_des_thèmes_grégoriens)

I'm familiar with much of Poulenc's wonderful choral music but only know Widor from his organ pieces. I shall look for his motets on YouTube. Another great favourite of mine, which must be familiar to you, is Fauré's Requiem, which fits your closing description perfectly.

I actually don't sing in the choir these days--I used to, but since I moved to NYC this Summer I'm only a listener to the pro choir at the parish I've settled into.  It's cool to be able to listen to a pro choir several times a week, but also sad that I can't participate since I'm not a pro, and also it's a choir of men and boys so I'm excluded that way, too.

In any case, the Mass setting was Duruflé's "Messe Cum Jubilo."  We do a full ordinary of the mass every Sunday minus the Credo.

The Widor was "O Salutaris Hostia" and the Poulenc was "Salut, Dame Sainte" which was great because it's in French and the choir so rarely does anything in anything other than Latin.  Sung French is just so rich and musical.

Good times.

Added later:

Oh, and yes, Fauré is wonderful.  I was fortunate enough to sing his requiem last year around this time, for All Souls/All Saints/Remembrance time.  We did the "reconstructed" "authentic version" that's heavy on violas.  My current Church will do it as our Sunday Mass setting on Remembrance Sunday.  I'll be sad not to be singing it.

Thanks for the titles! I noticed the "Messe" among Duruflé's choral works but ruled it out since it was for male voices. Now I understand, although it's a shame your NYC choir isn't mixed and open to everyone.

I can't resist posting the Poulenc piece, together with the other three "petites prières de Saint François d'Assise". They're beautiful. I'm not familiar with any male choir pieces--"my" choir was SATB. Good point about sung French--indeed, there are so many great "classical" vocal works in that language but almost all of them are secular. More food for thought for subsequent posts in this topic. ;)     

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eatyViNp720

And now I'll shut up for a bit, I'm talking far too much. ;D

This morning the boys were on vacation so it was just "The Gentleman of the Choir" thus the ATTBB work.  I love the Anglican tradition of all male choirs, but if you're going to do that, you really should have another choir for amateurs and women!  I'm angling for it!

Tonight they're doing Schütz and Eccard which I hate to miss, but one can't be in church all the time.

Well at least you sang it last year. Fingers crossed for next year. ;)

I have this luminous recording of the Requiem under René Leibowitz on a dirt-cheap LP on the Saga budget label. I may be able to find out which version he used. (The violas are pretty prominent.)

According to Wikipedia though, this is the only (or only worthwhile) recording of the reconstructed version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPI0BeCuLe4

You've given this topic a new lease of life--thank you!

Happy to contribute!  I guess I didn't realize such a topic existed here!  And as I mentioned, I am lucky enough to get to hear live choral music at least 2-3 times a week, so there's always something to react to.

On the subject of French choral compositions, I don't know if you're familiar with Olivier Messiaen's unaccompanied motet "O sacrum convivium". "My" choir gave one concert performance of this unearthly composition. There was one passage (I think here at 2:22) which went wrong every time--except during the concert! I wish I could have photographed the conductor's face at that moment...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0__tgrjTkc

One final blast of French choral music (from me anyway) and then I have one or two other things lined up... 

"L'adieu des bergers" from Berlioz's oratorio L'enfance du Christ is sublime from start to finish but there's a thrice-recurring moment (first heard at 0:55-1:00) that reduces JK to a quivering jelly.

This shepherds' farewell suits my contemplative mood right now (not that I'm going anywhere):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWzYWQO9TfI

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27enfance_du_Christ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27enfance_du_Christ)

My soprano friend has a wonderful singing voice but has great difficulty reading music--in fact she can hardly read music at all. :P This is where I come in. I play her parts on the piano into her smartphone and she can then hook it up to the speaker boxes (or an earpiece) and sing along, eventually learning those parts off by heart (a not inconsiderable achievement in itself).

The great new method we (okay, she) discovered recently enables her to record me playing her part on top of a full YouTube or Spotify version using two smartphones and a virtual assistant. Then she has all the cues she needs from the other vocal parts (and from the orchestra if there is one).

The last work we recorded using this strategy was Schubert's Mass in E Flat, for a concert next month. This is the version we used:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMPyjI4953g

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_No._6_(Schubert) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_No._6_(Schubert))

Schubert's masses are all quite lovely, and it's always interesting to hear about other musician's processes.  My mother is a professional accompanist and has done similar things for singers to help them learn parts.  While I think reading music is something most people can learn to do with concerted practice, the fact is it's just hard for a lot of people and I think anything that facilitates playing and performing is great.

I was fortunate enough to sing Schubert's Mass in C last year for Easter Sunday, which was really delightful. 

They say these things are best done when young. Logically I suppose, my friend has been exempted from doing the sight-reading tests all her colleagues have to do now and again. The conductor and the adjudication committee are evidently impressed enough with her singing voice to overlook her "handicap"!

Unlike your mother, my training as a pianist (with an uninspiring if well-meaning teacher) fizzled out when I discovered pop music! But I know where all the notes are. :P I find it very satisfying to use whatever talents I have in that direction to help others.   


I'm not at all familiar with Schubert's choral music so I'll give that a listen too. I hope you can convince your church to found a mixed amateur choir. It's clear you miss singing in a choir. 

On the subject of performances during church services, my wife and I took a trip to Vienna in late 2011. We try to attend at least one musical event during each holiday. Of course as tourists we were continually being encouraged to go to "chocolate box" Mozart concerts specially put on for visitors. Instead, we attended a church service that included a complete performance of Mozart's Requiem. It was the best and most moving performance of that work we'd ever heard! 

While in Vienna we came across a plaque at the site of the house (since destroyed) where, sadly, Antonio Vivaldi spent his final months in poverty (now occupied, ironically, by a chic establishment specializing in Sachertorte.)

(https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/09/bb/b3/24/caption.jpg)

After the encouragement of the past few days (thank you!) I find myself happily exploring Handel, Bach and Buxtehude. As for Vivaldi, I seem to have dealt with him at a single stroke. Having been sick to the back teeth of hearing his Four Seasons--it's ubiquitous on Dutch classical radio--I was overjoyed to discover this stunning (and respectful) "recomposition" of the work by Max Richter:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oYWfJuMGMA

It may not be to everyone's taste but it's one of my go-to listens whenever I need cheering up. I think it's utterly sublime.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recomposed_by_Max_Richter:_Vivaldi_–_The_Four_Seasons (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recomposed_by_Max_Richter:_Vivaldi_–_The_Four_Seasons)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Vivaldi (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Vivaldi)

I used to hate Vivaldi but have since come back a little ways.

I'm glad you're enjoying Handel, Bach, and Buxtehude.

Ah, so I see it's not just me. Of the early Italians, Gabrieli is much more my cup of tea:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cn8KXlQeZcM

And indeed, a new world of music has opened up to me!

(I'm still following your Handel overtures project. So are others, I'm glad to see.)

This post reads like a poem! :lol

Vivaldi just....wrote too much music.  I can't help but love his Gloria, though, and always tear up when I watch the documentary about the Pietà women and hear the female basses singing the bass parts.

I also can't help, as a mandolinist, loving his Mandolin Concerto in C, which of course I'm always asked if I can play.  (Yes.)

My soprano's choir has sung this!! I'd forgotten about that. You mean such as here at 7:45?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZaJth1WxGQ

That's a low A at the end. So this was written for the girls (by then young women I suppose) at the orphanage where V was director of music? It certainly plays on the emotions, that's for sure...  


Now this I must hear! Do you have a favourite version on YouTube? If not, I'll give this one a listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-utT-BD0obk

I see I'm going to be with the Baroque for a while yet. ;)

That is my favourite actually, with Rolf.

Perfect!

I heard this sumptuous piece on UK radio this morning. Eric Whitacre's Sleep My Child almost has the same emotional impact on me as Morten Lauridsen's O Magnum Mysterium (almost). Either work should be capable of soothing the most troubled soul.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTFWxx7DjSs

https://ericwhitacre.com/music-catalog/sleep-my-child (https://ericwhitacre.com/music-catalog/sleep-my-child)

I've taken the liberty of diverting this conversation to the choral topic...

If anyone would have suggested even a fortnight ago that I'd be sold on music by Handel, Bach and Buxtehude I would have laughed in their face. You have a lot to answer for, JH.

Just now, I sat through "In Dulce Jubilo" without budging, just taking it all in: the string echoes of the vocal trio, the abundance of thirds in the upper voices, those cut-off chords at the end... It was sublime.

And then there was "Herzlich tut mich verlangen", which got the same degree of attention. I searched for a bit and discovered that the angelic voice is that of the German soprano Gerlinde Sämann:

(https://img.discogs.com/L7CtIgS-v8Oya-0kypppDACPyp0=/fit-in/300x300/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(40)/discogs-images/A-300735-1447018842-6225.jpeg.jpg)

Scandalous as it may seem, I used to look down on Ton Koopman and his choice of music but now I shall never regard him in the same light again. Another Buxtehude treasure-house to explore!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerlinde_Sämann (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerlinde_Sämann)

I'm very pleased to evangelisiere for my German baroque friends Bach, Handel, and Buxtehude!  They mean a lot to me.

Isn't Gerlinde wonderful?  Miraculous voice.

Our Mass setting for mass yesterday was Nico Muhly's "Bright Mass with Canons" which had its moments, to be sure, but ultimately was not a success.  There were a number of passages for sort of...warbling alto soloists during which I caught many parishioners giving each other quizzical, offended glances.  Nevertheless, I applaud our music director's interest in trying contemporary masses.

On the flip-side, the motet for the morning was "O Quam Gloriosam" by Victoria from the 1570s.  Lovely motet by an absolute master of sacred music.  Has that thick Spanish sound relying on deeply felt earnestness rather than virtuosic ornament (not that I don't love virtuosic ornament.)

Interesting that you bring up this combination of modern and ancient in one sitting, so to speak. Back in April we attended a concert by the RIAS Kammerchor at our principal local church that alternated sections from Victoria's Officium Defunctorum with selections from a modern work, Bernat Vivancos's Requiem. Surprisingly, it worked--it helped that the Vivancos work (getting its first performance in NL) was a success!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gccy1tP-ApM

An equally impressive performance we attended two months earlier in the same church was of Morales's Missa Pro Defunctis a 5, sung by Cinquecento. I get what you mean about that thick Spanish sound.


Yes indeed. I've since found a few more things sung by her as part of Ton Koopman's massive Buxtehude project (I've linked one below). In fact I've bookmarked everything I could find from TK's Opera Omnia II. Wonderful stuff so far. And... tomorrow I can pick up the book you recommended!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mY_pHvznZ2o

After hearing this brief jewel on the radio this morning, I was astonished to learn that it was by Debussy. I had no idea he'd written music for a cappella choir. It seems this was the sum total, which does make you wonder why. Still, a great upllifting start to the day!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vacub5Wi-UA

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trois_Chansons_(Debussy) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trois_Chansons_(Debussy))

I keep forgetting about Purcell. We have this great LP of his music (see image below), including the sublime "Rejoice in the Lord Alway". This is the version from that LP:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42m_S29uLLU

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/5108ip5kwFL._AC_SY355_.jpg)

I've always loved Holst's big choral work The Hymn of Jesus. (For some reason it reminds me of illustrations by William Blake.) It's one of many reasons why Gustav H was much more than The Planets. Sorry about the four-page description!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIiU2OxfWsQ

http://www.gustavholst.info/journal/article-001.php?chapter=1

Elgar had always been there somewhere on my musical horizon but he came a lot closer when we visited his birthplace in Worcestershire some ten years ago (and bought a CD of lighter works and a tea towel). That combined with my recent interest in choral music makes his oratorios a much more interesting proposition these days. This is part two, "By the Wayside", from The Apostles. It was the first piece I heard on UK radio this morning before attending to the boiled eggs. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZXaY5Ngujk

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Apostles_(Elgar) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Apostles_(Elgar))

You wonder if some composers just wake up one day and think, "oh, maybe I'll try writing something different today"

My introduction to Purcell was through Britten's variations on the theme from Abdelazer (as I'm sure it was for many others.) . I like Purcell, but he has not grasped me in the loving bonds of enrapturement like some of his contemporaries.

That said, I love this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rWVaFO01No (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rWVaFO01No)

Thou Tun'st This World, with Susan Hamilton's staggeringly pure vocal.  Frankly, I'd kill a man to have that voice.

Both Holst and Elgar have been growing on me, especially as I get a better sense of their place as English composers, and their importance to that most hallowed of countries.  We had lots of nice Elgar organ music today, but nothing choral (Today)

Really was special to experience Fauré's requiem liturgically this morning as part of a full solemn requiem mass.

It really is, as it's been called, over the composer's light protests, a death lullaby.  I would not mind, as I fade away from this world, for this work to be what I hear last before giving up the ghost.

Yes!
To hear Pie Jesu - for me it must be sung by a big soprano to get the clear tone .

In Paradisum - I agree, that would be great music to hear when leaving this world for the next. It's like angels singing , don't be afraid...

Our Pie Jesu was handled nicely by one of our boy trebles this morning.  Not a big soprano, but certainly a pure one.

Ha, oh my, I meant BOY soprano! Crazy autocorrect!  ;D

Haha, I kinda thought that's what you meant--although it is interesting to imagine a Wagnerian giving it a go...

England has a lot going for it, to be sure, but I wouldn't want to live there again--just a holiday from time to time (my wife's a massive Anglophile). I must admit I'm not familiar with E's works for organ. Thanks for the tip. Maybe next up after my current CD of Dieterich B's harpsichord music. ;)

On the subject of English choral music, perhaps you should check out Vaughan Williams' Sea Symphony. This is the magical second movement, "On the Beach at Night, Alone". It always makes me think of Brian and "Till I Die":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pb5FffH6R54

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Sea_Symphony

That was my entry into his music as well, followed by the Queen Mary funeral music (possibly prompted by A Clockwork Orange) and the sublime "When I Am Laid in Earth".

I see (or rather hear) what you mean about Ms. Hamilton's voice!

This is going back a bit. Guillaume de Machaut's Messe de Notre Dame dates from the 14th century. I love its uncompromising harmonies, if you can call them that. We attended a concert by the Huelgas Ensemble under Paul Van Nevel a while back at our local cathedral (in music by Victoria)--hence my choice of this version of the "Kyrie" and "Gloria":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qr1lt7zZL6o

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huelgas_Ensemble

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messe_de_Nostre_Dame

I can imagine it sounded wonderful. (I have this playlist blasting out as I peck away.) We visited Worcester Cathedral some years ago and even did an Elgar Walk while we were in that city.   

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_ncKcDgOro9vkhtIalAg87nXO_txQ7ndNQ

http://www.elgar.org/3organ.htm

Gabriel Jackson was a new name to me when I heard his beguiling "I Gaze Upon You" yesterday on the radio.  Seems he's a fan of soul and rhythm & blues--now that's something a "serious" composer would have admitted to at their peril not so long ago. ;D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgLAripO1u8

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Jackson_(composer) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Jackson_(composer))

I think you can call them harmonies!  There is something about that style that can indeed feel very uncompromising, and it can be very rewarding to sing.

I think that I've sung a choral work of his, though I can't remember what it was.  I am sort of skeptical of composers who claim to be influenced by things far afield of the traditional understanding of classical music--not because I don't think there's a place for it, but mostly because they end up doing a sort of lifeless, sterile disservice to it.  Not saying this is the case for Jackson, though--I just don't know!

There's an Elgar walk!?  Sounds like a fun time.  I have planned for myself a trip to England where I attempt to visit every CoE Cathedral (and some Roman ones, too.)   There's always some little bit of music history waiting to be discovered at them.

 
Haha. I was covering up for the fact that maybe the concept of harmony only came later. And this was polyphony or even a very advanced form of plainsong. I find music theory fascinating but it's not my strong point! ;D


Ah, so you've sung music of this era. I was wondering where it stood in relation to music performed in church. But perhaps you sang it elsewhere.

In many ways it was a symbolic walk. Many of the original buildings were gone. But at least we visited the cathedral and trod where the great man trod.


That should keep you busy! I was lucky enough to spend much of my youth in the vicinity of St. Albans, where The Zombies come from (the band, that is). Plenty of history around there, much of it Roman.

I'd say the influence is quite subtle in his case. I agree--this is by no means always so. Perhaps it's a question of sincerity.

Leonard Bernstein has been in my sights ever since 1966 when I bought an album of Ives's music conducted by him that included The Unanswered Question. Much later my son gave me a CD of LB conducting a live version of Franck's Symphony in D Minor and that clinched it for me. (It was years before I found out about his Brian connection.)

One of the ladies who accompanied us to St. Petersburg last month sings in a choir whose most recent concert included a performance of Mr. Bernstein's moving and at times thrilling Chichester Psalms:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8gKSqVAXrg

https://leonardbernstein.com/works/view/14/chichester-psalms (https://leonardbernstein.com/works/view/14/chichester-psalms)

Taking its cue from the "classical" topic, here's a fine version of Brahms's Alto Rhapsody sung by a great favourite of ours, Kathleen Ferrier. (I remember hearing Ms. Ferrier singing "Blow The Wind Southerly" on the radio as a young child and being told that she had just died, which flummoxed me somewhat at the time.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7S162WFNI8

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alto_Rhapsody

Back to Buxtehude...

I'm now making my way through a second volume of his vocal music. It's full of remarkable ideas, such as the striking "clarion calls" in Ich suchte des Nachts in meinem Bette (first heard here just after 9:05). It's almost as though Bach was a step backwards in comparison! (I shall no doubt be ticked off for saying that. :lol)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4ZY-wGrYYI

Oooff! Looking at the list of CDs in the wiki link, I see I still have a pleasantly long way to go! If anyone were to offer to buy me just one boxset, they might regret it because I'd choose this one (https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Buxtehude-Koopman-Amsterdam-Orchestra/dp/B01K8N4XOM), all 30 CDs of it. ;D

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dieterich_Buxtehude_–_Opera_Omnia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dieterich_Buxtehude_–_Opera_Omnia)

I admit I'm not familiar with this but I will become so shortly.

So pleased you're continuing to enjoy Dieterich.  I think you are actually right, in some ways, that Buxte was a more progressive mind than Bach, compositionally.

The pleasure's all mine!

We're celebrating the eve of Sinterklaas (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinterklaas) on Thursday. Although it's a kids' (in our case grandkids') thing, we've been asked what we'd like as a token present. That was easy--I just said any CD of music by Buxtehude--anything! 

A short while back, we attended a concert of Finnish choral music by the YL Male Choir. Their stunning performance included the first three parts of Runo, written in 2015 by Juuso Vanonen (1980). And I thought Dutch was a difficult language!

1. "Vaka vanha Väinämöinen"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEhismMTF5I

2. "Kosken tyttö, kuohuneiti"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkdWUJau3Ek

3. "Kivet keskellä jokea"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqNSwzWBarQ

https://yl.fi/eng (https://yl.fi/eng)

Finnish is agglutinative, like Hungarian and thus, difficult for those of us who tend to mark stuff with inflection rather than agglutination!

Interesting music!

And this is what I got:

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41XwQeAw2hL.jpg)

Your favourite's in there and at least one other you've recommended to me. Best Sinterklaas present ever. :)

As for your enlightening "agglutinative" comment, I now plan to investigate stuff by Bartók and Kodaly sung in their native Hungarian. ;)

Hooray!

I had to chuckle when I saw this, but thanks! :) I still have to play it but it looks promising. ;D

This gorgeous evening song ("Esti dal") would seem to be the only choral piece by Kodaly on YouTube that includes its Hungarian lyrics onscreen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfdtCYUZpX4

That was beautiful. I just finished listening to Kodály's Budavári Te Deum online, a favorite that I sang in a choral group long ago.

In the folk group I was in we had to sing in many languages, mostly Eastern European (because they were the most interesting music wise ).  Bulgarian and Russian lyrics were easy to memorize . On the other end , I found Romanian rather difficult, and yes, the hardest by far was Hungarian.

Hello E. Good to see you around again. aeijtzsche and I have been holding the fort. :)

Did you see the two previous posts about Finnish as a language for vocal music? I shall give the Kodály (thanks for the tip--and the accent!) a listen right now:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cx5qRvHhP7I

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Te_Deum_(Kodály) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Te_Deum_(Kodály))

That's really lovely. I only know Kodály from his Háry János suite and the occasional earful of the Dances of Galánta. It reminded me at odd moments of Janáček's stirring Glagolitic Mass, which I have on an old Supraphon LP. (I'll find out who performed it and post it, if it's on YouTube.) Janáček to my mind is one of the great originals of 20th-century non-atonal "classical' music. To quote Prokofiev, "There are still so many beautiful things to be said in C major"!

I did--and it is. ::)

The recording was made in 1963 and earned itself a Grand Prix du Disque the following year. All credits can be seen in the opening minutes of the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO2UUxO3RfE

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glagolitic_Mass

I heard this this morning on Dutch classical radio in the recording captured in this "teaser:"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y3cbyv6IzM

(We've attended breath-taking concerts by the Latvian Radio Choir under that same conductor, Kaspars Putniņš.)

The version below is sung by a Russian choir under a Russian conductor, which can't be bad:   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPJ3wxBxjAo

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-Night_Vigil_(Rachmaninoff)

This is for JH, who I hope is doing okay.

Reading my brilliant book on Buxtehude I noticed that Schlagt, Künstler, die Pauken und Saiten (BuxWV 122), a cantata for the wedding of one Joachim von Dalen (Lübeck, 1681), is the only extant work of his that calls for two timpani:
   
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbRzD49WkfA

Still reeling from a performance of the first three days from Bach's Weihnachts-Oratorium. We were treated to tickets a little late, so we were sitting near the back. However, the view was fantastic (the seating rises sharply at that point) and the sound was perfect. Call it a blessing in disguise. That view enabled me to check out the instruments on stage. The string section was comprised of 18 violins, 6 violas, 4 cellos and 3 doubles basses. Then you had two transverse flutes, two oboes (or were they oboes d'amore, or did the players switch from one to the other?) and a bassoon, supplemented in part two by the two oboes da caccia). The continuo consisted of a small organ, a theorbo--always a spectacular sight (and sound)--and one of the cellos. The choir (which included "my" soprano) was large (maybe 200 singers?) but every entry sounded stunning in the concert hall setting. Oh, and not to forget the four very convincing soloists.     

The first two "days" made for a glorious contrast between the ebullient part one (with three trumpets and timpani) and the pastoral part two (when that quartet left the stage to be replaced by two oboes de caccia). Part three, which came after the intermission, seemed a little lost by itself but the violin solo went a long way towards making up for that.

It's the fifth time I've heard the work during the past seven years but it was as if I was hearing it for the first time! Put it down to my recent conversion to Bach (and the Baroque in general). Now I have a whole new world to discover. There is only one person to thank for that. :)

This video is from the performance we heard in Leipzig but never saw, as the performers were behind us on a balcony! So I'm seeing it now for the first time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zf-pBaQw7QQ

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_Oratorio

Couple of errata to the above:

While I was counting the players, the other member of the "we" estimated the number of choristers at 130, not 200!

And that performance in the video was from the year before we were there. But the set-up was the same. It was fascinating to hear it in the Thomaskirche, where Bach didn't play the organ, as I once thought, but presided as Cantor.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Thomas_Church,_Leipzig (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Thomas_Church,_Leipzig)

One thing I've learned about playing CDs when we have the family to Christmas dinner is not to play CDs! It's never appreciated and unless you play dynamix-free musical wallpaper it's much more likely to irritate than titillate. ;D

I made up for it later during a mammoth washing-up session by playing (and marvelling at) the first 14 numbers from Handel's The Messiah. My, times have changed! ::)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrWWi3fTkdI

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messiah_(Handel) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messiah_(Handel))

Here's a conundrum, one that has at least two people scratching their heads. This version of Buxtehude's "Wie wird erneuet, wie wird erfreuet" (BuxWV 110) features a none too Baroque-sounding tinkly instrument, something like a celesta or keyed glockenspiel. To my great delight I eventually discovered this excerpt on the net where you can hear it (scroll down to disc 2, #6):

https://www.amazon.de/Kantaten-Ton-Koopman/dp/B00PFAX6LU

Here is a more Baroque-sounding version (one tone higher!) under the same conductor (the Amazon snippet contains the opening bars):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElTg5EjrwCM

To be continued, I'm sure. ;)

It's hard to believe a tormented soul like Philip Heseltine (or rather his alter ego composer Peter Warlock) could pen anything as spiritually pure as "Bethlehem Down":   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKtTFIkP9ck

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Warlock

It's always a joy to come across a composer for the first time. Julian Wachner is one such find. This is "Surge, illuminare", the third of his Three Songs of Isaiah (1998):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5F2qqLaikU

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Wachner

I've always had this thing about William Byrd, even in my most fervent anti-older music days. This is his Mass for Four Voices, which I dedicate to JH, who has done so much to keep this topic afloat:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXeT2HWpwc4

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_for_Four_Voices (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_for_Four_Voices)

I met Herbert Howells once, when applying for a place at the Royal College of Music in London (in vain--I was pushed into it anyway). The meeting did not go well. I was a bit of an arsehole in those days and when asked my opinion of Bach, Mozart and Beethoven I told him I didn't like them!

Decades later I fell in love with Howells's own music. Life can be incorrigibly strange at times. This is his Te Deum:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dv4j1FT3Do

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collegium_Regale_(Howells) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collegium_Regale_(Howells))

Max Reger's music is often regarded as dry and academic. There's certainly nothing of the circus about it.

But surely no one can be failed to be moved by his Requiem, written in 1915, a year before his death. The recording linked here, which I heard on Dutch radio late this afternoon, was released mere days ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LP2yRZVuxgs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Requiem_(Reger) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Requiem_(Reger))

Claude Le Jeune is a fascinating figure. Messiaen thought so too. "Printemps" is perhaps his best-known work.

We've attended concerts by the a cappella Huelgas Ensemble under Paul Van Nevel and they were sublime!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkYSKuifKg0 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkYSKuifKg0)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huelgas_Ensemble (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huelgas_Ensemble)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Le_Jeune (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Le_Jeune)

I heard this astonishing choral work yesterday and could hardly believe my ears. Written by the young Latvian composer Jēkabs Jančevskis, Atsalums is sung here by the Mixed Choir of RDKS (from Latvia), conducted by Jurģis Cābulis:   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2YQG42JJPk

Keeping a promise I made yesterday, here is Béla Bartók's magnum opus in the choral and orchestral department.

Cantata Profana (1930), subtitled "The Nine Enchanted Stags", is sung here in Hungarian (see the wiki page):

I: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ux4OGCPpemM

II: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Go1BvDBcedM

III: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJOG8C9NXB0

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantata_Profana

(https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn%3AANd9GcTnO04rZB6uvV0wL0QrIykeiQHEOICv4YhI2bFcZeKVspQy6rl0)

I heard this spellbinding work by Eric Whitacre on the radio at the weekend. "Hope, Faith, Life, Love" rings very very true right now:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cJNoqNOwc4

https://ericwhitacre.com/music-catalog/three-songs-of-faith (https://ericwhitacre.com/music-catalog/three-songs-of-faith)

This is for Joshilyn H, she of "Power Mower" fame, firstly to celebrate the fact that the number of subscribers to her YouTube channel is fast approaching three figures.

Secondly, it's the next thank-you in an ever-longer line of thank-you's for helping me make this man's acquaintance. It's no exaggeration to say that Herr Buxtehude's music has changed my outlook on life. This is his Membra Jesu Nostri (BuxWV 75), performed by The Monteverdi Choir and The English Baroque Soloists under John Eliot Gardiner:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1VYgi8Fxu8&list=OLAK5uy_mfK3mPfRjlBDwpeNXfnMfhumSPyWrQ-qA&index=2

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Membra_Jesu_Nostri (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Membra_Jesu_Nostri)

(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1f/BuxWV75_title_page.jpg/220px-BuxWV75_title_page.jpg)

Gustav Holst's third group of choral hymns from the Rig Veda, for the ethereal combination of female choir and harp, belongs among his most intimate works. This is the opening hymn, "To the Dawn", which I heard on BBC radio this morning in this version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgJ_c0qk6Jk

(https://www.stretta-music.com/media/images/480/326480_detail-00.jpg)

https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/holst-choral-hymns-from-the-rig-veda (https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/holst-choral-hymns-from-the-rig-veda)

Nico Muhly is a name I first bumped into in a post by JH -- and this is the work of his she mentioned hearing at mass. Bright Mass with Canons is clearly not for your average churchgoer but I think it's gorgeous! I think it was the passage beginning at 7:53 that threw the more strait-laced members of the congregation that Sunday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSLN4ixx02k

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nico_Muhly (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nico_Muhly)

As this is the first Sunday of Advent, here are two "Adventy" cantatas by Herr Buxtehude as recommended last year by JH:

Das Neugeborne Kindelein, BuxWV 13: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRi8c1FO_PI

In Dulci Jubilo, BuxWV 52: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqZBpKwUfKw

Love the "undulations" in the second example!

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.   
   
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZJQMEa9_2I

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deo_gratias (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deo_gratias)

Recently discovered Foreigner, its popular hit everybody listened, looks like. Except I. "I Want To Know..." is song with choir. Is it sufficiently "sweet"? Can't tell. Could you decide, jk?

Hello, stranger. :)

Well...

"Sweet singing in the choir" is a line from a Christmas Carol that I thought would make a cool thread title. But the thread is for all choral music, so any song with a choir is a perfect choice! Thanks for reminding me how good this one is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3Pr1_v7hsw