What’s on Great Sacred Music, Sunday, August 24, 2014

08:02:30
Morten Lauridsen: Ubi caritas et amor
Polyphony, Stephen Layton

 

Sir Robert Grant: O worship the King
Choir of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, John Scott
Christopher Dearnley, organ

 

Dr. Gerre Hancock: Improvisation on the hymn tune “St. Denio”
Gerre Hancock, organ
Aeolian-Skinner/Adams Organ of St. Thomas’ Church, New York

 

“Ubi caritas et amor” (where charity and love are) is part of the text to the Antiphon sung

on Maundy Thursday during the Washing of the Feet ceremony. The entire text may be

found here: http://www.preces-latinae.org/thesaurus/Hymni/UbiCaritas.html
The combination of a great hymn, a great choir and organist together with ten seconds of

reverberation is a combination hard to beat. The late Dr. Hancock (1934-2012) was renowned

for his improvisations. I suspect that one of his teachers, Nadia Boulanger, had something to do with this. 

 

08:19:30
Anonymous: Pange lingua, Crux fidelis
Chanticleer

 

Randall Thompson: Ye shall have a song~The Peaceable Kingdom
Atlanta Sacred Chorale, Eric Nelson

 

Max Reger: Romanze in A minor
Martin Welzel, organ
Johannes Klais Organ, Trier Cathedral

 

Chanticleer sings two ancient hymns of the church. This professional men’s

ensemble is based in San Francisco. Randall Thompson wrote “Ye shall have a song” in

1936. It takes its text from the Book of Isaiah, Chapter 30, verse 29. The 100 rank Klais

organ in Trier Cathedral is a magnificent instrument. More about it here: http://www.orgelbau-klais.com/m.php?tx=26

 

08:38:31
George Frideric Handel: Chandos Anthem No. 03, “Have mercy upon me” (Psalm 51)
The Sixteen Choir and Orchestra, Harry Christophers
Lynne Dawson, soprano; Ian Partridge, tenor

 

Thank goodness that the Duke of Chandos had the good sense to hire Handel to be his

musician in residence at Cannons, his stately home. The resulting collaboration produced

these eleven compositions which we know as the Chandos anthems. They date from 1717-1719.

 

09:00:03
J.S. Bach: Cantata 46, “Schauet doch und sehet”
Holland Boys’ Choir; Netherlands Bach Collegium, Pieter Jan Leusink
Ruth Holton, soprano; Sytse Buwalde, alto;
Knut Schoch, tenor; Bas Ramselaar, bass

 

Simon Crouch’s commentary explained why I thought I had heard the opening chorus

somewhere else. Bach recycled it for the “Qui tollis” movement of the B minor mass.

http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/works/bachjs/cantatas/046.php

 

09:19:35
Francis Pott: Mass for Eight Parts (2011)
Commotio, Matthew Berry
Grace Davidson, soprano

 

British composer Francis Pott (1957-) captures the ethereal quality of the great renaissance

masses in this exquisite setting of the Mass texts. The eight voice parts weave together producing

a rich vocal tapestry.

 

10:03:53
Giacomo Carissimi: Historia di Jephte
The Bach Sinfonia, Daniel Abraham
Jennifer Ellis Kampani, soprano; Barbara Hollinshead, alto;
Tony Boutte, tenor; Sumner Thompson, baritone

 

Carissimi (1605-1674) was one of the first composers of the choral form known as the oratorio. Think

of the oratorio as an opera presented as a concert without the acting and sets and you will get the idea.

You can see a list of Signor Carissimi’s oratorios here: http://www.allmusic.com/artist/giacomo-carissimi-mn0001168215/compositions

 

10:32:55
W.A. Mozart: Solemn Vespers of the Confessor, K. 339
Gachinger Kantorei & Bach Collegium Stuttgart, Helmuth Rilling
Donna Brown, soprano; Claudia Schubert, alto;
Marcus Ullman, tenor; Klaus Hager, bass

The fifth movement – Laudate Dominum – is perhaps the most familiar movement of this setting of the Vespers

written for use in Salzburg Cathedral in 1779. But the fourth movement caught my attention. The fugue sound

s like some of the writing in the great unfinished Requiem in D minor. What do you think?