What’s on Great Sacred Music, Sunday, January 17, 2016

08:02:00
Antonio Caldara: Crucifixus
The Cambridge Singers, John Rutter

 

Alexander Grechaninov: Of Thy Mystical Supper, Op. 58
St. Petersburg Chamber Choir, Nikolai Korniev

 

Andre Caplet: O salutaris
BBC Singers, Stephen Jackson

 

Antonio Caldara (1670–1736) was an Italian Baroque composer who was a chorister

at St. Mark’s, Venice. Alexander Grechaninov wrote Of Thy Mystical Supper was one

of a set of 13 pieces for a very skilled choir. The works are not often performed because

they are so demanding. French composer Andre Caplet (1878–1925) won the Prix de Rome

in 1901 and was a close friend of Claude Debussy.

 

08:16:29
Giovanni Gabrieli: Sanctus a 12
The King’s Consort & Choir, Robert King

 

Traditional: Greater Doxology
Chamber Choir Lege Artis, Boris Abalyan

 

Heitor Villa-Lobos: Panis Angelicus
Corydon Singers, Matthew Best

 

Gabrieli’s Sanctus for 12 Voices was sung as part of an annual service for San

Nicolò, the patron saint of sailors. The Greater Doxology is sung in the Russian

Orthodox office of matins and compline. Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos’

setting of the Panis Angelicus dates from 1950.

 

08:34:02
Samuel Sebastian Wesley: Cast me not away
Choir of Gloucester Cathedral, John Sanders

 

Peter I. Tchaikovsky: Da ispravitsya
St. Petersburg Chamber Choir, Nikolai Korniev

 

Grygory Lvovski: Hymn of the Cherubim
Bulgarian Radio & Television Choir, Mikhael Milkov

 

Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810-1876) was the illegitimate son of Samuel

Wesley (1766-1837). He was named Samuel Sebastian because of his father’s

love of Johann Sebastian Bach’s music. “Da ispravitsya molitva moya, yako

kadilo pred Toboyu” translates as “Let my prayer arise in thy sight as incense”.

Russian composer Grigory Lvovsky lived from 1830 to 1894.

 

08:53:24
Charles-Marie Widor: Finale ~ Symphony No. 8, Op. 42 No. 4
Mark Dirksen, organ

Walcker organ in Memorial Hall, Methuen, Massachusetts

 

Mark Dirksen is the son of Canon Richard Dirksen (1921-2003) Organist and Choirmaster

of the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., from 1977 to 1988. Mark is an

accomplished organist and organ builder who works for Buzard Pipe Organ Builders in

Champaign, Illinois.

 

09:02:05
J.S. Bach: Cantata 13, “Meine Seufzer, meine Tranen”
Holland Boys’ Choir; Netherlands Bach Collegium, Pieter Jan Leusink
Ruth Holton, soprano; Sytse Buwalde, alto; 
Knut Schoch, tenor; Bas Ramselaar, bass

 

The German translates as “My sighs, my tears”. This cantata is rather gloomy except for

Bach’s use of the hauntingly beautiful oboe di caccia and the sprightly recorders. You will

recognize the final chorale tune as one you have heard in the Saint Matthew Passion.

 

09:27:35
William Boyce: Lord, thou hast been our refuge
Choir of St. Paul’s Cathedral; Parley of Instruments, John Scott

 

English composer William Boyce wrote “Lord, thou hast been our refuge” for the 1755 Festival

of the Sons of the Clergy. The Sons of Clergy is a charity which raises money for the families

of needy clergy.

 

09:51:28
Felix Mendelssohn: Prelude and Fugue in D minor, Op. 37 No. 3
Peter Hurford, organ
Rieger Organ in Ratzeburg Cathedral, Germany

 

German composer Felix Mendelssohn admired the music of Johann Sebastian Bach

as you will hear in this wonderful Prelude and Fugue in D minor.

 

10:01:54
W.A. Mozart: Mass in C, K. 167 “Trinity”
Vienna Boys’ Choir; Chorus Viennensis; Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Hans Gillesberger

 

Scholars think that Mozart wrote his Trinity Mass for use on Trinity Sunday 1773 at Trinity

Church, Salzburg. It is a very compact affair scored as it is for choir and orchestra without soloists.

 

10:32:39
Arvo Part: Stabat mater
Theatre of Voices; NYYD Quartet, Paul Hillier
Else Torp, soprano; William Purefoy, countertenor;
Chris Watson, tenor

 

Estonian composer Arvo Part’s setting of the 13th century poem by Jacoponus was commissioned

by the Alban Berg Foundation in 1985.