What’s on Great Sacred Music, Sunday, January 24, 2016

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08:02:00
W.A. Mozart: Exsultate, jubilate, K. 165
English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardiner
Sylvia McNair, soprano

 

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina: Duo ubera tua
Cambridge Singers, John Rutter

 

Joseph-Hector Fiocco: Ave Maria
Collegium Instrumentale Brugense, Patrick Peire
Hilde Coppe, soprano

 

Mozart wrote his Exsultate, jubilate while he was in Milan in 1773. It was first performed

by the castrato Venanzio Rauzzini. Palestrina composed 29 settings based on the Song of

Solomon. “Duo ubera tua” is scored for 5 voices. Belgian composer Joseph-Hector Fiocco (1703-1741)

was active in Antwerp and Brussels during his short life.

 

08:24:09
James William Elliott: O Jesus, I have promised
Choir of Wells Cathedral, Malcolm Archer
Rupert Gough, organ

 

Pierre Villette: O quam amabilis es
BBC Singers, Stephen Jackson

 

Felix Mendelssohn: If with all your hearts ~ Elijah
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Robert Shaw
Jerry Hadley, tenor, as Obadiah

 

John Ernest Bode (1816-1874) wrote the hymn “O Jesus, I have promised” which

is variously set to tunes by James William Elliott and W.H. Ferguson. English choral

conductor Stephen Jackson worked with the BBC Singers from 1989-2015. Mendelssohn

plus Robert Shaw plus Jerry Hadley: it doesn’t get much better than this!

 

08:35:50
Robert White: Regina caeli
The Tallis Scholars, Peter Phillips

 

William Henry Monk: Abide with me
Choir of St. John’s, Elora, Noel Edison
Paul Halley, organ

 

Gabriel Faure: Cantique de Jean Racine, Op. 11
Choir of St. John’s College, Cambridge, Christopher Robinson

 

English composer Robert White (c. 1538 – 1574) had a famous father-in-law, Christopher

Tye. Grammy Award winner Paul Halley (1952-) is currently active in the Halifax, Nova Scotia

area. Faure’s 1865 composition Cantique de Jean Racine won him first prize in a competition at

École Niedermeyer de Paris.

 

08:50:11
J.S. Bach: Prelude and Fugue in D, BWV 532
Kevin Bowyer, organ
Marcussen organ of Sct. Hans Kirke, Odense, Denmark

 

This prelude and fugue is a virtuoso tour de force which dates from 1710 when Bach

was at Weimar.

 

09:01:47
J.S. Bach: Cantata 111, “Was mein Gott will, das g’scheh allzeit”
Choir of St. Thomas Church, Leipzig; Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Kurt Thomas
Elisabeth Grummer, soprano; Marga Hoffgen, alto;
Hans-Joachim Rotzch, tenor; Theo Adam, bass

 

“What my God wills, that will always be” is a translation of the German. This cantata was first

performed on January 21, 1725 in Leipzig. This morning’s performance features the choir from

Bach’s old church. The cantata opens with one of these remarkably brilliant sinfonia in which that

characteristic Bachian motor rhythm gets things off to a flying start. Then just when you wonder how

anything could be more exciting, in comes the chorus. The opening movement is a wonderful, intense

musical battle betwixt orchestra and chorus.

 

09:25:43
Josef Haydn: Missa Brevis in F
Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford; Academy of Ancient Music, Simon Preston
Judith Nelson, soprano; Emma Kirkby, soprano

 

This gem of a mass was composed when Haydn was only 17 years old. It foreshadows

the almost limitless creativity and energy which was to come in the master’s later compositions.

 

09:50:49
Joseph-Guy Ropartz: Messe Breve
Choeur Regional Vittoria d’Ile de France, Michel Piquemal
Francois-Henri Houbart, organ

 

French composer Joseph-Guy Ropartz (1864– 1955) studied with Jules Massenet.

 

09:57:02
Sir Edward Elgar: The Light of Life, Op. 29
London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Richard Hickox
Judith Howarth, soprano; Linda Finnie, contralto;
Arthur Davies, tenor; John Shirley-Quirk, baritone; John Scott, organ

 

“The Light of Life” was Elgar’s first oratorio. It was written for the Worcester Festival

in 1896. While critics note that this oratorio lacks the polish and consistency of The

Apostles and The Kingdom, Elgar’s later oratorios, I think it has all the subtle characteristics

such as the use of leit motifs which make for some delicious moments. It is a shame that

The Light of Life is not performed often these days.