What’s on Great Sacred Music, Sunday, January 31, 2016

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08:02:00
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina: Canite tuba
Voices of Ascension, Dennis Keene

 

Franz Schubert: Tantum ergo in E flat, D. 962
Gachinger Kantorei Stuttgart; Bach Collegium Stuttgart, Helmuth Rilling
Sibylla Rubens, soprano; Irene Friedli, alto;
Christoph Genz, tenor; Thomas Mehnert, bass

 

Sergei Rachmaninoff: Bogoroditse Devo
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus, Robert Shaw

 

The Voices of Ascension is a professional choral ensemble which was founded

by conductor Dennis Keene in 1990 and is based in New York. Schubert left us almost

as many sacred choral works as he did songs. “Bogoroditse Devo” translates as “Rejoice,

O Virgin Mother of God” and is part of Rachmaninoff’s All-Night Vigil, Op. 37

 

08:15:45
John Tomkins: Cantate Domino
Quire Cleveland, Ross W. Duffin

 

Claudio Monteverdi: Christe, adoramus te
The Sixteen, Harry Christophers

 

George Frideric Handel: Hallelujah, your voices raise ~ Occasional Oratorio
Howard University Choir; Handel Festival Orchestra of Washington, Stephen Simon

 

Quire Cleveland is a professional choral ensemble directed by Ross Duffin. The choir

was founded in 2008. The Sixteen have over 100 recordings to their credit. Harry

Christophers founded the group in 1979. Handel wrote An Occasional Oratorio in early

1746. The libretto uses texts by John Milton and Edmund Spenser.

 

08:28:15
Pietro Mascagni: Regina coeli (Easter Hymn) ~ Cavalleria rusticana
Mormon Tabernacle Choir; Utah Symphony Orchestra, Julius Rudel
Kiri te Kanawa, soprano

 

Christopher Gibbons: Not unto us, O Lord
Academy and Choir of Ancient Music, Richard Egarr
Alastair Ross, organ

 

Sir Charles Villiers Stanford: Magnificat in A, Op. 12
Worcester Cathedral Choir, Donald Hunt
Paul Trepte, organ

 

The musical forces which appear in this morning’s performance of Mascagni’s

Easter Hymn are as rich and lush as the music itself. Richard Eggar has been

Director of the Academy of Ancient Music since 2006. Dr. Donald Hunt was

Organist and Director of Music at Worcester Cathedral from 1975-1996.

 

08:46:45
Sir Hubert Parry: I was glad when they said unto me
Choir of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, John Scott

 

Cesar Franck: Prelude, Fugue and Variation, Op. 18
Gaston Litaize, organ
1878 Fermis/1923 Gonzalez et Ephrem/1957 Müller/1993 Dargassies organ

in Eglise Saint Francois Xavier

 

English composer Sir Hubert Parry’s setting of Psalm 122: 1-3, 6-7 was written

for the Coronation of King Edward VII in 1902 and subsequently revised for the

Coronation of King George V in 1911. French organist Gaston Litaize was the titular

organist of Eglise Saint Francois Xavier in Paris from 1975-1991.

 

09:04:30
J.S. Bach: Cantata 81, “Jesus schlaft, was soll ich hoffen”
Bach Collegium Japan, Masaaki Suzuki
Robin Blaze, countertenor; James Gilchrist, tenor;
Peter Kooy, bass-baritone

 

The German translates as “Jesus sleeps, what hope is there for me?” Bach set the Gospel

text of Matthew 8: 23-27 which describes Jesus quieting the storm. The music can only be

described as theatrically appropriate. 

 

09:22:27
Sir George Dyson: Hierusalem
St. Michael’s Singers; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Jonathan Rennert
Valery Hill, soprano; Thomas Trotter, organ

 

English composer Sir George Dyson (1883-1964) was Director of the Royal College of Music.

After his retirement he began to write music again. You will hear influences of Vaughan Williams

and Delius as well as Richard Strauss in this beautiful piece of music which he composed in 1956.

 

09:42:33
Havergal Brian: Te Deum Laudamus~Symphony No. 1 “Gothic”
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Ondrej Lenard

 

Havergal Brian’s inspiration for his Te Deum Laudamus which comprises Part II of his Gothic Symphony

as a grand Gothic cathedral and its music. The occasion of English composer Havergal Brian’s birthday

got me digging around in the music library several months ago. His Symphony 1 “Gothic” intrigued me

as it is largely a choral setting of the ancient hymn of praise Te Deum Laudamus. Mahlerian in scope

Havergal’s creation requires four choirs, four off-stage brass bands as well as one of the largest orchestras

ever specified in an orchestral work.