What’s on Great Sacred Music, Sunday, July 10, 2016

My playlists are on Spotify for you to enjoy: GSM – July 10, 2016 https://goo.gl/sh6EQq
Don’t forget that we have more choral and organ music programmed
on Sunday evenings beginning at 10 p.m. eastern.

Rob Kennedy
WCPE The Classical Station
Web: TheClassicalStation.org
Facebook: www.facebook/theclassicalstation

—————————–

Herbert Howells: All my hope on God is founded
Choir of King’s College, Cambridge; The Wallace Collection, Stephen Cleobury
Benjamin Bayl, organ

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina: Salve regina
Chanticleer, Joseph Jennings

English composer Herbert Howells wrote his hymn tune “Michael” in 1936 for the text “All my hope on God is founded”. This hymn was originally written by the German hymn writer Joachim Neander in 1680. English poet Robert Bridges translated the text in 1899. It was not until 1969 when the tune and text appeared together in 100 Hymns for Today, the supplement to Hymns Ancient and Modern, that it gained the enormous popularity which it enjoys today. We continue our survey of the music of Palestrina with a performance of his Salve Regina for TTBB choir. The work was published in 1584.

Gustav Holst: Psalm 86
Purcell Singers; English Chamber Orchestra, Imogen Holst
Ralph Downes, organ; Ian Partridge, tenor

Sergei Rachmaninoff: Magnificat ~ Vespers
St. Petersburg Choir, Vladislav Tchernouchenko

English composer wrote his setting of Psalm 86 in 1912 right after The Cloud Messenger which was not well-received, and before The Planets which enjoyed immediate acclaim. Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff wrote his All Night Vigil (which is the correct title for the work) in early 1915 in about two weeks.

Ralph Vaughan Williams: Let all the world in every corner sing
Choir of Truro Cathedral
David Briggs

John Rutter: O praise the Lord of Heaven
Cambridge Singers; Members of the City of London Sinfonia, John Rutter
John Scott, organ

“Let all the world in every corner sing” comes from English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams’s settings of poetry by George Herbert ((1593–1633). This is an interesting combination of composer and author, Herbert being a priest and Vaughan Williams being an atheist. “O praise the Lord of Heaven” is a setting of the words of Psalm 148 for double choir.

Franz Schubert: God in Nature, D. 757
Monteverdi Choir, Sir John Eliot Gardiner
Malcolm Bilson, fortepiano

Max Reger: Introduction and Passacaglia in D minor
Peter Hurford, organ
1978 Rieger organ in Ratzeburg Cathedral, Germany

You will hear Mozartian overtones in this delightful anthem scored for SSA. Schubert wrote the piece for Anna Frohlich in August of 1822. She conducted a choir of female voices and had given a concert of excerpts from Die Zauberflote which delighted Schubert. German organist Max Reger was a prolific composer who wrote dozens of fiendishly difficult compositions for organ, this being one. English organist Peter Hurford plays the work on the very fine Austrian Rieger organ in Ratzeburg Cathedral.

J.S. Bach: Cantata 107, “Was willst du dich betruben”
Holland Boys’ Choir; Netherlands Bach Collegium, Pieter Jan Leusink
Ruth Holton, soprano; Sytse Buwalde, alto;
Nico van der Meel, tenor; Bas Ramselaar, bass

The German translates as “Why are you distressed”. Soprano, alto, tenor and bass all have arias in this cantata which was first performed on July 23, 1724 in Leipzig.

Giuseppe Verdi: Requiem
London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Leonard Bernstein
Martina Arroyo, soprano; Josephine Veasy, contralto;
Placido Domingo, tenor; Ruggero Raimondi, bass

Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi was justly famous for his operas. So, it comes as no surprise to realize that his Requiem composed in 1874 is an opera in liturgical garb. All the hallmarks of Verdi’s operatic craft are there. The thrilling choruses, the dramatic solos, the supple interviewing of orchestra and voice done in a manner which no other composer before or since has been able to achieve so successfully. Grand opera goes to church. Enjoy!

Jehan Alain: Postlude pour l’Office de Complies
James Lancelot, organ
Harrison & Harrison organ in Durham Cathedral, England

French composer Jehan Alain (1911-1940) came from a very musical family which included his famous organist sister, Marie-Claire Alain. Tragically, Jehan Alain’s life was cut short when he was killed in World War II.