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

I post these playlists weekly with the hope that you might find them useful
as you plan your music lists. All of my playlists are on Spotify for you to
enjoy at your convenience.

GSM – July 31, 2016 https://goo.gl/eaAoDs

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

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George Mursell Garrett: Psalm 137, “By the waters of Babylon”
Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, Sir David Willcocks

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina: Nigra sum, sed formosa
Chanticleer, Joseph Jennings

Josef Haydn: Missa “Rorate coeli desuper”
Choir of Christ Church Cathedral Oxford; Academy of Ancient Music, Simon Preston

Chanting the psalms to Anglican Chant has been a feature of Anglican worship since the Victorian era. Our survey of the works of the Italian renaissance composer Palestrina continues with a performance of “I am black but comely” from the Song of Solomon. Austrian composer Josef Haydn wrote this mass when he was a teenager. The voice parts sing different lines of the text simultaneously. This telescoping of the text creates a short, compact mass setting.

Richard Dering: Ave verum corpus
Cambridge Singers, John Rutter

Franz Schubert: Prayer, D. 815
Monteverdi Choir, Sir John Eliot Gardiner

English composer Richard Dering (1580-1630) spent much of his life in the Netherlands where he could practise his Roman Catholic faith with impunity.
The Latin translates as “Hail, true body”. Franz Schubert wrote this gorgeous work in a day in September 1824. It is scored for SATB with piano accompaniment. The German title translates as “You source of all goodness”

Johann Kaspar Kerll: Passacaglia
Robert Parkins, organ
Brombaugh Organ, Op. 34 in Duke University Memorial Chapel

Randall Thompson: Ye shall have a song
Atlanta Sacred Chorale, Eric Nelson

Dr. Robert Parkins has been the University Organist of Duke University since 1985. “Ye shall have a song” is one of the movements from the composer’s “The Peaceable Kingdom” which was written in 1936.

Gregorian Chant: Beata viscera
Le Concert Spirituel, Herve Niquet

Herbert Howells: Communion Service (Collegium Regale)
Worcester Cathedral Choir, Donald Hunt
Adrian Partington, organ

French conductor Herve Niquet established his ensemble “Le Concert Spirituel” in 1987. English composer Herbert Howells wrote his Communion Service for King’s College, Cambridge (Collegium Regale) about ten years after he wrote the Morning and Evening Canticles for the same institution. He had filled in as Organist at St. John’s College during the war. That stint of musical service as well as a challenge from Dr. Eric-Milner-White, Dean of King’s and creator of the famous Service of Nine Lessons and Carols, spurred Howells to revitalize the Anglican church music repertoire in the latter part of his life.

J.S. Bach: Cantata 102, “Herr, deine Augen sehen nach dem Glauben”
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 “Lord, Thine eyes look towards the Faith!” The cantata opens with a short sinfonia which leads to one of those energetic choruses which Bach seems to craft from the most simple musical motives. The work was first performed in Leipzig on August 25, 1726.

George Frideric Handel: Chandos Anthem No. 07, “My song shall be
alway” Psalm 89
The Sixteen Choir and Orchestra, Harry Christophers
Patrizia Kwella, soprano; James Bowman, alto;
Ian Partridge, tenor; Michael George, bass

English composer Handel wrote his setting of Psalm 89 whilst in the employ of James Brydges, Duke of Chandos in 1717.

Maurice Duruflé: Prelude and Fugue on the Name of Alain, Op. 7
David MacDonald, organ
1963 Casavant organ at the Basilica of Notre Dame du Cap, Cap de La Madeleine, Quebec

You have to visit the Basilica’s web site to get an idea of the beauty of this shrine located near Trois Rivieres, Quebec.

Ralph Vaughan Williams: Sancta Civitas
Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, Sir David Willcocks
Ian Partridge, tenor; John Shirley-Quirk, baritone

The Latin title translates as “The Holy City”; however, the libretto is in English. Written in 1923, this short oratorio uses texts from the Book of Revelation.

Carl Maria von Weber: Mass No. 2 in G, Op. 76
Vancouver Chamber Choir; CBC Vancouver Orchestra, Jon Washburn
Henriette Schellenberg, soprano; Laverne G’Froerer, mezzo-soprano;
Keith Boldt, tenor; George Roberts, baritone

German composer Carl Maria von Weber was noted for his operas and orchestral music. He did, however, compose two masses. The Mass in G major was written in 1818-1819.