I post these playlists weekly with the hope that you might find them useful as you plan your programs. All of my playlists are on Spotify for you to enjoy at your convenience.
GSM – August 12, 2018 https://spoti.fi/2nA1h31
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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Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina: Exsultate Deo
Choir of Westminster Cathedral, Stephen Cleobury
Gerald Near: Holy is the True Light
Choirs of St. John’s Cathedral, Denver, Donald Pearson
Eric Plutz, organ
Ronald Arnatt: Festival Psalm
Choir of Riverside Church, New York, Dr. John Walker
J. David Williams, organ
We normally associate the music of Palestrina with descriptions such as suave or smooth. His setting of “Exsultate Deo” shows the composer’s skill in setting more exuberant texts. American composer Gerald Near (1942-) studied with Leo Sowerby. Dr. Ronald Arnatt (1930-) was organist and director of music at several American churches including Christ Church Cathedral in St. Louis, Missouri.
Johann Stamitz: Motetto de Venerabili Sacramento
Alsfeld Vocal Ensemble; Bremen Baroque Orchestra, Wolfgang Helbich
Monika Frimmer, soprano
African-American spiritual, arr. Undine Smith: Moore
We Shall Walk Through the Valley, VocalEssence Ensemble Singers
Philip Brunelle
Alexandre Guilmant: Cantilene-Pastorale, Op. 19
Simon Lindley, organ
Harrison & Harrison Organ in Leeds Parish Church
Czech composer Johann Stamitz’s communion motet “O salutaris hostia” is scored for soprano, choir and orchestra. In addition to their many concerts and recordings, the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers served as the house choir on NPR’s “A Prairie Home Companion”. Alexandre Guilmant (1837-1911) and Olivier Messiaen were both organists of Eglise de la Sante-Trinite in Paris. Guilmant began his tenure in 1871. Olivier Messaien was organist from 1931 until 1992.
GSM Commentary: Dr. Larry Abernathy
Benjamin Britten: Jubilate in C; Te Deum in C
Holst Singers, Stephen Layton
Jean-Baptiste Lully: De profundis
Le Concert Spirituel, Herve Niquet
Veronique Gens, soprano; Brigitte Vinson, soprano
Herve Lamy, tenor; Jean-Paul Fouchecourt, tenor
Peter Harvey, bass
English composer Benjamin Britten wrote his Jubilate in C in 1961 for St. George’s Chapel, Windsor at the request of the Duke of Edinburgh. He composed his Te Deum in C in 1944 to celebrate the centenary of St Mark’s Church, Swindon. The choral music of the Italian-born Lully deserves to be performed more frequently than it is. In my opinion Lully shares Vivaldi’s gift for setting his texts with music which makes the words leap off the page.
J.S. Bach: Cantata 113, “Herr Jesu Christ, du Hochstes Gut”
Bach Collegium Japan, Masaaki Suzuki
Yukari Nonoshita, soprano; Robin Blaze, countertenor
Gerd Turk, tenor; Peter Kooy, bass-baritone
The German translates as “Lord Jesus Christ, Thou highest good”. Of note is the very difficult flute part accompanying the tenor aria. This cantata was first performed in Leipzig on August 20, 1724.
Max Reger: Chorale Fantasia on “Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott”, Op. 27
Martin Welzel, organ
1974 Johannes Klais Organ, Trier Cathedral
The Klais instrument in Trier Cathedral is a large 4 manual instrument hung in a swallow’s nest case in the north transept. Its stops and voicing are well-suited to the musical demands of Max Reger’s organ music.
Karl Jenkins: The Peacemakers
Berlin Radio Choir; City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus; London Symphony
Orchestra; The Really Big Chorus (1000 voices), Karl Jenkins
The Peacemakers is Welsh composer Karl Jenkins’ (b. 1944) latest major choral work. It consists of 17 movements with texts by Gandhi, Martin Luther King, the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, Anne Frank and Mother Teresa, the Bible and the Qur’an.
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