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 5, 2018 https://spoti.fi/2MnXgtp
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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J.S. Bach and Charles Gounod: Ave Maria
Dame Janet Baker, mezzo-soprano; Philip Ledger, organ
Olivier Messiaen: O sacrum convivium
Cambridge Singers, John Rutter
George Frideric Handel: See, the conquering hero comes ~ Judas
Maccabaeus
Wandsworth School Choir; English Chamber Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras
Charles Gounod composed the melody for this Ave Maria and set it over J.S. Bach’s first prelude from the Well-Tempered Clavier. It was heard in the 1971 film “Mad Dogs and Englishmen.” “O sacrum convivium” translates as “O sacred feast”. It was heard in the 1999 film “Stigmata.” Originally written for his oratorio “Joshua” in 1747, Handel added this chorus to his oratorio “Judas Maccabeus” in 1746. It was heard in the 1997 film “Fairy Tale: A True Story” and the 1985 film “Out of Africa.”
Johannes Brahms: How lovely is thy dwelling place ~ A German Requiem
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Robert Shaw
Gabriel Fauré: Cantique de Jean Racine, Op. 11
Winchester Cathedral Choir, David Hill
Stephen Farr, organ
W.A. Mozart: Church Sonata in B flat, K. 212
Amsterdam Mozart Players
Peter Hurford, organ
1976 K. B. Blank organ in Bethlehemkerk, Papendrecht, Holland
This much-loved movement from Brahms A German Requiem was heard in the 2000 film “Love Lessons.” Faure composed his Cantique de Jean Racine in 1864-65 at age 19. It was heard in the 1995 film “Babe.” Mozart’s church sonatas are short works for organ and strings written to be played between the reading of the Epistle and Gospel during the Mass.
GSM Commentary: The Right Reverend Peter Lee
The Right Reverend Peter James Lee was Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia for 25 years before retiring in 2009. He then engaged in a series of interim ministries in San Francisco, New York City, Paris, North Carolina and Washington, DC. He is now retired and lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.”
George Frideric Handel: And the glory of the Lord ~ Messiah
Gabrieli Consort and Players, Paul McCreesh
Patrick Doyle, orchestrated by Lawrence Ashmore: Non nobis, Domine ~ Henry V
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, with the Stephen Hill Singers and members of the Renaissance Theatre Company, Sir Simon Rattle
Patrick Doyle, baritone
“And the glory of the Lord” captures the radiance of the Transfiguration better than any anthem I can think of. This composition is heard in Kenneth Branagh’s 1989 film adaptation of Shakespeare’s play.
Gregorio Allegri: Miserere mei, Deus
Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, Stephen Cleobury
Alistair Hussain, treble; Edward Gardner, cantor
J.S. Bach: Toccata in D minor, BWV 565
Wayne Marshall, organ
Originally only heard in the Sistine Chapel during Holy Week, Allegri’s setting of Psalm 51 was introduced to the world by a young Mozart who heard it and copied it from memory. It is heard in “Angela’s Ashes”, “Chariots of Fire” and “Face/Off” This familiar organ work was heard in “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,” “Fantasia” and “The Aviator”.
J.S. Bach: Cantata 101, “Nimm von uns Herr, du treuer Gott”
Bach Collegium Japan; Concerto Palatino, Masaaki Suzuki
Yukari Nonoshita, soprano; Robin Blaze, countertenor
Gerd Turk, tenor; Peter Kooy, bass-baritone
The German translates as “Take from us, Lord, Thou faithful God”. This cantata was first performed on August 13, 1724 in Leipzig. Craig Smith comments that “The opening chorus of Cantata BWV 101 is one of the mightiest and grandest of all of Bach’s choruses. It is unique in that trombones and cornetto are used to double the voices not in an austere neo-Renaissance type piece, but one with elaborate independent orchestral parts.”
Antonio Vivaldi: Gloria in D, RV 589
Taverner Choir & Players, Andrew Parrott
Emily Van Evera, soprano; Nancy Argenta, soprano
Alison Place, mezzo-soprano; Catherine King, mezzo-soprano
Margaret Cable, contralto
Peter Carey writes: “Antonio Lucio Vivaldi composed this Gloria in Venice, probably in 1715, for the choir of the Ospedale della Pietà, an orphanage for girls (or more probably a home, generously endowed by the girls’ “anonymous” fathers, for the illegitimate daughters of Venetian noblemen and their mistresses). The Ospedale prided itself on the quality of its musical education and the excellence of its choir and orchestra. Vivaldi, a priest, music teacher and virtuoso violinist, composed many sacred works for the Ospedale, where he spent most of his career, as well as hundreds of instrumental concertos to be played by the girls’ orchestra. This, his most famous choral piece, presents the traditional Gloria from the Latin Mass in twelve varied cantata-like sections.” It was heard in “Nixon” (1995), “Shine” (1996), and “Someone To Watch Over Me” (1987)
Randall Thompson: Mass of the Holy Spirit
Schola Cantorum of Oxford, James Burton
Morten Lauridsen writes: “Whereas Thompson looked to the Baroque as a compositional springboard for The Peaceable Kingdom, the musical materials of the a cappella Mass owe more not only to the eighteenth-century but also to the style and characteristics of Renaissance counterpoint, especially as seen in the music of Orlandus Lassus.”
Manuel Arenzana: Mass
Mexico City Chorus and Chamber Orchestra, Benjamin Jaurez Echenique
Irasema Terrazas, soprano; Gabriela Thierry, mezzo-soprano
Flavio Becerra, tenor; Jorge Cozatl, bass; Ivan Juarez, bass
Mexican composer Manuel Arenzana was Maestro de Capilla of the Cathedral in Puebla from 1792 to 1821.
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