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 – June 18, 2017 https://goo.gl/SUh9kV
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.H. Knecht: God my Father, loving me
Choir of Wells Cathedral, Malcolm Archer
Rupert Gough, organ
Text: George Wallace Briggs Tune: Vienna by
J.H. Knecht
Joseph Corfe: Psalm 30
Ely Cathedral Choir, Paul Trepte
David Price, organ
Alec Wyton: A Hymne to God the Father
Choirs of St. John’s Cathedral, Denver, Donald Pearson
Eric Plutz, organ
English priest George Wallace Briggs (1875-1959) wrote the text for the hymn “God my Father, loving me” which is normally sung to the tune “Vienna” by J.H. Knecht (1752-1817). English musician Joseph Corfe (1740-1820) was Organist of Salisbury Cathedral from 1792 until 1804. English organist Alec Wyton emigrated to America in the 1950s and served as Organist and Choirmaster of New York’s Cathedral of Saint John the Divine from 1954-1974.
Giuseppe Verdi: Pater noster
Verdi Chorus of Milan, Riccardo Chailly
Sir Edward Elgar: Lux aeterna
Choir of St. John’s, Elora, Noel Edison
Matthew Larkin, organ
Set to the tune of Nimrod from the Enigma Variations
Franz Liszt: The Lord’s Prayer (Pater noster) ~ Christus
Gachinger Kantorei Stuttgart; Krakow Chamber Choir; Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, Helmuth Rilling
Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi is best known for his operas. However, towards the end of his life he wrote for sacred motets of which this setting of the Our Father Prayer is one. The pairing of the soothing words of the “Lux Aeterna” text from the Requiem liturgy with Sir Edward Elgar’s “Nimrod” variation from his Enigma Variations throbs with emotion. Hungarian composer Franz Liszt composed and performed music in larger than life terms. This exquisite choral setting of the “Pater Noster” is one of the fourteen movements in his oratorio “Christus” which itself runs almost three hours.
Gerre Hancock: Air & Toccata
Todd WIlson, organ
Arents organ in Saint Thomas Church, New York
Francis Jackson: Remember for good, O Father
Choir of York Minster, Philip Moore
John Scott Whitely, organ
Texas native Gerre Hancock was Organist and Choirmaster of Saint Thomas Church, New York from 1971-2004. The “Air” and “Toccata” come from a 2 CD set which Todd Wilson recorded on the Arents Organ at Saint Thomas’ before it was decommissioned in June 2016. Dr. Francis became Organist of York Minster in 1946 at age 29. He retired in 1982. At age 99 he still plays, lectures and composes.
John Rutter: I am with you always
Cambridge Singers; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, John Rutter
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Father We Praise Thee
Choir of the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, Thomas Somerville
Frederick Swann, organ
J.S. Bach: Vater unser im Himmelreich
Hans Fagius, organ
1764 Wahlberg organ of Fredrikskyrkan, Karlskrona, Sweden
English composer John Rutter (1945-) composed his anthem “I am with you always” for a festival service held in Ely Cathedral in May 2009. The deliberate pace and expansive nature of the music suits a large choir singing in the spacious acoustic of an ancient cathedral such as Ely. That English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams who was an avowed atheist would be attracted to sacred music is something which has always fascinated scholars. “Father we praise thee” is one of his finer hymn arrangements. According to one source, “the melody is an arrangement of Christe sanctorum and the words have been attributed to Gregory the Great, from the sixth century. Herr Bach left us two settings of the “Our Father Prayer”, this one being found in “Ogelbuchlein.”
J.S. Bach: Cantata 39, “Brich dem Hungrigen dein Brot”
Monteverdi Choir; English Baroque Soloists, Sir John Eliot Gardiner
Gillian Keith, soprano; Wilke te Brummelstroete, alto
Paul Agnew, tenor; Dietrich Henschel, bass
The German translates as “Give bread to the hungry.” This cantata was first performed in Leipzig on June 23, 1726. Scholars think that Bach borrowed some of the musical ideas in this cantata from his older cousin Johann Ludwig Bach. Duke Ernst Ludwig wrote the libretto.
Felix Mendelssohn: Sonata in D minor, Op. 65 No. 6
John Scott, organ
Mander organ in St. Paul’s Cathedral, London
German composer Felix Mendelssohn wrote six sonatas for the organ. This Sonata in D minor uses the “Our Father” or “Vater Unser Himmelreich” chorale as its theme.
Jan Dismas Zelenka: Missa Dei Patris
Thüringischer Akademischer Singkreis; Virtuosi Saxoniae, Ludwig Guttler
Venceslava Hruba-Freiberger, soprano; Rene Jacobs, alto
Reinhart Ginzel, tenor; Olaf Bar, bass
Friedrich Kircheis, continuo organ
The contrast in musical styles between the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and his Bohemian contemporary Jan Zelenka (1679-1745) is stunning. You wonder how these two musicians could be living at the same time as their compositional styles are so very different. The Latin title translates as “Mass of the Father of God”.
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