May 2, 2010

Christ, Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, 6th cent.

Then he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. [NRSV, Revelation 21:6].


Christ Church Cathedral Choir Notes
Fifth Sunday of Easter

Click to go immediately to:

1) The
Music Programme Homepage

2) The Music Calendar for Choral Eucharist and Evensong

3) The Concert Calendar



Richard Shepard, Iesu, dulce memoria, is the communion anthem this coming Sunday, the Fifth of Easter. Click to read briefly about Iesu, dulce memoria and to listen to a number of different versions.



Click to read about Eric Whitacre's virtual choir and how he does it. Listen to Lux aurumque sung by 185 voices in 12 countries.

Eric Whitacre




2010 is the 450 anniversary of the birth of Antoine Brumel (1460-1512/13)


Performance by an unidentified ensemble of Antoine Brumel, Gloria, from the Missa Et ecce terrae motus, for 12 voices. [YouTube]

Performance of Antoine Brumel, Missa Et ecce terrae motus, by the Tallis Scholars, Peter Phillips conducting. [NML] (info)

Chris Binion, Earthquake



Click to go to Johann Sebastian Bach, Cantata 86, p

Unknown, Jesus Teaches his Disciples, Pitt Theological Library, Emory University, 16th cent.

April 25, 2010

Illustrator of the Bamberg Apocalypse, Reichenau, The Lamb on Mount Zion, Staats Bibliotheek, Bamberg, 1000-20

For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes [NRSV, Revelation 7:17].

Christ Church Cathedral Choir Notes
Fourth Sunday of Easter

Click to go immediately to:

1) The
Music Programme Homepage

2) The Music Calendar for Choral Eucharist and Evensong

3) The Concert Calendar



The organ voluntaries, the introit and the canticles for evensong this coming Sunday, the Fourth of Easter, are by Charles Villiers Stanford. Click to go to all of Stanford's canticles for evensong performed by the Winchester Cathedral Choir, David Hill conducting.

Winchester Cathedral Choir, Sarah Baldock conducting


The spring concert of Musica Orbium, Patrick Wedd directing, Sunday, April 25, 7:30 pm, at Christ Church Cathedral, celebrates the Earth. Click for information about the programme and tickets, as well as about the composers and free online performances.


2010 is the 850th anniversary of the birth of Perotin (1160-1205).


Click to read about Perotin and listen to versions of his Beata Viscera by The Hilliard Ensemble and Rebecca Hickey of the Tonus Peregrinus.

Norman Psalter, Mary and Child, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague, c. 1180



Click to go to Johann Sebastian Bach, Cantata 4, performance by Boy Soprano: (No Name); Alto:Paul Esswood; Tenor: Kurt Equiluz; Bass: Max van Egmond; Wiener Sängerknaben & Chorus Viennensis (Chorus Master: Hans Gillesberger) /Concentus Musicus Wien; Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting.

Giovanni Bellini, Resurrection of Christ, Staatliche Museen, Berlin, 1475-79

April 18, 2010

Albrecht Dürer, St. John and the Twenty-four Elders in Heaven, woodcut, c.1496-98

Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands [NRSV, Revelation 5:11].

Christ Church Cathedral Choir Notes
Third Sunday of Easter

Click to go immediately to:

1) The
Music Programme Homepage

2) The Music Calendar for Choral Eucharist and Evensong

3) The Concert Calendar



The introit for evensong this coming Sunday, the Third of Easter, is a choral version of O filii et filiae. The organ voluntaries are both organ interpretations. Click to read about O filii et filiae and listen to a number of choral and organ versions.

Il Baciccio,
The Women at the Tomb, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, c.1685


The spring concert of Musica Orbium, Patrick Wedd directing, Sunday, April 25, 7:30 pm, at Christ Church Cathedral, celebrates the Earth. Click for information about the programme and tickets, as well as about the composers and free online performances.


2010 is the 350th anniversary of the birth of André Campra (1660-1774)


Performance of André Campra, Insere Domino, by Rodrigo del Pozo [YouTube]. Click on chevrons for Latin text and translation and names of musicians.

André Campra





Click to go to Johann Sebastian Bach, Cantata 85, performance by Tenor: Kurt Equiluz; Bass: Philippe Huttenlocher; Tölzer Knabenchor(Chorus Master: Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden) /Concentus Musicus Wien; Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting.

Eric Gill, Good Shepherd, Tate Collections, London, 1926





April 11, 2010

Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez, St. John the Evangelist at Patmos, National Gallery, c. 1618

John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne [NRSV, Revelation 1:4].

Christ Church Cathedral Choir Notes
Second Sunday of Easter

Click to go immediately to:

1) The
Music Programme Homepage

2) The Music Calendar for Choral Eucharist and Evensong

3) The Concert Calendar



Johann Sebastian Bach, Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele, BWV 654, is the organ prelude for evensong this coming Sunday, the Second Sunday of Easter. It is one of the Leipzig Chorales, the 18 Great Chorales. It has it's source in a text by Johann Franck put to music by Johannes Crüger.

Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele,
Lass die dunkle Sündenhöhle,
Komm ans helle Licht gegangen,
Fange herrlich an zu prangen!

Denn der Herr, voll Heil und Gnaden,
Der den Himmel kann verwalten,
Will jetzt Herberg in dir halten.

--Johann Franck, 1649

Deck thyself, my soul, with gladness,
Leave the gloomy haunts of sadness
Come into the daylight's splendor,
There with joy Thy praises render

Unto him whose grace unbounded
Hath this wondrous banquet founded,
High o'er all the heab'ns He reigneth,
Yet to dwell with thee He deigneth.

--Catherine Winkworth

Performance by Werner Jacobs on the 1736 Moreau organ of the Sint Janskerk, Gouda, Holland [listen]

Performance by Kei Koito on the Schnitger organ of the Martinikerk, Groningen, Netherlands [listen]


Performance of Ton Koopman on the 1714 Silbermann organ of the St. Mary Cathedral in Freiberg, Saxony [YouTube]

Performance by Marie-Claire Alain [YouTube]

Performance by Nuno Oliveira on the 2005 Machado organ in Nossa Senhora do Cabo Church, Lisbon [YouTube]

Performance by Christopher Herrick on 1982 Metzler organ in the Jesuit Church, Lucerne [listen]

Performance by Bine Katrine Bryndorf on the 1741 Wagner organ of Nidaros Cathedral, Norway [listen]



In February Ryan Enright, former assistant organist at Christ Church Cathedral (2002-2005), now preparing for his doctorate at the Eastman School of Music, took part in a three day organ festival in Rochester, New York. This past Sunday, a work that he performed on the 2008 GoART Casparini organ of Christ Church Episcopal, Samuel Adler's Festival Proclamation, was featured on Pipedreams. To listen, click here, then click on "1014 Hour 2," then hold button and slide to 86:10 (86 minutes and 10 seconds).

Ryan Enright

2010 is the 250 anniversary of the birth of Luigi Cherubini (1760-1842)


Click to go to Luigi Cherubini, Messe solennelle in A-major for the coronation of Charles X, performance by the Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus, Riccardo Muti conducting.
Charles X by François Gérard






Click to go to Johann Sebastian Bach, Cantata 67, performance by Ingeborg Danz, alto; James Taylor, tenor; Michael Volle, bass; Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart; Bach-Kollegium Stuttgart; Helmuth Rilling, conductor.
Duccio di Buoninsegna, Doubting Thomas, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Siena, 1308-11