October 9, 2011


Alexander Master, Leper Giving Thanks, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague, 1430

Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan [NRSV, Luke 17:15-16].

Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
Harvest Thanksgiving
October 9, 2011

Click to go immediately to:




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The Annual Choir Fundraiser is Friday, November 4, at 7:30 pm.  How can I keep from singing?, an evening of some of the best loved anthems and hymns from the classical age of choral music.  Works by Bach, Fauré, Handel, Gibbons, Mozart and many others. Click here for complete information.




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Johann Sebastian Bach


The prelude for evensong this coming Sunday consists of three short, one-keyboard pieces that bring to a conclusion the Kyrie section of the Missa brevis (Kyrie and Gloria) that, following the great St. Anne prelude, open Johann Sebastian BachClavier-Übung III, the so-called German Organ Mass.

The German Kyrie has its roots in the Gregorian Kyrie fons bonitatisClick to go to the text and chant by the Benedictine monks of Santo Domingo de Silos.

Bach's treatment of the Kyrie involves six separate pieces, all based on the pre-existing melody found in the German language Kyrie as derived from the Kyrie fons bonitatis.

This pre-existing melody, or cantus firmus, is heard first in the soprano (God the Father, BWV 669), then in the tenor (Christ the mediator, BWV 670) and finally in the bass (the Holy Ghost, BWV 671). The music is stark and austere, but not overly contrite; its serene force rather evokes humankind’s trust in God, and only the poignant conclusion of BWV 671 reminds us that pardon should never be taken for granted.

The three short, single-keyboard pieces which follow and which make up the prelude for our Sunday's evensong (BWV 672-674) recall the brief versets written by Frescobaldi to alternate with the choir. Bach's three pieces are also linked by a rhythmic progression.

Girolamo Frescobaldi, Kyrie degli Apostoli, performed by Federico Del Sordo, at the 1670-1683 Testa-Alari organ of the Church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, Rome; and the Schola Cantorum Romana, Alessandro Bacchiega conducting. [YouTube]

Paul Jacobs celebrated the reinstallation of the 1974 Kuhn pipe organ at Lincoln Center’s renovated Alice Tully Hall with a performance of Clavier-Übung III.  In this presentation the Kyrie is rearranged so that 669 is followed by 672; 670 by 673; and 671 by 674.  Each of the couplets is preceded by the German chorale sung by the Clarion Choir, Steven Fox conducting.


Click to go to this program.  Then click on "112 hour 1,"
then for Kyrie, Gott Vater in Ewigkeit [text], hold button at slide to 13:00 (13 minutes and 0 seconds);
For God the Father, BWV 669, hold button and slide to 13:48;
For BWV 672, hold button and slide to 16:55


For Christe, aller Welt Trost [text], hold button and slide to 18:24;
For Christ the Mediator, BWV 670, hold button and slide to 19:39;
For BWV 673, hold button and slide to 23:35;


For Kyrie, Gott Heiliger Geist [text], hold button and slide to 25:00;
For The Holy Ghost, BWV 671, hold button and slide to 26:01;
For BWV 674, hold button and slide to 30:25.


The programme may be heard continuously from any point.


Click to go to Clavier-Übung III for extensive information and the possibility of listening to multiple versions of the entire work or of individual segments. 


(Thanks especially to Marc-André Doran.)



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Le FESTIVAL DES COULEURS
de l'orgue français

Seventeenth Season - Autumn 2011

The Sundays of October, 2011, at 3:00 pm

October 9: Jon Laukvik

October 16: Régis Rousseau

October 23: Nicolas Alexandre Marcotte

October 30: Jens Korndörfer

The recitals are free.


Chapel of the Grand Séminaire de Montréal
 2065 Sherbrooke West
 (Métro Guy-Concordia, bus 24)


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Bach Cantatas for the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity 








Louisa Anne, Marchioness of Waterford, 1818-1891, Christ Raising the Dead, Tate Collections, UK.


Click to go to Johann Sebastian BachLiebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben? / Dearest God, when shall I die?, Cantata 8, with performances by Gardiner, Herreweghe, Leonhardt, Leusink, Rifkin, Rilling and Thomas.


Click to go to Johann Sebastian BachWer weiß, wie nahe mir mein Ende? / Who knows how near my end is to me?, Cantata 27, with performances by Gardiner, Kuijken, Leusink and Richter.


Click to go to Johann Sebastian BachChristus, der ist mein Leben / Christ is my life, Cantata 95, with performances by Gardiner, HarnoncourtLeusink and Suzuki.


Click to go to Johann Sebastian Bach, Komm, du süße Todesstunde / Come, sweet hour of death, Cantata 161, with performances by  Gardiner, Harnoncourt , Koopman, Leusink, Linde, Sándor, Schröder and Thomas.