January 25, 2009

Michelangelo Buonarroti, Jonah the Prophet, Cappella Sistina, Vatican


Christ Church Cathedral Choir Notes
3rd Sunday after Epiphany
January 25, 2009

Click to go immediately to:







Orlande de Lassus, Missa ad imitationem moduli Vinum bonum, the setting for Choral Eucharist this coming Sunday, January 25, is a parody Mass.

Click to read about Orlande de Lassus in Wikipedia.

Click to read about parody Mass.

Click to listen to three different versions of Orlande de Lassus, Vinum bonum et suave, and the Missa ad imitationem moduli Vinum bonum.





Among the centennial observances in 2009 is the 200th anniversary of the death of Joseph Haydn and the birth, in the same year, of Felix Mendelssohn.




Click to read about Felix Mendelssohn (1809-47) in Wikipedia.

Click to go to an hour and half programme of organ music online by Felix Mendelssohn on Pipedreams with a commentary by Michael Barone.







Click to read about Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) in Wikipedia.

Click to read about and listen to Joseph Haydn, Schöpfungsmesse (Creation Mass),H XXII 13,by April Cantelo, soprano; Helen Watts, contralto; Robert Tear, tenor; Forbes Robinson, bass; The Choir of St. John's College, Cambridge; Academy of St Martin-in-the Fields; George Guest conducting.


Other Commemorations in 2009: 250th Anniversary of the death of George Frideric Handel and the 350th anniversary of the birth of Henry Purcell.



Click to read about George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) in Wikipedia.
Along with an amazing output of all sorts of music, Handel composed what is generally agreed to be 14 organ concerti, originally played by Handel himself as interludes for his oratorios.


In a series of 4 discs, covering all 14 organ concerti, put out by Analekta, Genevieve Soly has the 1st disc with 4 concerti, performed on the Warren organ of St. Stephen's Anglican Church in Chambly, Quebec.

Click to listen to the four organ concerti performed by Genevieve Soly with the Ensemble Carl Philipp, Jean-François Rivest conducting. Don't forget to read the extensive programme notes, not only about the music, but also the Warren organ.



Click to read about Henry Purcell (1659-1695).

In his short life Purcell produced a wealth of church music, most of which is available for online listening.

Click to listen (with text) to O Sing to the Lord, Z44; O praise God in his holiness, Z42; Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem, Z46; and It is a good thing to give thanks, Z 18; performed with soloists; the Choir of New College, Oxford; and The King's Consort; Robert King conducting.



McGill Autumn Noon-Hour Organ Recital Series
The Wolff organ of Redpath Hall - Admission Free

Fridays from January 30 to March 20 at 12:30 pm

Friday, January 30: Federico Andreoni, works by Frescobaldi, J.S. Bach, Cabanilles, de Arauxo, Morandi, Moretti, D'Anglebert.

Friday, February 6: Jonathan Oldengarm.



Click to go to Johann Sebastian Bach, Cantata 20, performed by Alto: Paul Esswood; Tenor: Kurt Equiluz; Bass: Max van Egmond; Wiener Sängerknaben & Chorus Viennensis (Chorus Master: Hans Gillesberger) / Concentus Musicus Wien; Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting.

January 18, 2009

Jan Victors, Hannah giving her son Samuel to the priest Eli, Staatliche Museen, Berlin, 1645


Christ Church Cathedral Choir Notes
2nd Sunday after Epiphany
January 18, 2009


Click to go immediately to:

1) The Music Programme Homepage

2) The Music Calendar for Choral Eucharist and Evensong

3) The Concert Calendar.


Among the centennial observances in 2009 is the 200th anniversary of the death of Joseph Haydn and the birth, in the same year, of Felix Mendelssohn.



Click to read about Felix Mendelssohn in Wikipedia.

All four organ voluntaries this coming Sunday, January 18, are from Felix Mendelssohn, Organ Sonatas, op. 65.

Those with access to Naxos Music Library (Cardholders of la Bibliothèque nationale du Québec and members of "Beethoven on Demand" among others [info]) may listen online to Felix Mendelssohn, Organ Sonatas, op. 65, performed by Stephen Tharp. [[NML]; or performed by Michael Dudman [NML].




Click to read about Joseph Haydn in Wikipedia.

Click to read about and listen to Joseph Haydn, Theresienmesse, H XXII 12, by Erna Spoorenberg, soprano; Bernadette Greevy, contralto;John Mitchinson, tenor; Tom Krause, baritone; Brian Runnett, organ; The Choir of St. John's College, Cambridge; Academy of St Martin-in-the Fields; George Guest conducting.





Kent Nagano, this coming Friday and Sunday, January 16 and 18, (info) is conducting Johann Sebastian Bach, Mass in B Minor, BWV232. This past Sunday at Choral Eucharist and evensong, two of Bach's chorale-preludes with the same theme, Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam, BWV 684-5, were performed. They are both part of Bach's Clavierübung III which is often called the German Organ Mass.

Marc-André Doran writes: In my opinion, Clavierübung III is the equivalent, for the organ, of the B-Minor Mass (BWV 232), with its multiple vocal, choral and instrumental combinations.



Click to read about and listen to Johann Sebastian Bach, Clavierübung III, performed, with the exception of the Praeludium, by Bernard Lagacé on the 1961 Beckerath organ of l'Église de l'Immaculée Conception in Montreal.

Click to watch the complete October 28, 2008, performance of Johann Sebastian Bach, Mass in B Minor, BWV. 232, performed by the Trinity Church (Wall Street) Choir directed by Andrew Megill with the Rebel Baroque Orchestra. Don't forget to download the programme as well.



McGill Autumn Noon-Hour Organ Recital Series

The Wolff organ of Redpath Hall - Admission Free
Fridays from January 30 to March 20 at 12:30 pm

Friday, January 30: Federico Andreoni



Click to go to Johann Sebastian Bach, Cantata 38, performed by Boy Soprano: Soloist of the Wiener Sängerknaben (No Name); Alto: Paul Esswood; Tenor: Kurt Equiluz; Bass: Ruud van der Meer; Wiener Sängerknaben & Chorus Viennensis (Chorus Master: Hans Gillesberger) / Concentus Musicus Wien; Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting.

January 11, 2009 Extra

Piero della Francesca, Baptism of Christ, National Gallery, London, 1448-50


Christ Church Cathedral Choir Notes
January 11, 2009 Extra


Click to go immediately to:

Click to go to the main page for January 11, 2009

This upcoming Sunday, January 11, is the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.

All four organ voluntaries at Christ Church Cathedral (Choral Eucharist and evensong) are chorale preludes, Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam, two by Johann Sebastian Bach, BWV 684, and BWV 685; one by Johann Pachelbel and the last by Dietrich Buxtehude, BuxWV 180.

Click to read what a chorale is.

Then click to read what a chorale-prelude is.

Click for the Martin Luther's text (and an English translation) of Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam.

Johann Sebastian Bach, Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam: Chorale Prelude, BWV 685, performed by Bernard Lagacé, on the 1961 Beckerath organ of l’Église de l’Immaculée-Conception, Montreal [listen]; followed by the Chorale Setting, BWV 280, performed by the  Nordic Chamber Choir / Soloists of the Freiburger Barockorchester; Nicol Matt conducting. [listen]





St. Giles' without Cripplegate, c. 1830


Click to listen to Johann Sebastian Bach, Cantata 7, BWV 7, based on the chorale, Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam, performed by Soprano: Joanne Lunn; Alto: Wilke te Brummelstroete; Tenor: Paul Agnew; Bass: Dietrich Henschel; Monteverdi Choir / English Baroque Soloists; John Eliot Gardiner conducting; live recording from the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage, at St. Giles Cripplegate, London.

Johann Sebastian Bach, Cantata 7, BWV 7,performed by Suzie LeBlanc, soprano; Daniel Taylor, alto; Charles Daniels, tenor; Stephan Mcleod, bass; Montreal Baroque, Eric Milnes conducting. [NML] [text in German and English].

It is interesting to compare the Chorale Setting, BWV, 280, with the opening chorus of Cantata 7, BWV 7, in which the same text is sung.

Johann Sebastian Bach, BWV 280, performed by the  Nordic Chamber Choir / Soloists of the Freiburger Barockorchester; Nicol Matt conducting. [listen]


What follows are all Chorale Preludes:




The 1961 Beckerath organ of l’Église de l’Immaculée-Conception, Montreal


Click to listen to Johann Sebastian Bach, Chorale Prelude: Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam, BWV 684, performed by Bernard Lagacé [BNQ] , on the 1961 Beckerath organ of l’Église de l’Immaculée-Conception, Montreal.

Click to listen to Johann Sebastian Bach, Chorale Prelude: Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam, BWV 685, performed by Bernard Lagacé [BNQ] , on the 1961 Beckerath organ of l’Église de l’Immaculée-Conception, Montreal.

Click to download Johann Sebastian Bach, Chorale Prelude: Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam, BWV 685, performed by James Kibbie on the 1722 Gottfried Silbermann organ, (virtual tour) Marienkirche, Rötha, Germany.

Click to listen to Dietrich Buxtehude, Chorale Prelude: Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam, BuxWV 180, performed by Ulrick Spang-Hanssen on the Schnitger Organ in Norden.

Click to listen to Dietrich Buxtehude, Chorale Prelude: Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam, BuxWV 180, performed by Olivier Vernet.


1599 Wilde - 1682 Schnitger organ of Saint Jacobi Church, Lüdingworth, Germany


To listen to Dietrich Buxtehude, Chorale Prelude: Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam, BuxWV 180, performed by Ton Koopman on the 1599 Wilde /1682 Schnitger organ of Saint Jacobi Church, Lüdingworth, Germany, click here, then click on "839 Part I," then hold button and slide to 17:46 (17 minutes and 46 seconds). For some introductory remarks by Michael Barone, begin at 16:39 (16 minutes and 39 seconds).

Click to download Johann Pachelbel, Chorale Prelude: Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam, performed by Antoine Bouchard on the 1964 Casavant organ of L'Église St-Pascal-de-Kamouraska, Quebec.

Johann Pachelbel, Chorale Prelude: Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam, performed by Joseph Payne on 1778 Malleck organ of the Domkirche, Eisenstadt, Austria. [Listen]


1793 Holzhey organ at Rot-an-der-Rot

To listen to Johann Christian Kittel, Chorale Prelude: Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam, performed by Franz Raml on the 1793 Holzhey organ of the Rot-an-der-Rot Basilica, Germany, click here, then click on "Listen to the program," then hold button and slide to 16:33 (16 minutes and 33 seconds).

January 11, 2009

Pieter Aertsen, Adoration of the Magi, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, c.1560

Christ Church Cathedral Choir Notes
January 11, 2009

Click to go immediately to:

1) The Music Programme Homepage
2) The Music Calendar for Choral Eucharist and Evensong
3) The Concert Calendar.


Following Christmas, the emphasis in Christian worship shifts to Epiphany, the manifestation of Christ to the world. In the West, Epiphany is associated principally with the coming of Magi; in the East, it is the baptism of the Lord.

Traditionally there have been at least three gospel events identified with Epiphany: the coming of the Magi, the baptism of the Lord, and the changing of water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana. All three are celebrated in the antiphon for the Magnificat at second Vespers for Latin feast of the Epiphany.

Tribus miraculis ornatum,
diem sanctum colimus:
Hodie stella magos duxit ad praesepium:
Hodie vinum ex aqua factum est adnuptias:
Hodie a Joanne Christus baptizari voluit,
ut salvaret nos,
Alleluia.


We solemnly observe this day ornamented with three miracles:
today the star led the magi to the manger;
today wine was changed to water at the wedding;
today Christ desired to be baptized by John in the river Jordan so that He might save us, alleluia.


Last Sunday, January 4, at Christ Church Cathedral, Tribus miraculis, by Claudio Merulo, was included in the afternoon Festival of Lessons and Carols for Epiphany. This coming Sunday, January 11, Tribus miraculis of Luca Marenzio will be sung at Choral Eucharist and that of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina at evensong.

The tradition triple manifestation of Epiphany has been somewhat dimished by the gospel of the wedding feast at Cana being now read only every third year (Cycle C, 2nd Sunday after Epiphany).

Click to read about all three manifestations in Father Paul Hinnebusch, O.P., The Epiphany at Cana.

Those with access to the Naxos Music Library online may listen to Tribus miraculis in Gregorian chant by the Schola Hungarica directed by Laszlo Dobszay and Janka Szendrei. [NML] (info)


As well as an anonymous version sung by Montreal's Viva Voce, directed by Peter Schubert. [NML] (info)

Celebrate Epiphany by listening to three cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach:
Christmas Oratorio: Canata 6 (The coming of the Magi);
Cantata 7 (The Baptism of the Lord);
Cantata 3 (The Beginning of the public ministry at Cana).


Kent Nagano will conduct Johann Sebastian Bach, Mass in B Minor, on Friday, January 16, at 8:00 pm, and Sunday, January 18, at 2:30 pm: Sibylla Rubens, soprano; Renata Pokupic, mezzo-soprano; Christoph Genz, tenor; Detlef Roth, bass; and the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir with musicians from the OSM.


Click to read about the Mass in B Minor and to listen to a performance by the Münchner Philharmoniker, Sergiù Celibidache conducting.

January 4, 2009

Fra Angelico, The Adoration of the Magi, National Gallery of Art, Washington, c. 1445



Christ Church Cathedral Choir Notes

The Epiphany of Our Lord



Click to go immediately to:




Roger van der Weyden, Advent of Christ announced in a vision to the Magi, Staatliche Museen (detail), Berlin, 1445-50


The Magi followed a star. The music for the services of the Epiphany of the Lord make clear that it is the Lord, Jesus himself, who is the the star that guides.

Philipp Nicolai, a 16th century Lutheran pastor and hymn writer, has given us some of the more memorable hymns of all times. He is the auther of Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (Wake, Awake, For Night Is Flying) but also of Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern (O Morning Star, How Fair And Bright). It is Christ himself who is this morning star.

O Morning Star, how fair and bright!
Thou beamest forth in truth and light,
O Sovereign meek and lowly!
Thou Root of Jesse, David’s Son,
My Lord and Master,
Thou hast won
My heart to serve Thee solely!
Thou art holy,
Fair and glorious, all victorious, rich in blessing
Rule and might over all possessing.

Thou heavenly Brightness!
Light divine!
O deep within my heart now shine,
And make Thee there an altar!
Fill me with joy and strength to be
Thy member, ever, joined to Thee
In love that cannot falter;
Toward Thee longing
Doth possess me; turn and bless me; here in sadness
Eye and heart long for Thy gladness.

The theme is taken up in the the afternoon Introit and all four organ voluntaries based on the original hymn, as well as in Richard Proulx's and Will Todd's Christus est Stella, which put to music the ancient prayer of St. Bede the Venerable enshrined above his tomb in Durham Cathedral:




Tomb of St. Bede the Venerable



Christus est stella matutina, Alleluia; Christ is the morning star, Alleluia;
Qui nocte saeculi transacta, Alleluia; Who when the night of this world is past, Alleluia;
Lucem vitae sanctis promittit, Alleluia; Promises and reveals to his saints, Alleluia;
Et pandit aeternam, Alleluia. The everlasting light of life, Alleluia.





Click here to listen to a continual streaming of traditional Church music.


Domenico Ghirlandaio, Adoration of the Shepherds, Santa Trinità, Florence, 1482-85

Anyone with online access to the Naxos Music Library, in particular cardholders of la Bibliothèque nationale du Québec and members of "Beethoven on Demand" (info), may listen online to seven different versions of Johann Sebastian Bach, Christmas Oratorio.

Click here for The First Day of Christmas
.
Click here for The Second Day of Christmas.

Click here for The Third Day of Christmas (the others to follow).
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