June 28, 2009

Giovanni Battista Cima da Conegliano, David and Jonathan, National Gallery, London, 1505-10

Church Cathedral Choir Notes
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

Click to go immediately to:


Olivier Latry, one of three titulars of the 1887 Cavaillé-Coll organ of the Cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris, will give a free concert, co-sponsored by the McGill Summer Organ Academy and Les Concerts Lachine, on Thursday, July 16, on the 1920/2002 Casavant organ of Sts-Anges-Gardiens in Lachine, at 8:00 pm. Works by Saint-Saëns, Franck, Widor, Vierne, Messiaen, Escaich, Guillou; along with improvisation.

Click to listen to three of this coming Sunday's organ voluntaries interpreted by Olivier Latry: Olivier Messiaen: Institution de l’Eucharistie and Les Ressuscités et la lumière de vie from Le Livre du Saint-Sacrement and Nicolas de Grigny, Récit de tierce en taille from Le Livre d'orgue.

Giuseppe Pitoni, Cantate Domino [text], introit for Choral Eucharist this coming Sunday, June 28, is a favorite among choral groups. Click to go to a YouTube playlist of a dozen entries to make your listening choice.





Summer in Montreal is an Organ Festival.

Click for the June-July calendar of organ recitals, most of which are free admission/voluntary contribution.





2009 Commemoration: 350th Anniversay of the Birth of Henry Purcell (1659-95)


Click to read about Henry Purcell and Queen Mary II and listen to a performance of Henry Purcell's complete music for the funeral of Queen Mary sung by the Winchester Cathedral Choir with the Brandenburg Consort and the Baroque Brass of London, David Hill, conducting.


Click for a performance of Peter Cornelius, Stabat Mater dolorosa; Danielle Borst, soprano; Jacqueline Majeur, alto; Jean-Luc Viala, tenor; Frédéric Vassar, bass; Choeur régional de Cannes-Provence-Alpes; Orchestre Régional de Cannes-Provence-Alpes; Michel Piquemal conducting.


Leonardo de Vinci and Andrea del Verocchio, The Baptism of Christ, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, 1473-78

Click to hear Cantata 7 for the feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist performed by Soprano: Joanne Lunn; Alto: Wilke te Brummelstroete; Tenor: Paul Agnew; Bass: Dietrich Henschel; Monteverdi Choir / English Baroque Soloists; John Eliot Gardiner conducting.

June 21, 2009

Andrea de Castagno, The Youthful David, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., c 1450


Christ Church Cathedral Choir Notes
Third Sunday after Pentecost

Click to go immediately to:

1) The Music Programme Homepage

2) The Music Calendar for Choral Eucharist and Evensong

3) The Concert Calendar



Click to read about Hans Leo Hassler and to hear multiple versions of Cantate Domino, including one for 12 voices by the Westminster Cathedral Choir, as well as the Missa Secunda, the motet Dixit Maria, and the Mass based on it, Missa super Dixit Maria.







John Blow, Voluntary in F, is the organ prelude for Evensong this coming Sunday, June 21. Click to read about John Blow and to listen to Gustav Leonhardt play three organ voluntaries by John Blow as well as listen to much of Blow's other music.






In tribute to the Royal Canadian College of Organists (RCCO) in its centenary year, Pipedreams has posted a two-hour program of Canadian composers, performers, and instruments.

Click to listen. To hear Patrick Wedd perform Healey Willan, Epilogue, on the Casavant organ of St-Jean-Baptiste, click here, then click on "0923 Hour 1," then hold button and slide to 7:17 (7 minutes and 17 seconds). To hear Patrick Wedd perform Pyotr Tchaikovsky (arranged Taylor): None but the lonely heart on the 1927 Wurlitzer organ of the Orpheum Theatre, Vancouver, click here, the click on "0923 Hour 2," then hold button and slide to 36:55 (36 minutes and 55 seconds).


2009 Commemoration: The 250 aniversary of the death of George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)

Cannons, home of the 1st Duke of Chandos

Click to read about George Frideric Handel, his residence at Cannons, home of James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos, and the Chandos Anthems.

Click to go to George Frideric Handel, Chandos Anthems Nos. 1-6, performed by Helen Boatwright, soprano; Charles Bressler, tenor; The Collegium Musicum of Rutgers University; Alfred Mann conducting.



Click to listen to Philippe Leduc, Stabat Mater 37; Mary-Lou Gauthier, soprano; Pavel Kuhn, choir director; The Free Symphony of Prague, Mario Klemens conducting.






June 14, 2009

Joos van Cleve, The Last Supper, Musée du Louvre, Paris

Christ Church Cathedral Choir Notes
Corpus Christi

Click to go immediately to:

1) The Music Programme Homepage

2) The Music Calendar for Choral Eucharist and Evensong

3) The Concert Calendar


Corpus Christi is a feast day celebrated by the Church of England (as well as the Roman Catholic Church) and by numerous parishes throughout the Anglican Church of Canada, on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday or the following Sunday. Click to read about Corpus Christi in Wikipedia.



The Pange Lingua, hymn for Corpus Christi, is attributed to St. Thomas Aquinas. Bob Chilcott's version is the Communion motet at Choral Eucharist this coming Sunday, June 14. Click to read about Pange Lingua and for the Latin text and an English translation. Chilcott's Pange Lingua is available online for those who, like cardholders of La Bibliothèque nationale du Québec, have access to the Naxos Music Library. [NML] (info)

Click to read about and listen to Kenneth Gilbert perform the Pange Lingua from Le Livre d’orgue de Montréal on the Wolff organ of Redpath Hall, McGill University..

Click to go to Nicolas de Grigny, Pange Lingua, performed by Olivier Vernet on the 1625 Astruc / 1748 Scherrer / 1992 Aubertin organ of l' Église abbatiale in Saint-Antoine-l'Abbaye (Isère) alternating verses with the Ensemble Jacques Moderne, Jean-Yves Hameline conducting.

The two organ voluntaries for Evensong on Corpus Christi are selections from Jean-Adam Guilain, Suite on the Second Tone for the Magnificat. Click to read about Guilain and to listen to the entire suite with organist Laurent Beyhurst alternating verses of the Magnificat with Les Chantres du Roy.


Finish the observance of Corpus Christi with Olivier Messiaen by listening to his Le Livre du Saint-Sacrement (versions by Jennifer Bate (scroll down), Olivier Latry or Dame Gillian Weir).

2009 Commemoration: 200th Anniversary of the Death of Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)


Click to go to Joseph Haydn: Missa brevis Sancti Joannis de Deo (Kleine Orgelmesse / Little Organ Mass), Hob. XXII:7, Mass in B-flat Major; to read about it; and to listen to a choice of four versions (Marriner, Hickok, Hill, Conte).

Pedro de Raxis, St. John of God, 16th cent.




Click to listen to Antonín Dvořák, Stabat Mater dolorosa, performed by Edith Mathis, soprano; Anna Reynolds, alto; Wieslaw Ochman, tenor; John Shirley-Quirk, bass; Elmar Schloter, organ; Bavarian Radio Chorus, Josef Schmidhuber, chorus master; Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra; Rafael Kubelík conducting.



Click for performance of Cantata 54 by Counter-tenor: Drew Minter; American Bach Soloists; Jeffrey Thomas conducting.

June 7, 2009

Master of the Votive Picture of Sankt Lambrecht, The Holy Trinity, Museum mittelalterlicher österreichischer Kunst, Vienna, 1430

Christ Church Cathedral Choir Notes
Trinity Sunday

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 for the special Eucharist this coming Sunday, June 7, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Synod of Montreal are both from Charles-Marie Widor, Symphony No. 4. Click to go to complete versions by Patrice Caire and Joseph Nolan as well as a Pipedreams programme comparing the Symphony No. 4 of Widor and that of his student, Louis Vierne.



Click to celebrate Trinity Sunday with Olivier Messiaen. Performances by Jennifer Bate, Olivier Latry, John Scott and Dame Gillian Weir.


Click on underlined selections to hear four piano preludes appropriate for Trinity Sunday composed by Charles Tournemire and performed by Lise Boucher: Méditation sur Dieu le Père, Méditation sur le Fils, Méditation sur le Saint-Esprit, Glorification de la Trinité.





Summer in Montreal is an Organ Festival

Tuesday, June 9, 12:30 pm: Wadworth/Warren/Casavant organ of St. James United Church, Andrew Ager (Admission free / voluntary contribution)





To hear John Stainer, Anthem for Trinity Sunday,
I Saw the Lord (text), performed by the Choir of St. Paul's Cathedral, London, Barry Rose conducting and John Scott on the 1949 Wicks organ of the Basilica of St. Mary, Minneapolis, click here, then click on "Part I," then hold button and slide to 4:45 (4 minutes and 45 seconds).



Click for performance of Cantata 165 by Soprano: Caroline Stam; Alto: Elisabeth von Magnus; Tenor: Paul Agnew; Bass: Klaus Mertens; Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir; Conductor: Ton Koopman.

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