March 28-April 4, 2010

James Ensor, Christ's Entry into Brussels in 1889, Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 1888

After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. [NRSV, Luke 19:28].


Christ Church Cathedral Choir Notes
Sunday of the Passion (Palm Sunday) through Easter

Click to go immediately to:

1) The
Music Programme Homepage

2) The Music Calendar for Choral Eucharist and Evensong

3) The Concert Calendar


Relive the Christ Church Cathedral Choirs concert that celebrated the 150th anniversary of the cathedral: music composed by cathedral musicians and music composed for the cathedral. Click for more information and learn how to purchase your own CD of the Banquet céleste. Your contribution supports music at the cathedral.



Click to learn about Gregorio Allegri, Miserere, and listen to performances by The Sixteen, the Tallis Scholars, the Ensemble a Sei Voci, and the choirs of Trinity College, Cambridge, and St. John's College, Cambridge.

Gregorio Allegri

Luca Signorelli, Scourging of Christ, Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan, c. 1480

The Naxos Music Library has several versions of the St Luke Passion for online listening. Check with your librarian. Cardholders of the Bibliothèque nationale du Québec, ready to open their account (dossier) online when prompted will always go directly to the music site by clicking on the appopriate [NML]. Those who agree to accept email alerts from the Toronto Symphony Orchestra have online access to the complete Naxos Music Library. Subscribers to the hard-copy version of La Scena Musicale, receive free access to the Naxos Music Library. (info)

Here are two versions of the St. Luke Passion with text and English translation from the Naxos Music Library:

14th century anonymous English Version of the St Luke Passion performed by Tonus Peregrinus, Antony Pitts conducting. [NML] Open booklet and go to page 12.

Krysztof Penderecki, St. Luke Passion performed by Izabela Klosinska, soprano; Krysztof Kolberger, reader; Adam Kruszewski, baritone; Romuald Tesarowicz, bass; Warsaw Boys Choir; Warsaw Philharmonic Choir; Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra; Antoni Wit conducting. [NML] Open booklet and go to page 10.




Click to go to Joseph Rheinberger, Stabat Mater, by the Stuttgart Chamber Choir, Stuttgart Instrumental Ensemble, Frieder Bernius conducting.

Albrecht Altdorfer, Crucifixion, Staatliche Museen, Berlin, c.1512



2010 is the 450th anniversary of the death of Nicolas Gombert (1495-1560)


Click to go to Nicolas Gombert, Tribulatio et angustia, by The Brabant Ensemble, Stephen Rice conducting.

Michelangelo Buonnarroti, Last Judgement (detail), Sistine Chapel, Vatican, 1537-41





In recent years, Josef Haydn, The Seven Last Words of Christ, has been performed in its quartet version on Good Friday at Christ Church Cathedral.

Click
to read about the Seven Last Words.

Andrea del Castagno, Crucifixion, Ospedale Santa Maria Nuova, Florence, 1440-1

Click
to listen to the orginal orchestral version by the Ensemble orchestral de Paris, Armin Jordan conducting.

To hear the choral version by the Chamber Choir of Smolny Cathedral and the Orchestra of the Hermitage, with text in German and English, right-click here, then left-click on "Open in New Window," then go to page 4. Then click here. Arrange windows.





Click to go to a wide selection of organ music for Easter online listening at Pipedreams.
1890 Cavaillé-Coll organ, St-Ouen, Rouen







To listen to Johann Sebastian Bach, Easter Oratorio, BWV 248, by Dame Emma Kirkby, soprano; Evelyn Tubb, soprano; Margaret Cable, mezzo-soprano; Wilfried Jochens, tenor; Stephen Charlesworth, baritone; Taverner Consort; Taverner Players; Andrew Parrott conducting, with text in German and English, right-click here, then left-click on "Open in New Window," then click here. Click on "Play all." Arrange windows.

Eugène Burnand, Les disciples Pierre et Jean courant au Sépulcre le matin de la Résurrection, Musée d'Orsay, Paris, 1898

March 21, 2010

Pieter Breugel the Elder, The Harvesters, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1565

May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy. Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves. [NRSV, Psalm 126:5-6].

Christ Church Cathedral Choir Notes
Fifth Sunday of Lent

Click to go immediately to:

1) The
Music Programme Homepage

2) The Music Calendar for Choral Eucharist and Evensong

3) The Concert Calendar


Relive the Christ Church Cathedral Choirs concert that celebrated the 150th anniversary of the cathedral: music composed by cathedral musicians and music composed for the cathedral. Click for more information and learn how to purchase your own CD of the Banquet céleste. Your contribution supports music at the cathedral.




The Mass setting and both motets for Choral Eucharist this coming Sunday, the 5th Sunday of Lent, March 21, are the work of Claudio Monteverdi. Go to the Music Calendar to listen to online performances.

Claudio Monteverdi


Click here to go to Claudio Monteverdi, Vespers of the Blessed Virgin, 1610, by Arianna Savall, soprano; Edwige Parat, soprano; Mathilde Etienne, soprano; Hans Jorg Mammel, tenor; Lluis Valamajo, bass; La Fenice, Jean Tubéry conducting, with text in Latin and English available.



2010 is the 450th anniversary of the death of Nicolas Gombert (1495-1560)


Click to go to Nicolas Gombert, Tribulatio et angustia, by The Brabant Ensemble, Stephen Rice conducting.

Michelangelo Buonnarroti, Last Judgement (detail), Sistine Chapel, Vatican, 1537-41






Johann Sebastian Bach, St. John Passion, BWV 245, by Gerd Türk, Evangelist; Stephan MacLeod, Jesus; Midori Suzuki, soprano; Robin Blaze, alto; Chiyuki Urano, bass; Bach Collegium Japan; Masaaki Suzuki conducting [YouTube]

There are English sub-titles. To follow the German, click on "more info" and German text will appear to the right.

El Greco, Christ carrying the cross, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, c. 1580




Click to go to Johann Sebastian Bach, St John Passion, BWV 245, by Mark Padmore, tenor; Peter Harvey, baritone; Katharine Fuge, soprano; Robin Blaze, countertenor; Nicholas Mulroy, tenor; Jeremy Budd, tenor; Matthew Brook, bass; English Baroque Soloists; Monteverdi Choir; John Eliot Gardiner conducting; with German and English texts available.

Caravaggio, The crowning with thorns, Cassa di Risparmio, Prato, 1602-03



Click to go to Johann Sebastian Bach, St John Passion, BWV 245, by Olga Kondina, soprano; Elena Rubyn, mezzo-soprano; Andrew Goodwin, tenor; Vincent Haab, baritone; Vyacheslav Lukhanin, bass; Andreas Wagner, tenor; Olga Mayorova, harpsicord; Dmitry Grigoriev, organ; The Chorus of Kazan State Conservatory; The Chorus of the Opera Studio of Kazan State Conservatory; The Chamber Orchestra of Kazan State Conservatory; Leo Kremer conducting; with text in German and English.

Hieronymous Bosch, Christ mocked, National Gallery, London, c. 1490-1500



Click to go to Michael Nyman, Miserere, from the film, The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, performed by Paul Chapman, treble soloist; London Voices, Terry Edwards conducting.






Click to go to Karl Jenkins, Stabat Mater, performance by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir; Belinda Sykes, ethnic vocals; Jurgita Adomonytė, mezzo-soprano; Karl Jenkins conducting.
Anonymous, Crucifixion, Christian Museum, Esztergom, 1506

March 14, 2010

Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, The Prodigal Son, The Bührle Collection, Zurich, 1879


He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything [NRSV, Luke 15:16].

Christ Church Cathedral Choir Notes
Fourth Sunday of Lent

Click to go immediately to:

1) The
Music Programme Homepage

2) The Music Calendar for Choral Eucharist and Evensong

3) The Concert Calendar


Relive the Christ Church Cathedral Choirs concert that celebrated the 150th anniversary of the cathedral: music composed by cathedral musicians and music composed for the cathedral. Click for more information and learn how to purchase your own CD of the Banquet céleste. Your contribution supports music at the cathedral.



The Mass setting for this coming Sunday, the Fourth Sunday of Lent, is Benjamin Britten, Missa brevis in D, Op. 63. Click to go to a number of performances.


Benjamin Britten


2010 is the 75th year of the birth of Arvo Pärt (b. 1935)


To read about Arvo Pårt and listen to Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten, performed by Angèle Dubeau & La Pietà, click here, then to listen scroll down and click on small loudspeaker.

Click to read a lengthy article by Dharmacari Jayarava.

Performance by Staatsorchester Stuttgart, Dennis Russell Davies conducting
[listen]

Performance by the Bournemouth Sinfonietta, Richard Studt conducting [listen]



To listen to Parts II & III, George Frideric Handel, Messiah, performed by Susan Gritton, soprano; Cornelia Horak, soprano; Bejun Mehta, countertenor; Richard Croft, tenor; Florian Boesch, bass; Ensemble Matheus; Arnold Schönberg Chor; Jean-Christoph Spinosi conducting, while following the English text, right-click here, then left-click on "Open in New Window," then click here. Arrange windows.

Ibrahim and Uhanna the Armenian, The Christ, Alexandria Library, 1464




To listen to Johann Sebastian Bach, St Matthew Passion, BWV 244, performed by Ian Bostridge, Franz Josef Selig, Sybilla Rubens, Andreas Scholl, Wener Güra, Dietrich Henschel; Collegium Vocale Gent; Philippe Herreweghe conducting; click here. For the German and English text, click on "more info."

Jacques Blanchard, Flagellation, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rennes, c. 1630



To watch Johann Sebastian Bach, St Matthew Passion, BWV 244, performed by Peter Schreier, Evangelist; Ernst Gerold Schramm, Jesus; Siegmund Nimsgern, Judas & Pilatus; Helen Donath, soprano; Julia Hamari, alto; Horst R. Laubenthal, tenor; Walter Berry, bass; Münchener Bach Orchester, Chor & Chorbuben, Karl Richter conducting, with English subtitles, click here. For the German text, click on "more info."

Francesco Bacchiacca, Flagellation of Christ, National Gallery of Art, Washington, c. 1512-15


To watch Johann Sebastian Bach, St Matthew Passion, BWV 244, performed by the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Ton Koopman conducting, while following the text in both German and English, right-click here, the left-click on "Open in New Window," then click here. Arrange windows.


Nicolas Maes, Mocking of Christ, State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, 1650s


Click to go to Henryk Górecki, Miserere, Op. 44, performance by the Chicago Symphony Chorus and the Chicago Lyric Opera Chorus, John Nelson conducting.






Click to go to the Stabat Mater in Gregorian chant by the Benedictine nuns of the Abbey of Regina Laudis, Bethlehem, Connecticut.



After Albrecht Altdorfer, Crucifixion, Musée du Louvre, Paris

March 7, 2010

Gyula Derkovits, The Last Supper, Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest, 1922

All ate the same spiritual food ... Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them [NRSV, 1 Corinthians 10:4,5].

Christ Church Cathedral Choir Notes
Third Sunday of Lent

Click to go immediately to:

1) The
Music Programme Homepage

2) The Music Calendar for Choral Eucharist and Evensong

3) The Concert Calendar


Relive the Christ Church Cathedral Choirs concert that celebrated the 150th anniversary of the cathedral: music composed by cathedral musicians and music composed for the cathedral. Click for more information and learn how to purchase your own CD of the Banquet céleste. Your contribution supports music at the cathedral.




Both organ voluntaries for this coming Sunday, the Third Sunday of Lent, are the work of Jehan Alain. Click to go to a Pipedreams programme of Jehan Alain's organ music along with Michael Barone discussing her brother with the celebrated French organist, Marie-Claire Alain.

Jehan Alain


To listen to a reconstruction of Johann Sebastian Bach, St Mark Passion, BWV 247, performed by the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Ton Koopman conducting, while following the text in both German and English, right-click here, the left-click on "Open in New Window," then click here. Arrange windows.

Antonello da Messina, Christ Crowned with Thorns, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 15th cent.

Three hundredth anniversary of the birth of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (1710-1786)


Click to go to 4 organ works by Wilhelm Friedemann Bach: Fugue in c, two Fugues in D, and the Chorale-prelude, Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland.

Wilhelm Friedemann Bach







Click to go to José de Nebra: Miserere in G minor for 2 voices and ensemble, performed by Olalla Alemán & Raquel Andueza and Los Musicos de su Alteza, Luis Antonio González conducting.






Click to go to Zoltán Kodály, Stabat Mater dolorosa, performance by the Coro Dulcis Memoria, Frederico Raffaelli conducting.

Joos van Cleve, Crucifixion, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, 1525