January 29, 2012




 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him [NRSV, Mark 1:25]!"

Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
January 29, 2012

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Luca della Robbia, Cantoria (detail), Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Florence, 1431-38

The Introit for Choral Eucharist for this coming Sunday is Giuseppe Ottavio Pitoni (1657-1743), Cantate Domino.

Cantate Domino canticum novum; laus eius in ecclesia sanctorum. Laetetur Israel in eo qui fecit eum; et filii Sion exultent in rege suo.

Sing to the Lord a new song; sing his praise in the congregation of the faithful. Let Israel rejoice in his maker; let the children of Zion be joyful in their king. (Psalm 149:1,2)

Guiseppe Ottavio PitoniCantate Domino, performed by the Camerata a-cappella Augsburg [YouTube]

Claudio Monteverdi, Cantate Domino, performed by the Westminster Cathedral Choir, Stephen Cleobury conducting. [musicMe]

Arvo  Pärt , Cantate Dominoperformed by the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Tonu Kaljuste conducting. [musicMe]

Giacomo Moro da Viadana, Cantate Dominoperformed by Nova Ars Cantandi, Giovanni Acciai conducting [musicMe]

László Halmos, Cantate Dominoperformed by Die Regensburger Domspatzen [musicMe]


Giovanni Croce, Cantate Domino, performed by Musica Sacra, Chris Paraskevopoulos conducting [YouTube]

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Percy Whitlock

For the second Sunday the organ voluntaries for evensong are both by Percy Whitlock, again from his Plymouth suite.

The complete Plymouth Suite performed by Donald Hunt, retired director of music of Worchester Cathedral, at the Hill organ of Worchester Cathedral, is available for free online listening by the Naxos Music Library.  Check with your librarian.   Cardholders of La Bibliothèque de Montréal, ready to open their account online, click here: [BM]; cardholders of La Bibliothèque nationale du Québec click here: [BNQ]. 


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Bach Cantatas for the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany



Giorgio de Chirico, Christ and the Storm (detail), Vatican Museum, 1914

Click to go to Johann Sebastian Bach, Wär Gott nicht mit uns diese Zeit / If God were not with us at this time,
Cantata 14, with performances by GardinerKoopmanLeonhardt and Leusink.



Click to go to Johann Sebastian Bach, Jesus schläft, was soll ich hoffen? / Jesus sleeps, what should be my hope?, Cantata 81, with performances by GardinerHarnoncourt and  Leusink.

January 22, 2012


Henri Lindegaard, Jonah: The finger raises


Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's walk. And he cried out, "Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown [NRSV, 1 Samuel 3:9]!"

Third Sunday after Epiphany
January 22, 2012

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Percy Whitlock

The organ voluntaries for evensong are both by Percy Whitlock from his Plymouth suite.

The complete Plymouth Suite performed by Donald Hunt, retired director of music of Worchester Cathedral, at the Hill organ of Worchester Cathedral is available for free online listening by the Naxos Music Library.  Check with your librarian.   Cardholders of La Bibliothèque de Montréal, ready to open their account online, click here: [BM]; cardholders of La Bibliothèque nationale du Québec click here: [BNQ]. 


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Duccio di Buoninsegna, Crucifixion, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Siena, 1308-11

Click to go to Girolamo Abos, Stabat Mater dolorosa 
and a variety of other Stabat Masters.


Performance by Isabelle Poulenard (Soprano),Isabelle Desrochers (Soprano), Martin Oro (Countertenor), Stradivaria Ensemble, Daniel Cuiller conducting.  

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Bach Cantatas for the Third Sunday after Epiphany



Rembrandt van Rijn, Jesus heals a leper, Rijksprentenkabinet, Amsterdam, 1657-60


Click to go to Johann Sebastian Bach, Alles nur nach Gottes Willen / Everything according to God's will, Cantata 72, with performances by GardinerHarnoncourt and Leusink.


Click to go to Johann Sebastian Bach, Herr, wie du willt, so schick's mit mir / Lord, as you will, deal with me, Cantata 73, with performances by GardinerLeonhardt and Leusink.


Click to go to Johann Sebastian Bach, Was mein Gott will, das g'scheh allzeit / What my God wants, may it always happen, Cantata 111, with performances by GardinerHarnoncourt and Leusink.


Click to go to Johann Sebastian Bach, Ich steh mit einem Fuß im Grabe / I stand with one foot in the grave, Cantata 156, with performances by GardinerHarnoncourtLeusink and  Thomas.

January 15, 2012


John Singleton Copley, Samuel and Eli, Wadsworth Athenaeum, Hartford, 1780

Therefore Eli said to Samuel, "Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, 'Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.'" So Samuel went and lay down in his place [NRSV, 1 Samuel 3:9].

The 2nd Sunday after Epiphany
January 15, 2012

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All four organ voluntaries this coming Sunday will be the work of Felix Mendelssohn.


The complete organ works of Felix Mendelssohn performed by Ulrik Spang-Hanssen on the Stumm-organ of the Pauluskirche in Kirchheimbolanden, Germany, are available for free online listening by the Naxos Music Library.  Check with your librarian.   Cardholders of La Bibliothèque de Montréal, ready to open their account online, click here: [BM]; cardholders of La Bibliothèque nationale du Québec click here: [BNQ]. 


Click here for access online to selected organ works of Felix Mendellsohn performed by Peter Hurford on the 1978 Rieger organ of Ratzeburg Cathedral.



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Joos van Wassenhove, The Institution of the Eucharist, Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, Urbino, 1473-75

Ave verum corpus

Ave verum corpus by Robert Lucas de Pearsall, unfortunately not available for online listening, is the Communion anthem for Choral Eucharist this coming Sunday.  It is a short Eucharistic hymn that has been set to music by various composers. It dates from the 14th century and has been attributed to Popes Innocent IIIInnocent IV and Innocent VI.

During the Middle Ages it was sung at the elevation of the host during the consecration. It was also used frequently during Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.


The hymn's title means "Hail, true body", and is based on a poem deriving from a 14th-century manuscript from the Abbey of ReichenauLake Constance. 



The poem is a meditation on the belief in Jesus's Real Presence in the sacrament of the Eucharist, and ties it to ideas on the redemptive meaning of suffering in the life of all believers [adapted from Wikipedia].



Ave verum corpus, natum

   de Maria Virgine, [or: ex Maria Virgine]

Hail, true Body, born

   of the Virgin Mary,
vere passum, immolatum
   in cruce pro homine,
truly suffered, sacrificed
   on the cross for humankind,
cuius latus perforatum
   fluxit aqua et sanguine: [or: unda fluxit sanguine]
whose pierced side
   flowed with water and blood:
esto nobis praegustatum
   in mortis examine. [or: mortis in examine]
May it be for us a foretaste [of the Heavenly banquet]
   in the trial of death.
O Iesu dulcis, O Iesu pie, O Iesu, fili Mariae.
   Miserere mei. Amen.
Oh dear Jesus, Oh merciful Jesus, Oh Jesus, son of Mary,
   have mercy on me. Amen.  


Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's setting of Ave verum corpus (K. 618) is perhaps the best known of all. Of the many other settings of the poem, the best known are probably those by William Byrd and Sir Edward Elgar. There is a version by Camille Saint-Saëns.  The text is even used in an opera, Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites.

Mozart's version, with instruments only, was adapted by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky as one of the sections of his Mozartiana, a tribute to Mozart.

The Vienna Boys' Choir (Wiener Sangerknaben) made some notable recordings of Mozart's Ave Verum Corpus in the 20th century.

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Gregorian chant

Monks of the Abbey of St. Maurice and St. Maur, Clervaux [listen]

Giovanni Vianini [YouTube]
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Orlande de Lassus, Ave verum corpus, Canticum [YouTube]

Lodovico da Viadana, Ave corpus verum, Cantabile Consort [YouTube]
 
William Byrd, Ave verum corpus, The Tallis Scholars, Peter Phillips conducting [YouTube]

William Byrd, Ave verum corpus, Choir of King's College, Sir David Willcocks conducting [listen]

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ave Verum corpus, Vienna Boys' Choir [YouTube]

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ave Verum corpus, Chor und Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Leonard Bernstein conducting [YouTube 

Charles Gounod, Ave verum corpus, performed by the Peiyang Chorus & Mao Yong [YouTube]

Francis Poulenc, Ave verum corpus, Sofia Vocal Ensemble [YouTube]

Gabriel Fauré, Ave verum corpus, Op. 65, No. 1, Cambridge Singers, John Rutter conducting; John Scott, organ [listen]

Sir Edward Elgar, Ave verum corpus, Op. 2, No. 1, Choir of Hereford Cathedral [YouTube]

Karl Jenkins, Ave verum corpus, sung by Chantelle Constable [YouTube]

Colin Mawby, Ave verum corpus, Brigham Young University [YouTube]

Colin Mawby, Ave verum corpus, Tewkesbury Abbey ChoirNicholas, Benjamin, conducting  [NML] [BM]  (info)  
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Franz Liszt composed a version for organ and choir in 1871 [Searle 44].  This had been preceded by a fantasy for piano on Mozart's Ave verum corpus, preceded by a version of Allegri's celebrated 'Miserere', under the title 'A la Chapelle Sixtine' [Searle 461 - two versions]. Versions of this fantasy for orchestra [Searle 360] and piano four-hands [Searle 633] follow closely the 2nd version for piano. The is also a version for organ [Searle 658] with the title 'Evocation à la Chapelle Sixtine.'

Franz Liszt, A la Chapelle Sixtine (Miserere d'Allegri et Ave verum Corpus de Mozart) [1st version], S461, Leslie Howard, piano [CML]  (info)  

Franz Liszt, A la Chapelle Sixtine (Miserere d'Allegri et Ave verum Corpus de Mozart) [2nd version], S461, Leslie Howard, piano [CML(info)

Franz Liszt, A la Chapelle Sixtine (Miserere d'Allegri et Ave verum Corpus de Mozart), S461Valerie Tryon, piano [BNQ] [BM(info)  

Franz Liszt, Ave verum corpus, S44, for chorus and organ [ensemble not identified] [YouTube]

Franz Liszt, Ave verum corpus, S44, Stuttgart SudfunkchorRubert Huber conducting [BNQ] [BM](info)

Franz Liszt, A la Chapelle Sixtine (Miserere d'Allegri et Ave verum corpus de Mozart), S360, Netherlands Philharmonic OrchestraHartmut Haenchen conducting. [BNQ] [BM](info)

Franz Liszt, A la Chapelle Sixtine (Miserere d'Allegri et Ave verum corpus de Mozart), S363, Elisabetta Dessì and Francesco Giammarco, S363 [BNQ(info)  

Franz Liszt, Evocation à la Chapelle Sixtine, S658, performed by Olivier Vernet on 1888/2001 Rinckenbach/Aubertin organ in the church of Saint-Thiébaut in Thann, Haut-Rhin.  [YouTube: Part I - Part II]  

Franz Liszt, Evocation à la Chapelle Sixtine, S658, performed by Christoper Herrick, on the 1878/2000 Lewis/Harrison organ of Ripon Cathedral [CML] (info

Franz Liszt, Evocation à la Chapelle Sixtine, S658, performed by Martin Hasselbock on the Ladegast organ of St. James Cathedral in Köthen [BNQ]  [BM](info)  
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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, The Orchestral Suite No. 4 Op. 61 (Mozartiana) performed by The Chicago Symphony, Claudio Abbado conducting.  [listen to entire work]

Mozartiana is in four movements and lasts approximately 20 minutes.

1) Gigue. Allegro (G major)After the Little Gigue for piano, K. 574. [listen]

2) Menuet. Moderato (D major)After the Minuet for piano, K. 355.  [listen]

3) Preghiera. Andante ma non tanto (B flat major) After Franz Liszt's piano transcription of the Ave verum corpus, K. 618. (In 1862 Liszt wrote a piano transcription combining Gregorio Allegri's Miserere and Mozart's Ave verum corpus, published as "À la Chapelle Sixtine" (S.461). Tchaikovsky orchestrated only the part of this work that had been based on Mozart.) [listen]

4) Thème et variations. Allegro giusto (G major)After the piano Variations on a Theme by Gluck, K. 455. (The theme was the aria "Unser dummer Pöbel meint", from Gluck's opera "La Rencontre imprévue, or Les Pèlerins de la Mecque").
[listen]  
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A recent version of this piece was recorded by the girl choristers that make up the group "All Angels"; the words set to the music from the ITV series Brideshead Revisited by Geoffrey Burgon. [YouTube]

[Information from Wikipedia.]

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Bach Cantatas for the 2nd Sunday after Epiphany




Duccio di Buoninsegna, The Wedding at Cana, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Siena, 1308-11


Click to go to Johann Sebastian Bach, Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid / Ah God, how many a heartache, Cantata 3, with performances by Gardiner and Leusink.

Click to go to Johann Sebastian Bach,Meine Seufzer, meine Tränen / My sighs, my tears, Cantata 13, with performances by GardinerLeonhardtLeusink and Richter.

Click to go to Johann Sebastian Bach,  Mein Gott, wie lang, ach lange? / My God, how long, ah how long? , Cantata 155, with performances by GardinerHarnoncourt and Leusink.