Hezekiah, Sankta Maria Kyrka, Åhus, Sweden, 17th cent.
Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, ‘Hear the word of the Lord: Days are coming when all that is in your house, and that which your ancestors have stored up until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left, says the Lord [NRSV, 2 Kings 20:16-17]
Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
October 5, 2014
Click to go immediately to:
1) The Music Programme Homepage
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Casavant Organ - Notre Dame Basilica - Montreal
The Canadian International Organ Competition, held in Montreal every three years, runs from October 7 to 19, 2014. Competition will be held at three church organs: the 1961 Beckerath organ of the Church of the Immaculate Conception, the 1915/1996 Casavant organ, Opus 615, of the Church of Saint John the Baptist and the 1891/2002 Casavant organ, Opus 26/1034, of Notre-Dame Basilica.
Click here for complete information here.
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The Christ Church Cathedral Choirs annual fundraising concert this year on Friday, November 7, 2014, will feature the music of John Taverner (1490-1545 ) and Sir John Tavener (1944-2013).
Sir John Tavener, The Lamb, will also be performed as the Introit for Choral Evensong this coming Sunday.
Little Lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?
Gave thee life, and bid thee feed
By the stream and o’er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing, wooly, birght;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice?
Little Lamb, who made thee?
Little Lamb, I’ll tell thee,
Little Lamb, I’ll tell thee;
He is called by thy name,
For he calls himself a Lamb.
He is meek, and he is mild,
He became a little child.
I, a child, and thou, a Lamb
We are called by his name.
Little, Lamb, God bless thee.
William Blake (1757-1827)
"The Lamb" is a poem by William Blake, published in Songs of Innocence in 1789."The Lamb" is the companion poem to Blake's poem: "The Tyger" in Songs of Experience. Blake wrote Songs of Innocence as a contrary to the Songs of Experience – a central tenet in his philosophy and a central theme in his work. Like many of Blake's works, the poem is about Christianity. The lamb is a common metaphor for Jesus Christ, who is also called "The Lamb of God" in John 1:29.
This poem has a simple rhyme scheme : AA BB CC DD AA AA EF GG FE AA. The layout is set up by two stanzas with the refrain: "Little Lamb who made thee?/Dost thou know who made thee?". In the first stanza, the speaker asks the lamb who his creator is; the answer lies at the end of the poem. Here we find a physical description of the lamb, seen as a pure and gentle creature. In the second stanza, the lamb is compared with the infant Jesus, as well as between the lamb and the speaker's soul. In the last two lines the speaker identifies the creator: God.
Like the other Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, The Lamb was intended to be sung; William Blake's original melody is now lost. It was made into a song by Vaughan Williams, although he described it as "that horrible little lamb - a poem that I hate". It was also set to music by Sir John Tavener, who explained, "The Lamb came to me fully grown and was written in an afternoon and dedicated to my nephew Simon for his 3rd birthday." American poet Allen Ginsberg set the poem to music, along with several other of Blake's poems, in the 1970s. (Wikipedia)
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Francisco Guerrero
Francisco Guerrero (1528-99)
The Mass setting and both motets for this coming Sunday at 12h45 are the work of Francisco Guerrero.
Various selections:
L’Escolania del Escorial, Javier M. Carmena conducting [YouTube] (Begins at 2:03 after Sanctissima Maria)
Missa Surge Propera
Missa de la Batalla Escoutez
An interesting feature with this great motet: The 2 soprano parts are in strict canon throughout, the second exactly echoing the first at four bars distance.
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Performance by Georges Delvallée on the 3-manual 1888 Puget organ of Nôtre Dame de la Dalbade, Toulouse
Mass of the 17th Sunday after Pentecost
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Giovanni Battista Naldini, Raising of the Son of the Widow of Naim, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 1570-80
Bach Cantatas for the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity:
Click to go to Johann Sebastian Bach, Liebster 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 Bach, Wer weiß, wie nahe mirmein Ende? / Who knows how near my end is to me?, Cantata 27, with performances by Gardiner, Harnoncourt, Koopman, Kuijken, Leusink, Richter and Rilling.
Click to go to Johann Sebastian Bach, Christus, der ist mein Leben / Christ is my life, Cantata 95, with performances by Gardiner, Harnoncourt, Leusink, Rilling 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, Rilling, Sándor, Schröder and Thomas.