Good Friday [Music Calendar]
The Good Friday Service of meditation on the Passion of Christ ends with the singing of Allegri’s Miserere.
Gregorio Allegri
1582 - 1652
Dave Lamson of Classical Net praises the performances of the Miserere by The Sixteen, The Tallis Scholars and by the Ensemble A Sei Voci with its two versions, one with baroque ornamentation and the other the traditional simple version.
Performances by The Tallis Scholars, Peter Phillips, conducting:
2007 recording, 2nd performance including additional embellishments by Deborah Roberts [BNQ; BM] (info)
Performances by the Ensemble A Sei Voci, Bernard Fabre-Garrus conducting:
Performance, edited by Hugh Keyte, of the Taverner Consort, the Taverner Choir, Andrew Parrott conducting [YouTube]
Performance by the Choir of King's College, Cambridge; Roy Goodman, treble, Sir David Willcocks conducting (1963) [YouTube]
Performance, edited by John Rutter, by the Choir of St. John's College, Cambridge; Julius Foo; Peter Hicks; Thomas Mullock, treble; Leo Tomita, counter-tenor; Tristan Hambleton; Basil McDonald, bass; Andrew Nethsingha conducting [YouTube]
A lengthy discussion of how Allegri's Miserere Mei reached the public: Allegri's Miserere: A Quest for the Holy Grail? By Ben Byram-Wigfield. (Make sure that you adjust the size of your Adobe reader to 100% for comfortable reading.)
Franz Liszt composed a fantasy for piano on Allegri's celebrated Miserere, followed by a version of Mozart's Ave verum corpus, under the title À la Chapelle Sixtine [Searle 461 - two versions]. Versions of this fantasy for orchestra [Searle 360] and piano four-hands [Searle 363 not available for free online listening] followed closely the 2nd version for piano. There is also a version for organ [Searle 658] with the title Évocation à la Chapelle Sixtine.
Two versions for piano:
Franz Liszt, À la Chapelle Sixtine (Miserere d'Allegri et Ave verum Corpus de Mozart) [1st version], S461, Leslie Howard, piano [CML] (info)
Franz Liszt, À la Chapelle Sixtine (Miserere d'Allegri et Ave verum Corpus de Mozart) [2nd version], S461, Leslie Howard, piano [YouTube]
Franz Liszt, À la Chapelle Sixtine (Miserere d'Allegri et Ave verum Corpus de Mozart) [2nd version], S461, Valerie Tryon, piano [BNQ; BM] (info)
Version for orchestra:
Franz Liszt, À la Chapelle Sixtine (Miserere d'Allegri et Ave verum corpus de Mozart), S360, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Hartmut Haenchen conducting. [BNQ; BM] (info)
Version for organ:
Franz Liszt, Évocation à la Chapelle Sixtine, S658, performed by Marie-Claire Alain on the Cavaillé-Coll organ of the Cathedral of Orleans [musicMe]
Franz Liszt, Évocation à la Chapelle Sixtine, S658, performed by Olivier Vernet on the 1888/2001 Rinckenbach/Aubertin organ in the church of Saint-Thiébaut in Thann, Haut-Rhin. [YouTube]
Franz Liszt, Évocation à la Chapelle Sixtine, S658, performed by Christopher Herrick, on the 1878/2000 Lewis/Harrison organ of Ripon Cathedral [CML] (info)
Franz Liszt, Évocation à la Chapelle Sixtine, S658, performed by Martin Haselbock on the Ladegast organ of St. James Cathedral in Köthen [BNQ; BM] (info)
Franz Liszt, Évocation à la Chapelle Sixtine, S658, performed by Eric Lebrun at the 1852 organ of the Protestant Church of Barr, Bas-Rhin [musicMe]
Franz Liszt, Évocation à la Chapelle Sixtine, S658, performed by Olivier Latry on the pedal piano. [musicM
The Passion read on Good Friday is always taken from the Gospel according to John. (The three other passions are read in turn on Palm Sunday.)
An English version of Tomás Luis de Victoria, The Passion according to St. John, performed by the Renaissance Singers of Montreal, Donald Mackey conducting. [YouTube]
Caravaggio, Ecce Homo, Palazzo Rosso, Genoa, 1606
To listen to Johann Sebastian Bach, St John Passion, BWV 245, by the Trinity Wall Street Choir and Baroque Orchestra, Mark Molomot (evangelist), Robert Mealy (concertmaster), Andrew Parrott conducting, while following the text in German and English, right-click here, then left-click on "Open in New Window," then click here. Arrange windows. Click for programme.
El Greco, Christ carrying the cross, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, c. 1580
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 "show more" and German text will appear.
Caravaggio, The crowning with thorns, Cassa di Risparmio, Prato, 1602-03
To listen to Johann Sebastian Bach, St John Passion, BWV 245, by Tenor [Evangelist]: Anthony Rolfe-Johnson; Bass [Jesus]: Stephen Varcoe; Bass [Pilate, Arias]: Cornelius Hauptmann; Soprano [No. 63]: Nancy Argenta; Soprano [No. 13]: Ruth Holton; Soprano [Maid]: Gillian Ross; Counter-tenor: Michael Chance; Tenor [No. 19, 62]: Neill Archer; Tenor [Arias]: Rufus Müller; Tenor [Servant]: Andrew Murgatroyd; Tenor [Servant]: Nicholas Robertson; Bass [Peter]: Simon Birchall; English Baroque Soloists; Monteverdi Choir; John Eliot Gardiner conducting, while following the text in German and English, right-click here, then left-click on "Open in New Window," then click here. Arrange windows.
Hieronymous Bosch, Christ mocked, National Gallery, London, c. 1490-1500
To listen 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; while following the text in German and English; right-click here, then left-click on "Open in New Window," then click here. Arrange windows.
Andrea Mantegna, Ecce Homo, Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris, c.1500
Improperia / Reproaches / Popule Meus
Gregorian Chant:
Josquin des Prez:
Giovanni Pierluigi Palestrina:
Lajos Bardos:
John Sanders:
Choir of Men and Girls and the Choir of Men and Boys of Trinity Episcopal Church on the Green in New Haven, CT[YouTube]
Bernhard Lewkovitch:
Stefan Haugland, tenor; Bernhard Lewkovitch, bass; Patric Cushion, bass; Holger Norgaard, bass; Copenhagen Schola Cantorum; Gregoriana Copenhagen [BNQ; BM] (info)
Richard Allain:
James MacMillan:
The Reproaches from the St. John Passion performed by Christopher Maltman, baritone; London Symphony Chorus; London Symphony Orchestra; Colin Davis, conducting [BNQ; BM] (info)
Wolfgang Rhim
Popule Meus from Deus Passus performed by Iris Vermillion, alto; Cornelia Kallisch, alto; Stuttgart Bach-Collegium, Helmutt Rilling conducting
[CML] (info) [BNQ; BM] (info)