The Latvian-born American painter Mark Rothko (1903-1970) was a representative of Abstract Expressionism. He is best known for his Color Field paintings, which depict irregular and painterly rectangular areas of color, which he produced from 1949 to 1970. Later in his career, Rothko created several canvases for three different mural projects - one of which was the octagonal "Rothko Chapel," a non-denominational chapel in Houston, Texas, to which he contributed 14 large canvases in red, black, and purple tones for a permanent installation (visitors have commented that the chapel is a dark space, with the very dark Rothkos on the walls, so it feels more like a crypt than a chapel).
American composer Morton Feldman (1926-1987) was attracted to abstract expressionist painting and counted Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollack, and Robert Rauschenberg among his friends and collaborators. While in Houston for the opening of the Rothko Chapel in February 1971, he was asked by the chapel's donors to compose a tribute to Rothko, who had committed suicide in 1970.
Feldman accepted and wrote "Rothko Chapel" for soprano, alto, mixed chorus and instruments, a contemplative score that was premiered in the chapel in April 1972.
"Rothko Chapel is the most accessible of Feldman's compositions. It sounds like Debussy, with spare, lyrical strings (including an alto solo), chimes, vibraphone, brief wordless solos for alto and soprano, and a humming chorus. It is, in fact, a series of short pieces, two to nine minutes long, five in all, that somehow evoke the sense of fullness, of colors both static and in (very, very slow) motion, in Rothko's paintings. The piece has many of the same ethereal effects as Rothko's paintings, right down to the almost melodic apotheosis of the final movement.
It is a motionless procession, not unlike the friezes on Greek temples, as Feldman himself has noted. The composer also remarked: "My choice of instruments (in terms of forces used, balance and timbre) was largely influenced by the space of the chapel and the paintings. I wanted the music to permeate the entire octagonal space and not be heard from a certain distance".
The exquisite, lyrical music could be described as an "environmental soundscape" that releases a quiet grandeur marked by simplicity, solemnity, and stillness, giving a new connotation to the word minimalism.
Listen to: SWR Vokalensemble; Dirigent: Marcus Creed
Choral Masterworks
February 28, 2023
Feldman: Rothko Chapel (1972)
February 27, 2023
Schütz: Christmas Oratorio SWV 435 (1660)
In the Western musical tradition, December is the time for the "Christmas concert," of Handel's Messiah and Bach's Christmas Oratorio, and dozens of choral offerings of carols and more general "Christmas music". A gentle, 17th-century, Lutheran devotional work full of subtle beauty is a rarity - but that is Heinrich Schütz's late masterpiece entitled The Christmas Story or the Story of the Birth of Jesus Christ. It is joyful, beautiful, melodic, inventive, but there is not a trace of the later, 18th-century grandeur. Schütz could write in that style if he wanted to, but the magnificence of his musical art lies in his sophisticated response to the words of Luther's Gospel translation.
Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672) was a German composer and organist. In the field of church music, he was the most important Lutheran-Protestant composer before Johann Sebastian Bach, who wrote mostly for the Electoral Chapel in Dresden. Schütz was a prolific composer, with more than 500 surviving works, but much has been lost as well, including the first German opera, Daphne, from 1627. Almost no secular music by Schütz has survived, and his purely
instrumental music is completely lost, although in his day he was
considered one of the finest organists in Germany.
Schütz's compositions are influenced by his teacher Gabrieli, with his Venetian polychoral and concertato style, and by Monteverdi. The influence of the 16th-century Dutch school can also be heard. Representative works are the three books of the Symphoniae sacrae, the Psalms of David, the Seven Words of Jesus Christ on the Cross, and his Three Passions, which he wrote shortly before his 80th birthday. Schütz's early works were written in the most progressive styles, while his later works, including the Passions, are simpler and more austere. Practical concerns probably played a role in this change: the Thirty Years' War had virtually destroyed the musical infrastructure in Germany and it was no longer possible to perform the great works in the Venetian style.
Schütz played an important role in the transmission of musical ideas from Italy to Germany. As a result, his influence on German music was great. The North German organ style was largely founded on Schütz's work, although the work of the Dutchman Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck was also important in its development. A century later, this style would reach its apogee with the works of Johann Sebastian Bach.
The Historia der Geburt Christi, or Christmas History, SWV 435, is a historia by Heinrich Schütz that sets the Gospel, in this case the Christmas story according to Luke and Matthew, to music for use in church services as the Gospel reading. The work was probably first performed in Dresden in 1660.
The text of the Historia is taken almost entirely from the Bible in Martin Luther's translation, framed by two choral movements, the Introduction and the Resolution (a translation of the Christmas sequence "Grates nunc omnes" by Johann Spangenberg). The narrator is the Evangelist. Other characters appear in eight sections, each designated as an intermediary: the Angel of the Annunciation, the heavenly hosts, the shepherds, the wise men, the priests and scribes, Herod, and an angel who appears to Joseph.
The work is scored for soloists, six-part choir (SSATTB) and orchestra (two violins, two viols, two recorders, two trumpets, two trombones, and basso continuo). The Evangelist sings in secco recitative in the dramatic Italian style, in which Schütz emphasizes individual words and clarifies the action through frequent modulation. The angel is sung by a soprano accompanied by two violins, the shepherds by recorders. Herod is accompanied by trumpets, which contrast with the angels' violins as an expression of worldly power.
Schütz can rightly be considered the genius who bridged the gap between Monteverdi's madrigals and Bach's cantatas. He is a phenomenal master of his chosen idioms: his harmonic imagination, fantastic wordplay, and profound expressiveness are intensely rewarding to those willing to devote a little time and attention to his music.
Text.
Listen to Ensemble Polyharmonique.
Choral Masterworks
February 26, 2023
Woman and Cat by Paul Verlaine (France, 1866)
Woman and Cat
Paul Verlaine
translation Ad Blankestijn
She was playing with her cat,
And it was enchanting to see
The white hand and the white paw
Frolicking in the evening shadows.
She was hiding - the traitor! -
Under those mittens of black thread
Her murderous agate nails,
Cutting and razor-sharp.
The other also pretended to be sweet,
And drew back her sharp claw,
But it was all pretense...
And in the bedroom, where, sonorous,
Sounded her airy laughter,
Four points of phosphorus glowed.
Elle jouait avec sa chatte,
(Paul Verlaine, Poèmes saturniens)
Paul Verlaine was a follower of Baudelaire, and in 1884 he edited the collection "Les poètes maudits" (PDF), which included works by Corbière, Rimbaud, Mallarmé, and Pauvre Lelian (an anagram of Paul Verlaine himself). The anthology helped these poems to become very popular among the general public, despite their difficulty.
Several of Verlaine's poems have been set to music by famous composers such as Gabriel Fauré.
Here is another famous poem by Verlaine, "Clair de lune" (English "Moonlight"), which was the inspiration for the third and most famous movement of Claude Debussy's 1890 Suite bergamasque. Debussy also wrote two settings of the poem for voice and piano accompaniment. The poem has also been set to music by Gabriel Fauré, Louis Vierne, and Josef Szulc.
Clair de lune (Moonlight)
by Paul Verlaine
Your soul is a delicate landscape
Where charming masks and bergamasks roam,
Playing the lute and dancing, seeming just a bit
Sad under their imaginative disguises.
Singing in the minor key
Of triumphant love and pleasant life,
They seem reluctant to believe their own happiness
And their song mingles with the moonlight,
With the calm light of the sad and beautiful moon,
That makes the birds dream in the trees,
And makes the fountains sob with ecstasy,
Great slender jets of water among the marble.
CLAIR DE LUNE
Votre âme est un paysage choisi
Que vont charmants masques et bergamasques
Jouant du luth et dansant et quasi
Tristes sous leurs déguisements fantasques.
Tout en chantant sur le mode mineur
L’amour vainqueur et la vie opportune,
Ils n’ont pas l’air de croire à leur bonheur
Et leur chanson se mêle au clair de lune,
Au calme clair de lune triste et beau,
Qui fait rêver les oiseaux dans les arbres
Et sangloter d’extase les jets d’eau,
Les grands jets d’eau sveltes parmi les marbres.
February 25, 2023
Janáček: Glagolitic Mass (1926-27)
Janáček's Glagolitic Mass, completed in 1926, has been called "one of the most remarkable and important sacred musical works of the twentieth century." But it is remarkable that Janáček wrote sacred music at all. He hated churches, which he saw as "concentrated death." As for religion, he remarked: "Not a believer - not until I see for myself." The reason he wrote such an vibrant setting of the Mass was a challenge: when he criticized the poor quality of music in a local church, he was told to write something worthwhile himself. And he did, with a vengeance...
Janáček's Mass is not in Latin, but in Old Church Slavonic, the first literary Slavonic language into which the Bible was translated by Byzantine missionaries in the 9th century. The Glagolitic alphabet was an early Slavic alphabet, the predecessor of the modern Cyrillic alphabet. The Catholic Church gave permission to celebrate Mass in Old Church Slavonic at a time when such liturgies were usually allowed only in Latin, resulting in the Glagolitic Mass.
Janáček was born in the old Kingdom of Moravia, an Austrian crown land in the 19th century and later part of the Czech Republic. It is located in the eastern part of the country and the regional capital is Brno, where Janáček was active and where this Mass was premiered. Janáček was a strong supporter of pan-Slavism, and this mass is considered a celebration and revival of ancient Slavic culture in a modern garb. One could also say that for Janáček, the Glagolitic Mass was more an expression of his romantic nationalism than a religious expression.
Janáček set five vocal movements that correspond to the Catholic Ordinary of the Mass, omitting "Dona nobis pacem" in the Agnus Dei. Janáček had extensive experience working with choirs and wrote a great deal of choral music. This work is his masterpiece in this field.
The five movements that set the text of the Mass are framed by three instrumental movements. It begins and ends with triumphant fanfares dominated by the brass, strongly reminiscent of Janacek's wonderful Sinfonietta. In between, there is particularly lively and rhythmic writing for solo voices and chorus. Curiously, the final movement is titled Intrada, which means entrance. Before this Intrada, Janáček introduces a dramatic organ solo of considerable originality - a moto perpetuo of wild energy.
The eight movements are:
Úvod – Introduction (orchestra)
Gospodi pomiluj – Kyrie
Slava – Gloria
Věruju – Credo
Svet – Sanctus
Agneče Božij – Agnus Dei
Varhany sólo (Postludium) – Organ solo
Intrada – Exodus (literally, entrance)
Incidentally, research into Janáček's manuscripts suggests that the Intrada was also intended to be played at the beginning of the work, creating a symmetrical nine-movement form with the Věruju in the center.
It's not easy to sing Janáček's work, not only because the music is difficult, but also because the language is difficult as well, especially for non-Czech singers - it's much easier to sing in Latin, which is not difficult to pronounce.
The Glagolitic Mass is full of energy and faith - perhaps not in God, but in life and nature.
Also see: "Radio Prague – The Glagolitic Mass, a celebration of Slavic culture".
Listen to: Bělohlávek, Česká filharmonie
February 22, 2023
Le Léthé by Charles Baudelaire (France, 1857)
Lethe
by Charles Baudelaire
translation by Ad Blankestijn
Rest on my heart, cruel, insensitive soul,
Adored tigress, monster with lazy airs;
I want to plunge my trembling fingers for hours
in the thickness of your heavy mane,
and bury my aching head
In your scent filled skirt,
And inhale, as from a withered flower,
The sweet smell of my dead love.
I would rather sleep than live!
In a sleep as sweet as death,
I will cover with kisses without remorse
Your beautiful body, polished like copper.
To swallow my muffled sobs
Nothing compares to the abyss of your bed;
Powerful oblivion dwells on your lips,
And Lethe flows in your kisses.
To my fate, hereafter my pleasure,
I will obey as one predestined;
A docile martyr, an innocent condemned,
Whose passion aggravates the punishment.
I will suckle to drown my resentment,
Nepenthes and the good hemlock
On the charming tips of those pointed breasts
In which no heart has ever been confined.
Le Léthé
Viens sur mon coeur, âme cruelle et sourde,
Tigre adoré, monstre aux airs indolents;
Je veux longtemps plonger mes doigts tremblants
Dans l'épaisseur de ta crinière lourde;
Dans tes jupons remplis de ton parfum
Ensevelir ma tête endolorie,
Et respirer, comme une fleur flétrie,
Le doux relent de mon amour défunt.
Je veux dormir! dormir plutôt que vivre!
Dans un sommeil aussi doux que la mort,
J'étalerai mes baisers sans remords
Sur ton beau corps poli comme le cuivre.
Pour engloutir mes sanglots apaisés
Rien ne me vaut l'abîme de ta couche;
L'oubli puissant habite sur ta bouche,
Et le Léthé coule dans tes baisers.
À mon destin, désormais mon délice,
J'obéirai comme un prédestiné;
Martyr docile, innocent condamné,
Dont la ferveur attise le supplice,
Je sucerai, pour noyer ma rancoeur,
Le népenthès et la bonne ciguë
Aux bouts charmants de cette gorge aiguë
Qui n'a jamais emprisonné de coeur.
Born in Paris, Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867) studied law, but after graduating, he decided not to practice and turned to literature instead. In 1841, Baudelaire's stepfather sent him on a voyage to India, which gave him experience of the sea, sailing, and exotic ports. Back in Paris, Baudelaire began writing, art criticism (he was a strong supporter of the Romantic painter Delacroix), poetry, and prose poems - he also translated Edgar Allen Poe into French.
Baudelaire became known in artistic circles as a dandy and a spendthrift, spending much of his inheritance and allowance in a short time. He also began a relationship with Jeanne Duval, a Haitian-born actress and dancer of mixed French and African descent (nicknamed "Black Venus"). She was his muse for 20 years and inspired many of his poems.
In 1857, Baudelaire published Les Fleurs du mal ("The Flowers of Evil"). The poems found a small but enthusiastic audience. The main themes of sex and death, however, caused a public scandal, and six of the poems, including the one translated here, were banned by the censors.
Baudelaire is considered one of the most important poets of 19th century French literature. He is usually classified as a Symbolist, but in fact he stands at the crossroads of all the movements of that century. There are clear elements of Romanticism as well as Realism, and the movements of the 20th century are a further development of his work. One of the symbolic features of his work is the fusion of form and content. The sounds of his poems are all rhythmic and in harmony with what the content is trying to convey. This is reflected in his masterpiece Les Fleurs du mal, but also in a work such as Le Spleen de Paris. Baudelaire's influence on modern French (and other European) literature has been considerable.
Notes:
In Greek mythology, Lethe was one of the five rivers of the underworld of Hades; all who drank from it experienced complete forgetfulness. Lethe was also the name of the Greek spirit of forgetfulness and oblivion.
Nepenthe in the previous couplet is a fictional remedy for grief. Hemlock is a poisonous plant.
The translation is my own.
Baudelaire is in the public domain. I have cited from Wikisource.
Photos:
Painting Manet: Édouard Manet
, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Portrait Baudelaire: Nadar, via Wikimedia Commons
February 20, 2023
Beethoven: Meeresstille und Glückliche Fahrt (Vocal and Choral Masterworks)
"Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage" is a short cantata for choir and orchestra composed by Ludwig van Beethoven, based on two poems by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The two met in 1812; Beethoven admired Goethe, and the work is dedicated to him.
Beethoven began composing at the end of 1814, and finished in the summer of 1815. The premiere took place in Vienna on December 25, 1815, at a benefit concert for the Bürgerspitalfond. Beethoven's oratorio Christus am Ölberge was also performed at this concert.
Beethoven had already used Klopstock's odes as the basis for cantatas in Bonn in 1790 (WoO 87 and WoO 88), at a time when these odes were gaining popularity. His interest in Goethe's poems also dates from this period, as do his initial plans to set Schiller's poem An die Freude, which later became the final movement of the 9th Symphony.
Beethoven's Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt was not printed until 1822. His letters to Goethe about setting the two poems to music remained unanswered (Goethe was rather particular about his poems being set to music - he often complained that the music obscured the text).
Note that the titles of the poems are not synonymous: in the days before steam, a completely calm sea was cause for alarm (!) - only when the wind finally picks up can the ship continue its journey. The first section depicts a ship that has become becalmed; the second section depicts a ship that has succeeded in resuming its journey.
The quiet, deliberate first movement describes a "deep silence" and the sea "resting without motion. This mood is reversed in the second movement, which becomes more stormy as "the mist breaks" and "the sky is bright" and finally "the distance approaches and the land can be seen. The frenetic 6/8 meter of "Glückliche Fahrt" contrasts sharply with the work's opening, where Beethoven's idiosyncratic scoring and slow-moving, chorale-like harmonies in D major achieve an extraordinary sense of rapture that is matched only in some of the slow movements of the late piano sonatas and quartets.
Mendelssohn's well-known Overture shares the same literary source, as does Schubert's solo setting of 'Meeresstille', D216, composed in June 1815 and published as part of his Opus 3.
Meeresstille.
Tiefe Stille herrscht im Wasser,
Ohne Regung ruht das Meer,
Und bekümmert sieht der Schiffer
Glatte Fläche ringsumher.
Keine Luft von keiner Seite!
Todesstille fürchterlich!
In der ungeheuern Weite
Reget keine Welle sich.
Glückliche Fahrt.
Die Nebel zerreißen,
Der Himmel ist helle,
Und Äolus löset
Das ängstliche Band.
Es säuseln die Winde,
Es rührt sich der Schiffer.
Geschwinde! Geschwinde!
Es teilt sich die Welle,
Es naht sich die Ferne;
Schon seh ich das Land!
Listen to: Radio Filharmonisch Orkest & Groot Omroepkoor conducted by James Gaffigan in a registration by the Dutch television.
February 19, 2023
Handel: Messiah
George Frideric Handel is widely known today as an oratorio composer, especially for his masterpiece "Messiah". However, he did not begin composing oratorios until later in his life, when he was in his fifties. During his youth and early career, Italian opera was the focus of his musical endeavors, and he was associated with the Hamburg Opera from the age of 18. The choruses that are a staple of Handel's oratorios were a new concept to him at the time.
By the 1730s, London audiences had become bored with Italian opera, and Handel found himself in financial trouble, even considering a return to Germany. He turned to composing English oratorios, and by 1740, after the success of "Saul" and "Israel in Egypt," Handel had abandoned opera altogether. In July 1741, his librettist Jennens sent him a new libretto for an oratorio, and in a letter dated July 10 to his friend Edward Holdsworth, Jennens wrote: "I hope Handel will put all his genius & skill into it, that the composition may surpass all his former compositions, as the subject surpasses every other subject. The subject is Messiah." Messiah would become Handel's sixth oratorio.
A major difference between Handel's oratorios and operas is the language used. Oratorios have English texts, making the works more accessible to audiences, but challenging for non-English speaking singers. Although a naturalized Englishman, Handel himself did not have a strong command of the language, and his setting of English texts to music was sometimes flawed, even in his later works. Although Purcell's anthems and odes had some influence on Handel's oratorios, it was primarily the German church cantata that had a greater impact, especially on his "anthem oratorios," of which Messiah would become the most prominent example.
The Messiah is unique among oratorios in that the singers do not assume dramatic roles, there is no single narrative voice, and the direct style is used sparingly. While Jennens is often credited as the librettist of the Messiah, he was actually the compiler of the libretto, skillfully adapting and combining various biblical texts into a compelling narrative. While the conventional forms of recitative and aria are present, the story is told in a more narrative form.
In terms of structure, Jennens provided Handel with a three-part libretto for a work that would run approximately two and a half hours. This division and overall length followed the conventions of baroque Italian opera. Part I covers the Old Testament prophecies of the coming of the Messiah and the Virgin Birth, with the Annunciation to the shepherds presented in the Gospel of Luke. Part II covers Christ's passion and death, resurrection and ascension, the early spread of the gospel, and the proclamation of God's glory in the triumphant "Hallelujah" chorus. Part III begins with the promise of salvation, followed by a prediction of the Last Judgment and the universal resurrection, and ends with the final victory over sin and death and the acclamation of Christ.
Jennens divided the three parts into "scenes," each consisting of individual numbers or "movements" in the form of recitatives, arias, and choruses. There are two instrumental numbers, the opening symphony in the style of a French overture and the Pastoral Symphony in the middle of Part I.
Handel composed the music for Messiah in just 24 days, from August 22 to September 14, 1741. Prior to the premiere, Handel made several changes to the score to accommodate the resources available for the 1742 Dublin premiere. He continued to revise various movements over the following years, often to accommodate specific singers. As a result, there is no standard version of the Messiah, and several different versions of some parts, especially the arias, exist from Handel's time.
In November 1741, Handel went to Dublin, but the first performance of the Messiah did not take place until April 13, 1742. It was performed as a benefit concert after a harsh winter and was a great success. Ticket sales were increased by asking the ladies not to wear hoop skirts. All proceeds were divided equally among several charities. The following year, Messiah was performed at Covent Garden in London, but controversy arose over whether the sacred oratorio was appropriate for a theatrical setting.
The tradition of performing the Messiah in England began around 1750. Handel ended his Lenten season each year with a performance of the work, which was repeated a month later at the Foundling Hospital. Today, the Messiah is performed primarily around Christmas, especially in English-speaking countries. It has become one of the most widely known and performed choral works in Western music.
Listen to: Voces8 and Academy of Ancient Music
Choral Masterworks
February 18, 2023
Victoria: Officium Defunctorum (1603)
Tomás Luis de Victoria, a renowned Spanish composer, created the Officium Defunctorum in Spain in 1603. Following the death of Empress Maria of Austria, for whom it was originally composed, the piece was published in 1605. Victoria's Officium Hebdomadæ Sanctæ (1585) and this composition are widely regarded as his masterpieces.
Victoria was a prodigious Spanish composer born in 1548. At a young age, he was sent to study in Rome by Philip II of Spain. He later became a priest and joined the Oratorian Congregation before returning to Spain in 1586. Victoria served as chaplain to the Dowager Empress Maria, who was the sister of Philip II of Spain, daughter of Charles V, wife of Maximilian II, and mother of two emperors, while working at a convent in Madrid.
His music, which mainly consisted of religious, vocal works such as masses and motets, was related to the polyphony of Palestrina, who he may have studied under in Rome. Victoria lived during the Counter-Reformation's peak, and his music reflected his Spanish mysticism and religious fervor.
Victoria composed the Officium Defunctorum for Empress Maria's funeral, which was held on April 22 and 23, 1603, after her death on February 26 of the same year. The Officium Defunctorum was Victoria's final composition before his death in 1611, and he dedicated it to Margret, Maria's daughter, after making revisions and publishing it in 1605.
The Officium Defunctorum is a six-part SSATTB choir piece, and it may have been intended to be sung with two singers in each part. It includes a complete Office of the Dead, including a Requiem Mass, an extra-liturgical Funeral Motet, a Lesson belonging to Matins, and the Ceremony of Absolution that follows the Mass. Unaccompanied chant incipits separate the polyphonic sections.
The quality of the Officium Defunctorum, which pays homage to the Empress, is widely regarded as the pinnacle of Spanish Golden Age music. Furthermore, musicologists regard this Officium as representative of the entire a cappella music of the Renaissance due to its remarkable flourishing and evolution.
Listen to: Coro RTVE dirigido por Christoph König.
Choral Masterworks
February 17, 2023
Orlande di Lassus: Lagrime di San Pietro
The Lagrime di San Pietro, composed by Orlando di Lasso, is widely considered one of the greatest examples of Renaissance polyphony and is likely the most famous collection of sacred madrigals ever written. This cycle, which includes 20 madrigals and a concluding motet, describes the stages of grief experienced by St. Peter after his denial of Christ. It is structured in three sequences of seven compositions.
Lassus, also known as Orlandus Lassus, Roland de Lassus, or Roland de Lâtre, was a renowned composer born in Bergen, Belgium in 1532. He served as a choirboy at the church of St. Nicholas in Mons before being taken to Italy by the Viceroy of Sicily with his parents' permission. Lassus later became the chapel master of St. John of the Lateran in Rome and traveled throughout France and England. He was appointed a member of the Munich Court Chapel in 1556 and became its director four years later, a position he held until his death in 1594.
The Lagrime was Lassus' final composition, dedicated to Pope Clement VIII shortly before his death. The cycle is a synthesis of Lassus's style, incorporating techniques he learned early in his career composing secular madrigals, as well as the concise, refined language he developed late in his career, akin to the Palestrina style. The music is set to the text syllabically, with careful attention to diction, and includes pauses where a speaker would naturally pause for breath. The cycle is entirely through-composed, without repetition or redundancy, and the music's austerity and intensity of feeling perfectly match the clarity of the poetic imagery.
The final piece in the set is a Latin motet, Vide homo, quae pro te patior ("See, man, how I suffer for you"), in which the crucified Christ, speaking in the first person, confronts Peter's betrayal and the sinfulness of all humanity. The Lagrime marked the end of an era and a style; within a decade of its composition, new early baroque forms, such as the sacred concerto for few voices and basso continuo, had taken over.
Listen to: Musica Ficta Copenhagen
Choral Masterworks
February 16, 2023
Palestrina: Messae Papae Marcelli
During the Renaissance, Palestrina was a highly productive composer of sacred music for the Catholic Church, writing at a time of great upheaval as the Church confronted the Reformation and the increasing popularity of Protestantism. There was much debate about the role of church music, with critics arguing that the complexity of polyphony detracted from the sacred words and suggesting the use of plainsong instead.
Although the details are likely embellished, Palestrina is credited with saving polyphony from being abolished by the Church. He was asked to compose a Mass that would demonstrate that polyphonic music could be clear in meaning and promote a devotional spirit. His resulting work, the Messae Papae Marcelli (Mass of Pope Marcellus), convinced the critics and preserved (for the time being) the use of polyphony in church music.
While Palestrina initially learned from the techniques of Franco-Flemish composers like Josquin Desprez, he developed his own style, which combined polyphony with simpler homophonic sections. Born around 1525 in Palestrina near Rome, he was a choirboy at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome in 1537. From 1544 to 1551, he served as the organist and music director at the cathedral in his hometown. In 1551, he became the director of music at the Cappella Giulia of St. Peter's in Rome, and in 1555, he was appointed as the choirmaster of the Sistine Chapel by Pope Julius III. However, he was dismissed in 1555 by Pope Paul IV for not being a priest, but he was quickly appointed as the chapel master of St. John of the Lateran in Rome. He held this position until 1560 and became a music teacher at the Seminario Romano. He then served under Cardinal Ippolito II d'Este from 1561 to 1571, and from 1571 until his death on February 2, 1594, he served as Kapellmeister in St. Peter's, where he was also buried. During his lifetime, Palestrina was already well-known throughout Europe.
Palestrina's most famous work is the Messae Papae Marcelli, but he also composed over a hundred masses, a Stabat Mater, and the Canticum Canticorum (Song of Songs). The Messae Papae Marcelli was performed before a committee of cardinals who wanted to test whether the words could be understood by the faithful, as the Church was considering banning polyphonic music. However, Palestrina's music impressed the committee with its beauty and simple, declamatory style. In composing the Mass, Palestrina successfully adapted to the Church's requirements, using the text to express its meaning and sentiment. He achieved simplicity and clarity in his music, making the sacred text intelligible to listeners. The Mass features contrasting sections of independent, overlapping voices with parts in which the voices sing together. Although there are contrapuntal effects in the Mass, they are used judiciously and always contribute to the transparency of the polyphonic discourse. The Messae Papae Marcelli was traditionally sung at the coronation of the Pope until the practice was discontinued by John Paul I and his successors.
Listen to: Kammerchor Dresden under the direction of Hans-Christoph Rademann (only the Kyrie, Gloria and Agnus Dei of the Mass, the Credo, Sanctus and Benedictus have been left out in this performance)
February 15, 2023
Duruflé: Requiem Op 9 (1947)
Duruflé was already working on an organ suite based on the Gregorian chants for the Requiem Mass when he was commissioned by his publisher to write a larger work based on the same texts. The final Requiem, originally scored for choir and orchestra, is a combination of Gregorian chant, Renaissance-style counterpoint, and rich harmonies inspired by the works of Fauré, Debussy, and Ravel.
Duruflé's use of Gregorian chant makes his Requiem more adventurous than Fauré's, giving it a timeless quality and adding to its meditative atmosphere. Duruflé said that he "tried to let the special style of the Gregorian themes completely permeate his composition. The emotional "Pie Jesu," sung by a solo female voice and accompanied by a solo cello, is the centerpiece of the Requiem. The Requiem is mostly serene and introspective, with each movement fading into silence.
There are three different versions of the Requiem, created through various revisions: one for choir, full orchestra, and organ; another for a smaller chamber ensemble; and a third for organ and choir only.
Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986) was a private student of Louis Vierne and Charles Tournemire, and later studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Paul Dukas, among others. From 1929 he worked as organist at the church of St. Étienne-du-Mont in Paris and traveled internationally as a concert organist. In 1943, he was appointed professor of harmony at the Conservatoire. Duruflé married the organist Marie-Madeleine Chevalier in 1953, and the two often performed together.
Duruflé's small body of work, characterized by skill and originality, is influenced by late Romanticism, Impressionism, and Gregorian chant.
Listen to: Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra & Choir conducted by Paweł Kapula.
February 14, 2023
Josquin: Missa L'homme armé super voces musicales (Vocal and Choral Masterworks)
Josquin established the patterns for Renaissance sacred music, creating rich vocal textures of long, arching phrases in which consistent imitation between voices creates a sense of both unity and progression. Polyphony came of age with Josquin, who consolidated the achievements of his great predecessors Dufay and Ockeghem. For this reason, contemporaries compared Josquin to Michelangelo.
Josquin des Prez, a singer and composer of the Franco-Flemish school of polyphony, lived from 1450 to 1521. His name, originally "Jossequin Lebloitte, dit Desprez," was sometimes spelled Des Prés, Després, and Desprez. Josquin is derived from the Flemish "Josken". He was considered the most important composer of the Renaissance and worked mainly in France and Italy.
Josquin's music is known for its transparent and structured composition, where the music is closely linked to the text. In the mid-15th century, he was a leading figure in a new style of chanson that used the techniques of canon and counterpoint in secular songs. In his compositions, the text was always the starting point, in contrast to earlier composers who made the melody more important. As a result, the text in Josquin's music is easily understood by the listener. He rarely used full four-part harmony.
Josquin's works can be divided into three types: motets, masses, and chansons. Martin Luther, the Protestant reformer, praised Josquin's music, calling him "the master of the notes, who must do as he pleases; other composers must do as the notes please.
The details of Josquin's life are uncertain, but it is believed that he was born in a French-speaking area of Flanders and was educated at the Cathedral of Cambrai or taught by Johannes Ockeghem. In 1477, he was a member of the choir of René of Anjou and served Louis XI of France. In the 1480s he toured Italy with Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, serving Popes Innocent VIII and Alexander VI in Rome, Louis XII in France, and Ercole I d'Este in Ferrara. Many of his works were published by Ottaviano Petrucci in the early 16th century, and he produced some of his most famous works during his last years in Condé.
Josquin is considered one of the first composers to achieve posthumous fame and was one of the first composers to have his music printed and published. Although his reputation was overshadowed during the Baroque era by the Italian composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, he continues to be studied by music historians and theorists. During the early music revival of the 20th century, Josquin's music was reevaluated, and he continues to be widely celebrated and recorded in the 21st century.
The "Missa L'homme armé super voces musicales" is one of two settings of Josquin Desprez's Ordinary Mass and uses the well-known melody "L'homme armé" as its source material. Although instruments were largely forbidden within the papal circle in Rome, the mass was probably performed in various places and times and was also adapted for instruments. The earliest print of the Mass, published by Petrucci in 1502, indicates a wider distribution.
Listen to: Cantar Lontano and Capella de la Torre (The 'Missa L’homme armé super voces musicales' is mixed with some other pieces from the same period).
February 13, 2023
Llibre Vermell de Montserrat (Vocal and Choral Masterworks)
A collection of anonymous medieval Spanish Marian devotional songs may seem a bit out of place among the works for choir and large orchestra that follow. But such songs stand at the beginning of the long Western musical tradition, and that is what makes them so interesting. They are such fresh, vibrant songs that I fell under their spell and could not let them go.
The "Llibre Vermell de Montserrat" is a collection of medieval texts gathered around the shrine of the Black Madonna of Montserrat, located near Barcelona in Catalonia. The manuscript, written between 1396 and 1399, is a compilation of liturgical, informational and instructional texts that focus on the devotion to Mary in Montserrat. It originally consisted of 137 folios, of which about 30 have been lost over time. The book is called the "Llibre Vermell" or "Red Book" after the red velvet binding that has held the folios together since the 19th century. The book is best known for the part of its folios which contain a series of (anonymous) songs, including musical notation.
The Benedictine Monastery of Montserrat had become the most important monastery in the Kingdom of Aragon, a center of European culture in the Middle Ages, in the 13th and 14th centuries. Stories of miracles that took place there made the wooden statue of the Black Madonna (La Morena) a major attraction. The monks collected prayers, sermons, liturgical texts, accounts of miracles and songs related to the Black Madonna. Twelve pages contain music for the pilgrims: songs from the popular to the very sophisticated, some of which can be sung in canon. Most, however, are round dances.
Why would the monks have collected such songs? Because of the chronic shortage of lodging in Montserrat, many pilgrims had to spend the night in the church, transforming the liturgical space into a pilgrims' hostel. The songs of the Llibre Vermell seem to have been collected with the intention of replacing the traditional secular songs and dances of the pilgrims with devotional ones. The monks and musicians probably used melodies from popular dance songs and added Marian lyrics.
There are ten songs in all: canons or caças, songs for several voices, including one for three voices, and five round dances.
Text and translation.
Listen to: La Capella Reial de Catalunya with Hespèrion XXI, direction Jordi Savall
Choral Masterworks
February 12, 2023
Bach (Carl Philipp Emanuel ) - Magnificat (1749)
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788), like his father Johann Sebastian before him, wrote a Magnificat that is considered his choral masterpiece. Composed in 1749, it was his first major choral work. The words of praise to the Virgin Mary are set with an exciting energy, and the work's impact comes from its operatic arias and powerful choruses.
The Magnificat was a regular part of Sunday services in Leipzig, where Carl Philipp Emanuel grew up, sung in German on ordinary Sundays and in Latin on high holidays and Marian feasts. When his father Johan Sebastian's Magnificat was performed in 1723, Carl Philipp Emanuel was nine years old. In 1749, Carl Philipp Emanuel set the text in the same key (D) as his father's and performed it as a cantata in Berlin while serving as harpsichordist at the court of Frederick the Great.
The following anecdote has been recorded about the genesis of the work. In June 1749, while Johann Sebastian Bach was still alive, the City Council of Leipzig was considering a possible successor to the gravely ill Thomaskantor and commissioned Johann Gottlob Harrer, Kapellmeister to the Count of Brühl in Dresden, to compose "test music". Bach suggested to his two highly talented sons, Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl Philipp Emanuel, that they also try to succeed him. While Carl Philipp Emanuel set the Magnificat, Wilhelm Friedemann wrote an Advent cantata. Neither son was successful, however, and Harrer was eventually offered the position of Thomaskantor.
The Magnificat is a fairly large composition, divided into nine sections, requiring SATB soloists and chorus, and a substantial orchestra. The choir is only involved in four of the movements, but has a significant role in those sections. Carl Philipp Emanuel's style is modern and represents a departure from his father's style, with the exception of the concluding double fugue. During his time in Hamburg, he added trumpets and timpani and even placed the work next to his father's B Minor Mass in a concert in 1779. Throughout the 18th century, however, listeners outside Hamburg were almost exclusively familiar with the original version, in which the work was known throughout Europe in numerous copies.
Listen to: Nederlandse Bachvereniging conducted by Shunske Sato (violin)
Choral Masterworks
Bach Cantata Index
February 11, 2023
Rossini: Stabat Mater (Vocal and Choral Masterworks)
I thought Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle was more operatic than sacred, but I didn't know the Stabat Mater at the time. If you listen to the music with your eyes closed and without having seen the title, you would indeed think you were hearing a dramatic opera. Not that I have a problem with that - I have no preference for either church or theater (and the church, with its ritual, is also a form of theater).
In his time (the 1820s), Gioachino Rossini (1792 - 1868) was more famous and popular than Beethoven, and his 39 operas, which set new standards, made him wealthy enough to retire comfortably in 1830 (at age 38!), at the height of his popularity (intermittent poor health may also have played a role in his decision to retire). In his retirement, he composed only a few songs, chamber music and sacred music. Rossini spent the last years of his life in Paris, where he and his wife established a salon that became internationally famous. These musical salons were regularly attended by musicians and the artistic and fashionable circles of Paris.
The Stabat Mater has a somewhat checkered history. Rossini was commissioned to compose the Stabat Mater in 1831 by the Spanish councilor of state and theologian Manuel Fernández Varela. As Rossini fell ill during the composition, but the commissioner insisted on the completion of the work, Rossini asked his pupil Giovanni Tadolini to fill in some missing numbers. This mixed version was premiered on Good Friday, 1833, at the Convento de San Felipe el Real in Madrid. Fernández Varela never learned that the work he heard was not entirely from Rossini's pen.
After Fernández Varela's death, Rossini returned to the work sometime between 1838 and 1841, replacing Tadolini's parts with newly composed contributions of his own. This led to several lawsuits over who owned the copyright and publishing rights, but Rossini eventually won. His revised version was first performed at the Théâtre-Italien in Paris on January 7, 1842. The first Italian performances in Bologna were conducted, at Rossini's request, by his younger colleague Gaetano Donizetti. In both Paris and Bologna, the enthusiasm with which the public greeted Rossini's new work is indescribable. "Rossini's name was shouted amidst the applause. The whole work carried the audience; the triumph was complete. Three numbers had to be repeated...and the audience left the theater moved and overcome with admiration...".
Critics, especially in northwestern Europe, criticized the work as "too worldly, too sensual, too playful for the religious theme," but others countered with the view that "religion in the South is a very different thing from what it is in the North."
The operatic highlight of the work is undoubtedly the second part, "Cuius animam," with its rollicking and memorable melody, which is a true demonstration of the tenor's bravura technique. I really enjoyed Rossini's Stabat Mater - more than I enjoy his operas!
Listen to: hr-Sinfonieorchester ∙ Solisten ∙ MDR Rundfunkchor ∙ Andrés Orozco-Estrada, at the Rheingau Musik Festival 2015 in Kloster Eberbach (a very energetic performance!).
Choral Masterworks
February 10, 2023
Adams: Harmonium (1981)
The 1981 world premiere of John Adams' "Harmonium" by the San Francisco Symphony and San Francisco Symphony Chorus, conducted by Edo de Waart, marked the emergence of a significant new talent. This choral symphony, based on poems by John Donne and Emily Dickinson, showcased Adams' attempt to incorporate elements of minimalism into his work to create a unique and rich harmonic language. He recognized that the fundamental elements of music, such as pulse, repetition, and tonality, held the potential to unlock a new musical universe. Although he found the minimalism of Reich and Glass uneventful, Adams was drawn to the genre for its freshness and sought to use its techniques to construct works that could grow and become great pieces. This performance introduced Adams to a wider audience and put him on the map as a composer.
Before he began composing "Harmonium," Adams had a vision of many voices blending together in a harmonious and pulsating fabric of sound. He chose three poems by John Donne and Emily Dickinson to bring his vision to life.
"Negative Love" by John Donne is a meditation on the various forms of love, beginning with the carnal and ascending to the divine. The piece begins with a single note and syllable, gradually building to a euphoric chorus. The initial silence of the music has similarities to the first section of Beethoven's "Ocean Serenity and Happy Voyage," a composer Adams greatly admired.
The two poems by Emily Dickinson present two contrasting sides of her poetry. "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" is a subdued and intimate depiction of Dickinson as she rides in a slowly moving carriage, watching her life pass before her. Adams creates this scene with a slow and otherworldly rhythmic flow.
In contrast, "Wild Nights" captures Dickinson's wild and ecstatic side, full of urgency and longing for a union of eros and death. The music builds in power and speed, culminating in a vibrant and exuberant cacophony.
As Adams explained, "If 'Negative Love' is a contemplation of love, and 'Because I Could Not Stop for Death' is a series of still images about the halting of time, 'Wild Nights' combines these two themes with a passionate and powerful intensity that is both violent and sexual, and full of the desire for oblivion that lies at the heart of all of Dickinson's work.
The poems (from Wikisource):
Negative Love by John Donne
I NEVER stoop'd so low, as they
Which on an eye, cheek, lip, can prey;
Seldom to them which soar no higher
Than virtue, or the mind to admire.
For sense and understanding may
Know what gives fuel to their fire;
My love, though silly, is more brave;
For may I miss, whene'er I crave,
If I know yet what I would have.
If that be simply perfectest,
Which can by no way be express'd
But negatives, my love is so.
To all, which all love, I say no.
If any who deciphers best,
What we know not—ourselves—can know,
Let him teach me that nothing. This
As yet my ease and comfort is,
Though I speed not, I cannot miss.
Because I could not stop for Death — by Emily Dickinson
Because I could not stop for Death—
He kindly stopped for me—
The Carriage held but just Ourselves—
And Immortality.
We slowly drove—He knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility—
We passed the School, where Children strove
At recess—in the ring—
We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain—
We passed the Setting Sun—
Or rather—He passed Us—
The Dews drew quivering and chill—
For only Gossamer, my Gown—
My Tippet—only Tulle—
We paused before a House that seemed
A Swelling of the Ground—
The Roof was scarcely visible—
The Cornice—in the Ground—
Since then—'tis centuries— and yet
Feels shorter than the Day
I first surmised the Horses' Heads
Were toward Eternity—
Wild Nights — Wild Nights! by Emily Dickinson
Wild Nights — Wild Nights!
Were I with thee
Wild Nights should be
Our luxury!
Futile — the Winds —
To a Heart in port —
Done with the Compass —
Done with the Chart!
Rowing in Eden —
Ah, the Sea!
Might I but moor — Tonight —
In Thee!
Read John Adams's comments on Harmonium on his website (partly quoted in the above).
Listen to the La Jolla Symphony & Chorus:
Choral Masterworks
February 9, 2023
Carissimi: Jephte (Vocal and Choral Masterworks)
The story of Jephthah is a grim tale from the Book of Judges in the Bible that involves human sacrifice. Jephthah (Jephte in Italian) promises the Lord that if he defeats the enemy Ammonites in battle, he will offer as a burnt offering the first living creature he sees when he returns home. But upon his victorious return, the first thing he sees is not the animals of his flocks, but his daughter, his only child, who has run out to greet him with joy.
Jephthah immediately tears his clothes in mourning and blames his daughter rather unfairly: "That you should deal me this blow, that it is you who have brought me misfortune! I have made a vow to the Lord, and I cannot go back on it. The daughter agreed to be sacrificed, but asked for two months to mourn her fate as a single woman. "After that, it was the custom in Israel for young girls to mourn Jephthah's daughter for four days every year.
As gruesome as it is, Jephthah's story lends itself to an oratorio, a form of musical performance that emerged in Rome in the late 16th century. Unlike opera, oratorios were not intended for staged performances, but were performed in informal gatherings as part of Catholic worship. The genre of oratorio was named after the place where these performances took place, the oratorio hall.
Giacomo Carissimi, a priest and director of music at Sant'Apollinare in Rome, was a leading oratorio composer in the mid-17th century. He composed Historia di Jephte around 1650, using a narrator, chorus, and musical elements to tell the story of Jephthah's victory and the tragic fulfillment of his vow to God. The music of the early Italian Baroque is narrative and dramatic, like a Caravaggio painting. The piece begins with joy, but quickly turns to sorrow as the daughter's fate is revealed, ending with her lament and a chorus of mourning.
Handel was so moved by Carissimi's work
that he borrowed the final chorus of Jephthah for his own oratorio,
Samson.
Listen to Ad Mosam Barock, Huub Ehlen (conductor), and Channa Malikin (Filia) and Thilo Dahlmann (Jephte):
Choral Masterworks
February 7, 2023
Francis Poulenc: Gloria (Vocal and Choral Masterworks)
In 1936, shocked by the cruel death of a friend in a car accident, Francis Poulenc made a pilgrimage to the Black Madonna of Rocamadour in southwestern France. Rocamadour is a wonderful "power place": seven chapels and churches nestled against a steep rock face in a gorge above a tributary of the Dordogne River. Steps lead from the lower town to the churches, a group of massive buildings halfway up the cliff. The most important of these is the pilgrimage church of Notre Dame (rebuilt in its present form in 1479), which houses the cult image at the center of the site: a wooden black Madonna said to have been carved by Saint Amator (Amadour) and dating from the mid-12th century. In the dark crypt, the cosmopolitan Poulenc experienced a spiritual revelation that brought him back to religion (a faith that henceforth coexisted peacefully with his hedonism). As a result, he composed the "Litanies a la Vierge noir." The Stabat Mater would follow in 1950 and a beautiful Gloria in 1960.
Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) was the son of the industrialist Émile Poulenc and the amateur pianist Jenny Royer. His father was one of the founders of the Rhône-Poulenc pharmaceutical company. Francis received piano lessons from his mother at an early age. From the age of 15 to 16, he studied with the pianist Ricardo Viñes, a friend of Debussy and Ravel. In Paris, he befriended avant-garde writers such as Guillaume Apollinaire, Jean Cocteau, and Paul Éluard, whose poetry he set to music.
As a composer, Poulenc was virtually self-taught; he published his first compositions at the age of 18 without having received any compositional training. Around this time, he joined the Groupe des Six, six young French composers who opposed the heavy Romanticism and influence of Richard Wagner. Among the mentors of this group, which included Georges Auric, Louis Durey, Arthur Honegger, Darius Milhaud, and Germaine Tailleferre, were Jean Cocteau and the slightly older, Dadaist composer Eric Satie. Although the group soon disbanded, and Honegger and Milhaud in particular became famous on their own merits, "Groupe des Six" is still the label given to Poulenc's music: cheerful, melodic, light-hearted, and humorous.
After 1936, as mentioned above, Poulenc's music found a new depth of seriousness when he visited Rocamadour. Poulenc himself explained: "A few days before, I'd just heard of the tragic death of my colleague... As I meditated on the fragility of our human form, I was drawn once more to the life of the spirit. Rocamadour had the effect of restoring me to the faith of my childhood. This sanctuary, undoubtedly the oldest in France... had everything to captivate me... On the same evening of this visit to Rocamadour, I began my Litanies à la Vierge noire for women's voices and organ. In this work I tried to convey the atmosphere of "peasant devotion" that had struck me so powerfully in that sublime chapel".
Other works that followed continued the composer's newfound seriousness.
But Poulenc had a particular problem to solve: how to write seriously - even sacred music -
without sacrificing his style? He came up with an amalgam of
16th-century choral style and Stravinsky, especially the Stravinsky of Oedipus Rex, a work that had an enormous influence on several French composers.
The Gloria, scored for soprano solo, large orchestra, and chorus, is one of Poulenc's most famous works. Poulenc later claimed that its idea began while he was working on his opera Dialogues des Carmélites, although it has been impossible to date his initial sketches with any certainty.
The music is dramatic and spans various moods, from light-hearted to mysterious, throughout its six movements. The first movement opens with a large chordal motif in the brass. The
chorus then enters, singing in an accented and declamatory manner. The final movement culminates in a triumphant "Amen."
Listen to: The Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, the Netherlands Radio Choir and soprano Elsa Benoit conducted by Peter Dijkstra in a registration of the Dutch television.
Choral Masterworks
February 5, 2023
Rutter: Gloria (Choral Masterworks 63 )
"Sublime, devotional and jubilant, this is a classic piece of pop music, a true evergreen among both professional and amateur ensembles.
John Rutter, who wrote the Gloria in 1974, grew up in the tradition of Anglican church music. He was a chorister at Highgate School and participated in the first recording of Benjamin Britten's War Requiem, conducted by the composer in 1963. He was also a member of the choir at Clare College, Cambridge, where he studied.
Although set to a liturgical text, the work was conceived as a concert piece and is in three movements, following the fast-slow-fast scheme typical of concertos. The composer noted of the instrumentation: "The accompaniment is for brass ensemble with timpani, percussion, and organ - a combination that makes quite a joyful noise in the outer movements, but is used more quietly and introspectively in the middle movement.
The text of the first movement is "Gloria in excelsis Deo," the angelic song of the Annunciation to the shepherds, as told by Luke. It is marked Allegro vivace. Its "incisive, punchy, syncopated brass opening" sets the scene; it has "strong rhythms and triumphant shouts from the chorus.
The text of the second movement, "Domine Deus," addresses Jesus as the Lamb of God, asking for mercy and to hear prayers. It is marked Andante. It is dominated by an organ ostinato and contains solos for the upper voices. It has been described as "a gentle and subdued prayer".
The text of the third movement is the conclusion, "Quoniam tu solus sanctus" (For you alone are holy), which ends with a doxology. It is marked Vivace e ritmico. The movement contains the climax of the work, a recapitulation of the beginning in text and music. It contains a fugue "Cum Sancto Spiritu" and ends with a fast Amen.
Rutter was clearly influenced by Francis Poulenc's Gloria. It has also been noted that the use of brass in Rutter's work has similarities to Walton's cantata Belshazzar's Feast.
One reviewer notes as Rutter's hallmarks: "An unfailing instinct for getting to the heart of the text, exquisitely balanced vocal writing, melting harmonies, intensely sweet turns of phrase (sometimes overtly saccharine), brief ecstatic climaxes, but also a willingness to be astringent and rhythmically powerful. This is music that people generally want to play and hear."
Listen to: WDR Radio Choir & WDR Symphony Orchestra
with Simon Halsey, conductor.
February 4, 2023
Orff: Carmina Burana (Vocal and Choral Masterworks 58)
Everybody likes Carmina Burana - that's probably why Carl Orff is forgiven the sin of being a little too close to the Nazis in the 1930s (although he never subscribed to Nazi ideology himself). But that period was such a cultural wasteland in Germany that Carmina Burana, first performed in 1937, really stands out "as the only universally important work produced during the entire period of the Third Reich." Not that the Nazi regime was really happy with this music - they were nervous about the erotic tone of some of the poems, and also denounced the unfamiliar (=un-German) rhythms. The popularity of the work continued to grow after the war, and by the 1960s Carmina Burana was well established in the international classical repertoire.
I have known this work since my student days, but somehow I never wondered about the meaning of the "Burana" in the title ("Carmina" of course is Latin for "songs"). I have now found out that "Burana" is the Latinization of "Benediktbeuern," a town in Bavaria with a large Benedictine monastery where the collection of songs was found in the early 18th century.
The anonymous manuscript contains more than 250 poems and dramatic texts, mostly from the 11th and 12th centuries. The pieces are mostly bawdy, irreverent and satirical. They are mostly written in medieval Latin, some in Middle High German, and some in a mixture of Latin and German or French vernacular. The manuscripts reflect an international European movement, with songs from Occitania, France, England, Scotland, Aragon, Castile, and the Holy Roman Empire.
They were written by students and clergy when Latin was the lingua franca throughout Italy and Western Europe for traveling scholars, students, and theologians. Most of the poems and songs appear to be the work of Goliards, clerics who satirized the Catholic Church. The collection is the most important collection of Goliard and vagabond songs.
Twenty-four poems in Carmina Burana were set to music by Carl Orff in 1936, and his composition quickly became popular and a staple of the classical music repertoire.
The first part of the composition, called "In the Spring," consists of love songs, the second part, "In the Tavern," of drinking and gambling songs, and the third part, "In the Court of Love," of songs about sensual love. The whole is preceded and concluded by a hymn to Fortuna, the goddess of fate. In fact, Orff depicts life as a kind of wheel of fortune. The motto of the piece is: "Sometimes you are lucky, but the next day you can be unlucky." That is why it is important to fully enjoy the moments of intense happiness, because they are often short-lived. Carpe diem!
Carl Orff was inspired not only by the medieval texts, but especially by the image on the first page of the medieval manuscript. It is a picture of the wheel of fortune. At the bottom of the wheel lies a king in the mud, and next to him is the inscription: regnum non habeo, or: I have no kingdom. On the left he rises with the wheel, it says: Regnabo, or I will reign. At the top of the wheel he sits on the throne: regno, or, I reign. On the right he descends with the wheel, next to which is written regnavi: I have reigned. The king ends where he began: at the bottom.
The composition tells the same story. We start at the bottom of the wheel: fate is lamented. Then spring comes, nature blossoms and love blooms, culminating in the lyrical exclamation: I would give anything to be in the arms of the Queen of England; with this we have reached the top of the wheel, kingship is achieved in a sense. Then we slowly descend again; the descent is a surrender to love, culminating in total surrender: Dulcissime, totam tibi subdo me, or: Most sweet one, I submit myself completely to you. This closes the circle.
Translation of the Carmina Burana at Poetry in Translation.
Listen to: Sarah Aristidou, soprano; Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke, tenor; Markus Werba, baritone; WDR Symphony Orchestra; WDR Radio Choir; NDR Vocal Ensemble;
Boys and girls of the Cologne Cathedral Music; WDR Symphony Orchestra; Cristian Măcelaru, conductor
[Contains edited translations from the Carmina Burana article in the Dutch language Wikipedia]
Choral Masterworks
February 3, 2023
Best Piano Trios by Women Composers
Piano Trios by Women Composers
Wanting to collect another batch of interesting piano trios - after my posts on Best Piano Trios and Best Piano Trios Part Two -, I searched YouTube and was surprised to find many fantastic works, in many cases still unknown to me, and all by women composers! Several of them had already been included in my post Best Chamber Music by Women Composers, four of them indeed with a piano trio (such as Clara Schumann and Fanny Hensel) but in more cases with other chamber music - and since the harvest was so large and interesting, it seemed a good idea to dedicate a separate post to "Piano Trios by Women Composers." For the sake of completeness, I will also briefly include the four piano trios already discussed in my previous post.
(1) Hélène Liebmann, Grand Trio No. 1 in A major, Op. 11 (ca. 1816)
In 1813, Hélène converted to Christianity and married the merchant John Joseph Liebmann. In April 1814, the young couple moved to London, where Hélène took lessons from Ferdinand Ries, a former student of Beethoven. In 1819, the couple was registered as living in Hamburg. There is no evidence of public concert performances during their time in London. In Hamburg, however, Helene Liebmann is known to have appeared as a concert singer. In 1819 - after her husband had also converted to Christianity - they both adopted the Christian-sounding surname "Liebert". There is no information whether she continued to compose after 1819; the next reference to her is in the diary of Clara Wieck (the future Clara Schumann), which states that Liebmann attended a concert of Clara's in Hamburg in 1835.
Helene Liebmann's compositions include two sets of songs, several sonatas and other piano works, two violin sonatas, two piano trios and a piano quartet - the piano is present in all of her works. During her Berlin period, piano sonatas and songs predominated. The focus of her London period was on chamber music. A total of about 20 printed works have survived, which she wrote within seven years.
Her musical style owes much to Mozart and Haydn. The Piano Trio in A major is one of two "Grand Trios" written by Helene Liebmann - there is another one in D major, probably from the same year (1816). The whole piece is full of grace and very evocative of its time.
Find it on YouTube: https://youtu.be/FuE2SLAZ5c8
(2) Louise Farrenc, Piano Trio Nr. 1 E flat major Op. 33 (1833-34)
Farrenc studied composition with Reicha; her husband, Aristide Farrenc, was a flutist, musicologist, and music publisher. At first, in the 1820s and 1830s, she composed exclusively for the piano. Several of these pieces were highly praised by critics, including Robert Schumann. In the 1830s, she tried her hand at larger compositions for chamber ensemble and orchestra. It was during the 1840s that much of her chamber music was written. While the vast majority of Farrenc's compositions were for piano alone, her chamber music is generally regarded as her best work - it remained of great interest throughout her life. Her symphonies, however, have been recorded in recent years and have also attracted much interest. My previous posts about her were dedicated to her Piano Quintet No. 1 in A minor and her Third Symphony.
She wrote four trios: two piano trios (Trio in E♭, Op. 33, 1841–44; and Trio in D, Op. 34, 1844), a clarinet trio (Trio in E♭, Op. 44, 1854–56, for piano, clarinet and cello) and a flute trio (Trio in E minor, Op. 45, 1854–56, piano, flute and cello).
Listen to the first piano trio in a performance by Tomomi Hori, Klavier, Désirée Pousaz, Violine, & Kaspar Zwicky, Violoncello. There are 4 movements: I Allegro, II Adagio sostenuto, III Minuetto. Allegro, IV Finale. Vivace.
3. Clara Schumann, Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 17 (1846)
Clara Schumann composed her Piano Trio in G Minor in 1846, and although this was a year of great stress for her (with a move to Dresden and her husband's illness), it is a wonderful example of the German Romantic style, personal, intimate and never seeking attention for technical prowess. It is a brilliant composition of a highly poetic nature.
See my post at Best Women Composers for a link to the live performance by the ATOS Trio.
4. Fanny Hensel, Piano Trio in D Minor, Op. 11 (1850)
Listen a wonderful performance by the Aletheia Piano Trio (Fei-Fei, piano; Francesca dePasquale, violin ; Juliette Herlin, cello) via my post about this work at Best Women Composers.
(5) Emile Mayer, Piano Trio Op 12 in E minor (1861)
Emilie Mayer (1812 - 1883), a student of Carl Loewe and Adolf Bernhard Marx, was probably the first full-time female composer in Germany. With eight symphonies and 15 concert overtures, twelve string quartets, piano chamber music, violin and cello sonatas, and a piano concerto, she ventured into musical genres that were generally considered too difficult for women at the time. Her works were performed in many of Europe's musical centers, earning her the nickname "the female Beethoven. She was in close contact with many musicians of her time; Franz Liszt, among others, expressed his enthusiasm for her work. In "Best Women Composers," I presented her Piano Concerto in B-flat Major.
Emilie Mayer's first Piano Trio in E minor contains the following movements:
I. Allegro
II. Scherzo
III. Un poco Adagio
IV. Finale. Allegro assai
Listen to: Ensemble Le Beau
(6) Amanda Maier, Piano Trio in E-flat major (1873-74)
See my post in the series "Best Women Composers" for her Violin Sonata in B Minor.
Link to YouTube: https://youtu.be/7xj0l9xbgXE (this is the first movement, but the others movements can also be found at YouTube)
(7) Elfrida Andrée, Piano Trio No. 2 in G minor (1884)
Elfrida Andrée (1841-1929) was born in the Swedish town of Visby on the island of Gotland. The child of enthusiastic amateur musicians, she was sent to Stockholm to study the organ at the age of 14. A student of Ludvig Norman and Niels Wilhelm Gade, she became a virtuoso, the first female cathedral organist, and the first female conductor and symphonist in Sweden. She worked in Stockholm from 1861 and became organist at Gothenburg Cathedral in 1867. For her services she was elected a member of the Swedish Academy of Music. In addition to her musical work, she was politically active and important in the Swedish feminist movement and became the first female telegraphist.
Andrée's organ symphonies are still performed today. She also composed the opera Fritiofs Saga (to a text by Selma Lagerlöf, 1899), several orchestral works, two piano quintets, a piano quartet and two piano trios, as well as violin and piano pieces, a Swedish mass, and many songs and choral works.
The Piano Trio in G minor consists of 3 movements:
- Allegro agitato (G minor)
- Andante con espressione (B flat major)
- Finale. Rondo Allegro risoluto (G major)
Listen to: Askanäs Kammarensemble
(8) Cécile Chaminade, Piano Trio No 2 in A Minor Op. 24 (1887)
She gave her first concert at the age of 18, and from then on her compositions gradually became more popular. After a tentative debut with the premiere of her first piano trio, Opus 11 (1880), orchestral works were premiered in 1888. In 1892, she made her debut in England, where her works became very popular. In 1908 she visited the United States, where she was warmly received by her many admirers. Chaminade's oeuvre is extensive and covers many genres.
Although a relatively early work, Chaminade shows great assurance in her Second Piano Trio of 1887. It is an attractive and elegant piece.
(9) Rosalind Ellicott, Piano Trio No. 1 (1889)
Her first published work was "Sketch" in 1883. Thereafter, she began to compose ambitious works for chorus and orchestra, many of which were performed at Gloucester's music festivals. By the end of the 19th century she became interested in chamber music, apparently hoping for more performance opportunities. Nevertheless, around 1900, she began disappearing from the public eye.
Not many of Ellicott's works have survived to this day. Aside from a few songs and instrumental pieces, the only known surviving published works are the cantatas "Elysium" and "The Birth of Song," as well as two piano trios. Many of her surviving works are in the dense, exquisite Brahmsian style of composition, with heavy textures and rich instrumentation, which is also evident in his chamber music.
The first piano trio has the following movements: 1. Allegro con grazia 2. Adagio-Poco andante-Adagio 3. Allegro brillante
Listen to: Trio Anima Mundi with Rochelle Ughetti, Violin; Noella Yan, Cello; and Kenji Fujimura, Piano
(10) Laura Netzel, Piano Trio Op. 78 (1903)
See my post at Best Women Composers for a link to the live performance by the Trio Lago.
(11) Dora Pejačević, Piano Trio in C major op. 29 (1910)
In the series "Best Women Composers" I have included her Piano quartet in D minor.
The Piano Trio in C is also an energetic piece of music, with attractive themes and interesting rhythms. Listen to her Piano Trio performed by Teresa Baczewska, piano; Beata Warykiewicz - Siwy, violin; Natalia Kurzac - Kotula, cello. There are the following movements: I mvt. Allegro con moto; II mvt. Scherzo; III mvt. Lento; IV mvt. Finale. Allegro risoluto
(12) Morfydd Owen, Piano Trio (1915)
The Piano Trio is Owen’s most significant chamber composition.
Listen to: Prism trio at Hartford Women Composers Festival 30th March 2019.
(13) Germaine Tailleferre, Piano Trio (1916-17)
I. Allegro animato
II. Allegro vivace
III. Moderato
IV. Trés animé
(14) Rebecca Clarke, Piano Trio (1921)
Rebecca Clarke wrote music in a late romantic, rather chromatic style. Her Sonata for Viola and Piano has been discussed in my blog post The Best Works for Viola, and in Best Women Composers I have presented one her earliest works, the short Morpheus for Viola and Piano.
Composed at a time when Arnold Schoenberg was promoting atonality, Clarke's Piano Trio is conservative in its harmonic language but strikingly original in the way it uses its musical material. The trio is in three movements, linked by a motto theme heard at the beginning and repeated in dramatically varied forms in the following movements.
(15) Henriëtte Bosmans, Trio for Violin, Violoncello and Piano (1921)
Also listen to Bosmans' powerful Cello Sonata in my post at "Best Women Composers."
Allegro con brio
Listen to Ensemble Le Beau
(16) Helvi Leiviskä, Piano Trio (1924)
Helvi Leiviskä's Piano Trio is a powerful, youthful work that impresses with its directness of expression and profound sonority. Leiviskä wrote the work while studying at the Helsinki Music Institute and completed it in 1924.
Article in Finnish Music Quarterly.
Listen to: Annemarie Åström, violin; Ulla Lampela, cello; Tiina Karakorpi, piano
(17) Amy Beach, Piano trio in A minor, op. 150 (1938)
She made her professional debut in Boston in 1883. After marrying Dr. Henry Harris Aubrey Beach, a Boston surgeon 24 years her senior, in 1885, she agreed to limit her performances to one public recital a year and devoted herself to composing.
After her husband's death in 1910, she toured Europe as a pianist, performing her own compositions. She was determined to make a name for herself as a pianist as well as a composer. Amy Beach's major compositions include the Mass in E major (1892), the Gaelic Symphony (1893), a violin sonata, a piano concerto, a piano quintet, various choral and chamber works, and an opera. She composed mainly in a romantic idiom often compared to that of Brahms.
See "Best Women Composers" for my post about her Piano Quintet in F sharp minor.
Written when she was 70, the mature style of the Piano Trio is freer and more tonally ambiguous than her early works. Yet Beach still favors a clear, conservative, post-Romantic approach, like many other composers who extended their style into the 20th century despite being considered old-fashioned by the modernists and avant-gardists of their time. In the first movement, there are still echoes of the French style - especially Franck and Debussy - but the next two movements use folk rhythms and tunes from American indigenous peoples. The main theme of the last movement is a common ragtime syncopated rhythm used in cakewalks, a dance that originated on black slave plantations.
(18) Joan Trimble, Phantasy Trio (1940)
Trimble's Phantasy Trio (1940) won the Cobbett Prize for chamber music.
Listen to:Trio BBP (Violin: Olga Berar; Cello: Eugen-Bogdan Popa; Piano: Anamaria Biaciu-Popa)
See: https://youtu.be/LFXjJ3b5Pg4
(19) Lera Auerbach, Piano Trio No. 1 (1992/1996)
Lera Auerbach (born October 21, 1973) is a Soviet-born Austrian-American classical composer, conductor, and concert pianist. Auerbach was born to a Jewish family in Chelyabinsk, a city in the Ural Mountains. She received permission to visit the United States in 1991 for a concert tour; although she spoke no English, she decided to defect so she could stay in the country and pursue her musical career. She graduated from the Juilliard School in New York, where she studied piano (with Joseph Kalichstein) and composition (with Milton Babbitt and Robert Beaser). She also studied comparative literature at Columbia University and earned a piano diploma from the Hanover University of Music. She is also a published, award-winning poet and an exhibiting painter and sculptor. Auerbach has written symphonies, concertos, and large-scale choral works.Auerbach composed her first piano trio in the mid-1990s, while still in her late teens and early twenties. The three-movement work is vivid, accessible, skillfully crafted, and powerfully emotional.
The below video unfortunately only comprises the 3rd movement (played by Delta Piano trio):
(20) Kaija Saariaho, Piano Trio "Light and Matter" (2014)
Kaija Saariaho has said that she was inspired to write this work by looking out her window in New York at the changing lights and movements of Morningside Park. The Piano Trio succeeds in capturing the dynamics of movement and kinetic energy through the musical interplay of the three instruments.