Choral

Rachmaninov’s “Blessed Is the Man”: Meditative Music from the “All-Night Vigil”

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Blessed is the Man forms the third movement of Sergei Rachmaninov’s All-Night Vigil, Op. 37 (also known as the “Vespers”). Scored for a cappella chorus, the All-Night Vigil was composed over the course of two weeks in January and February of 1915. It has been called “the greatest musical achievement of the Russian Orthodox Church.” The monumental liturgical work, completed during the First World War, represents the culmination of a sacred musical tradition which included music …

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Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, “Komm, süsses Kreuz”: Music of Desolation

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The bass aria, Komm, süsses Kreuz (“Come, sweet Cross”), comes near the end of the second part of J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244, first performed in 1727. Its text speaks of the suffering of Christ in his final days. Arriving in the story’s most desolate moments, the veiled accompaniment of the viola da gamba (often played by the cello in modern performances) hovers as a gloomy and inescapable presence. The …

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Berlioz’ “L’Enfance du Christ”: The Shepherds’ Farewell and Final Chorus

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Hector Berlioz’ L’enfance du Christ, Op. 25 (“The Childhood of Christ”) is a Christmas oratorio in three parts. It tells the story of the flight of the Holy Family (Mary, Joseph, and the infant Jesus) into Egypt following King Herod’s decree that all newborn children in Judaea be massacred. Berlioz wrote the text, which is based on the Gospel of Matthew 2:13. The work was first performed at Paris’ Salle Herz on …

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Bach’s Cantata, BWV 140, “Wachet auf”: Boundless Imagination

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J.S. Bach’s Cantata, BWV 140, Wachet auf (“Sleepers Awake”) has been called “a cantata without weakness, without a dull bar, technically, emotionally and spiritually of the highest order, its sheer perfection and boundless imagination rouse one’s wonder time and time again.” (William G. Whittaker) German musicologist Alfred Dürr described it as an expression of Christian mysticism in art, with the uniting of “earthly happiness in love and heavenly bliss.” Bach composed this …

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Haydn’s “Mass in Time of War”: Martial Fanfares and Thundering Timpani

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A revolutionary current runs through Franz Joseph Haydn’s Mass in Time of War (Mass No. 10 in C Major). It approaches the liturgy with a new sense of tumultuous drama, with military fanfares ringing out in the closing movement. The rumbling artillery of its timpani rolls earned the work the nickname, Paukenmesse (“Kettledrum Mass”). In a way which foreshadows Beethoven’s Missa solemnis, the instrumental lines take on new dramatic prominence, rather than …

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John Ireland’s “The Hills”: Sir Mark Elder and the Hallé Choir

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The English composer, John Ireland (1879-1962), was a mystic and an introvert. He found spiritual significance in ancient pagan sites which dot the “green and pleasant” countryside of his native land. Throughout his life, he was drawn back to the Channel Islands, the archipelago off the rugged Normandy coast. An a cappella choral setting of a poem by James Kirkup, The Hills is an ode to the timeless majesty of the English countryside. It …

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Elgar’s “As Torrents in Summer”: Cambridge University Chamber Choir

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Scored for a cappella chorus, As Torrents in Summer is an excerpt from the epilogue of Sir Edward Elgar’s 1896 cantata, Scenes from the Saga of King Olaf, Op. 30.The text is an adaptation of a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow which tells the story of Olaf Tryggvason, the medieval king of Norway, who brought Christianity to the Scandinavian country. In As Torrents in Summer, the sustaining force of a far-off summer rainstorm, …

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