Choral

Vivaldi’s “Nulla in mundo pax sincera”: A Concerto for Voice

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Following a traditional four part structure (aria-recitative-aria-Alleluia), Antonio Vivaldi’s sacred motets have been likened to “vocal concertos.” Composed between 1713 and 1719, Nulla in mundo pax sincera, RV 630 (“In this world there is no honest peace”) was intended for a virtuosic soprano with an exceptionally high range. Vivaldi composed this music while employed as music director at the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice. Supported by the city and private patrons, the …

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Bruckner’s “Ecce sacerdos magnus”: Thunderous Power and Majesty

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Anton Bruckner’s sacred motet, Ecce sacerdos magnus, WAB 13 (“Behold a great priest”) begins with an earth-shattering announcement, set in motion by primal open fifths. The Old Testament text celebrates the blessings given to devout men. Scored for eight-part choir, organ, and three trombones, it is music of thunderous power, majesty, and solemn mystery. Growing out of Medieval plainchant, its soaring antiphonal blocks of sound recall the Renaissance strains of Giovanni Gabrieli. As …

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“Music, When Soft Voices Die”: Frank Bridge’s Setting of Shelley

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“Music, when soft voices die, Vibrates in the memory.” These are the opening lines of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s famous 1824 poem, a meditation on the eternal nature of memory, sensation, and love. English composer Frank Bridge (1879-1941) created an a cappella choral setting of the poem in 1907. The opening phrases pay homage to the English madrigal tradition. Visions of mortality are painted tonally with a plaintive sighing gesture. The final notes …

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Bach’s “Sanfte soll mein Todeskummer”: An Easter Lullaby

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Sanfte soll mein Todeskummer (“Gentle shall be my contemplation of death”) is a sacred tenor aria from Bach’s Easter Oratorio, BWV 249. Sung by Simon Peter following the discovering of the empty tomb of Christ, it is a serene reflection on death as a peaceful slumber. Accompanied by recorders, with their pastoral connotations, the aria unfolds with the gentle rocking motion of a lullaby. The Netherlands Bach Society writes, In Bach’s church …

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Remembering Hjálmar Helgi Ragnarsson

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Icelandic composer Hjálmar Helgi Ragnarsson passed away last Friday, March 13. He was 73. Ragnarsson left behind a wide range of music including symphonic works, operas, incidental music, songs, and film scores. He was a respected music theorist, and served as president of the Federation of Icelandic Artists, and rector of the Iceland University of the Arts. Composed in 1985, Ragnarsson’s Ave Maria for a cappella mixed choir is music from a …

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Vaughan Williams’ “Rest”: A Choral Setting of Christina Rossetti

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Christina Rossetti’s sonnet, Rest, presents death as a serene eternal sleep which provides relief from earthly pain. It is part of her collection, Goblin Market and Other Poems, published in 1862. In 1902, Ralph Vaughan Williams set the poem for a cappella chorus. It unfolds in a gentle, flowing 3/4 time. At the poem’s midpoint, the word “paradise” is accompanied by a radiant turn to D major. From this climax, the music …

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Remembering Helmuth Rilling

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Helmuth Rilling, an acclaimed German choral conductor and influential interpreter of Bach, passed away last Wednesday, February 11. He was 92. Rilling founded numerous ensembles including the Gächinger Kantorei (1954), the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart (1965), the Oregon Bach Festival (1970), and the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart (1981). He served as professor of choral conducting at the Frankfurt Musikhochschule from 1965 to 1989 and led the Frankfurter Kantorei from 1969 to 1982. “Music has to …

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