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Site Search: Use the search box to find an artiste, composer, title, or venue on this site |
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Listening position:
Relax with your choice(s) of beverage, in a place of your choosing, alone, or with company |
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This week we will be hearing large amateur choirs, rather than cathedral or college choirs, and similar small ensembles. To begin with, here is the Gondwana Chorale, from Australia. The Chorale is open to singers aged 17-25. This is just one of the choirs trained during a 2-week course at the National Choral School. |
William Byrd (1539/40-1623) (4m19)
Ave Verum Corpus performed by the Gondwana Chorale for 17-25 year olds of the National Choral School, in the Verbrugghen Hall, Conservatorium of Music, Sydney, Australia |
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After first inviting TS Eliot to consider writing a libretto, Michael Tippett wrote both the text and the music for his secular oratorio A Child of our Time. TS Eliot said the power of his writing would likely detract from that of Tippett's music. There would be some inbalance. The overall work was written as a pacifist's response to events in Nazi Germany, the shooting of a German diplomat by a Jewish refugee, and the community punishment of the Kristallnacht that followed it. We hear the five spiritual arrangements. |
Sir Michael Kemp Tippett (1905-1998) (14m21)
Five Spirituals from A Child of Our Time (1939-1941) Steal Away Nobody Knows the Trouble I See Go Down, Moses (A Spiritual of Anger) O by and by Deep River performed by the Chœur de Radio France, with soloists from the choir, conducted by Sofi Jeannin, recorded in the Auditorium, Maison de la Radio, Paris |
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You would expect a group of music teachers to sing reasonably well, even if they only meet occasionally.
A roomful of people who normally lead the singing, though? I suspect 'together' is the tricky word here. Still, they do manage it in this next set. Mátyás Seiber was a Hungarian born British composer, and after a lot of searching I can offer you the texts, although be aware that the Butcher returns. The Handsome Butcher Seven locks upon the red gate, Seven gates about the red town. In the town there lives a butcher And his name is Handsome John Brown. In the town there lives a butcher And his name is Handsome John Brown. John Browns's boots are polished so fine, John Brown's spurs they jingle and shine. On his coat a crimson flower, In his hand a glass of red wine. On his coat a crimson flower, In his hand a glass of red wine. In the night. the golden spurs ring, In the dark, the leather boots shine. Don't come tapping at the window, Now your heart no longer is mine. Don't come tapping at the window, Now your heart no longer is mine. Apple, Apple By a river there's a little orchard In the orchard stood the miller's daughter In the orchard stood the miller's daughter Apple apple fallen in the water By the stream I kissed the miller's daughter By the stream I kissed the miller's daughter The miller's daughter |
The Old Woman In the window out the front door, Throw old nanny from the top floor, Pack her head into a basket, Let her sell it in the market. Come on children welcome each one, At our party we'll have good fun. Drink and eat and roister all day, Farmer Johnny's bullock will pay. For a coachman we've a black dog, For a footman we've a roast hog, On his back a loaf of white bread, And a bottle on his big head. Mátyás György Seiber (1905-1960) (3m10)
Three Hugarian Folk Songs (1949) The Handsome Butcher Apple, apple The Old Woman performed by 2016 Plano Texas Kodály Teacher Training Program Choir, at Southern Methodist University, at Plano, with Laszló Durányik, conductor, and Michael Chandler, accompanist |
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This shaky video would not normally make it into our concerts, but there is so much going on here. Set aside the lad wandering, lost, with his trombone in its case, the lady who strolls in behind the choir with her tuba, and the occasional glimpse of a bassoon on the right. The average age here demonstrates the value of what Tim Rhys-Evans is doing with Only Boys Aloud (even though this is across the Bristol Channel from Wales.) We are hearing the Marazion Apollo Male Voice Choir from Cornwall. They are in Grass Valley, Nevada City for the 15th Gathering of Cornish Cousins. Cornish connections here go back to the days of gold mining which must have seemed more promising than the declining tin mines of Cornwall. |
Harry Glasson (b1951) (2m50)
Cornwall performed by Marazion Apollo Male Voice Choir, at the 2009 Picnic & Pops Concert Series, in Pioneer Park, as guests of the Nevada County Concert Band |
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For this week's history spot (you didn't know we had a history spot? Don't worry. It won't be a regular feature) we turn to Movietone News who have followed the Huddersfield Choral Society and Sir Malcolm Sargent to Vienna. This must have seemed quite exotic international travel in 1958. I have had to wade through a lot of excerpts from Messiah while preparing this concert. Huddersfield are famous for it, and it is just a snippet or two. |
Georg Frideric Handel (1m19)
Messiah (extracts) performed by the Huddersfield Choral Society, recorded by British Movietone during their rehearsal for two concerts, under Sir Malcolm Sargent, in Vienna, Austria, 1958 |
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Chinese Traditional Folk (18th century) Moo Li Hua Jasmine Flower (5m15) performed by the Royal Philharmonic Chorus and the Royal Choral Society, in the Royal Albert Hall |
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Although the words were on screen during that recording, you might like to read them in full, first a literal translation:
What a beautiful jasmine flower What a beautiful jasmine flower Sweet-smelling, beautiful, stems full of buds Fragrant and white, everyone praises Let me pluck you down Give to someone's family Jasmine flower, oh jasmine flower Poetic Translation: Flower of jasmine, so fair! Flower of jasmine, so fair! Budding and blooming here and there, Pure and fragrant all declare. Let me take you with tender care, Your sweetness for all to share. Jasmine fair, oh jasmine fair. Here is an arrangement of the same song by South Korean composer Hyo-Won Woo. She works in both Eastern and Western musical forms. The singers are the World Youth Choir: |
Chinese Traditional Folk (18th century)
arranged by Hyo-Won Woo (b1974, S Korea) Moo Li Hua Jasmine Flower (4m27) performed by the World Youth Choir, with Dr Hak Won Yoon (of South Korea), conductor, and Shammel Xiaomiao Luo (of China), solo soprano, in Guangzhou (Canton), China The complete concert from which this excerpt comes is available on: https://vimeo.com/19824692 |
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various composers & lyricists
Harvard Football Medley (6m30) performed at the 2014 Harvard-Yale Football Concert, in the Sanders Theatre, of Harvard University, part of the 1878 Memorial Hall Building, Cambridge, Massachusetts |
The Memorial Hall commemorates Harvard men who were lost in the American Civil War.
The architects, themselves Harvard alumni, looked to Wren's Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford for their inspiration. The hyphen in the name of the concert has a real meaning. Each University's Glee Club, Chamber Choir, and alumni of these, present their own section of the concert. That is why there are so many mature heads among the singers. This concert takes place at the host university, on the evening before the big match. The concert finishes with the singers and alumni of both Universities on stage singing their college songs together - Bright College Days, and Fair Harvard. If you'd like to see the words and music for the Novermber 2019 concert please click here. That Spurs-West Brom Football Concert looks even less likely. Both sets of supporters on the same bill, in one venue, with their own supporters as audience... Let's move on. |
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The words of this next magnificent setting are what this concert has been about. Let All the World in Every Corner Sing: |
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
from Five Mystical Songs (1906-1911) 5 Antiphon: Let All the World in Ev'ry Corner Sing (4m07) performed by Wimbledon Choral Society, Cardiff Polyphonic Choir, Orchestra Vitæ, with Neil Ferris, conductor, in Guildford Cathedral, March 2014 |
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To bring our Choral Concert to a close I have chosen this gentle piece by Russian composer Pavel Chesnokov. Let Thy Gentle Spirit Based on the line from Psalm 143, verse 10: Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness. The translation of the musical text runs: Let thy good spirit lead me on a level path! Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah! |
Pavel Grigorievich Chesnokov (1877-1944)
Duh Dvoj blagi Let Thy Gentle Spirit (2m29) performed by Rensonans con Tutti, directed by Waldemar Galazka, at the 2018 Music in the Old Abbey Festival, at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Humility, Rudach (Rudy), near Katowice, Southern Poland |
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For this week's encore item we remain in contemplative mood, and with a Russian composer.
What we call a basso profundo, in other countries is referred to as an oktavist - someone who sings the octave below (the basses). On the final chord of this piece the oktavist sings an F which is one octave lower than the F under the bass clef. That is the 6th white note from the bass, or left, end of the piano. Sopranos singing the F at the top of the treble clef are just four octaves away from him. [WARNING: Sopranos, Altos, Tenors: Do not try this at home.] The All-Night Vigil of the Russian Orthodox Church opens with six texts from Vespers, continues with 8 texts from Matins, and finishes with The First Hour. The Vigil is used on the eves of Sundays and Holy Days. Rachmaninoff's setting is considered the highest musical achievement of the Russian Orthodox Church, although well before 1915 he had ceased attending services. Soon after, the Soviet Union came into being and religious music was condemned. Feminist group Pussy Riot used this piece as the basis for their protest song Mother of God, Chase Putin away. There is a lot of blasphemy, bad language, and general ghastly unpleasantness in their song. I will let those who are interested do their own youtu.be research on that. |
Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)
from Vsénoshchnoye bdéniye All-Night Vigil Op 37 (1915) 6 Bogoroditse Devo Rejoice, O Virgin (3m18) performed by MDR Rundfunkchor, oktavist Yuri Vishnayakov, and Risto Joost, conductor MDR stand for Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, Middle Germany Broadcasting, based in Leipzig. This choir was formed in 1924 and became the Radio Choir in 1946. |
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Never miss a concert . . .
Our weekly* newsletter tells you about upcoming concerts and other local music events *weekly - only during the weekly concert season, occasional at other times |
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Music on Thursdays - Online
Gentle Guitar Artistes include: Francisco Correa ♦ David Massey ♦ Jon Gjyalci ♦ Roland Dyens ♦ Gary Ryan ♦ Adam del Monte ♦ Irene Gomez ♦ John Williams ♦ Julian Bream ♦ Andrés Segovia ♦ D&A Duo: Dimitris Kourzakis & Angelos Botsis ♦ Manuel Barrueco Music by: de Falla • Roland Dyens • Django Reinhardt • Gary Ryan • Piazzolla • Albéniz access concert: by clicking on the date or the picture |
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Music on Thursdays - Online
Music for Unusual Instruments Artistes include: Tjurgen Kam, throat singing & Jew's harp • Stefan Dollak, mandora • Fritz Mayr, Jew's harp • Dieter Kirsch, mandora • Münchener Kammerorchester • Lewis Lipnick, contrabassoon & contraforte • Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra • Eric Poe, water percussion • Contemporary Youth Orchestra • Yuan Li, guzheng • hr-Sinfonieorchester (Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra) Music by: O'Carolan • Albrechtsberger • Kalevi Aho • Glière • Tan Dun access concert: by clicking on the date or the pictures from August 13th onwards |
- ↑ Tjurgen Kam, Jew's harp • zheng or guzheng ↓ -
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Ibrahim Aziz
introduces the viola da gamba a selection of Ibrahim's online videos Other artistes include: John Dornenburg, gamba • Hille Perl, gamba • Lee Santana, lute • Andrew Lawrence-King, harp • Katarzyna Kowalik, square piano • Chelys Consort • Wei En Chan, countertenor • Mariah Bizzi, keyboards • Il Festino Baroque Ensemble • Jakob David Rattinger, viola da gamba • Lina Tur Bonet, Baroque violin • Nadja Lesaulnier, harpsichord • Voices of Music Music by: Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe le Père ♦ Mozart ♦ Purcell ♦ Anthony Holborne ♦ Byrd ♦ Buxtehude ♦ Corelli ♦ Scarlatti ♦ Marin Marais ♦ Carlos Martínez Gil access concert: by clicking on date or picture |
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Music on Thursdays - Online
Music & the Military Artistes include: Phil O'Neill, bugle • Drum Corps AKPOL, Tiruna, Indonesia • several UK Military Bands • Danish Royal Life Guard Band • Fanfare et Orchestre de la Garde Républicaine, Paris • Chœur de l'Armée de France • Musique de la Légion Étrangère • Chilean Army Band • The New Zealand Army Band (Puoro Puoro Ngāti Tūmatauenga) • Massed bands of the Indian Defence Forces • Bersaglieri Music by: Hans Hass • Hubert Giraud • Vincent Scotto • Georges van Parÿs • François-Nicolas Wilhem • Charles Trenet access concert: by clicking on the date or the picture from August 27th onwards |
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