Seeking beauty
Bonnie Woolley
I'm looking for some new repertoire for my 50 voice mixed choir. We've
just done Gorecki's Broad Waters, Barbers Reincarnations, Biebl's Ave
Maria, and lots of other things.
I'd just like to know... what do you consider to be the most beautiful
acappella choral piece (short or long) in the world??
Thanks!
Bonnie Woolley
Paris, France
Brian G. Mueller
Magnum Mysterium", Eric Whitacre's "Waternight" and almost any of the
"Lamentations of Jeremiah" by Tallis.
Brian G. Mueller
"Bonnie Woolley" <bwoo...@noos.fr> wrote in message
news:3B2A7FE3...@noos.fr...
Paul Sinasohn
Thompson: The Pasture
Thompson: Stopping By the Woods
both from Frostiana
Biebl: Ave Maria
Schubert: Nachtelle (Die Nacht is heiter und ist rein...)
Schubert: La Pastorella
R. Shaw, arr.: Santy Anna (aka Stormalong John)
For mixed chorus:
Sullivan: Eagle High from Pirates Act 1 Finale (or is it Utopia, Ltd?)
Sullivan: Strange Adventure, madrigal from Yeoman of the Guard
Thompson: Alleluia
Gene Puerling: My Romance
Vaughn-Williams: Wassail Song (Gloucester version)
R. Zgodava: Out of the Orient Crystal Skies
R. Zgodava: Noel Nouvelet
Swingle Singers: I Will / Blackbird medley (1812 album, also on Ticket
to Ride)
anything by The Real Group
Paul Sinasohn
baritone & manager, Vocal Interchange
acappella in the fast lane
Bonnie Woolley wrote:
> Hi, all.
> I'd just like to know... what do you consider to be the most beautiful
> acappella choral piece (short or long) in the world??
> Thanks!
> Bonnie Woolley
--
******REMOVE NOSPAM FROM REPLY ADDRESS ABOVE******
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James Baldwin
Korvisor, by Stenhammar is another.
JMB
Leigh Wigglesworth
Is not beauty in the ear of the beholder - I do hope you get heaps of
responses.
Here's mine: Choose something like a star by Randall Thompson AND
Alleluia by Randall Thompson
and a good 2nd would be the motet Locus Iste by Bruckner.
(I wonder what else will occur to me when I've sent this!)
Harmonious-leigh
Wigglesworth
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
wi...@vicnet.net.au
"Everyone suddenly burst out singing, and beauty came like the setting sun."
- Seigfried Sassoon
June
is: "In Flanders Fields" by Daley. I just LOVE this piece.
June
"Paul Sinasohn" <sina...@sendmail.com> wrote in message
news:3B2A92D0...@sendmail.com...
Richard Crowley
> I'm looking for some new repertoire for my 50 voice
> mixed choir. We've just done Gorecki's Broad Waters,
> Barbers Reincarnations, Biebl's Ave Maria, and lots
> of other things.
>
> I'd just like to know... what do you consider to be the
> most beautiful acappella choral piece (short or long)
> in the world??
I don't know about the MOST beautiful, but these are on my list from the
last 5 years at Haystack that are my favorit in the beautiful/lush category.
Now that you compelled me compile them, I think I'll make myself a "best of"
CD!
Stanford: The Blue Bird (Faber 8718003)
Busto: Ave Verum Corpus (AB Carl Gehrmans Musikforlag WJMS 1013)
Lauridsen: O Nata Lux (Southern Music Pub.)
Praetorius/Sandström: Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming (Sveriges Körföbunds
Förlag, Stockholm WSK-120)
Lauridsen: Magnum Mysterium (Southern Music Pub.)
Caracciolo: Ubi Caritas (Roger Dean 10/1645R)
Nowowieski: Parce Domine (Plymouth PRE-105)
Snyder: As Imperceptibly as Grief (Mark Foster MF 3049)
Bruckner: Locus Iste (Alfred 11343)
Manuel: Alleluia (Hinshaw HMC 1597)
Mendelssohn: Heilig (Collegium CCS215)
Additional details at http://www.rcrowley.com/Haystack/Archives.htm
Bonnie Woolley
> Is not beauty in the ear of the beholder -
Yes, it is... and in every concert audience is a great variety of beholders!!
You've all given me a lot to work with. I'll spend the summer seeking out
recordings of the pieces you mention. (Some I know, but most I don't.)
Thanks, and keep 'em coming, if you're still inspired!
Bonnie
MegaMole
<bwoo...@noos.fr> writes
are the unaccompanied pieces that ring my particular bell, ranging from
the short to the epic and from the famous to the very little-known.
Many of them date from the Renaissance and Baroque periods, but then you
did ask *me*... <grin>
Tallis - Lamentations of Jeremiah (Set I - men's voices (ATTBB))
Tallis - Spam with Everything^W^W^W Spem in Alium (SATBB x 8)
Byrd - Domine, quis habitabit in tabernaculo tuo? (AATTBarBarBBB) (!!)
Byrd - Audivi vocem de caelo (ATTBarB)
Byrd - Ave verum corpus (SATB or ATBarB)
Byrd - Mass in four Parts (SATB)
Palestrina - Sicut cervus desiderat fluminem (SATB)
Victoria - Requiem (SSATTB or AATBarBarB)
Victoria - "O Quam Gloriosum" Mass (SATB)
Schütz - Selig sind die Todten (SSATBarB)
Schütz - Ich bin der rechte Weinstock (SATB, I think)
Schütz - Da Jesus an dem Kreutze stund (SATBarB)
Purcell - Hear my prayer, O Lord (SSAATTBB)
Croft - Burial Sentences (SATB)
Lotti - Crucifixus etiam pro nobis (SSAATTBB)
Brahms - Warum ist das Licht gegeben dem Mühseligen? (up to SSATBB)
Harris - Faire is the Heaven (SATB/SATB)
Stanford - Beati quorum via integra est (SSATBarB)
Duruflé - Ubi caritas et amor (SAATTBB)
Rachmaninov - Vespers (up to SSAATTBB, I believe)
Shephard - Holy is the True Light (SATB)
There are others, such as the Bach Motets, and many English anthems and
canticle settings, which have only a minimal accompaniment. But you
asked for a capella, and that's what you've got...
--
* MegaMole, The Official Enrico Basilica : Chocolate rix in thy tum *
* http://www.countertenor.demon.co.uk/index.html Filks, Liff, Stuff *
mo...@lspace.org mo...@music.slut.org.uk fi...@countertenor.demon.co.uk
"Listen! Lyf is gude, And thou art welbiloved and frended..." DQ 627
DBret...@aol.com
Glyn
Rachmaninov's setting of the Liturgy of St. John Chrisostom.
Runner up would probably be one of the Zulu or Xhosa anthems eg.
Nkosi Sikelel' i Afrika or Bawo Thixo Somandla.
Regards
Justin Glyn
gly...@pl.net
Tel./Fax +64-9-535-3906 7, Four Trees, Howick, 1705 Auckland, New Zealand
matuning
Your mileage may vary...
Mark Tuning
Director of Music Ministries
First United Methodist Church
Clovis, New Mexico, USA
---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
From: "Brian G. Mueller" <choirbr...@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: chora...@lists.colorado.edu
Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2001 22:40:26 GMT
>I would have to go with Victoria's "O Magnum Mysterium", Lauridsen's "O
>Magnum Mysterium",
(snip)
Randall Giles
> I'd just like to know... what do you consider to be the most beautiful
> acappella choral piece (short or long) in the world??
There are far too many beautiful things to single out one (and the Tallis
Lamentations has already been mentioned).
But a very moving piece indeed is William Byrd's "Ne Irascaris,
Domine"/"Civitas Sancti Tui" (one motet: parts I & II).
Also, the "Stabat Mater" of John Browne, in the Eton Choir book, is a
wonderfully remarkable thing.
Among newer pieces, The "Funeral Ikos" by John Taverner is, with its
repeating Alleluia refrain, is very haunting.
But there are too many things of beauty, really...
Enjoy exploring!
Randall Giles, at The Ecumenical Institute for Worship and the Arts
as to the CSI Madras Diocese Office, 226 Cathedral Road, Post Office Box
4914
Chennai 600 086 Tamil Nadu, India phone: +91 44 811 3933; fax +91 44 811
0608
home: the CSI High School for the Deaf Campus, 160 Santhome High Road,
Mylapore, Chennai 600 004 T.N., India.
home telephone: +91 44 466 2524 e-mail: gi...@mantraonline.com or
randal...@hotmail.com;
Alan Moss
Vitezslav Novak's setting of Four Poems by Otokar Brezina. Stunning.
Alan Moss
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bonnie Woolley" <bwoo...@noos.fr>
To: <chora...@lists.colorado.edu>
Sent: Friday, June 15, 2001 10:36 PM
Subject: Seeking beauty
> Hi, all.
>
> I'm looking for some new repertoire for my 50 voice mixed choir. We've
> just done Gorecki's Broad Waters, Barbers Reincarnations, Biebl's Ave
> Maria, and lots of other things.
>
> I'd just like to know... what do you consider to be the most beautiful
> acappella choral piece (short or long) in the world??
>
Russ Parker
"Bonnie Woolley" <bwoo...@noos.fr> wrote in message
news:3B2A7FE3...@noos.fr...
Bonnie Woolley
> >
> That's a *really* difficult question.
... But see how much fun you all are having answering! I'm thrilled.
Bonnie
nancy morgan
Well, There are many wonderful works available, but these are some I've
heard recently that really moved me both as a singer and audience member.
Lloyd Pfautsch--Consecrate the Place and Day
Daniel Gawthrop--Sing Me to Heaven
Morten Lauridsen--O Magnum Mysterium
Rene Clausen--Quicksand Years (from Three Whitman Settings)
Nancy Morgan
_________________________________________________________________
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Larry Nickel
Larry Nickel
web site: http://members.home.net/larrynickel
Mennonite Educational Institute
4081 Clearbrook Road
Abbotsford, BC
V4X 2M8
home: 604-859-0809
work: 604-859-9762
fax: 604-859-9206
biography/resume: http://www.jaymar.com/bios/nick_bio.htm
e mail larry...@home.com
Brian G. Mueller
definite bias toward the Magnum text. What really bothers me about
Lauridsen on repeated hearings (and singings) is how much all of his music
borrows from itself. Granted, Bach did it, Beethoven did it, but Lauridsen
is no Bach or Bethoven, IMO. Yet, I still do enjoy his music.
BGM
"matuning" <matu...@plateautel.net> wrote in message
news:200106152206...@email.plateautel.net...
MLyca...@aol.com
William Walton, "Drop, drop slow tears." I (and others) will sing it in
church tomorrow.
Best wishes,
Mary Lycan
mlyca...@aol.com
James Baldwin
his Mid-Winter Songs, possibly because they're still obviously Lauridsen
when listening to them, but they're somewhat more angular. It could be that
I've done/heard the O magnum, Rose Cycle, and Lux Aeterna too many times....
I just find them too self-indulgent the way they're usually performed
(SLOWLY). I would have put them down on here, but they're accompanied.
JMB
Julio Laredo
I also like the Benedictus from the Karl Neilsen Motets.
"Leigh Wigglesworth" <wi...@vicnet.net.au> wrote in message
news:3.0.5.32.2001061...@mail.vicnet.net.au...
J L. Angolano
the Litugry for the Easter Vigil (or Holy Saturday). I look forward to it
every year.
Peace,
J. L. Angolano
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Warren Steel
> >I'd just like to know... what do you consider to be the most beautiful
> >acappella choral piece (short or long) in the world??
> That's a *really* difficult question.
> Tallis - Lamentations of Jeremiah (Set I - men's voices (ATTBB))
> Tallis - Spam with Everything^W^W^W Spem in Alium (SATBB x 8)
> Byrd - Domine, quis habitabit in tabernaculo tuo? (AATTBarBarBBB) (!!)
....
Some good choices. Mine would include
Tallis, Videte Miraculum a 6.
--
Warren Steel mu...@olemiss.edu
http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/~mudws/
Department of Music University of Mississippi
Jason Shelton
Tallis - If Ye Love Me
Tavener - Dum Transisset Sabbatum
Chorbajian - Bitter for Sweet
Barnwell - Wanting Memories (Sweet Honey in the Rock)
Take 6 - A Quiet Place
Gorecki - Amen
Page - A Child is Born
Shelton - To Be With One Another
(How could I not plug myself? Available through Yelton Rhodes music
www.yrmusic.com)
Jason Shelton
Director of Music
First Unitarian Universalist
Church of Nashville, TN
mu...@firstuunashville.org
Andy Averill
"James Baldwin" <jbal...@sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:00ea01c0f6be$55a88320$1de5fea9@oemcomputer...
I agree, O Magnum works much better at the listed tempo (quarter note = 72,
then 76, then back to tempo primo). It's tempting for a conductor to reason,
well it's a very slow piece, therefore I should take it at a slow tempo,
disregarding that it's slow because of the long duration of the notes.
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Andy Averill
"Jason Shelton" <mu...@firstuunashville.org> wrote in message
news:NEBBKEPBILKMJMIHD...@firstuunashville.org...
> Some favorites:
>
> Tallis - If Ye Love Me
> Tavener - Dum Transisset Sabbatum
> Chorbajian - Bitter for Sweet
> Barnwell - Wanting Memories (Sweet Honey in the Rock)
> Take 6 - A Quiet Place
> Gorecki - Amen
> Page - A Child is Born
Is this the version by Nick Page?
Andy Averill
>
> I'm looking for some new repertoire for my 50 voice mixed choir. We've
> just done Gorecki's Broad Waters, Barbers Reincarnations, Biebl's Ave
> Maria, and lots of other things.
>
> I'd just like to know... what do you consider to be the most beautiful
> acappella choral piece (short or long) in the world??
A lot of great suggestions on this thread. I'd like to add a few that
haven't been mentioned yet:
Tallis, Tunes for Archbishop Parker's Psalter
Parsons, Ave Maria
Byrd, Haec Dies
Sweelinck, Hodie Christus Natus Est
Lasso, Resonet in Laudibus (5vv)
Stolzer, O Admirabile Commercium
Palestrina, Alma Redemptoris Mater
Praetorius, many (eg the SATB/SATB In Dulci Jubilo)
Josquin, Gaude Virgo (I wouldn't recommend this for your 50-voice choir
though)
Bach, many chorales (such as the settings of How Brightly Shines the Morning
Star or Break Forth O Beauteous Heav'nly Light)
Erb, Shenandoah (arr.)
There are lots of Renaissance songs and madrigals that are really gorgeous,
but not suitable for such a large choir. I especially like Byrd's lute
songs (Though Amaryllis Dance and Lullaby are the best-known), plus anything
by Weelkes, Campion, Morley, etc.
Ann Wells
no one has mentioned yet is Rachmaninoff's "Bogoroditse Devo." I also have
a CD called "Choral Moods" that is full of this type of music, including
many pieces already mentioned. One thing on it that I don't think anyone
has mentioned yet is "Videntes Stellam" by Poulenc.
--
Ann Wells
annw...@mindspring.com (New!!) or AWe...@alumni.wfu.edu
Why did Beethoven get rid of his chickens?
Because all they said was "Bach, Bach, Bach"
J. C. Ramlet
> I'd just like to know... what do you consider to be the most beautiful
> acappella choral piece (short or long) in the world??
I have a feeling that very few people will agree, but I have to list two:
Figure Humaine of Poulenc and the Schoenberg Friede auf Erden.
Like I said, not many people will agree with me...
Jim Ramlet
Dale Warland Singers
Brian G. Mueller
"J. C. Ramlet" <j...@manitscoldhere.com> wrote in message
news:9gjp4h$97mqn$1...@ID-46784.news.dfncis.de...
I like these picks, Jim. After all, beauty is in the ear of the listener.
As for Poulenc, I think "Tristis est Anima Mea" from "Quatre Motets pour le
Penitence" is one of his most stunningly beautiful pieces. I am also quite
partial to Part's "Magnificat". The thing is, my personal favorite for most
beautiful piece is not choral and, hence, not a cappella. :)
BGM
Cliffie
stunning when done in an acoustically sound setting.
Shane Sanderson.
Terry Cordery.
real jewel of a piece.
Incidentally, Stanford's great Grandson, or is it great great Grandson,
lives in the next village to me. That is Ricall, just outside York. Andrew
Stanford is a doctor and a keen historian. He is very interested in
militaria, especially English civil war arms. He has several canons from
that era and fires them quite regularly. Unfortunately he is not
particularly interested in music.
Terry Cordery.
Music teacher and Bass Songman
at Selby Abbey, North Yorkshire.
Fax and voice mail 0870 4050480
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bonnie Woolley" <bwoo...@noos.fr>
To: <chora...@lists.colorado.edu>
Sent: Friday, June 15, 2001 10:36 PM
Subject: Seeking beauty
> I'd just like to know... what do you consider to be the most beautiful
> acappella choral piece (short or long) in the world??
>
>
> Bonnie Woolley
> Paris, France
>
>
Alan Moss
unaccompanied choral songs by Elgar. Admittedly, some of them are rather
difficult, having indeed been written as test pieces for choral
competitions (amateur). One of the most beautiful of these is 'There Is
Sweet Music' (Tennyson) in which the ladies sing throughout in a different
key to the men. The effect is ethereal and absolutely magical if the choir
can do it. Another favourite is 'Go, Song Of Mine'. Others are easier and
also beautiful, such as 'The Shower' (Henry Vaughan) and 'Deep In My Soul'
(Lord Byron). Some are for TTBB, e.g. the songs from The Greek Anthology.
Some are to words written by Elgar himself, either under his own name or a
nom-de-plume, including the very slight and childlike 'Owls (an Epitaph)'.
There are also settings of Shelley, Walter de la Mare, and others.
Prospectors in this mine will strike gold.
Alan Moss
Warren Porter
suggestion on this type of topic some time back. When someone is asking
help in building a list of ________(fill in blank) which _______(fill in
blank), the initial poster requests private emails and agrees to post a
final summary to the newsgroup about a week later. In that way, people
interested in the topic have only one message to save--those who aren't
have only one message to ignore.
Bonnie Woolley wrote:
> I'm looking for some new repertoire for my 50 voice mixed choir. We've
> just done Gorecki's Broad Waters, Barbers Reincarnations, Biebl's Ave
> Maria, and lots of other things.
>
> I'd just like to know... what do you consider to be the most beautiful
> acappella choral piece (short or long) in the world??
--
Warren Porter Remove digits
Kay Dekker
> He has several canons from
> that era and fires them quite regularly.
I just hope he never gets those canons retrograde :)
Kay, originally from Osbaldwick, not so far away
--
"In the life of every man above the rank of moron, there are times when the
urge to go mildly gay in exclusively masculine company becomes too strong
to be withstood". -- W. Heath Robinson, _How to be a Perfect Husband_
Mark Tuning
Were all replies kept private, we would not have had the chance to respond
to individual choices, and would have missed out on some thought-provoking
stuff. however, a compilation would still be nice...
Mark Tuning
Director of Music Ministries
First United Methodist Church
Clovis, New Mexico
Richard Crowley
> Actually, I have rather enjoyed the conversation this
> topic has elicited. Were all replies kept private, we
> would not have had the chance to respond to individual
> choices, and would have missed out on some thought-
Hear, Hear!
The journey is just as much a part of this process as the destination.
Private replies and future compliation kill the serendipity and synergy of
the dialogue.
RC
June
June
"Richard Crowley" <rcro...@xprt.net> wrote in message
news:wDzX6.42419$Ne5.2...@e420r-sjo3.usenetserver.com...
Leigh Wigglesworth
>It's a little late for this now, but David Topping made an excellent
requests private emails and agrees to post a
>final summary to the newsgroup about a week later.
Let Warren ignore what he will.
I for one, am enjoying the comments that go with the suggestion, building
images of the people who send them, AND compiling my own list of pieces to
look out for. The chat part is quite as valuable as the suggestions
themselves. What a pity Warren didn't add a favourite - or perhaps it had
been given already.
I'm certainly longing to delve into Alan Moss's Elgar suggestions, and
no-one has mentioned Gibbons' The Silver Swan . . .
Leigh Wigglesworth
Melbourne, Australia
Leigh Wigglesworth
>
>
David Topping
> Let Warren ignore what he will.
> I for one, am enjoying the comments that go with the suggestion, building
> images of the people who send them, AND compiling my own list of pieces to
> look out for. The chat part is quite as valuable as the suggestions
> themselves.
There are valid reasons to support both methods of sharing information with each
other in this venue. Since Warren mentioned my name in his post, let me see if I
can explain.
The method whereby responses are sent directly to the individual who submits a
request and then compiles them and submits the compilation back to everyone is
a very efficient system of gathering and sharing information. This method keeps
the "traffic level" of ChoralTalk (and also rec.music.makers.choral) down to what
is a more manageable level for busy professionals. It also can weed out off-track
or duplicate responses. The compilations will also be archived on ChoralNet's
Web site for long-term access.
The other method, in which all responses are posted publicy, has one strong
advantage, but also several major disadvantages. The advantage, already
mentioned several times, is that seeing responses as they come in can spur
people's imagination or lead to related, and sometimes interesting, discussion.
The disadvantages are that the traffic level can skyrocket during the response
periods on a popular request, often to a point where many of our e-mail
subscribers have little choice but to discard messages without reading, due to the
volume. Also, the person who originates such a "thread" usually doesn't compile
and repost the responses, so the information may or may not be archived, except
by those who have had the time to individually collect the responses themselves.
These venues, ChoralTalk and rec.music.makers.choral, are indeed discussion
venues, but this particular type of topic might or might not be classified as a true
"discussion", as perhaps something like "sight-reading pedagogy" or "flatting"
might be. However, I can see the good in both methods of information sharing
described above, so both are allowed on ChoralTalk, and of course also in
rec.music.makers.choral (which ChoralNet doesn't control).
I think the best thing to do is to allow the people who originate these repertoire
requests to determine how they wish to receive responses by specifying that in
their messages. If they don't specify, then feel free to respond either publicly or
privately, depending upon your personal preference.
David Topping
ChoralNet Manager
man...@choralnet.org - http://choralnet.org
http://choralnet.org/topping/
Hanna Graeffe
"Brian G. Mueller" <choirbr...@yahoo.com> kirjoitti viestissä
news:u9wW6.1$C7.1...@typhoon.kc.rr.com...
> I would have to go with Victoria's "O Magnum Mysterium", Lauridsen's
the "Lamentations of Jeremiah" by Tallis.
I know this is a bit off topic, but I just couldn't help but smile
happily when I saw that these O Magnum Mysteriums were on your list.
Last year, our 8-part vocal ensemble Lumen Valo made a cd called
"mysterium - carmina nativitatis - songs of christmas", and it
included the O Magnum Mysteriums by Isaac, Victoria, Poulenc and
Lauridsen (and a lot more).
And we have just finished recording our next cd (which will be the
fifth) with (mostly) English romantic stuff (Elgar, Finzi,
Vaughn-Williams etc.), and even one of those songs got mentioned in
this thread, namely The Blue Bird. We are still discussing (aka
quarrelling) what the title of the cd will be - this must be the most
difficult part of the process!
Hanna G, vocal ensemble Lumen Valo, Finland
hanna....@helsinki.fi
www.lumenvalo.fi (distributor: www.fuga.fi)
Alan Moss
> I'm certainly longing to delve into Alan Moss's Elgar suggestions,
> and no-one has mentioned Gibbons' The Silver Swan . . .
Simon D Drew's list included The Silver Swan (18th June). He also mentioned
one of the Elgar songs, My Love Dwelt In A Northern Land. Great minds ...
Hyperion have a compilation of unaccompanied Elgar Choral Songs on CDA67019
(London Symphony Chorus cond. Vernon Handley, under the auspices of The
Elgar Society). If you go to www.hyperion-records.co.uk and look it up
under the numerical index you can read the sleeve notes, which are very
interesting. (I have no affiliation with Hyperion Records, I hasten to add,
but I have to own up to an affinity with Elgar!)
> building images of the people who send them
A glimpse of those images would be fascinating!
Alan Moss
Jan Melaerts
bwoo...@noos.fr op 15-06-2001 23:36:
> Hi, all.
> I'm looking for some new repertoire for my 50 voice mixed choir. We've
> just done Gorecki's Broad Waters, Barbers Reincarnations, Biebl's Ave
> Maria, and lots of other things.
> I'd just like to know... what do you consider to be the most beautiful
> acappella choral piece (short or long) in the world??
> Thanks!
> Bonnie Woolley
> Paris, France
>
Hi,
I'd surely mention :
"Hear my prayer, o Lord" (Purcell)
"Amen dico vobis" (De Wert)
"Selig sind die Toten" (Schütz).
I fear however that this awsome music can hardly be performed by larger
choir groups.
Kind regards,
Jan Melaerts
Antwerp, Belgium
kr...@cornell.edu
Justin Glyn wrote:
>> I would think that you would have to go quite a long way
>> to beat Rachmaninov's setting of the Liturgy of St. John...
Unless it's Grechaninov's Strastnaya Sedmitsa (Seven Days
of Passion), of which the section "Vecheri Tvoyeya Tayniya"
is just about the most beautiful piece I've ever heard.
Musica Russica is the publisher (of course!); it also used
to be available with an English text (not a translation)
as "O Lord I Have Loved" from H.W.Gray via Belwin.
And Mark Tuning wrote:
>> You know, the only problem I have with the Lauridsen
>> "O Magnum..." is the fact that it directly quotes one
>> of the rose chansons...
Hmmm, the only problem *I* have with Lauridsen's 1990s
music is that every piece inhabits the same sound world
(featuring the same added-tone chords, etc.) regardless
of the text. Somebody gave me e-abuse the last time I
pointed this out, saying how dare I accuse this beloved
composer of anything, but I'm clearly not the only one
who notices. How could one listen all the way through an
All-Lauridsen CD and fail to say there's "formula"
happening here? I mean, surely Russian sacred music has a
distinctive sound world too, but here in the Land of Marketing
in 2001, the predictability of M.L.'s <insert latin text here>
makes me suspicious; conductors' testaments to his
meticulousness and craftsmanship do not change the hard
evidence. And the way Presser promotes him at conventions,
you'd think he were Brahms.
Sorry to digress... After all, hordes of people still find
those pieces very beautiful even if they agree with me. But
the traditionalist in me finds the following more tasteful
when attempting a "most beautiful" list:
BARBER: Agnus Dei
BRAHMS: Ich Aber Bin Elend, op 110 #1
BRUCKNER: Ave Maria
CHESNOKOV: Spaseniye Sodelal = Salvation is Created
DURUFLE: Tota Pulchra Es (SSA)
FINZI: Nightingales (from Seven Poems of Robert Bridges)
GRECHANINOV: Vecheri Tvoyeya Tayniya, op 58 #7
KODALY: Oregek; Norveg Leanyok; others...
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS, arr.: Ca' the Yowes; Loch Lomond (the latter
even lovelier in the TTBB version)
For early music, I'd have to put Byrd and Palestrina aside
in favor of Flemish fare by Ockeghem (Salve Regina, Missa
Mi-Mi), De la Rue, Agricola, Gombert, who all rival Josquin.
These are of course less appropriate for 50 voices, as are
some from the longer list above.
And call me un-American, but I don't think the living USA
composers suggested in this thread can hold a candle to the
likes of Bruckner (nor, I believe, can Randall Thompson).
I'd put James Fritschel's wonderfully eerie piece Earth
Magician on my list ahead of many more beloved works.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kevin Lash KR...@cornell.edu
Sidney Cox Library of Music and Dance
Cornell University
Michaela Tauscher
acappella choral piece (short or long) in the world?<<
My current favorite, both to perform and to hear, is Lauridsen's O magnum
mysterium.
Rounding out a "Top Ten" are:
Beibl: Ave Maria
Brahms: Aus dem 51. Psalm (Schaffe in mir )
Duruflé: Ubi caritas
Irving Fine: Design for October
Joseph Jenning's arrangement of Steal Away
Lasso: Resonet in laudibus
Palestrina: Sicut cervus
Pizzetti: Messa di Requiem
Poulenc: Quatre Petite Prières de St. François d'Assise
Michaela, new to the list
Michaela Tauscher
"Design for October" is not a cappella; it is, however, quite Fine.
Michaela
Warren Porter
>
> I for one, am enjoying the comments that go with the suggestion, building
> images of the people who send them, AND compiling my own list of pieces to
> look out for. The chat part is quite as valuable as the suggestions
> themselves. What a pity Warren didn't add a favourite - or perhaps it had
> been given already.
"Oh Gladsome Light" written for an eight (perhaps 12) part choir. It's been a
long time since I was in a choir that last sung it, IIRC it was written by
Gretcheninov (sp?). Others have been listed already, such as Thompson's
"Alleluia" for example.
Terry Cordery.
like to add Roger de Pearsall's ( I think that is the correct spelling) "Lay
a Garland". The first time I heard this performed it moved me to tears.
Terry Cordery.
Music teacher and Bass Songman
at Selby Abbey, North Yorkshire.UK
G Prosper
at Occidental College as a freshman, singing in the
Glee Clubs directed by Howard Swan. It was "Song of
Simeon" by Gretchaninoff and I had never heard
anything so beautiful in my life!
Gloria Grace Prosper
> "Oh Gladsome Light" written for an eight (perhaps
> 12) part choir. It's been a
> long time since I was in a choir that last sung it,
> IIRC it was written by
> Gretcheninov (sp?).
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