Dansk

Stenhammar – September (Alle de voksende skygger)

October 27, 2011

Wilhelm Stenhammar (1871-1927) was born into an upper-class Swedish family of artists. As a child Stenhammar began to compose and to play the piano and he, his siblings, and their friends formed a vocal group. He never received much formal training and never attended a conservatory but some of his early compositions such as the "Tre körvisor" ("Three choral songs") of which this one «September (Alle de voksende skygger)» ("September (All the growing shadows)") is the first. It's Stenhammar's setting of a poem by Danish novelist, poet, and scientist J. P. Jacobsen. The piece is performed here by the Danish choir "Musica Ficta" conducted by Bo Holten, lyrics and a translation to English are below the video. Enjoy :-)

markfromireland

Lyrics: Alle de voksende skygger

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Sunday Playlist: Taverner "Westron Wynde"

By markfromireland

October 9, 2011

westernwind_score_01 "Westron wynde, when wyll thou blow,

The small rayne downe can rayne.

Cryst, yf my love were in my armys,

And I yn my bed agayne."

"Western wind when will thou blow,

The small rain down can rain.

Christ, if my love were in my arms,

And I in my bed again."

For this Sunday's "Sunday Playlist" I've uploaded five music videos of the Danish Choir Ars Nova Copenhagen performing John Taverner's 'Westron Wynde' ('Western Wind' ) Mass and put them into a playlist for you to enjoy. It's one of my favourite Masses, one of my favourite pieces of Tudor music, and it's performed here by one of my favourite choirs.
The 'Westron Wynde' Mass gets its name from the fact that it's built on a cantus firmus resembling the melody found in GB-Lbl Roy. App.58, f.5 (see picture). Taverner's 'Westron Wynde' Mass is one of three Masses built upon this decidedly secular melody (the other two were composed by Tye and Sheppard).

Using a secular tune as a cantus firmus — a term which in this context means using a pre-existing melody as the basis of a new polyphonic composition, was quite common amongst continental composers, «L'homme armé » was used as a cantus firmus for settings of the Mass by both Josquin and Dufay for example but that wasn't the case in England. Taverner's 'Westron Wynde' Mass is unique in English renaissance music in that not only is it the first English composition for a Mass based on a secular tune it is also the first in a linked series of compositions of the Mass by different composers. Taverner uses the melody 36 times in all (9 times in each section) switching between voices in a series of polyphonic variations. I particularly like how Taverner does this in this Mass, he couples a very proportionate setting with considerable inventiveness so that each voice gives us a new perspective on the melody. This inventiveness coupled with balance is why it's one of his most influential works and why it is popular to this day.

Click here to listen to the music and read the rest of the posting ...

Hendriksholm Kirkes Kor: Bruno Bettinelli – Ave Maria

By markfromireland

September 23, 2011

«Hendriksholm Kirkes Kor» (Hendriksholm Church Choir) are a Danish prize-winning mixed chamber choir of 30 young singers, 12 of whom do duty as the church choir singing at church services on Sundays and public holidays in Hendriksholm church in Rødovre a suburb of Copenhagen. Their repertoire consists mostly of church music ranging from the Renaissance and Baroque periods to choral works by romantic composers such as Dvorak, Grieg and Lange-Müller to the works of modern Danish composers such as Lewkovitch and Nystedt. This has been a good year for them, the quality of their singing at the 9th Venezia in Musica 2011 International Choir Competition & Festival led to their being awarded two gold prizes and a participant's trophy. In the music video below the fold you can hear them singing Bruno Bettinelli's "Ave Maria".

Bettineli who died in New York in 2004 aged 91 was born in 1913 in Milan, he graduated from Milan's "Verdi" Conservatory in piano in 1931 and went on to study choral music, conducting and composition under Paribeni and Bossi. He started teaching theory at the Conservatory in 1938 and was professor of composition there from from 1957 to 1979, he was also a member of the Accademia di S. Cecilia. He was influential as a teacher (his students included Corghi, Abbado, Chailly, Gentilucci, Muti and Pollini), a composer, and as a critic, towards the end of his life he composed a number of religious and secular a cappella choral works of which this marvellous setting of 'Ave Maria' which he wrote in 1995 is one. Video and resources are below the fold. Enjoy :-).

markfromireland

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Se Nu Stiger Solen: Thisted Kirkes Drenge-Mandskor

By markfromireland

September 12, 2011

Se, nu stiger solen af havets skød sunget af Thisted Kirkes Drenge-Mandskor, Vejgaard Kirke d. 20 Juni 2010. Teksterne er under videoen. Jeg nød at lytte til dette kor at synge denne salme, og håber, at du vil også.

markfromireland

Video Kilde: se nu stiger solen.MOV – YouTube

Se, nu stiger solen af havets skød

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Saturday Chorale: Herning Kirkes Drengekor: Salvator Mundi – Thomas Tallis

By markfromireland

September 3, 2011

shot0111 Herning Kirkes Drengekor Salvator Mundi - Thomas Tallis - HKD

For this week's "Saturday Chorale" I've picked Thomas Tallis' "Salvator Mundi" being sung by «Herning Kirkes Drengekor» ('Herning Church Boys' Choir') in Berlin Cathedral . They performed the piece in connection with the filming of a documentary about the choir «En Stemme For Livet» ("The Voice of Life") .

I enjoy this performance whenever I listen to it. I also enjoy contemplating the phenomenon of a Lutheran choir of Danish boys, singing in Latin for a German audience in a German cathedral the music of a centuries dead English composer. A composer moreover who was rightly suspected by Elizabeth I's government of being a crypto-Catholic. Such an unlikely combination of circumstances but oh how marvelous the result. They sing Tallis' music with passion and conviction, and the resulting sound is very beautiful. Play it twice, the first time close your eyes, play it just for the music. The second to listen to the music and watch the audiences' faces as they listen. The video, the lyrics and a translation to English are all below the fold. Enjoy :-)

markfromireland

Click here to listen to the music and read the rest of the posting ...