[Magdalen] Easter Devotions

[James Oppenheimer-Crawford]

That is right up there with Vittoria's "The Mysterious Magnum"

James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy

On Tue, Mar 17, 2015 at 9:16 AM, Jay Weigel <jay.weigel at gmail.com> wrote:

> "O Vos Omnes"....known to one choir I sang in as "All you eggs". But we
> were an irreverent lot.
>
> On Tue, Mar 17, 2015 at 1:57 AM, James Oppenheimer-Crawford <
> oppenheimerjw at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > I worship now through music.  I find others who value fine musical
> > performance are of a similar bent. Recently did the Messiah, and a bit
> > later on we will do the Brahms Requiem. Unbeatable composition! Great
> text
> > choice, superb composition itself (competent use of the choir, to put it
> > mildly) and absolutely marvelous orchestration, and the choir isn't
> silent
> > most of the time.
> >
> > We just had a concert Mar. 14 in which the first half was three settings
> of
> > O Vos Omnes. I like to see how different masters handle the same text.
> >
> > O vos ómnes qui transítis per víam, atténdite et vidéte:
> > Si est dólor símilis sícut dólor méus.
> >
> > V. Atténdite, univérsi pópuli, et vidéte dolórem méum.
> > Si est dólor símilis sícut dólor méus.
> >
> > Translation
> >
> > O all you who walk by on the road, pay attention and see:
> > if there be any sorrow like my sorrow.
> >
> > V. Pay attention, all people, and look at my sorrow:
> > if there be any sorrow like my sorrow.
> >
> > ​The settings were by
> > Tomás Luis de Victoria
> > ​ (16th cent. Spain)​
> > ,
> > ​ Pablo​
> > Casals
> > ​ (20th Cent. [1932])​
> > and
> > ​Paul ​
> > Mealor
> > ​ (contemporary)​
> > .
> > ​ Links to performances are at the end of the email.​
> >
> > These are a good selection for contrast. Victoria/Vittoria is one of the
> > finest composers of any time.  He wrote, very simply, very subtly, yet
> all
> > of his effort is entirely to the text. Pablo Casals must have been a
> person
> > of faith, because his setting, although stylistically distinct from
> > Victoria, still has that simple straightforward quality of writing to the
> > text.  Paul Mealor got a lot of exposure for writing the anthem that was
> at
> > a royal wedding, and as a result, his work is being heard far more
> > than heretofore. I really like his setting, with one caveat.  At the end
> he
> > has a (VERY familiar) line from psalm 133 (
> > "Hine Ma Tov Umanaim"
> > ​ -- "Behold how good and pleasing [if brethren could sit together in
> > unity"​
> > )thrown in. I love the text, and I love what he did with it, but it just
> > does not
> > ​seem to ​
> > belong.
> >
> > The second half of the program was a performance of Buxtehude's set of
> > seven "cantatas" which form a single work (Membra Jesu Nostri
> > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Membra_Jesu_Nostri>), based on text that
> > takes inspiration from Jesus' body, section by section. I was not
> familiar
> > with the work. Perhaps it ought to be performed more often.
> >
> > I include links to some performances I picked out for your listening. I
> > hope they are useful to you all.
> >
> > Vittoria:
> > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m11B9GuDUmM
> > Casals:
> > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uO61aTQMl7I
> > Mealor:
> > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOSm5RsPhbE
> > Buxtehude:
> > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWbBK2poJlE
> >
> >
> > ​
> > James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
> > *“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
> > except in memory. LLAP**”  *
> > *-- *Leonard
> > ​
> > ​​
> > Nimoy
> >
>