[Magdalen] Easter Devotions

[James Oppenheimer-Crawford]

Not for the faint of heart, his madrigals are always marvelous, provocative
and exciting.  Such bold harmonic choices.



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 Wed, Mar 18, 2015 at 1:08 AM, <sally.davies at gmail.com> wrote:

> Now there's a name I recognise from my music student days!
> "Gesualdo...Musician and Murrderrer!" You have to imagine that in a broad
> Scots accent, recalled from one of my few wakeful moments in History of
> Music.
>
> Sally D
> On Tue, 17 Mar 2015 at 18:50 Marion Thompson <marionwhitevale at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Have you tried the Gesualdo O Vos Omnes?
> >
> > Marion, a pilgrim
> >
> > On 3/17/2015 1:57 AM, James Oppenheimer-Crawford 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
> > >
> >
> >
>