[Magdalen] Easter Devotions

[Marion Thompson]

I _love _his slippery slidey harmonies.  Phew!  We have a couple of his 
pieces in our possession, but, for me sadly, haven't really persevered 
to present one publicly.  Cowards!

Marion, a pilgrim

On 3/18/2015 3:26 AM, James Oppenheimer-Crawford wrote:
> 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
>>>>
>>>