Harps Eternal

Another great hymn sung by a fine choir. This arrangement of "Hark, I Hear the Harps Eternal" is by Alice Parker.

Marching On

Last week was 8 voices... this week is 8 hands. This is a larger spectacle than I usually choose for Sunday music (my days of flashy church offertories are, thankfully, long over) but I think variety is good and I love to see young people collaborating to create church music.

8 voices.

1 beautiful piece of early music.

There's not much else to say. 

Here's Voces8 with Orlando Gibbons' 'O Clap Your Hands'. Perfection.

The Ground

I stumbled upon young Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo (pronounced Yay-lo) last month. While Gjeilo composes pieces for choir, orchestra/symphonic winds and piano, his main passion is improvisation (he is a pianist and you can see him in action here).
I'm in awe of anyone able to improvise at this level.

In 2008, Gjeilo composed a Sunrise Mass for Choir and String Orchestra. In 2011, he further developed the chorale from the last movement "In the Moment" into a free-standing anthem entitled "The Ground".  What's fascinating is that the piano accompaniment stands on it's own as an improvisational-style piece (you can here a version of it here). All together with strings, I find it simply beautiful.

Here is Kairos String Quartet and the composer, Ola Gjeilo, accompanying the Central Washington University Chamber Choir.

Pleni sunt caeli et terra gloria tua. Osanna, Osanna in excelsis.

Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini. Osanna, Osanna in excelsis.

Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, Dona nobis pacem.

Heaven and earth are full of thy glory. Hosanna, hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, Lamb of God, grant us peace.

Instruments of Peace

John Rutter's setting of the Prayer of St. Francis is a piece that brings me peace. It's been a long week (hence the lack of blogging here) and we've planned a peaceful and quiet day today- something most welcome.

Sweet Spirit

I love the story of how Doris Akers wrote the gospel hymn Sweet, Sweet Spirit (you can read the story here). It's a gospel piece I remember from my childhood sung many times by men's choirs or quartets similar to this one (click here). I love when old classics are renewed in new arrangements and sung by new artists. The Choir of Columbia Bible College in Abbotsford has a wonderful version on their CD Voci di Fuoco that has made me enjoy this piece in a whole new way.

Christ Alone

I read two very interesting blog posts about church music recently - Why have men stopped singing in church and Worship is about Christ not impressing crowds. I think both posts make good points. Reading this left me thankful that there are some great modern hymn writers out there. I think Keith and Kristyn Getty are two of the best.

Laudibus In Sanctis

Psalm 150, the Psalm that talks about praising God with trumpet, cymbals, lyre, timbrel and harp, is one that has been set to music many times and for obvious reason. One of my favourite settings is one by William Byrd, that first appeared in 1591. The Jerusalem Academy Chamber Choir does a magnificent job of this piece.

Tellin' The World

Another great choir singing a great spiritual. There's nothin' better.

Here's the University of Utah Singers with Moses Hogan's arrangement of "I Can Tell The World"

Love is Strong as Death

Jeff mentioned that we were going to a wedding yesterday. It was the wedding of two people who have gone through an inexplicably long and painfully difficult journey to find each other. So we celebrated. And celebrated. And celebrated some more.

This morning, I'm more wistful. And thankful. The song that comes to mind is William Walton's hauntingly beautiful "Set Me As Seal" from the Song of Solomon.

The Spirit Comes to Help

I love singing the Bach motets and have been lucky to perform most of them. My favourite is 'Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf', or 'The Spirit comes to help our weakness'.  The Vocalconsort Berlin, directed by Daniel Reuss, does a very fine job of this piece. An English translation of the text can be read here. 

Strong To Save

I'm not partial to patriotic or militaristic hymns (you'll never catch me humming Onward Christian Soldiers!). American composer Dan Forrest has reset "Eternal Father, Strong to Save" (the Naval Hymn) so beautifully that I have been listening to this over and over and over. The orchestral accompaniment is particularly lush and wonderful. If you listen closely, you'll notice that this version slowly builds to the most amazing apex but ends quietly, with the characteristic Forrest restraint that I love so much. This video was taken at the dress rehearsal of this piece's first performance. You can read the lyrics here. 

I Sing Because I'm Happy

This video is thirty years old but features one of my favourite gospel hymns sung by one of the best lyric soprano voices of this generation. I'm not usually a fan of opera singers trying their hand at gospel but this particular piece lends itself to the lightness that was the voice of a young Kathleen Battle.

The Holy City

Jeff and I spent yesterday in Victoria at the memorial service of my longtime piano teacher. It was a celebration of life and of music. The service ended with "The Holy City". After the service, I was reminiscing with a group of people I grew up with in church and this piece came up in our conversation.  "The Holy City"  was such a part of our church growing up years that even the non musicians among us remembered it well (and the musicians in our group still knew all the words by heart). We all agreed it was part of the soundtrack of our childhoods. And the person we were remembering was the person we associated with it most.

This version is not as incredible as the one we heard yesterday but is meaningful nonetheless. The lyrics are found here. 

Passion Music: Tying it Together

It's no secret that I really like the modern hymns written by Stuart Townend and Keith and Kristyn Getty. Yesterday in church we sang The Resurrection Hymn- it's become as essential for my Easter as "Christ The Lord is Risen Today" and "Low In the Grave He Lay". The first Getty hymn I heard was "The Power of the Cross" at Easter five years ago at a church in Minneapolis. I was so touched by this hymn that when I got home, I set out to find everything else written by the Gettys.

While listening to this piece again morning, Jeff remarked that it ties together the entire Easter story and would be a great conclusion to this year's week of Easter music. So here it is, sung by the Bob Jones University Singers, conducted by Craig Courtney (a great composer in his own right).

Passion Music: Risen!

Happy Easter! We wish you a day of hope and celebration and offer these two favourite Easter anthems as a musical start to their day.

Passion Music: Salvation is Created

Today is Good Friday. The message and meaning of this day is captured succinctly and beautifully by Pavel Chesnokov's Spaséñiye Sodélal (Salvation is Created), sung here by the incomperable Salt Lake Vocal Artists.

Russian Text: Cпасение coдeлaл еси посреде земли, Боже. Аллилуия.
Spaséñiye, sodélal yesí posredé ziemlí, Bózhe. Allilúiya.

English Translation: Salvation is created, in midst of the earth, O God, O our God. Alleluia.

Passion Music: Bach Chorale

My favourite Bach chorale is "Wer Hat Dich So Geschlagen" from the St. John Passion. The text (translated below) paired with the music and sung by the Mondeverdi Choir - exquisite.

Who has struck you thus,

my Savior, and with torments

so evilly used You?

You are not at all a sinner

like us and our children,

You know nothing of transgressions.

I, I and my sins,

that can be found like the grains

of sand by the sea,

these have brought You

this misery that assails You,

and this tormenting martyrdom

I highly recommend the full St. John Passion, sung by the Monteverdi Choir and conducted by John Eliot Gardiner. 

Passion Music: Look What They Doin'

No choir sings the spiritual "Look What They Doin' To Jesus" better than the Philippine Madrigal Singers. Breathtaking.

Passion Music: He Was Despised

My choice of music today is an arrangement of Karl Graun's (1704-1759) "He Was Despised". The arranger, William David Young, updated the string and harpsichord accompaniment last year- I love that he did not compromise the baroque character of the piece. The text, from Isaiah 53, is such a contrast to the jubilant Hosannas of Palm Sunday and sets the tone for the remainder of Passion Week.

Click here and press play to hear it 

"Christ Falls on the Way to Calvary" painted by Raphael in 1516