I just came off of a big concert weekend, having accompanied a cello recital and two choral concerts: two very different experiences! The cello recital consisted of a number of cello students ranging from beginner to advanced, playing standards from the Suzuki books as well as repertoire by Beethoven, Saint-Saens, and Dvorak. In contrast, the choir concerts were performed by an auditioned adult community chorus and focused on sacred texts in various settings throughout music history.
“On the Origin of Divine Music” was the title given the choral performances, and though much of the music was acapella (not requiring my services at the piano), it ranks among my most favorite programs. The concept was taking six sacred texts and looking at two different ways composers set them to music. This is how it looked:
Historic Set:
Renaissance: Magnum Mysterium – Tomás Luis de Victoria
Baroque: Cantate Domino – Claudio Monteverdi
Classical: Ave Verum Corpus -Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - (piano and cello)
Romantic: “Wie der Hirsch schreit” from Psalm 42 - Mendelssohn (piano and cello)
20th Century: Salve Regina – Herbert Howells
Modern: Alleluia! – Elaine Hagenberg
--Intermission—
Contemporary Set:
Magnum Mysterium – Morten Lauridsen
Cantate Domino - Karl Jenkins (percussion)
Ave Verum Corpus – Imant Raminsh
Psalm 42 – Andrew Bleckner
To the Mothers In Brazil: Salve Regina - Gunnar Eriksson (percussion and cello)
Glory, Glory Hallelujah! - arr. Howard Helvey (piano and percussion)
Not only did this make for an interesting and varied concert, but it also was an exposition of some of the most beautiful choral pieces that have been written. I hope to have a link to recordings of our performance soon, but for now, enjoy this setting in Hebrew of Psalm 42 by Andrew Bleckner:
The translation is as follows:
As a deer longs for flowing streams
So my soul longs for you, O God
My soul thirsts for you
O Beloved, the living God
When shall we meet face to face?
Why are you so desolate, my soul?
why so distraught within me?
Hope in the divine source of all!
For I shall praise the Holy One
My ever present saviour, My God.
For the contrasting setting by Felix Mendelssohn, see my blog post here.
Keep up with my writing by subscribing to At Home with Classical Piano on Substack.