Christmas With Winchester College Chapel Choir
$8.99
(COMPACT DISC)
In Stock - Usually ships within 24 hours.
Just copy this code and paste it where you want the link on your website:
Christmas with Winchester College Chapel Choir The music for Christmas presented by Winchester College Chapel Choir and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra...
Christmas with Winchester College Chapel Choir
The music for Christmas presented by Winchester
College Chapel Choir and the Hong Kong Philharmonic
Orchestra starts with unaccompanied works performed
by the singers. The first of these offers verses from an
English version of the hymn of St Ambrose, Veni,
Redemptor gentium (Come, thou Redeemer), sung to the
melody Puer nobis nascitur (A boy is born to us)
adapted by the Wolfenbüttel organist and Kapellmeister
Michael Praetorius, an important figure in the
development of Lutheran church music in the early
seventeenth century.
There follow three twentieth-century compositions.
The first, by the versatile English composer Richard
Rodney Bennett, is a setting of an anonymous fifteenthcentury
poem, one of a set of five carols published in
1967. After this comes a setting of William Blake's
poem The Lamb composed in 1982 by the contemporary
English composer John Tavener. Music of relatively
simple structure, written for the composer's young
nephew, matches the seeming simplicity of the text. The
group of unaccompanied choral works ends with a 1985
setting of Illuminare Jerusalem, a fifteenth-century
Scottish poem, by the British composer Judith Weir, at
one time a pupil of John Tavener. O come, all ye
faithful, a familiar carol stemming from the eighteenth
century, equally well known in its Latin version, Adeste
fideles, has become an inevitable musical concomitant
of Christmas.
Johann Sebastian Bach was born into a musical
dynasty in Eisenach in 1685 and trained, after the death
of his musician father, by an elder brother to embark on
a career that demanded a great degree of musical
versatility. Early appointments as an organist and at the
court of Weimar, led to the prestige of a position as
director of court music to Prince Leopold of Anhalt-
Cothen, a happy period, brought to an end by the young
Prince's marriage to a woman without musical interest.
After six years or so at Cothen, he moved to Leipzig as
Cantor at the Choir School of St Thomas, with duties
that involved him in the provision of church music and
humbler occupations as a schoolmaster, some of which,
at least, could be delegated. He remained in Leipzig in
the same employment, subject to the demands of the city
council, until his death in 1750.
The first Leipzig years found Bach busy with the
composition of cycles of cantatas for the Lutheran
church year. The cantata Am Abend aber desselbigen
Sabbats, BWV 42 (On the evening of the same Sabbath)
was written for the first Sunday after Easter, known as
Quasimodo Sunday from the opening of the Introit to
the Mass on that day, or, familiarly, as Low Sunday. It
was first heard on 8th April 1725 and is scored for two
oboes, bassoon, strings and continuo, opening with the
present Sinfonia.
Bach, like other composers of the period, was in the
habit of making additional use of earlier compositions.
His settings of the Lutheran Mass, which, by his time,
could preserve the Kyrie eleison and Gloria of the
traditional Catholic Mass, were made in the late 1730s.
For the four-part fugal Kyrie of the Lutheran Mass in G
major, BWV 236, Bach had recourse to his cantata Siehe
zu, dass deine Gottesfurcht nicht Heuchelei sei, BWV
179 (See that your fear of God be not feigned), written
for performance in August 1723, soon after his arrival in
Leipzig.
The cantata Meine Seel' erhebt den Herrn, BWV 10,
(My soul magnifies the Lord) was written for the Feast
of the Visitation in July 1724. The second movement is
the soprano aria Herr, Herr, der du stark und machtig
bist (Lord, Lord, who is strong and mighty). The group
of works by Bach included here ends with the familiar
closing movement from the cantata Herz und Mund und
Tat und Leben, BWV 147, (Heart and Mouth and Deed
and Life), Jesus bleibet meine Freude, generally
interpreted in English as Jesu, joy of man's desiring,
known from a variety of arrangements. The cantata was
written for the Feast of the Visitation in July 1723.
Born in Halle in 1685, George Frideric Handel, as
he later became, worked at the opera in Hamburg, spent
time in Italy, and then was appointed to the court of
Hanover. Thence he took almost immediate leave of
absence, finally settling in London, where he was
closely involved in the business of Italian opera. His
position in English musical life was dominant,
remaining so for very many years after his death in
1759.
Handel's oratorio Messiah, a remarkable summary
of Christian doctrine in three parts, was first performed
in Dublin in April 1742. It represents the great
achievement of the composer in a form for which he
was largely responsible, the English oratorio, a genre
which coupled Italianate operatic melodic invention
with skilful choral writing, a successful musical
synthesis of drama and religion, well calculated to
appeal to English audiences of the time. From Part I
comes the Christmas chorus For unto us a child is born.
This is followed by the instrumental Pastoral
Symphony, in the conventional form of a siciliano, a
shepherd dance that had come to be essentially
associated with the season. The secco recitative There
were shepherds abiding in the field is followed by the
accompanied recitative And lo! The angel of the Lord,
continued without orchestral accompaniment in And the
angel said unto them. The following section of
recitative, And suddenly there was with the angel is
accompanied, leading to the celebratory chorus Glory to
God in the highest. The soprano solo continues with the
air Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, with its
contrasting central section, promising peace.
Excerpts from Messiah continue with movements
taken from Part II, concerned with Passiontide and
Easter. These start with the urgent dotted rhythms of the
chorus Surely he hath borne our griefs. The text is
drawn from the prophet Isaiah, as is that of the fugal
And with his stripes we are healed. With words drawn
from the same source, the chorus All we like sheep have
gone astray, graphically suggests the straying animals
of the comparison. The soprano air I know that my
Redeemer liveth, its opening words taken from the Book
of Job, starts Part III of the oratorio, celebrating the
resurrection, but the present group of excerpts from
Messiah returns to Part II of the work for its rousing
final Hallelujah Chorus.
A Christmas postscript is offered in Joy to the
world, the work of the American Lowell Mason, a
figure of some importance in the early progress of music
education in schools in the United States. He published
a number of hymn tunes, many allegedly derived from
the work of famous European composers, and he
advertised Antioch, the tune to which he set the words of
Isaac Watts, Joy to the world, as derived from the work
of Handel, to whom it has by some since been wrongly
attributed.
Keith Anderson
Come (more info)
-
Come, thou Redeemer of the earth - 2:28
Out of your sleep (more info)
-
Out of your sleep - 1:35
The Lamb (more info)
-
The Lamb - 2:28
Illuminare, Jerusalem (more info)
-
Illuminare, Jerusalem - 2:21
O come, all ye faithful (arr. D. Willcocks) (more info)
-
O come, all ye faithful (arr. D. Willcocks) - 3:17
Am Abend aber desselbigen Sabbats, BWV 42 (more info)
-
Am Abend aber desselbigen Sabbats, BWV 42: Sinfonia - 7:23
Mass in G major, BWV 236 (more info)
Performed by:
Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
Stuttgart Bach Collegium
Composed by:
Johann Sebastian Bach
Conducted by:
William Lacey
Helmuth Rilling
Jane Rogers, viola
Anthony Robson, oboe
Peter Harvey, bass
Catherine Latham, oboe
Nancy Argenta, soprano
Michael Chance, counter-tenor
Peter Buckoke, bass
Richard Boothby,
Ingeborg Russ,
Elisabeth Speiser,
Roger Montgomery, horn
John Van Kesteren, tenor
Jakob Stampfli, bass
Mark Padmore, tenor
-
Mass in G major, BWV 236: Kyrie - 4:22
Meine Seel erhebt den Herren, BWV 10 (more info)
Performed by:
Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra
Stuttgart Bach Collegium
Composed by:
Johann Sebastian Bach
Conducted by:
William Lacey
Karl Munchinger
Helmuth Rilling
John Eliot Gardiner
Daniel Taylor
Stephen Varcoe, bass
Sara Macliver, soprano
Elly Ameling, soprano
Lisa Larsson, soprano
Werner Krenn,
James Gilchrist, tenor
Wolfgang Schone, baritone
Marius Rintzler,
Arleen Auger, soprano
Helen Watts, alto
Aldo Baldin, tenor
Margit Neubauer, alto
-
Meine Seel erhebt den Herren, BWV 10: Aria: Herr, der du stark und machtig bist (Soprano) - 6:30
Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147 (more info)
Performed by:
Mainly Mozart Orchestra
Budapest Failoni Chamber Orchestra
Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
Wurttemberg Chamber Orchestra of Heilbronn
Stuttgart Bach Collegium
Composed by:
Johann Sebastian Bach
Rachel Laurin
Conducted by:
Elmer Iseler
William Lacey
Eric Milnes
Gilbert Patenaude
Helmuth Rilling
John Eliot Gardiner
Matyas Antal
Alphons von Aarburg
Monika Mauch, soprano
Ulf Samuelsson, organ
Matthew White, counter-tenor
Stephan MacLeod, bass
Judit Nemeth, alto
Istvan Gati, baritone
Michael Chance, counter-tenor
Per-Arne Wahlgren, baritone
Ingrid Kertesi, soprano
Brigitte Geller, soprano
Jozsef Mukk, tenor
Jan Kobow, tenor
Angele Dubeau, violin
Dietrich Henschel, baritone
Daniel Winiger, organ
Donald S. Sutherland, organ
William Wright, organ
Charles Daniels, tenor
-
Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147: Chorale: Jesus bleibet meine Freude - 3:37
Sea Pictures, Op. 37: IV. Where Corals Lie (more info)
Performed by:
L'Arco Baroque Orchestra
Washington National Cathedral Baroque Orchestra
Budapest Failoni Chamber Orchestra
Camerata Cassovia
Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra
Capella Istropolitana
Collegium Musicum 90
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra
Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra
Trinity Church Orchestra
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Scholars Baroque Ensemble
Stuttgart Bach Collegium
Studio orchestra
Grande Ecurie et la Chambre du Roy, La
RIAS Symphony Orchestra
Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra
Mostly Mozart Orchestra
New Jersey Symphony Orchestra
American Bach Soloists Orchestra
Cologne Radio Orchestra
Academy of London
Berlin RIAS Sinfonietta
Composed by:
George Frideric Handel
James Taylor
Conducted by:
Michael McCarthy
Jorg Breiding
Peter Marschik
Jaroslav Krecek
Malcolm Sargent
Monica Huggett
Marcus Creed
William Lacey
Adrian Boult
Ivars Taurins
Richard Hickox
Jean-Claude Malgoire
Owen Burdick
Helmuth Rilling
Thomas Beecham
Gerard Schwarz
Alexander Weimann
Daniel Taylor
Helmut Froschauer
David Parry
Valentin Radu
Joseph Flummerfelt
Jeffrey Thomas
Sarah Tenant-Flowers
Nathalie Paulin, soprano
Kay Stiefermann, baritone
Frances Jellard, mezzo-soprano
William Sharp, baritone
Elizabeth Harwood, soprano
Arnold Grier, organ
Sara Macliver, soprano
Susan Lewis Kavinski, soprano
Yvette Smith, mezzo-soprano
David Bachmann, organ
Jeffrey Strauss, baritone
Eric Budzynski, harpsichord
Nathan Berg,
Kym Amps, soprano
Stephen Alltop, piano
Suzie Le Blanc, soprano
Matthew White, counter-tenor
Bryn Terfel, bass-baritone
Kathleen Ferrier, contralto
Philip Langridge, tenor
Christopher Robson, counter-tenor
Jennifer Lane, mezzo-soprano
Carolyn Sinclair,
John Shirley-Quirk, bass-baritone
Angus Davidson, counter-tenor
Ivan Sharpe,
Bruce Ford, tenor
Della Jones, mezzo-soprano
Joan Rodgers, soprano
Helen Parker, soprano
David Price,
Brett Polegato, baritone
Siri Karoline Thornhill, soprano
Alexander Young,
Jan Kobow, tenor
William Hite, tenor
Maria Jette, soprano
Patrice Djerejian, contralto
Basil Lam, harpsichord
Bejun Mehta,
Hubert Eisdell, tenor
Arleen Auger, soprano
Thomas Quasthoff, bass
Sibylla Rubens, soprano
Ingeborg Danz, alto
Arianna Zukerman, soprano
Norma Procter, contralto
Steven Tharp, tenor
Michael Erxleben, violin
Max Emanuel Cencic, soprano
Charles Humphries, tenor
Robert Torday, bass-baritone
Martin Wolfel, alto
Rufus Muller, tenor
Benjamin Butterfield, tenor
-
For unto us a Child is born (Chorus) - 4:07
-
Pifa: Pastoral Symphony - 0:58
-
Accompanied Recitative: There were shepherds abiding in the field (Soprano) - 1:20
-
Glory to God in the highest (Chorus) - 2:07
-
Air: Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion (Soprano) - 4:56
-
Surely He hath borne our griefs (Chorus) - 1:30
-
And with His stripes we are healed (Chorus) - 1:49
-
All we like sheep have gone astray (Chorus) - 3:42
-
Air: I know that my Redeemer liveth (Soprano) - 6:55
-
Hallelujah (Chorus) - 3:56
Joy to the world (arr. J. Rutter) (more info)
-
Joy to the World (arr. J. Rutter) - 1:59