Music for Advent and Christmas

[MN Dave]

Twice now, I've heard "Walking in the Air" on MPR performed by Copper Street Brass. A catchy little thing. Maybe I'll get the album.

http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-On-Copper-Street/dp/B004679B0I/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291467426&sr=301-1

[Christo]

Two of my favourites (+ Finzi's beautiful 'In Terra Pax')

Fully seconded! As for Finzi's `entirely beautiful' In Terra Pax, I've been playing this wonderful cd a lot, these days:

     

[knight66]

I have just hauled that disc out to load onto my iPod. I think the Finzi piece is incomplete....this is the only part/version of it that I have heard.

I also decided to add a HIP version of the Bach Christmas Oratorio to my two non-hip versions. I am thoroughly enjoying the Harnoncourt version Schafer/Fink etc. But despite just how good the soloists are, I miss DFD, Baker and Janowitz on their various versions.

Mike

[Tsaraslondon]

I have just hauled that disc out to load onto my iPod. I think the Finzi piece is incomplete....this is the only part/version of it that I have heard.

Are you refering to "In Terra Pax", Mike? It runs a few seconds longer than the David Hill version on Decca. And, as far as I remember, is the same as the old Richard Hickox version. Does that mean it is usually cut?

[knight66]

I thought that it was part of a longer piece. I may be wrong.

Mike

[Tsaraslondon]

I thought that it was part of a longer piece. I may be wrong.

Mike

Found this on the web

In Terra Pax was composed in 1954 and was almost the last piece that Finzi wrote, though its genesis can be traced to an event some thirty years previously, when one Christmas Eve he had climbed up to the church at the top of his beloved Chosen Hill, between Gloucester and Cheltenham. The sound of the midnight bells ringing out across the frosty Gloucestershire valleys evidently made a lasting impression on him, retrospectively providing the idea for In Terra Pax, as he told Vaughan Williams.

The work is a setting of two verses from Robert Bridges' fine poem, 'Noel: Christmas Eve, 1913', subtitled Pax hominibus bonae voluntatis (Peace and goodwill to all men), which Finzi imaginatively and skilfully uses to frame St Luke's account of the angels' appearance to the shepherds. In Terra Pax is subtitled 'Christmas Scene', and Finzi explained that 'the Nativity becomes a vision seen by a wanderer on a dark and frosty Christmas Eve in our own familiar landscape'. This placing of the Biblical story into an English pastoral context is entirely consistent with Finzi's close affinity with the English Romantic tradition, and his lifelong dedication to the creation of his own rural paradise at his home in Ashmansworth, near Newbury.


The two soloists and the chorus have clearly defined musical roles; the baritone soloist takes the voice of the poet, the soprano is cast as the angel, whilst the chorus narrates the familiar biblical text. In the opening section the poet is standing on a hill contemplating the events of the very first Christmas, the sound of the distant church bells becoming for him the sound of an angel choir. This image is expressed in a pealing-bells motif which, together with the refrain from 'The First Nowell', provides the musical fabric of the piece.

Finzi, perhaps more than most, must have been aware of the terrible irony of Bridges' reassuring Pax hominibus being swiftly followed by the outbreak of World War I, yet despite this, and despite his own terminal decline, In Terra Pax is a radiant, optimistic work of great beauty and sincerity; a miniature masterpiece that unites emotions, images and the familiar events of the Christmas story into a compelling musical narrative that is at once personal yet universal.

Possibly my absolute favourite piece of Christmas music, I rather prefer the Naxos version to the David Hill on Decca, though I have fond memories of Richard Hickox's version with Norma Burrowes and John Shirley Quirk as the soloists, which no longer seems to be available.

[Christo]

Possibly my absolute favourite piece of Christmas music, I rather prefer the Naxos version to the David Hill on Decca, though I have fond memories of Richard Hickox's version with Norma Burrowes and John Shirley Quirk as the soloists, which no longer seems to be available.

Great to learn!

[knight66]

Thanks very much for this. I replied from work, thus the single sentence.

Well the good news is that the entire lovely piece is there. The bad news is the further evidence of my degenerating memory. Interesting reading and I suggest that a hill between Glos and Cheltenham is not altogether accurate. I live in the area and it is entirely flat between the two, it is known as 'The Golden Valley'. However, on the way into Cheltenham there is 'Crickley Hill', it affords a view of both. Not that this really matters. It was a nice surprise to learn that the inspiration was so local to me. It may have been a different hill, but the following photo gives the general idea.

You can see the very edge of each conurbation from this photo from Crickley Hill.



Mind you; I can promise you that any inspiration caused by the city of Gloucester would have to have been obtained at a distance.

In the Spring the choir I belong to is going to perform a concert of local composers, modern and less so, including Finzi, Elgar and RVW. The area has inspired a lot of English composers.

More on topic; I listened to the Bach Christmas Oratorio again, the Harnoncourt one. For the most part it is terrific and the choral singing is simply better than on my other sets. As almost inevitably, this conductor has a bit of an eccentric take on parts of the work. The Soprano echo aria is treated as though it was recit; very odd the way the overall form is broken up with extended silences. I was torn between finding it irritating and interesting....but he is never dull, so the odd jarring is minor up against all the pleasure.

Mike

[Que]

Mike, is that Harnoncourt I or II? I'm still partial to his 1st take, sampled the 2nd but found it not satisfactory - weird & stodgy treatment of rhythm & tempi, which concurs with your comments if they are on II ...(pictured on the left).




Just in case anyone needs some inspiration on new Christmas CDs: jpc (link below) provides a 48 page long list.  I browsed a bit through it and there a actually some interesting surprises!



Q

[knight66]

Rego, It is the first one you show, the second recording. What a great collection of singers, Fink, Gura etc! But I am not altogether 'with' the treatment. I had hoped for more sheer joy, but still plenty there that I will find satisfying on repeated listening.

I really ought to have asked you first!

Mike

[Marc]

Some consider this Christmas music .... never mind, it's cute anyway!

http://www.youtube.com/v/SXh7JR9oKVE

[Marc]

Just in case anyone needs some inspiration on new Christmas CDs: jpc (link below) provides a 48 page long list.  I browsed a bit through it and there a actually some interesting surprises!

Never knew Bach wrote that many Weihnachts-Oratorien!

[Harry]

Some consider this Christmas music .... never mind, it's cute anyway!

http://www.youtube.com/v/SXh7JR9oKVE

Its bloody marvelous, thank you for posting that, it made my morning.

[Marc]

Its bloody marvelous, thank you for posting that, it made my morning.

[....]bloody[....]!
Harry, were you swearing?

Apparently not:
In the 1940s an Australian divorce court judge held that "the word 'bloody' is so common in modern parlance that it is not regarded as swearing".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody

You might wanna try it's blanky marvelous next time?

[Tapio Dimitriyevich Shostakovich]

Some consider this Christmas music .... never mind, it's cute anyway!

http://www.youtube.com/v/SXh7JR9oKVE

Sounds so professional; I cannot believe it's a flashmob?!

[Marc]

Sounds so professional; I cannot believe it's a flashmob?!

AFAIK, it's an amateur choir.

I've sung in amateur choirs myself for some years, I also visit concerts of amateur choirs, and some of them perform with high quality.

Here are some links about this particular flash mob and the choir:

http://www.wellandtribune.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2864858

http://www.chorusniagara.ca/page/home

[SonicMan46]

Below a post in this thread from several years ago, but my 'seasonal music' is now up to about 2 dozen discs - the 4 below are some of our favorites - tonight at dinner, the Boswell & Chestnut recordings - the others will be an upcoming listen soon - 

John McCutcheon - Winter Solstice - just a wonderful mixture of seasonal music on the Rounder label - John is just superb, including a lot of hammer dulcimer (a favorite instrument for us).

Patrick Ball - The Christmas Rose - Celtic harp played beautifully by a great artist on this instrument.

John Boswell - Festival of the Heart - yes, a little 'New Age' but the selections, piano playing, and arrangements just make for a wonderful holiday listening experience (at least IMHO); Susan loves it despite some of the song selections (that's saying a LOT!).

Cyrus Chestnut - Blessed Quietness - jazz pianist doing hymns, spirituals, and carols - just wonderful relaxing piano playing - 

 

 

[stingo]

I have the Cyrus Chestnut CD also and love it. (Though last I checked it was OOP.)

[snyprrr]

Harry Simeone Chorale/ Little Drummer Boy

[Lethevich]

Prokofiev - Lieutenant Kijé