Easter
Sun, Apr 8 2012, 11:01AM
Happy Easter Greetings to all, whether believers or non-believers!
Having this time managed to stick to my Lenten resolution to give up the forum, I am curious to know if I've missed anything first of all...
And secondly, Easter music anyone? Apart from the obvious Bach passions and Penderecki's grand St. Luke Passion?
Best wishes
Mark
Sun, Apr 8 2012, 3:52PM
#2
RE: Easter
And a happy Easter to you and everyone.
Well first of all you've missed the usual mixture of musical enlightenment, personal argument, serious discussion, personal vitriol, tangential semantic debate, helpful and friendly suggestions, lists and various other obsessions. Oh, and probably at least three more aliases from good old Dr. B. So no change there, then.
And secondly, thus far my Easter-related listening today, either in whole or in part, has been:
Rimsky - Russian Easter Overture
Rachmaninov - All Night Vigil
Bruckner - Christus Factus Est
Mascagni - You can guess what
Handel - La Resurrezione
Beethoven - Christus Am Olberg
Is there a prize?
OK, then: L' Amico Fritz?
Sun, Apr 8 2012, 4:09PM
#3
RE: Easter
Is there a prize?
OK, then: L' Amico Fritz?
Yes, the winning entry gets an exquisite Belgian chocolate Easter egg personally signed by every one of Dr Brodsky's many alter egos.
Funnily enough, I was thinking of the Mascagni the other day in the context of arias/duets where one particular version is so personally special that it becomes unapproachable by any other, however good it may be. The Schipa/Favero Cherry Duet is, for me, one such recording.
Sun, Apr 8 2012, 6:41PM
#4
RE: Easter
Thanks for that summary JKH. I get the picture!
And thanks for that good list too. Some of those I am not aware of. I find it hard enough to think of Christmas music let alone Easter!
Mark
Sun, Apr 8 2012, 6:58PM
#5
RE: Easter
I am curious to know if I've missed anything first of all...
No.
And secondly, Easter music anyone? Apart from the obvious Bach passions and Penderecki's grand St. Luke Passion?
Leighton's Easter Sequence and Crucifixus pro nobis.
Rubbra's Tenebrae Motets
Martinu's Greek Passion
Messiaen's L'ascension
Sun, Apr 8 2012, 10:54PM
#6
RE: Easter
Hi Tagalie!
I take it no means that I've missed more of the same old same old...
I'm with you on L'Ascension. I have it in both organ and orchestral versions. And I'm with you on Rubbra's motets. Martinu symphonies I know -quirky and original - but not the passion. Leighton I'm ignorant of.
And JKH - I have Rach's Vespers after that prom on CD. Great work.
Mark
Mon, Apr 9 2012, 12:08AM
#7
RE: Easter
Welcome back, Mark. You may missed nothing (as some suggested), but some of us missed you (I consider myself as one of those who missed your eloquent and good-natured posts).
My best wishes and greetings for Easter that has almost gone (Easter Monday is still to come).
For suggestions, there are quite a few, but I may confine myself to Schutz simple but so expressive Works on the Passion and Resurrection of our Saviour. In the same vein, have you explored the Passions of Telemann, Haendel and C.P.E. Bach? They are quite interesting additions to the well-known and already great ones. You may try also the orchestration of Mendelssohn of St. John's Passion by J.S. Bach. Quite intriguing. However, my most favourite and most expressive of the Season work is the unique masterpiece of Haydn on the Seven Last Words of Our Saviour on the Cross, in all four forms it exists (Piano, String Quartet, Orchestral and Choral). You may visit a thread I created on that work, where you may find all the other composers who have set to music these Seven Last Words.
Martinu's Greek Passion is a subtle test of the faith for the believers, since it's based on the work of a declared atheist, the otherwise brilliant old Greek writer Nikos Kazantzakis. Martinu's music is also a sort of test even for non-believers.
Mon, Apr 9 2012, 2:16AM
#8
RE: Easter
I take it no means that I've missed more of the same old same old...
I couldn't have put it better myself. At the moment there's a kind of Mexican standoff happening, which is probably best for all concerned.
The Martinu's an opera, by the way. There's a superb Mackerras performance available. Can't think how I forgot Haydn's Seven Last Words - I like the Jordi Savall performance. And then there's Golijov's La Pasion Segun San Marcos, not to everybody's taste but certainly mine.
Mon, Apr 9 2012, 2:15PM
#9
RE: Easter
Thanks all so far. It is getting interesting already.
JKH - the Rach Vespers I have on CD is St. Nikolai church choir conducted by Pouzakov on Academia Bossica. A bit obscure but at £1 in a secondhand bookshop in Yorkshire a great investment!
Is that Bruckner that you mention one of the motets?
Tagalie - Thanks for the tip. I have just ordered from Amazon The Greek Passion but with Prague Radio Sym/Pesek. The Mackerras version will have to wait in these times of austerity as it was twice the price. Do you know this version?
Parla - Thanks for that I do appreciate it. Yes you sent me scuttling back to my record collection. The only Schutz I have is Volume 1 on Meridian with London Bach Society Chorus and Steinitz, but it does contain three short passion motets Aspice, Pater - Nonne hic est - (which of course means no I haven't got hiccups) and Reduc, domine deus meus. I do like the little I have of Schutz, since the glorious Magnificat is also on this LP.
I wasn't aware of the other lesser known passions that you mention.
Parla, are you certain that Kazantzakis was an atheist? I always thought from the little I know of him that he was in fact a believer. A couple of years ago me and OH watched the film of The Last Temptation and found it to be misunderstood rather than controversial, since the story presents a simple 'What if' scenario - i.e.what would have happened if Christ had come down from the cross? As such we felt the film actually re-affirmed the significance of the death and resurrection. I don't know the novel though.
Regards everyone - am looking forward to listening to the Martinu opera when it arrives soon.
Mark
Mon, Apr 9 2012, 3:57PM
#10
RE: Easter
Mark, Kazantzakis was a declared atheist, at least not a believer, as we know or we recognise them. He contested almost anything from the Scriptures and he invented plots for what or how Jesus would have acted under different circumstances. In one of his masterworks (Askitiki), he finishes his Credo, when he develops his idea of the Holy Trinity, with the bold pronouncement that "they are blessed those who recognise that this Trinity is One, but they are even more blessed those who can say that this One does not exist"!
At the end of his life, like Wagner perhaps, he showed some respect towards the Church (in this case, the Greek Orthodox Church). However, the latter refused to provide him with a proper funeral and a christian grave, when he passed away.
Anyway, I hope you may find Martinu's reading of this non-believer's approach to the Holy Passion interesting enough. Musically speaking, it does not give any thrill.
What about Haydn's Seven Last Words? Do you know the work and in which version?
Best wishes,
Parla
Mon, Apr 9 2012, 6:46PM
#11
RE: Easter
Tagalie - Thanks for the tip. I have just ordered from Amazon The Greek Passion but with Prague Radio Sym/Pesek. The Mackerras version will have to wait in these times of austerity as it was twice the price. Do you know this version?
Too bad the Mackerras is expensive. It's a superb performance and regardless of what He Who Knows Everything (but continues to confuse fact with opinion) says, a superb work. The libretto is in English so I'm curious as to what Pesek's forces make of it. As with Martinu's other great opera, Julietta, the work straddles a blurred line between fact and fantasy. I think you'll enjoy it.
Mon, Apr 9 2012, 10:34PM
#12
RE: Easter
Thanks again Tagalie because your suggestion has got me intrigued. I discovered the Martinu symphonies way back about 20 years ago, and thought he was one of those unsung 20th C composers who had something fresh to say, like Jolivet. (Jolivet I discovered quite by accident, in a way, when I attended a concert in London many moons ago by the string orchestra Divertimenti, and they played Jolivet's Yin-Yang for 13 solo strings. Great piece - and Sally Beamish played in that ensemble and I understand she is now composing herself).
I'll get back to you when I have had a listen and share some thoughts...
Best wishes
Mark
Mon, Apr 9 2012, 10:33PM
#13
RE: Easter
Hi Parla -
I'm sure you're probably right on Kazantzakis, and you are obviously more familiar with his work than I am. I do know that both The Greek Orthodox Church and the RC Church were not impressed with The Last Tempatation and both proscribed it. The RC Church placed it on a list of banned books.
Just going back to what I said about Scorsese's film, I didn't find it in any way shocking, and our good friend Wiki-Accurate describes it as 'orthodox', in the sense that Christ does accept his fate.
Personally, I found that it rang true with me to present Christ as a human figure confronted with human emotions such as lust, envy, temptation etc...but that he did, for the greater good if you like, accept his death.
However, just discussing it again with OH this afternoon in the light of this thread, she said that she was actually shocked by the very idea in the film, on reflection, that he had the choice between coming down from the cross or accepting it. She doesn't quite agree as readily as me with this 'human' view of Christ, as she feels that the RC CHurch has always stressed the 'supernatural' view of him.
Anyway, I get that you are not a big fan of The Greek Passion by Martinu, but I will give it a listen and decide for myself!
Not familiar I have to admit with Haydn's Seven Last Words ...it's on my list along with his Stabat Mater, which I gather is a biggie!
Mark
Mon, Apr 9 2012, 10:53PM
#14
RE: Easter
JKH - the Rach Vespers I have on CD is St. Nikolai church choir conducted by Pouzakov on Academia Bossica. A bit obscure but at £1 in a secondhand bookshop in Yorkshire a great investment!
Is that Bruckner that you mention one of the motets?
Yes, a quid for something priceless is undoubtedly a bargain I'd say, Mark.
The Bruckner is indeed one of the motets. I really love Bruckner's choral writing and it's fascinating to hear fleeting reminders of his symphonic approach in them. The three major Masses are beautiful and fascinating and I'd travel many a long mile to hear the Te Deum, but it's an awkward work to programme.
Tue, Apr 10 2012, 7:59AM
#15
RE: Easter
Hi JKH.
I was lucky enough to sing in the Bruckner F Minor mass when in the school choir. Great stuff.
Cheers
Mark
And a happy Easter to you and everyone.
Well first of all you've missed the usual mixture of musical enlightenment, personal argument, serious discussion, personal vitriol, tangential semantic debate, helpful and friendly suggestions, lists and various other obsessions. Oh, and probably at least three more aliases from good old Dr. B. So no change there, then.
And secondly, thus far my Easter-related listening today, either in whole or in part, has been:
Rimsky - Russian Easter Overture
Rachmaninov - All Night Vigil
Bruckner - Christus Factus Est
Mascagni - You can guess what
Handel - La Resurrezione
Beethoven - Christus Am Olberg
JKH