Hank Reynolds
C.P.E. Bach, Rondo in E-flat, Wq 61/1 (H. 288) Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788), the fifth child of J.S. Bach, was named after the composer George Philipp Telemann, the elder Bach’s friend and godfather to C.P.E. C.P.E. would become much more widely celebrated in his … Read more
Tchaikovsky, The Seasons (“May – Starlit Nights”) The changing seasons have inspired numerous compositions. Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons comes to mind immediately, and also Fanny Mendelssohn’s Das Jahr. Last week we featured Johann Strauss’s Frühlingsstimmen (Voices of Spring). Spring seems a particularly popular theme: Copland’s Appalachian … Read more
J. Strauss, Frühlingsstimmen After the Lenten season of sacred works and last week’s war remembrance, we might want to turn our ears to major keys, snappy rhythms, and the voices of Spring (Frühlingsstimmen). I have a tendency to think of Johann Strauss Jr. (1825-1899) as … Read more
Vaughan Williams, The Lark Ascending In World War I, soldiers of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps were known as “Anzacs.” They first saw action in the Gallipoli landing on April 25, 1915, and their actions have been commemorated each year on what is … Read more
Bach, Es ist vollbracht (St. John Passion) J.S. Bach wrote two Passions: The Passion According to St. John and The Passion According to St. Matthew. A Passion presents the Gospel texts for Good Friday in dramatic form. Passion plays became popular in medieval times as a … Read more
Rodríguez, Crucifixus Sergio Rodríguez was born in Tenerife in 1982 and studied at the Professional Conservatory of Music in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. While his compositions include works in numerous genres, he clearly has some focus on sacred choral music. His setting of Crucifixus was composed in … Read more
Franck, Prelude, Fugue and Variation This reflective work has a melody that I find endlessly intriguing. Its 9/8 meter, groups of three within groups of three, gives it a seamless feel rhythmically (just as that meter does to Bach’s well-known Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring). … Read more
Josquin, Missa Pange lingua (Kyrie) How did we go so long in this series without something by Josquin Desprez (c. 1440 – 1521), universally acknowledged as one of the masters of the Renaissance? If you could listen to only one composer of sacred polyphonic music in … Read more
Bruckner, Geistliche Chorwerke I began writing the description for this week’s performance pick not at all sure what I can say that would be useful. Austrian composer Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) is best known for his rather lengthy symphonies. I think of him as a bit … Read more
Haydn, Seven Last Words The Seven Last Words spoken by Christ on the Cross come from the four Gospels. Three are reported in the Gospel of John and another three in the Gospel of Luke. The seventh appears in both Matthew and Mark. Numerous authors … Read more