Chesnokov, Tebe Poem Many readers of this site will recognize his anthem “Salvation Is Created” (Spaseniye Sodelal), featured way back in Friday Performance Pick 8 Pavel Grigorievich Chesnokov (1877-1944). We sang it in youth choir when I was growing up, although I did not grasp … Read more
Alfvén, Aftonen We try to cover the widest possible repertoire here, something will necessarily take a lot of time, and not focus too much on any one composer, genre, or performer. That said, we have turned frequently to Voces8 in this series. I’m not sure … Read more
Mason, O Look to Golgotha Lowell Mason (1792-1872) figures prominently in the history of American music. You are most likely to know him as a hymnodist: composer of Nearer My God to Thee, My Faith Looks Up to Thee, Jesus Shall Reign Where’re the Sun and for … Read more
Gjeilo, Unicornis Captivatur Unicornis Captivatur comes from the Engelberg Codex, a manuscript at the Benedictine Abbey of Engelberg in Switzerland. The manuscript dates from about 1400 and contains early German sacred music collected over a period of years. The Latin text is an adaptation of … Read more
Weber, Huntsmen’s Chorus I had planned to spend part of this fall in Germany, once again soaking up the local culture, but other events intervened. I first went to Germany courtesy of the U.S. Army and was assigned the task of performing with the band … Read more
Jocelyn Hagen, Hands Jocelyn Hagen (b. 1980) is an American composer born in Minnesota and raised in North Dakota. Her work tends to focus primarily on choral music although she writes in various genres and has a particular interest in multi-media works. Just as the … Read more
Daniel Elder, Ballade to the Moon I ran across a couple of news articles about the composer Daniel Elder this week. Perhaps you’ve seen them. Elder is (or was) an up-and-coming choral composer living in Nashville. Listening to Elder’s work, it’s clear that he is … Read more
Bach, Christ lag in Todesbanden Your image of J.S. Bach is probably shaped by the portrait of an older man with a white wig. We don’t have many images of Bach as a young man, and the authenticity of the one here (left) is in … 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
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
