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My choir is singing this at a late Remembrance Day Concert. I hope to get a recording of us performing, but until then the ASU concert choir does a masterful rendition for this most important of days.
We Remember Them
In the rising of the sun and in its going down,
we remember them.
In the blowing of the wind and in the chill of winter,
we remember them.
In the opening of buds and in the rebirth of spring,
we remember them.
In the blueness of the sky and in the warmth of summer,
we remember them.
In the rustling of leaves and in the beauty of autumn,
we remember them.
In the beginning of the year and when it ends,
we remember them.
When we are weary and in need of strength,
we remember them.
When we are lost and sick at heart,
we remember them.
When we have joys we yearn to share,
we remember them.
So long as we live, they too shall live, for they are now a part of us,
as we remember them.
Our choir will be singing this in May. My very first Mass. :) The counting in some of the movements are quite tricky, as young Mozart decided that switching between common and cut time was a cool thing to do.
The Mass in G major (K. 49/47d) is the first full mass composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It is a missa brevis scored for SATB soloists, SATB choir, violin I and II, viola, and basso continuo.
Mozart wrote the Mass in G major at the age of 12. It was however neither his first setting of a part of the mass ordinary — two years earlier he had already composed a Kyrie (K. 33) —, nor was it his largest composition with a religious theme up to date: his sacred musical play Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebots had been premiered in the previous year.
Composed in Vienna in the autumn of 1768, this mass is Mozart’s only missa brevis to feature a viola part. It is not clear what occasion it was composed for, and it has been confused with the Waisenhausmesse, composed in the same year.
Religious music at the time was increasingly influenced by opera and Baroque embellishments in instrumentation; Mozart’s early masses, such as K. 49/47d, have been seen as a return to the more austere settings of the pre-Baroque era.
The six movements of the Mass follow the traditional Order of Mass:
- “Kyrie” Adagio, G major, common time
- “Kyrie eleison…” Andante, G major, 3/4
- “Gloria” Allegro, G major, common time
- “Credo” Allegro, G major, 3/4
- “Et incarnatus est…” Poco Adagio, C major, cut common time
- “Et resurrexit…” Allegro, G major, cut common time
- “Et in Spiritum Sanctum…” Andante, C major, 3/4; bass solo
- “Et in unam sanctam…” Allegro, G major, cut common time
- “Sanctus” Andante, G major, 3/4
- “Pleni sunt coeli et terra…” Allegro, G major, 3/4
- “Hosanna in excelsis…” Allegro, G major, 4/2
- “Benedictus” Andante, C major, 3/4; soloist quartet
- “Hosanna in excelsis…” Allegro, G major, 4/2
- “Agnus Dei” Adagio, G major, cut common time
- “Dona nobis pacem…” Allegro, G major, 3/8
A great piece and fun to sing. :)
The Choir of New College, Oxford, under the direction of Edward Higginbottom, perform the Scottish folk song ‘The Skye Boat Song’, which tells of the escape to safety of Bonnie Prince Charlie to the Isle of Skye. Having been defeated in the Battle of Culloden (the final nail in the coffin of the unsuccessful Jacobite Rising), the so-called ‘lad… born to be king’ fled his pursuers in a small boat, disguised as the serving-maid of a woman called Flora MacDonald.
Though Sir Harold Boulton’s lyrics to an air collected by Annie MacLeod only became ‘The Sky Boat Song’ in 1884, the song quickly became so popular (particularly amongst families with Jacobite leanings or sympathies) that people began (falsely) to recall having heard it sung as small children and to claim that the English text was only a translation of old Gaelic words.
Lyrics:
(Chorus)
Speed, bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing,
Onward! the sailors cry;
Carry the lad that’s born to be King
Over the sea to Skye.
Loud the winds howl, loud the waves roar,
Thunderclaps rend the air;
Baffled, our foes stand by the shore,
Follow they will not dare.
Though the waves leap, soft shall ye sleep,
Ocean’s a royal bed.
Rocked in the deep, Flora will keep
Watch by your weary head.
Many’s the lad fought on that day
Well the Claymore could wield,
When the night came, silently lay
Dead in Culloden’s field.
Burned are their homes; exile and death
Scatter the loyal men;
Yet ere the sword cool in the sheath
Charlie will come again.
Hymns suck. And I don’t just mean in moral or rational sense, though they definitely suck in those areas as well. I mean musically. They are absolutely wretched. As a fledgeling choral singer, I’m aware of some wonderfully fantastic religious based pieces that are beautiful to listen to and sing, filled with ludicrous immorality though they may be. But those pieces aren’t for the congregation. They are much to difficult and stimulating. No. The order of the day is simplicity and monotony to lull the brain to sleep, priming it for whatever indoctrinated message pasted nakedly across the song. Repetitive droning is key to drilling ugly ideas into the poor minds of parishioners. Of course, if you don’t buy into the B.S, then all you get is a hellishly dull experience that you wouldn’t call ‘music’ even at your most cynical.
If you haven’t checked out the godless comedy of Mitchell and Webb yet, I highly recommend you do so. Today’s viewing, from Series 4:Episode 3, according to David of Mitchell, presents a satirical look at not only the plodding tediousness of hymns, but also the inherent offensiveness of religion, no matter how happy a face they try to draw on it.
In our name, let us mock.
Music is our great hope, the universal language, and the ultimate unifier. I can appreciate music from 1720 Venice just as easily as I can music from 1970 Toronto. Further, I’ve been doing so since before I could speak. Such is the power of music that distances of 7000 km and 250 years are rendered moot without the slightest effort. Yet, when one does apply effort, the tunnels of discovery are complex and endless. The study of music can reveal an immense amount about the people, the society, the generation, and the human experience involved in its creation. In nothing else is so much information so readily available to so many.
While these powers can be experienced and appreciated just by listening, their magnitude and influence grow exponentially when one partakes in the creation of music. Again, no special skills are required. Sure, instruments can take years to master, but anyone can take part in song. Indeed, in testament to its unifying power, any lack of singing ability is progressively rubbed out as more and more people join in a song. No one ever needed a voice lesson for a camp fire sing along.
As a wondrous demonstration of this limitless potential for connectivity and understanding to bridge the many powers of division in the world, I present Virtual Choir. Headed by visionary composer and conductor, Eric Whitacre, it is an online community dedicated to bringing the world together through singing.
I cannot do justice to this fantastic project, nor can I match the charisma of the main man himself. So here, along with links to the glorious end products, Virtual Choir, Virtual Choir 2.0, and Virtual Choir 3, I will turn the stage over to Mr. Whitacre and his TED Talk, the inspirational video that introduced me to Virtual Choir, and the Kickstarter video for Virtual Choir 4.
One of the accomplishments of which I am most proud is taking part in Virtual Choir 3. Please join me in participating in, supporting, and spreading the word of Virtual Choir 4.
Sometimes we forget that despite all the bullshit, all the division, all the scorn, human beings can come together and create beautiful acts that fly in the face of all the shite we put up with in our regular day to day existence. I recently had the great privilege of participating in a choir that performed Carl Jenkins Adiemus.
The piece is simple, but powerful. You find a way to move through each phrase with energy and the intent to infuse your sound into Jenkins work. Adiemus sounds great from the audience, but the experience pales compared to being inside the choir singing it.
Find your community chorus, get involved, be with people and make music.
So Say We All.
It is talent night for my choir this evening and gee-wilkers, I’m excited. I’ve been practising my solo piece and my part for the group ensemble we’re doing. Things went/and are going pretty well actually. But then I got to thinking(cue foreboding music), we need something to end our night with a bash. What is gonna be easy enough to put together so it doesn’t implode, involves the audience (our choir) aaaaaand makes everyone smile on the way home.
I let those thoughts stew of the week letting other things take precedence, little things like getting married and such. :) Then I remembered a song from one of my favourite movies…its catchy, easy to pick up and most people already know it… it goes like this:
I’m hoping we can pull this off. If we can, it is going to be great!
bleatmop
Mystro
The Arbourist
Dead Wild Roses 
Your opinions…