Some of my favorite songs of Charles Ives (1974-1954).
— posted by Roger W. Smith
March 2025
Charles Ives, songs
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Category Archives: my favorite music
Handel, But as for His people
chorus
from Israel in Egypt
But as for His people, He led them forth like sheep: He brought them out with silver and gold; there was not one feeble person among their tribes. (Psalm lxxviii: 53; Psalm cv: 37)
I remember when I first heard Israel in Egypt. It is hard to believe that it was around fifty years ago.
I love this chorus. The harmonizing at the words “he led them …,” repeated several times — alternating between soprano and bass voices — is magnificent.
Plus a marvelous fugue.
If one could distill a drop of Handel, I might choose this brief passage.
— posted by Roger W. Smith
November 2024
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See also my post
Isaiah 40
text – Word document above
— posted by Roger W. Smith
October 2024
Vivaldi, “et in terra pax hominibus”
From Vivaldi’s Gloria, RV 589
performed by the Choir of King’s College
— posted by Roger Smith
June 2024
The Trumpet Shall Sound
Come If You Dare (Purcell, King Arthur)
The Trumpet Shall Sound (Handel, Messiah)
Awake the Trumpet’s Lofty Sound (Handel, Samson)
Let the Bright Seraphim (Handel,Samson)
See the Conqu’ring Hero Come (Handel, Judas Maccabeus)
— posted by Roger W. Smith
May 2024
post updated
My post
has been updated with the addition of the first movement of Haydn’s Stabat Mater (Hob. XXa:1, 1768), which I had overlooked.
Haydn’s output of religious/sacred music was prodigious.
— Roger W. Smith
March 17, 2024
Pergolesi et al.
I saw a performance of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater last night by Tenet Vocal Artists.
I am posting here the opening movements of four Stabat Maters I am familiar with:
Vivaldi, Stabat Mater RV 621 (1712)
Alessandro Scarlatti, Stabat Mater (1724)
Pergolesi, Stabat Mater (1736)
Haydn, Stabat Mater (Hob. XXa:1, 1768)
Dvořák, Stabat Mater (1880)
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For emotional power, for direct expression, it is hard to match Vivaldi, in my opinion.
Dvořák’s Stabat Mater has always affected me greatly since I first heard it, live (in rehearsal in a church in Paris) in 1972. It begins very differently than the other three posted here, with a long introduction before we hear the words
Stabat Mater dolorosa
iuxta Crucem lacrimosa,
dum pendebat Filius.
The opening chords convey magnificently the searing emotional pain of the grieving mother, witness to her son’s crucifixion.
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the liturgical text (PDF)
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the Biblical source
Matthew 27:55-56
John 19:25-27
The New Testament: A Translation, by David Bentley Hart
— posted by Roger W. Smith
March 10, 2024
Carl Nielsen
The link below will take you to all my posts on Carl Nielsen, the Danish composer.
My experience of Nielsen and enthusiasm for his works — such is the case with me — comes from his vocal works.
I realize that I have attained considerable knowledge about him over the years and that my posts about him represent an impressive assemblage.
https://rogersgleanings.com/category/carl-nielsen-danish-composer/
— Roger W. Smith
July 2023
Virgil Thomson, “The Plow That Broke the Plains”
“The Plow That Broke the Plains” was composed by Thomson in 1936 for a documentary film of the same name.
— posted by Roger W. Smith
April 2023
Virgil Thomson, “The River”
The orchestral suite “The River” was composed by Thomson in 1938 for a documentary file of the same name.
— posted by Roger W. Smith
April 2023
