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.
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.
