I have been trying to occasionally post music that I find especially appropriate for these trying times. Posted above is the “Et incarnatus est” from Schubert’s Mass No. 6 in E-flat major, performed by the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande.
— Roger W. Smith
August 2020
Addendum : This music needs no comment. But, I can’t resist saying that it is very Schubertian — or, to put it another way, only Schubert could have written such a piece: sacred in this case, but stamped with the intense feeling and warmth of his impromptus, say, and other piano pieces.
Mozart, Ave verum corpus (Hail, true body), K. 618, a motet in D major, composed in 1791.
Posted here as befitting the times; and in loving memory of my father, Alan Wright Smith, a church organist, who had a particular affection for this piece.
Ave verum corpus, natum
de Maria Virgine,
vere passum, immolatum
in cruce pro homine
cuius latus perforatum
fluxit aqua et sanguine:
esto nobis praegustatum
in mortis examine.
Hail, true Body, born
of the Virgin Mary,
having truly suffered, sacrificed
on the cross for mankind,
from whose pierced side
water and blood flowed:
Be for us a foretaste [of the Heavenly banquet]
in the trial of death!
The sadness I often feel now — today and many other days — is palpable, physically.
For many reasons. Including the obvious ones, meaning what we are all going through.
the first movement from by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater
I have been seeking music that is right for this moment; that consoles and comforts, that is not too “energetic” for this time and yet that is artistically exquisite and deeply felt
I am thankful that living in NYC gives me the opportunity to attend concerts such as Monteverdi’s Vespers in December (which I had always wanted to hear performed live) and English renaissance vocal music at the Strand.
I sometimes blog about music (I am not a performer or musicologist).
I wrote: “I heard this medieval song [“A ne kuth”] performed by soprano Jolle Greenleaf (her voice is incredible and virtually indescribable) in a concert of English medieval music by Tenet Vocal Artists at the Rare Book Room of the Strand Bookstore on February 13, 2020.
Thanks again.
Sincerely,
Roger Smith
Hi Roger,
It’s so gratifying to read this — thank you so much! I’m grateful you were able to catch our last Vespers, and that you were with us at the Strand. What a wonderful night that was! I’m honored by your kind words – your blog is so important. Thank you for your work on that!
