You Can Never Have Too Much Bach

Especially around the holidays. Magnatune now has this cool embedded flash player that you can use to stream this fabulous collection of Bach's most loved choral works. Perfect for the holidays. Rather than try to comment on them myself, I'm just going to quote their marketing blurb:

Upon being released on the Magnatune site this collection of Bach's most popular vocal and choral compositions instantly appeared in our top ten albums of the week--an auspicious debut for the the first release in a series by "period all stars" American Bach Soloists. Three of Bach's most popular cantatas appear here: BWV 140 is based on a famous hymn by Luther ("A mighty fortress"), and includes a gorgeously balanced quartet for alto, tenor, violin, and oboe. BWV 78 is known for its lively soprano-alto duet; BWV 80 ("Sleepers awake") features the original version of Bach's famous organ chorale prelude, along with a magnificent opening chorus and two soprano-bass duets. Full liner notes included with download purchase.

They really sound terrific, and if you like them you can download them in the format of your choice with no copy protection and share them with up to three other people for as little as $5, although $8 is the suggested price.

So listen, enjoy and be uplifted.

The Ultimate Advent Music

I tried. I really, really tried. I wanted to find a link where you could at least stream Handel's Messiah for free, but all I found were some midi files that were worse than not hearing it at all. As a consolation prize, go to beethoven.com which streams a lot of advent music this time of year. Note that the wikipedia page linked above does have downloads of ogg files for much of Messiah, but I couldn't get them to play on my computer. Stupid Windows machine. WNYC2also seems to be streaming seasonal music.

So I'm going to have to settle for a link to a CD of a fine performance of Messiah and some discussion of the work.

We normally hear Messiah in the time leading up to Christmas, but it actually consists of three parts, covering all of Christ's life - His birth, the Passion and the Resurrection. Christmas time performances tend toward pieces from the first part, obviously. Some parts of Messiah are widely played at other times. The Hallelujah chorus is often used to conclude weddings, and the soprano aria I know that my Redeemer Liveth is commonly played at funerals.

Handel wrote the entire work in the summer of 1741 in 24 days, in a burst of creative force to compose something that would capture the entire story of Jesus' life, with suitable grandeur and majesty. His valet wrote that he would often find Handel weeping silently as he wrote it, overcome by the power of the music flowing through him. The result is by far his most popular piece, and one of the greatest pieces of religious music ever composed.

I swore I wasn't going to do this, but here's a link to a midi version of the piece that is less horrendous than some I found.

So listen, and get the Christmas spirit.

Free Download!

 A couple of weeks ago I posted about a piece called Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saëns.  I just found a site that sells classical music MP3's called eclassical.com.  They offer a free download track everyday and today's is the movement The Swan.  Download it here and enjoy.

Update:  I've had a chance to explore eclassical.com and it's quite a resource.  They sell only high quality, uncopyprotected classical MP3's from a variety of smaller, independent record labels.  There's no monthly fee, you just buy what you want when you want it and the prices are extremely reasonable.  They also have some great bundling deals, and are the only place I know of that eliminates that annoying pause between MP3 tracks by merging when the movements are supposed to be played continuously.

Film - Where Classical Music and Pop Culture Intersect

The fact that my last two posts have been about pop music rather than classical started me thinking about where the two come together. In 20th century classical music, jazz and folk influences abound. Shostakovich and Gershwin were both heavy users of jazz rhythms and themes, and Copland used hymns and folk melodies extensively, like the Shaker hymn Simple Gifts in Appalachian Spring.

The movies are another area where pop culture and classical music intersect. Hollywood has long used classical music to score movies, cartoons and TV shows for the simple reason that most of it is in the public domain and can be used without paying royalties. Lots of classical music is highly atmospheric too, in that it sets a mood or tone for the movie without being overly intrusive.

It wasn't that uncommon for movie producers to commission classical music pieces specifically for films that they were making, particularly in the 1940's. This allowed them to get music tailored to the film they were making. While a lot of commissioned movie scores are eminently forgettable, some are so good that they've entered the standard repertoire as pieces worthy of preserving and performing on their own merit.

Aaron Copland is certainly the best example of a major American composer who worked in film. His film credits include Of Mice and Men, The North Star, The Red Pony, Our Town and several others.

The most memorable of them all are The Heiress and The Red Pony, and both are available on this CD, along with excerpts from several other scores. The Red Pony was a western, and the music reminds me of Copland's Billy the Kid, but without the drums simulating gunshots. The score for The Heiress is more urban, lush and emotive. Listen to the clips on the Amazon page to get a feel for the pieces.

I bought a copy of this CD for my offices' secret Santa Grab bag. It's a great gift because even non-classical music fans tend to like Copland's music and many classical music fans are unfamiliar with his film scores. So if you're looking for a last minute gift idea, here you go.

I have a special fondness for Copland because it was hearing his work, particularly Appalachian Spring, as a teenager, that sparked my love of classical music. I'm also fortunate to live near Copland House, where he lived and worked from 1960 until his death in 1990. The house is now run by a non-profit foundation and serves to promote and preserve his legacy. They also hold performances there and offer guest residences to promising young composers.

So listen, enjoy, and be enriched.

We're doing Pop this Week

So if that really sinks your boat, skip this post.

And in honor of the Christmas season that has now firmly taken control of everything, I thought I would share a very nice new Christmas album with you. It's Celtic Woman: A Christmas Celebration.

When I bought this CD about a week ago, Amazon was only charging $7.99 for it. Now it's selling like hotcakes and they've upped the price to $9.99. I wish I had bought a few more at the old price as stocking stuffers for people.

I really love the Irish voices, and there's something so fetching about hearing "the little Lord Jesus" sung with a slight Irish accent. It's an interesting mix of songs too, with all of the old standards, and a few fairly unusual ones as well, like "Panis Angelicus" sung in Latin, "Christmas Pipes" and "Carol of the Bells". Most of the tunes are lightly orchestrated, and there's some rousing Irish fiddle playing on some of them. Listen to the audio clips on the Amazon page and see what you think.

Yes, it's a schmaltz fest, the musical equivalent of throwing yourself in a vat of eggnog, but there's really some lovely music here, with very high production values.

And at $10, it's still a deal.

So listen, enjoy, and get the Christmas spirit.

All Saints' U2Charist

This is my parish in New York, and no, I'm not in the video, but I have lots of friends and fellow parishioners who are. By the way, a lot of non-parishioners (and non-Episcopalians) attended that night. It was our second U2Charist. Somehow Nightline heard about the first one and asked us to do it again so they could film it for a segment.

Here's the Church's website if you'd like to learn more about us. It was built in 1854, modeled after a Church in Bemerton, England and is on the National Registry of Historic Places. The sanctuary is quite small, seating at most 300 people. It was absolutely full for both U2Charists.

So watch, and enjoy.