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Fields of Gold
written by Sting and popularized by Sting and The Police on the album "Ten Summoner's Tales.
Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring
This is the overwhelming favorite composition of Johann Sebastian Bach.
It is a three-minute extract from a thirty-minute cantata.
www.suite101.com
Sheep May Safely Graze
Ayn Rand, the famous writer of "The Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged"
describes art as a reflection of the artist's sense of life.
Johann Sebastian Bach was a devout Christian whose religious beliefs permeated his music.
This piece is no exception. If you imagine the title of the piece as "His Sheep May Safely Graze"
and listen to it you get the idea of Bach's feelings toward his faith. This text is from
darrencurtisskanson.com.
Leopold Mozart wrote his wife in Salzburg from Rome on April 14, 1770:
"You have often heard of the famous Miserere in Rome, which is so greatly prized that the performers in the chapel are forbidden on pain of excommunication to take away a single part of it, to copy it or to give it to anyone. But we have it already, Wolfgang has written it down and we would have sent it to Salzburg in this letter if it were not necessary for us to be there to perform it. But the manner of performance contributes more to its effect than the composition itself. So we shall bring it home with us. Moreover, as it is one of the secrets of Rome, we do not wish to let it fall into other hands, so that we shall not incur the censure of the Church now or later".
The news of Wolfgang's writing down this "secret of Rome" must have caused some apprehension in Salzburg. Wolfgang's mother apparently related this to Leopold and her son, in addition to sending them a newspaper article, in a now lost letter. Leopold amusingly replied in a letter on May 19, 1770, from Naples:
"On reading the article about the Miserere, we simply burst out laughing. There is not the slightest cause for anxiety. Everywhere else far more fuss is being made about Wolfgang's feat. All Rome knows and even the Pope himself that he wrote it down. There is nothing whatever to fear; on the contrary, the achievement has done him great credit, as you will shortly hear. You will see to it that the letter is read out everywhere, so that we may be sure that His Grace hears what Wolfgang has done".
So what was this achievement that did Wolfgang "great credit", and that Leopold wanted to make sure "His Grace" knew what his son had done? We learn the details of the story in Friedrich von Schlichtegroll's obituary notice of Mozart in 1793. Schlichtegroll had asked Mozart's sister Nannerl for material in the spring of 1792, and from her received this information:
"On Wednesday afternoon they accordingly went at once to the Sistine Chapel, to hear the famous Miserere. And as according to tradition it was forbidden under ban of excommunication to make a copy of it from the papal music; the son undertook to hear it and then copy it out. And so it came about that when he came home, he wrote it out, the next day he went back again, holding his copy in his hat, to see whether he had got it right or not. But a different Miserere was sung. However, on Good Friday the first was repeated again. After he had returned home he made a correction here and there, then it was ready. It soon because known in Rome, and he had to sing it at the clavier at a concert. The castrato Christofori, who sang in the chapel, was present".
The "famous Miserere" was that of Gregorio Allegri. Allegri was a Tenor and composer in the cathedrals throughout Italy, finally reaching Rome in 1630. After a short time in Rome he attracted the attention of Pope Urban VIII, who appointed him to a vacancy among the Contori of his chapel . Allegri held this post until his death. His surviving published works consist of three volumes of motets and a number of pieces in anthologies. Of the man, I think Allegri would like to be remembered as Adami of Bosena said of him: "He was of a singular gentleness and sweetness of soul and habit". www.mozartforum.com
Gorecki's Symphony No. 3
The liner notes on my 33 1/3 album said this music was written to
commemorate (protest) the Russian invasion of Poland. I will find those
notes, meanwhile, the following will have to do.
by Henryk Górecki, "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs", written in 1976, recorded in May 1991 at CTS studios in London, England. The performance is rendered by the London Sinfonietta, conducted by David Zinman, and featuring Dawn Upshaw, Soprano.
Gorecki's 3rd Symphony, composed in 1976, is a heart-wrenchingly beautiful masterpiece. If you're a Gorecki follower at all, you're already aware of that. Allow me to present my case to those who have not yet been initiated into his world. First, although Gorecki has been shoe-horned into the category (or, arguably, the non-category) of "classical avant garde," I would debate that this is his most approachable work for even the traditionalist in us all. His tonal variations are mellow, smooth, and as lush as any of the earlier Romantics.
The 3rd Symphony, rightly titled "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs," by all appearances simply serves as the backdrop to a songbook like no other, consisting of a lament (the Lamentation of the Holy Cross Monastery), a prayer inscribed on a cell in the Gestapo headquarters at Zakopane, and a tragic folk song from a grief-stricken mother lamenting that she may never know where her dead son's body lies. Each of the songs, sympathetically and magnificently treated by Dawn Upshaw, is tenderly and sweetly caressed by Gorecki's music. The songs are smooth, unobtrusive stones in the shallow stream of the symphony itself - surrounded by flowing water, yet leaving a mild and gentle wake to allow the listener a reminder of what came first.
David Drew's liner notes are a work of art by themselves. They provide the background for each of the songs, as well as a poignant look into the 1989 Braunschweig performance thereof that seems to speak directly to the recording itself. Listening to the recording, after having read the liner notes (to include the lines of each of the three sorrowful songs with their mother-son themes), will move even the most casual listener to tears. This is the stuff of magic. This text is from Amazon.com.
One of the most
extraordinary expressions of grief is Gorecki's
Gorecki's 3rd Symphony is performed in three parts:
What a Wonderful World
Louis Armstrong's hit "What a Wonderful World" was written by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss in 1967.
But as this discography page on AllMusic.com indicates,
a third composer, George Douglas, is often credited with the work.
Ken Burns' recent jazz compilation diplomatically credits all three.
According to the Satchography, "What a Wonderful World" was first recorded on August 16, 1967, in New York City.
It was a number one hit in Britain on its release in 1968,
but America wouldn't really discover the song until it was featured in the film "Good Morning, Vietnam"
some 20 years later.
Sara Fishko's Meditation on the Moonlight Sonata
Comment on Beethoven's most famous sonata and the 80 pianists who have recorded it.
WNYC Radio Broadcast of July 14, 2000
