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The twentieth century, with all its struggles and shifts, did produce some wonderful and deeply religious music for the Christmas holy day. Here are some pieces, all but one composed, arranged or performed by musicians whose 100th anniversary was celebrated this year. The last video features a mere youngster in comparison,ย Damijan Moฤnikย from Slovenia.
ย ย - One composer who in October celebrated his 100th birthday, is the British organist and former director of music at York MinsterFrancis Jackson (b. 1917). During his 36-year tenure at the cathedral of York and into his retirement Jackson wrote many sacred and secular works including some beautiful ones for the Christmas season. Let's listen to three of them: Magnificat in G, May thy holy angels, O God, and Blow Ye the Trumpet.
ย ย - Albert de Klerk (1917-1998) was a Dutch composer, conductor and organist. Here is hisย O Jesu soet, verleen mi doch confoort (Oh sweet Jesus, lend me comfort).
ย ย - The great Romanian pianist Dinu Lipatti (1917-1950) interprets Ferruccio Busoni's (1866-1924) arrangement of J.S. Bach's (1685-1750) chorale preludeNun komm' der Heiden Heiland (Come now, Saviour of the heathen) (BWV 659), in 1950, the last year of his short life.
ย ย - The Bohemian-Hungarian composer Rudolf Maros (1917-1982) who studied a.o. with Zoltรกn Kodรกly (1882-1967), was also an arranger of many traditional songs. We hear a potpourri of truly beautiful, mostly Hungarian Christmas songs, many of them arranged by Maros.
ย ย - The British composer Desmond Ratcliffe (1917-2001) made a beautiful arrangement for SSA of Vivaldi's (1678-1741) Gloria.
ย ย - The Swiss-American singer Heinz Rehfuss (1917-1988) sings The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light from Handel's (1685-1759) oratorioย Messiah (1742).
ย ย - The American conductor Thomas Scherman (1917-1979) leads his forces inย Herod's Dream,ย Act I of Hector Berlioz' (1803-1869)ย L'Enfance du Christ (The childhood of Christ), Op. 25 (1854).ย @ 7:18 we hear Scene 2, Herod's Aria:
ย ย - The Welsh singer and comedian Sir Harry Secombe (1917-2001) sings Away in a Mangerย with the Westminster Abbey Choir, one of the most popular Christmas carols.
ย ย - The British guitarist Reginald Smith Brindle (1917-2003) composedย Concerto de Angelis (1978) for four guitars. The work is based on the Kyrieย (15th or 16th century) of the Mass of the Angels and includes eight variations. Guitarist Rob MacKillop gives a thoughtful interpretation of the theme on solo guitar.
ย ย - Finally, we turn to Slovenian composer Damijan Moฤnik (b. 1967) and his powerful and rather challenging choral work Christus est natus (Christ is born) (1999) for SATB choir, here superbly executed.
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(1)"L'enfance du Christ." Wikipedia entry. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27enfance_du_Christ (12/19/2017))
The twentieth century, with all its struggles and shifts, did produce some wonderful and deeply religious music for the Christmas holy day. Here are some pieces, all but one composed, arranged or performed by musicians whose 100th anniversary was celebrated this year. The last video features a mere youngster in comparison,ย Damijan Moฤnikย from Slovenia.
ย ย - One composer who in October celebrated his 100th birthday, is the British organist and former director of music at York MinsterFrancis Jackson (b. 1917). During his 36-year tenure at the cathedral of York and into his retirement Jackson wrote many sacred and secular works including some beautiful ones for the Christmas season. Let's listen to three of them: Magnificat in G, May thy holy angels, O God, and Blow Ye the Trumpet.
ย ย - Albert de Klerk (1917-1998) was a Dutch composer, conductor and organist. Here is hisย O Jesu soet, verleen mi doch confoort (Oh sweet Jesus, lend me comfort).
ย ย - The great Romanian pianist Dinu Lipatti (1917-1950) interprets Ferruccio Busoni's (1866-1924) arrangement of J.S. Bach's (1685-1750) chorale preludeNun komm' der Heiden Heiland (Come now, Saviour of the heathen) (BWV 659), in 1950, the last year of his short life.
ย ย - The Bohemian-Hungarian composer Rudolf Maros (1917-1982) who studied a.o. with Zoltรกn Kodรกly (1882-1967), was also an arranger of many traditional songs. We hear a potpourri of truly beautiful, mostly Hungarian Christmas songs, many of them arranged by Maros.
ย ย - The British composer Desmond Ratcliffe (1917-2001) made a beautiful arrangement for SSA of Vivaldi's (1678-1741) Gloria.
ย ย - The Swiss-American singer Heinz Rehfuss (1917-1988) sings The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light from Handel's (1685-1759) oratorioย Messiah (1742).
ย ย - The American conductor Thomas Scherman (1917-1979) leads his forces inย Herod's Dream,ย Act I of Hector Berlioz' (1803-1869)ย L'Enfance du Christ (The childhood of Christ), Op. 25 (1854).ย @ 7:18 we hear Scene 2, Herod's Aria:
One of the most famous pieces in L'enfance, this long ariaย expresses the king's inner despair as he is tormented by a recurring dream of a child who will overthrow him. Herod is accompanied by trombones just as Mรฉphistophรฉlรจs was in The Damnation of Faust.(1)
ย ย - The Welsh singer and comedian Sir Harry Secombe (1917-2001) sings Away in a Mangerย with the Westminster Abbey Choir, one of the most popular Christmas carols.
ย ย - The British guitarist Reginald Smith Brindle (1917-2003) composedย Concerto de Angelis (1978) for four guitars. The work is based on the Kyrieย (15th or 16th century) of the Mass of the Angels and includes eight variations. Guitarist Rob MacKillop gives a thoughtful interpretation of the theme on solo guitar.
ย ย - Finally, we turn to Slovenian composer Damijan Moฤnik (b. 1967) and his powerful and rather challenging choral work Christus est natus (Christ is born) (1999) for SATB choir, here superbly executed.
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
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(1)"L'enfance du Christ." Wikipedia entry. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27enfance_du_Christ (12/19/2017))