Dead-Composers Society

[Thorn Wilde]

More from my choir (I mean the video isn’t us, but we’re currently singing this). Norwegian contemporary composer Ola Gjeilo (1978 - ) currently resides in the US and writes gorgeous music for both mixed and like voices. This one is called Northern Lights, and the lyrics are from Song of Songs. (Our conductor has decided that we are to compete with this in the Sacred Music category, but I disagree about it being sacred music; it’s a love poem. It’s not sacred just cause the words are from the Bible.)

 

 

Sharing some more Ola Gjeilo. These are also things my choir has sung.

 

This one I think we do better, at least in the soprano. We sound more homogenous, and I think the overdone operatic vibrato in the top distracted from the song itself. We also do the beginning and end parts a little bit quicker and more lively:

 

This choir on the other hand... Listen to the very top here, so pure!

 

 

[AC Benus]

"...sharing love like August sun..."

 

A bevy of interpretations from Gershwin's opera. First, Lawrence Tibbett with the stage production. Then, a few tribute versions.

 

The Buzzard Song, lyrics by DuBose Heyward

 

 

 

 

Edited January 21, 2019 by AC Benus

[AC Benus]

More from that darling Saxon  

 

 

 

[AC Benus]

A second helping. Listening to what was really cutting edge - this music - puts Bach in perspective, and just how eccentrically archaic his music was for the age. 

 

 

[AC Benus]

Forgot to post this yesterday, but here's the perfect Valentine's Day opera. Long live Love! 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 15, 2019 by AC Benus

[Lyssa]

Aw, this is so wonderful. I love this opera. I have read you awesome translation of se il vuoi saper again. Muha 🙂

 

[AC Benus]

Posting this for Richard Rodger's beautiful setting of the Vespers in Latin, and for the following number. Start at min. 1:25:25, and listen until 1:31:02. The rest is pretty good too

 

 

 

Edited February 18, 2019 by AC Benus

[AC Benus]

  The Epitaph of Seikilos contains the oldest musical notations and lyrics still readable to us today. A young man sings it in a very nice version here:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ο_Επιτάφιος_του_Σεῖκιλου_-_Epitaph_of_Seikilos.ogg

 

Ὅσον ζῇς φαίνου	hóson zêis, phaínou	While you live, shine
μηδὲν ὅλως σὺ λυποῦ	mēdèn hólōs sù lupoû	have no grief at all
πρὸς ὀλίγον ἔστι[2] τὸ ζῆν	pròs olígon ésti tò zên	life exists only for a short while
τὸ τέλος ὁ χρόνος ἀπαιτεῖ.	tò télos ho khrónos apaiteî.	and Time demands his due

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seikilos_epitaph

 

 

[Lyssa]

That is majorly fascinating. It is, as if you can hear, where music went from there in our time. So many ways music envolved later are already lying in this short little piece. Every time I hear it, I feel the breath of time rushing through me. 🙂

Edited February 21, 2019 by Lyssa

[AC Benus]

Fago, Confitebor tibi circa 1700. Orlinski sings  (listen at least to the start of the second number) 

 

 

 

[Thorn Wilde]

Carl Michael Bellmann (1740 - 1795) was a Swedish composer, poet, musician, and entertainer. He wrote hundreds of songs that are still sung all over Scandinavia. They have been interpreted by classical and folk singers alike. His music is profane, and mostly regards about wine, women, and song. His most famous works are Fredman's songs and Fredman's epistles, the former made up of 65 compositions, and the latter of 82. They often feature mentions of immortals from Greek, Roman and Norse mythology (Bacchus being a particular favourite). The epistles also feature a distinct cast of fictional characters, likely based around people Bellman himself knew and partied with (Fredman himself being one such character).

 

Fredman's Song No. 21, Så lunka vi så småningom (So we gradually amble). It portrays a pair of grave diggers discussing whether the grave they've dug is too deep while having a drink.

 

 

 

Epistle No. 2, Nå, skrufva fiolen - Til Fader Berg, rörande fiolen (Now tune the fiddle - To Father Berg, regarding the violin)

 

 

 

And finally, Epistle No. 72, Glimmande nymf - lämnad vid Caisa Lisas säng sent om en afton (Glimmering Nymph - Left by Caisa Lisa's bed late one evening). 

 

 

 

EDIT: I discovered a singable translation of the first verse of the first song:

 

Spoiler

Away we trot, soon, ev'ryone from this our noisy bacchanal,

When death calls out: "Good neighbour, come, this hour-glass, friend, is full!"

Old fellow, let thy crutches be, thou youngster, too, my law obey,

The sweetest nymph who smiles on thee, shall take thine arm today!

Is the grave too deep? Then take a sip!

Raise the brimming goblet to thy lip!

Yet a sip! Ditto one, ditto two, ditto three... then die contentedly!

 

Edited February 24, 2019 by Thorn Wilde

[Parker Owens]

Feeling fugal today...  A very nice performance of a favorite.

 

 

[AC Benus]

Have you ever found yourself wondering if Ancient Trojans yodeled? Well, so did Offenbach and he decided "Yes!"

Here is an awesome performance of the finale of La Belle Hélène. What wonderful satire on, and if, Neo-classicalism has any value to the modern world. 

https://youtu.be/7trldSOwvoA

And here is also the bombshell trio from act three where it's decided "to hell with sacrificing the virgins; it's time a married man steps up to bat." (because men, don't ya know, can do everything better than women, is the satire at hand.) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROtte5cDJ08

 

Edited February 16, 2021 by AC Benus

[AC Benus]

Cherubini - missa solemnis in d-minor 

 

 

 

[Thorn Wilde]

My choir sang in the church where we rehearse for The Feast of the Annunciation on Sunday. This is one of the ones we sang, Salve Regina by Miklós Kocsár, here performed by my actual choir at an international choir competition in Kalamata in 2015. We came in 3rd, I believe, or it may have been 2nd.

 

 

 

 

The soprano with the pink hair was me in another life...

Edited March 26, 2019 by Thorn Wilde

[Lyssa]

That is beautiful! 🙂

[Thorn Wilde]

2 hours ago, Lyssa said:

That is beautiful! 🙂

It's a beautiful piece.  

[Lux Apollo]

Some introspective Scarlatti for a beautiful spring afternoon...

 

 

[AC Benus]

In honor of @Lux Apollo's bon anniversaisre  

 

 

 

[Parker Owens]

11 minutes ago, AC Benus said:

In honor of @Lux Apollo's bon anniversaisre  

 

 

 

Thank you for this delight! 

[Lux Apollo]

3 hours ago, AC Benus said:

In honor of @Lux Apollo's bon anniversaisre  

 

 

 

Love it!

[Lux Apollo]

 

[Lux Apollo]

 

[AC Benus]

A great influence on Beethoven was the remarkable Irish composer John Field. He was celebrated across the continent as the inventor of the Nocturne, and his piano concertos have never been out of print since the 1810s when he wrote them. 

So what is it about the key of C major that strikes the human ear as majestic? It's a mystery, but music like this offers vistas great as any mountainous road. In addition, the orchestration of this particular concerto is cutting edge, so don't be supersized to hear the trombones (and the awesome gong forte!).  

Miceal O'Rourke and the London Mozart Players perform John Field's Piano Concerto No.5 in C-dur, H.39, 'L'incendie par l'orage'

 

 

Edited April 11, 2019 by AC Benus

[Parker Owens]

Thinking about Notre Dame today. I have an ancient recording of this (full of the hisses and pops of early LP's), but here is a newer version...