CLASSICAL OPUS no.34

Hildegard von Bingen: “Symphonie”

ヒルデガルト・フォン・ビンゲン： 「交響曲」

 

TIME COMMITMENT: 62 minutes

This emphatic, scintillating liturgy of unaltered, transparent fluidity comes from the most enigmatic of medieval figures.  She left behind hymns, psalms and sophisticated antiphonal textures (neither monophonic nor polyphonic), frequently broken down into small choruses.

It is so ironic that the most ancient composition in this series comes from a woman.  Over centuries, male control of musical creativity proved stronger and more enduring than in any other form of artistic expression.  Music had to wait till the 20th century to unleash on us the geniuses of Nadia Boulanger, Grażyna Bacewicz, Thea Musgrave, Sofia Gubaidulina, Kaija Saariaho, Pauline Oliveros or Karen Tanaka.  But how much of their work do you know?

 

MUSIC

 

INFO

https://sequentia.org/projects/hildegard.html

 

A REFLECTION

Hail, O greenest branch,

sprung forth in the airy breezes

of the prayers of the saints.

So the time has come

that your sprays have flourished:

hail, hail to you.

 

Hildegard von Bingen: “O Viridissima Virga”

Published in: on November 27, 2018 at 3:31 pm  Leave a Comment  

CLASSICAL OPUS no.38

Guillaume de Machaut – “Kyrie from Messe de Notre Dame”

ウィリアム・マカウト – 「キリスト・オブ・ア・レディー」

 

TIME COMMITMENT: 7 minutes

This otherworldly and metaphysically desconsolate tapestry of plaintive themes gently bathes us in spiritual introspection.  What was the first polyphonic setting to a complete mass cycle emerges here masterfully intertwined in seductive isorhythms.  Timeless.

 

MUSIC

 

INFO

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

 

A REFLECTION

O let your mind and tongue

dwell among divine phrases

For God has given this reward for the

effort, a little light

even to see some hidden thing, or, best,

to be spurred on by the pure God’s

awesome commands.

 

Gregory de Nazianzus – “Poems on the genuine books of divinely inspired Scripture”

Published in: on November 23, 2018 at 2:43 pm  Leave a Comment  

CLASSICAL OPUS no.63

Francesco Landini – “Ecco la primavera”

フランチェスコ・ランディニ – 「ここは春」

 

TIME COMMITMENT: 2 minutes

The cheerfully organic, multi-vocal pithiness rings seasonally vibrant and rebellious.  With gemstone-like precision of his syncopated ballate, this 14th century’s musical giant never fails to enchant with sharp instrumental simplicity, here equipped with recorders, a lute, bells, a shawm and the climactic tabor thuds.  Alas, for most of us in the northern hemisphere, we are months away from such celebrations…

 

MUSIC

 

INFO

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

 

A REFLECTION

Though in a foreign land I dwell afar,

I taste in dreams the endless joys of heaven.

Fain would I fly beyond the farthest star,

And see the wonders to the ransomed given!

 

St Thérèse de Lisieux: “My Hope”

Published in: on October 28, 2018 at 4:45 pm  Leave a Comment  

CLASSICAL OPUS no.77

 

Josquin Des Prez – “Missa pangue lingua”

ジョスキン・デ・プレッツ – 「ミサ・パンゲ・リンガ」

 

TIME COMMITMENT: 3 minutes

This jubilant prayer is based on Thomas Aquinas’ “Feast of Corpus Christi” which, unlike his printed works, survived as a manuscript.  The sublime invocation is resplendent in its multilinearity.  It urges to proclaim the divine glory, with a perfect union between the signifier and the signified.

 

MUSIC

 

INFO

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

 

A REFLECTION

Hear, Shepherd Thou who for Thy flock art dying

Oh wash away these scarlet sins, for Thou

Rejoicest at the contrite sinner’s vow

Oh wait! to Thee my weary soul is crying.

 

Lope de Vega: “The Good Shepherd”

 

Published in: on October 14, 2018 at 8:53 am  Leave a Comment  

CLASSICAL OPUS no.94

Giovanni Batista Pergolesi: “Stabat mater”

ジョバンニ・バティスタ・ペルゴレシ：「スタバット・マター」

 

TIME COMMITMENT: 42 minutes

Ornate, magniloquent and exalted, this Marian hymn initially misleads with its prototypically laudatory majesty.  By the time we reach its 10th part (on the 28th minute mark), the unusual phrase structures begin to confuse the temporal organization.  It is hard to believe that this was penned by the same composer who shocked the late baroque mores with the levity of his opera buffa.

 

MUSIC

 

INFO

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stabat_Mater_(Pergolesi)

 

A REFLECTION

Love, that art Charity,

Why has Thou hurt me so?

My heart is smote in two,

And burns with ardent love,

 

Jacopone da Todi: “The Soul’s Over-ardent Love”

Published in: on September 27, 2018 at 6:00 pm  Leave a Comment