A Lenten Musical Journey, Day 39

Today’s bit of Lenten musical meditation is the “Paradisi gloria” from the “Stabat Mater” of Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev. The entire piece can be found here — that’s the world-premiere recording from 2012, courtesy of the Metropolitan’s YouTube channel — and while the sound quality is less than ideal, it’s fascinating and evocative stuff.

The Metropolitan was kind enough to grant me an interview several years back, for Crisis Magazine. In that interview, he mentioned Karl Jenkins as “a very interesting composer” who “writes beautiful music, which is bright, accessible, and simple.” And I definitely hear a bit of the rhythms and textures of Jenkins’ “Palladio” in this particular movement. Well, Jenkins …and Vivaldi.

Attribution(s): “Митрополит Иларион на встрече с Ставросом Димасом” by Υπουργείο Εξωτερικών – Συνάντηση ΥΠΕΞ Σ. Δήμα με Μητροπολίτη Βολοκολάμσκ Ιλαρίωνα. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons; “Bells” via Shutterstock.