Today, the beautiful “Abendlied,” by Josef Rheinberger, which draws its brief text from Luke’s account of the Supper at Emmaus: Bleib bei uns, denn es will Abend werden, und der Tag hat sich geneiget. Bide with us, for evening shadows darken, and the day will soon be over. Attribution(s): “Christ at Emmaus” (by Rembrandt) is licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons; “Bells” via Shutterstock. Read more
Sticking with the English for a bit, here’s Henry Purcell’s “Remember Not, Lord, Our Offences” (from his Funeral Sentences). I would call special attention to the 1:35-1:45 section — the desperately discordant “spare us” and the wonderful resolution of “good Lord.” Brilliant stuff. “Remember not, Lord, our offences, nor th’offences of our forefathers; neither take thou vengeance on our sins, but spare us, good Lord, spare thy people whom thou hast redeem’d with thy most precious blood, and be not angry with us... Read more
Here’s a quote I heard breathlessly shouted by David (The Fourth Son) this past weekend, as he and James (The Fifth Son) were playing Just Dance 2 on their Wii. Half of this is us learning to disco, but half of it is TOTALLY exercise!!! Yup. He really-truly speaks that way. Excited and euphoric and filled with boundless enthusiasm, pretty much an exhausting 24/7. (He is also the only person I know who uses “AWESOME!!!” and “COOL!!!” entirely-and-always unironically. I’m thinking of introducing him to... Read more
Today’s musical meditation comes from the great Thomas Tallis and is about as traditionally Lenten as one can be (at least musically): The Lamentations of Jeremiah. I’m sharing this particular recording for two reasons. The first? While I’m usually a More-Is-More kind of guy, I really love the tightness and sparseness of this version. And second? The group (according to the YouTube description included with this video) has a great name: Ensemble Heinavanker (The Haywain), a music vocal ensemble from Tallinn, Estonia, has... Read more
In honor of Count Rugen’s favorite day of the year — aka, the bane of any parent who’s struggling to bring consistency to their children’s sleeping habits — today’s short deals with time. And with losing it. Or maybe just running out of it, unexpectedly. It comes from a Swedish stop-motion animator known as “Guldies,” and has bucket-loads of the charm and the whimsy that seem so common (and lovable) in the medium. In a bit of a departure from my usual... Read more
A short (but wonderfully sweet) setting of the Our Father from the famous Frenchman, Maurice Duruflé. Notre Père qui es aux cieux,que ton nom soit sanctifié,que ton règne vienne,que ta volonté soit faite sur la terrecomme au ciel.Donne nous aujourd’hui notre pain de ce jour,pardonne-nous nos offensescomme nous pardonnons aussi à ceuxqui nous ont offensés,et ne nous soumets pas à la tentation,mais délivre-nous du Mal. Attribution(s): “Maurice Duruflé, The Last Impresssionist” by unknown photographer, edited by Ronald Ebrecht, and licensed under CC... Read more
“Virgo virginum praeclara” from Agustino Steffani’s Stabat Mater. Virgo virginum præclara,mihi iam non sis amara,fac me tecum plangere. Virgin of all virgins blest,Listen to my fond request,let me share thy grief divine. Attribution(s): “Crucifixion” by Evgraf Semenovich Sorokin and licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons;” Bells” via Shutterstock. Read more
Taking things in a different direction once again — tacking away from yesterday’s Early (If Strange) Sacred Music — for something much more recent. Something even more unusual (despite the undeniable strangeness of Gesualdo). And something that is also, in a bit of a departure from my prior selections, much longer. It’s the nearly-contemporary (1981, though not performed ’til 1987) Miserere of Henryk Górecki, a recent Polish composer best known for his searing Symphony of Sorrowful Songs (which is also superb... Read more
This year’s Oscar-winning documentary, Citizenfour, is not currently available for streaming. At least not legally. Yet. Unless you’ve got HBOGo. A couple of the others — Last Days in Vietnam and Finding Vivian Maier — can be rented from Amazon Instant. And Virunga belongs to Netflix, so it’s available. But the winner? Nope. No can do. So if you (like me) enjoy hunting down the various winners as they become available, you’ll have to put that on hold for a bit. But as an... Read more
Fresh off yesterday’s brief (but super-exciting) detour through Rachmaninoff’s Vigil, here’s the last of our “O vos omneses.” (At least for now). This one’s from the Late Italian Rennaisance composer (and nobleman and…ahem…murderer) Carlo Gesualdo. His stuff’s astonishingly dissonant (given his era) and wonderfully unpredictable, and this piece is pretty much a perfect example. (Just listen to how quickly it shifts from where it sounds like its going/where you’d expect it to go to where Carlo’s actually headed. It usually takes me about 9 seconds... Read more
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