by Erian » Wed Apr 24, 2019 8:53 pm
Track #36. Requiem, by Guiseppe Verdi.
Performed here by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the Proms Youth Choir, directed by Marin Alsop:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pVYB6IaiFc
It's not the greatest piece of music. There are some passages that are a bit long-winded, but the good bits are exceptional bits and the piece overall has amazing power and energy. You've probably heard all the good bits in car commercials. If you ever get the chance to hear it live, go; you won't be disappointed.
It has a special place in my heart. I've sung it twice (or thrice, I can't remember) in Durham Cathedral. Anyone who sings is drained at the end, physically and emotionally, barely able to speak. A lot of it is sustained fortissimo. My favourite bit comes at about 10.30 in the above recording. It starts with trumpet fanfares, then a countermarch, and then the men come in with Tuba mirum spargens sonum (trumpets calling the dead) fortissimo, joined by the women also at full volume and then come to a crescendo and an abrupt stop with the cathedral rocking and echoing.
It has another special mention. The last time I sang it, it was in memory of the murdered jews of Terezin, a concentration camp in the Czech Republic. I wrote about that here:
viewtopic.php?f=58&t=106&p=121762&hilit=terezin#p121762
Some snippets are in this video:
https://vimeo.com/201566479 Those who know me can find me 3rd row at the back amongst the basses, and my wife is in the front row.
Suitably, as requiem, this will be last track of the week. I also had on my list the following honourable mentions:
Gilbert & Sullivan: Pirates of Penzance
Bob Dylan: Blood on the Tracks
Delius: Over the hills and far away:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5AcpmGzR-w
Franck: Symphony in D
Gorecki: Symphony #3
Jacqui Oates: Saturnine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2slyUeZERRs
Josh Ritter: The Beast in its Tracks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=590PNwvzHSo
Maddy Prior and June Tabor: Silly Sisters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO3ggC-o6w4
Mahler: Symphony #1 in D, Titan
Paul Robeson
Puccini: Tosca
Track #36. Requiem, by Guiseppe Verdi.
Performed here by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the Proms Youth Choir, directed by Marin Alsop:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pVYB6IaiFc
It's not the greatest piece of music. There are some passages that are a bit long-winded, but the good bits are exceptional bits and the piece overall has amazing power and energy. You've probably heard all the good bits in car commercials. If you ever get the chance to hear it live, go; you won't be disappointed.
It has a special place in my heart. I've sung it twice (or thrice, I can't remember) in Durham Cathedral. Anyone who sings is drained at the end, physically and emotionally, barely able to speak. A lot of it is sustained fortissimo. My favourite bit comes at about 10.30 in the above recording. It starts with trumpet fanfares, then a countermarch, and then the men come in with Tuba mirum spargens sonum (trumpets calling the dead) fortissimo, joined by the women also at full volume and then come to a crescendo and an abrupt stop with the cathedral rocking and echoing.
It has another special mention. The last time I sang it, it was in memory of the murdered jews of Terezin, a concentration camp in the Czech Republic. I wrote about that here: http://www.wow-easy.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=106&p=121762&hilit=terezin#p121762
Some snippets are in this video: https://vimeo.com/201566479 Those who know me can find me 3rd row at the back amongst the basses, and my wife is in the front row.
Suitably, as requiem, this will be last track of the week. I also had on my list the following honourable mentions:
Gilbert & Sullivan: Pirates of Penzance
Bob Dylan: Blood on the Tracks
Delius: Over the hills and far away: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5AcpmGzR-w
Franck: Symphony in D
Gorecki: Symphony #3
Jacqui Oates: Saturnine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2slyUeZERRs
Josh Ritter: The Beast in its Tracks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=590PNwvzHSo
Maddy Prior and June Tabor: Silly Sisters https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO3ggC-o6w4
Mahler: Symphony #1 in D, Titan
Paul Robeson
Puccini: Tosca