Listening Recommendation: Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir

Dear all,

We first brought to your attention Eric Whitacre's appeal for a virtual choir a while back. Guess what, it has been brought to fruition! :)



And guess what, they're doing it again! This time with Lux Aurumque More details will be given in due time, but meanwhile, add Eric Whitacre's Official Virtual Choir to your list of friends or subscribe!

Enjoy!

Listening Recommendations: Michael Jackson Tribute

Hi all,

We thought it'll be unfitting of us to not have a Michael Jackson tribute.

Here are some of his most renown works sung either a cappella or with choir. Enjoy!

Listening Recommendations: Britten's War Requiem

I quite like this work by Benjamin Britten. Personally, I don't listen to much classical music because I have short attention spans (I suppose many of you must feel that way too, haha).

Thing is, a good portion of this massive work - requiring two orchestras, three soloists, a boys choir and an organ - is set to English. Wilson Owen's poems were set to music, which juxtaposes the traditional Latin text, also sung in the work. The musical effects are very dramatic, as well. Church bells, church organ, boys choir singing sacred Latin text, soprano, baritone and tenor solos... You get the idea.

This work was composed relatively recently, from 1961-1962. Within five months of the first recording released over 200,000 copies were sold, a first for an album featuring contemporary classical work. The album won Britten THREE Grammy's in 1963, for Classical Album, Best Classical Performance - Choral (other than Opera) and Best Classical Composition by a Contemporary Composer.

I've embedded in this post, the recordings for the last (sixth) movement. It is (unfortunately) broken into three videos. However, they are broken according to the starts and endings of the sung text. Interestingly, I don't find the music compromised at all. So, take your time to listen to them.

OK, now go listen!

Listening Recommendation: Pilgrims' Chorus by Richard Wagner

The video below is from Wagner's Tannhäuser (opera), Act 3. By the way, Wagner is famously mainly for his operas and orchestral work. He also composed some songs (solo voice with accompaniment) and choral work, although I don't think it'll ever be performed by any school choir.

By the way, the famous "Here Comes the Bride/Bridal Chorus" a song from Wagner's Lohengrin (another opera). Cool. Don't confuse that with Mendelssohn's "Wedding March", the other famous wedding tune, though.



Here's what seems to be the original, opera version with the characters singing. The recording is cut 'halfway' because, well, that would be the part where the music transits to the next song in the opera.

I like the part when the chorus sings 'Hallelujah' and especially the triumphant E-flat major chord at 3:37.

Although it's in German, I also found a translated version of it here (youtube video).

Listening Recommendation: Glagolitic Mass by Leos Janacek

Hi all,

Here's this week's listening recommendation.

Composer Leoš Janáček (1854 - 1928) was born in Northern Moravia (in modern day Czech Republic). Although known mostly for his operas, Janacek also wrote a number of anthems and choral works. His works in general are highly challenging, in both technical aspects - rhythm, pitch, harmony (dissonance, unorthodox chord spacings) , keys (modal, major/minor) and musically (in corporation of pitch contour, inflections of Czech speech, and feeling that slight sense of minimalism in his works).

Despite being an atheist, he composed one of the most highly-acclaimed choral works in the 20th century - the Glagolitic Mass. The setting was chiefly, non-liturgical, but used an Old Church Slavonic text (the term Glagolitic comes from the Glagolitic alphabet, the earliest alphabet used by the Slavs, and not to the texts used by the mass, as Janacek seems to have believed) to which a 8-movement work was structured around.

It begins and closes with triumphant fanfares dominated by the brass. In between these sections lies particularly vibrant and rhythmic writing for voices (soloists as well as choir). Before the closing Intrada, Janáček introduces a dramatic organ solo of considerable originality -- a perpetuo moto of wild energy.

Janacek attributes its conception to an electrical storm he witnessed. "It grows darker and darker. Already I am looking into the black night; flashes of lightning cut through it. I switch on the flickering electric light on the high ceiling. I sketch nothing more than the quiet motive of a desperate frame of mind to the words ‘Gospodi pomiluj’ [Love have mercy]. Nothing more than the joyous shout ‘Slava, Slava!"

Listen to see whether you can visualise the imagery Janacek had in this masterpiece.

Listening Recommendation: The Philippine Madrigal Singers

Hi all,

This week's listening recommendation's actually a concert done by The Philippine Madrigal Singers, or more affectionately known to their fans as Madz. A two-time winner of the European Grand Prix, Madz recently performed a number of pieces in South Korea. Lucky for us, we don't have to travel all the way there to listen to them perform live! :)

Below's some of the pieces which they performed during the concert on Apr 29:

Listening Recommendations: Nox Aurumque by Eric Whitacre

Hi all,

Apologies for the late post. Here's this week's listening recommendation:

Nox Aurumque's composer Eric Whitacre's latest work, and was only recently premiered in Minneapolis, Minnesota on 22 Mar 09. He (or his compatriots) has very kindly posted a pretty high quality video on youtube!

Here's a quote from his official blog regarding the piece:

---Start of Extract---

Nox Aurumque (Night and Gold) is the piece that just received its premiere in Minneapolis last month. As the name implies, it is sort of a ‘companion’ piece to Lux Aurumque (Light and Gold).

In writing it, I wanted to echo some of the musical material in Lux Aurumque, while at the same time filling it with themes from Paradise Lost. I asked Charles Anthony Silvestri (Sleep, Leonardo Dreams, Lux Aurumque, Her Sacred Spirit Soars) to write me an original poem in Latin, and as usual, he knocked it out of the park. Here’s the translation:

NOX AURUMQUE

Gold,
Tarnished and dark,
Singing of night,
Singing of death,
Singing itself to sleep.
And an angel dreams of sunrise,
And war.

Tears of the ages.
O shield!
O gilded blade!
You are too heavy to carry,
Too heavy for flight.

Gold,
Tarnished and weary,
Awaken!
Melt from weapon to wing!
Let us soar again,
High above this wall;
Angels reborn and rejoicing with wings made
Of dawn,
Of gold,
Of dream.

Gold,
Singing of wings,
Singing of shadows.

---End of Extract---

The piece, as Mr Whitacre puts it, sounds like a haunting reminder of his other pieces as he borrowed a couple of motifs from his other works, e.g. Paradise Lost, Lux Aurumque. *For more on this, visit his blog post*.

The piece will be published once the other choirs who commissioned this work perform it! :)

Enjoy!

Listening Recommendations: Vespers by Sergei Rachmaninov

Hey guys,

Here's one of my favourite pieces, Vespers by Russian composer, Sergei Rachmaninov (or Rachmaninoff).

The Vespers, also known as All-Night Vigil, was composed during the First World War and performed to benefit the war effort. It's most notably one of the most beautifully written Russian liturgical pieces, and is considered perhaps as the crowning achievement of the "Golden Age" of Russian Orthodox sacred choral music.

The piece, itself, consists of/ is based on chant, namely the znamenny style, recitative Greek style, and 'Kiev' chant - the Ukranian adaptation of the znamenny style. It is sung a cappella, the traditional vocal complement of the Russian Orthodox Church, and is framed around 15 major psalms and hymsn of the Resurrection Vigil

The depth of the music is extraordinary, Rachmaninov made use of the tone, timbre and range of the human voice like no other. The piece varies from 3, 5, 6 and 8-part harmony and comes packaged with a basso profundo. Only in Russia would you be able to find basses who could scale to a low B-flat.

Listen to the fifth movement for the a/m low B-flat. Rachmaninov loved this piece such much he requested for this to be performed at his funeral. What's more this has the score:

P.S. If you notice that they're singing an A, that's 'cause they're flat. Can you imagine, they ARE SINGING AN A!? haha




Here's the other introspective Blagoslovi Dushe Moya Gospoda

Enjoy!! :)

Listening Recommendation: Spem in alium by Thomas Tallis

Hey guys,

I share with you my obsession over Renaissance music,

Today's listening recommendation's Spem in alium by English composer Thomas Tallis (c. 1505 - 23 Nov 1585). It's a four part motet for 8 choirs of 5 voices each, with individual voices leading in, fading out, in call and return or sometimes homophony. The contrasts are audible to the listener and is indeed a work that has persisted in the choral staple since the Renaissance era.

The lyrics are as follows:

Spem in alium numquam habui praeter in te
Deus Israel
qui irasceris
et propitius eris
et omnia peccata hominum in tribulatione dimittis
Domine Deus
Creator coeli et terrae
respice humilitatem nostram

I have never put my hope in any other but in you,
O God of Israel
who can show both anger
and graciousness,
and who absolves all the sins of suffering man
Lord God,
Creator of Heaven and Earth
be mindful of our lowliness

This version i have below's by the Tallis Scholars, and has a bit of the score in the front so you can see how it moves between parts.



Enjoy! :)

Listening Recommendations: Miserere by Zoltan Kodaly

This week's recommendation's Miserere by Hungarian composer Zoltan Kodaly. I just love the sound of the double-chorus, the depth of sound it produces is awe-inspiring. As for the piece, the neo-renaissance-lilt, build-up and harmony is just breath-taking. I would be so gratified if i could hear it 'live' haha.

Enjoy this performance by 2008 Grand Prix finalist, Cantemus!

Listening Recommendations: O Fortuna by Carl Orff

[Backdated 'cause i forgot to publish it =S]

Perhaps one of the most familiar works known to us today, "O Fortuna" from "Carmina Burana" by Carl Orff. It's been featured in way too many movie sequences than mentionable (usually at the dark/ dramatic portions).

The first vid shows the translation and everything, but the sound quality ain't that good =S

Enjoy!

Listening Recommendations: Complaints Choir

This week's listening recommendation isn't really a piece or work, but rather a type of choir.

This phenomenon came about on one cold wintry day in Helsinki, Finland. To the Finnish, the word, "Valituskuoro" is translated to "Complaints Choir", describing situations where a lot of people are complaining simultaneously. The founders of this movement, Tellervo Kalleinen and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen had a brilliant idea, "Wouldn't it be fantastic to take this expression literally and organise a real Complaints Choir!"

The fundamentals were simple. Everyone knows how to complain, the question is can you sing while doing so :)

The first Complaints Choir was born in Birmingham, (known as "the arsehole of England" to some) with much support from the community who instinctively understood the idea (like many of us). It was a huge success, and the flare never died out. Kalleinen and Kochta-Kalleinen were invited to various parts of the globe to help initiate Complaints Choirs in places such as Helsinki, St. Petersburg and Hamburg-Wilhelmsburg, while people in Budapest, Pittsburgh and even Jerusalem started their own versions of the Complaints Choir.

Our own adobe of Singapore has our own Singapore Complaints Choir which was supposed to perform at 2008's Fringe festival. What happened, however, quickly became public news, with much commentary from locals and foreigners alike. I won't dwell on it, but the Complaints Choir actually uploaded recordings onto Youtube, so lucky us haha.


Helsinki:



Budapest



Singapore:





You can view the lyrics here.

Listening Recommendations: Past Life Melodies by Sarah Hopkins

Hi all!

Sorry for the late post. "Listening Recommendations" usually comes out every Wed. Been a little 'tied up' haha.

This week's recommendation's Past Life Melodies by Australian Composer Sarah Hopkins, highly acclaimed for her visionary music and inspiring performances for cello, harmonic overtone singing, handbells, choir and the celestial Harmonic Whirlies of her own creation.

Anyway on to the piece. It is, imo, one which forces introspection, transporting you into another realm, and in the midst of doing so offers you fleeting glimpses of our world.

Within those few minutes, one can almost listen and see Aborigines playing the didgeridoo, singing and dancing around a bonfire; in another moment, in Medieval Europe whilst priests worship in Gregorian Chants, and suddenly standing on the mountain tops, peeking into the temples of the Himalayan monks, chanting away the troubles of the world.

The piece incorporates overtone singing and whistling. Due to the drone, it may be a little monotonous and thus not everyone's cup of tea. However, it is unique and showcases the cultures of the world. It's technically very difficult as you need to be really precise with your pitching in order to get the overtones going.

I have two videos below, one's by world-renown group Chanticleer, and the other's by a South African youth Choir, Pro Cantu. Personally I prefer the Chanticleer version, as i feel there's more depth to it.

Listening Recommendation: BBC Radio 3, The Choir

Hi all,

Here's this week's listening recommendation (no YouTube video haha):

'The Choir' is a BBC-produced programme which focuses on choral music, a cappella or otherwise, in both the United Kingdoms and the rest of the world.

Hosted by Alec Jones, a renowned former boy-soprano, the programme allows listeners to be amongst the first to appreciate newly composed choral pieces.

World-renown groups, conductors and composers such as the King Singers, Polyphony, Paul Hilier, Morten Lauridsen and the Latvian Radio Choir have, at one point, been interviewed/features during the show.

In addition, 'The Choir' has a segment which showcases clips of music sent by amateur choirs in the UK. The programme will definitely broaden, and increase the depth your knowledge!

The BBC website allows u to listen to past programmes, provided it does not exceed 7 days. The link is as follows: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/classical/

Enjoy! :)

Listening Recommendation: Entertainment Choirs

Just last year, BBC One organised "Last Choir Standing", a competition that showcased Britain's snazziest (entertainment) choirs.

No, not your classical variety. Think mainstream hits rearranged for chorus, replete with choreography.

Enjoy the following:




Many local girls' choirs must be familiar with this song.


I'm not really a fan of the runner-up's sound. Girls slightly shrill, and male voices are no good. Too raw and they go flat.


So this is what O Fortuna from Carl Orff's Carmina Burana sounds like. Finally, we learn the name of one of the most recognisable tunes in modern times. The feel from the singing is there, but tone-wise rather weak, especially the male voices.


This one, by the winner of the competition, is aurally very good, although choreography is unpolished.

There's no way such a programme will land up on local shores, although I'm sure the viewership will be of a critical amount (to justify broadcasting) if every single chorister, from school choirs (CCA) or church choirs, in singapore watched it. Sad.

Listening Recommendations: Barbershop Quartets

A while ago I was doing a web-trawl, searching for nice a cappella songs to listen to.

The vast majority of uploaded clips - low-quality recordings of live performances by school or college a cappella groups - are rather out of tune or have imbalanced parts. Although it was refreshing to hear today's chart-topping songs such as Timbaland/One Republic's "Apologize" and other familiar recent songs such as Imogen Heap's "Hide and Seek" re-arranged for a cappella, I wanted to hear a live a cappella performance without, well, cringing.

The answer is obvious. Type "barbershop" into the search bar! Barbershop music, if sung well, is very lovely for its smooth chords and the way all the tones blend perfectly to sound as if each of the singers has the same voice. The singers are perfectly co-ordinated: their pronounciation, duration of each note and even their style, such as the way they lilt the notes, are by today's standards astounding. Think "Hide and Seek" without the computerised sound.

Two of my favourite quartets are the Chordettes and the McGuire Sisters.

Okay, I veer slightly off topic now. They aren't classified as a cappella groups (their chart toppers were not a cappella songs), but were two famous music acts way back in the past. When co-ordinated harmonious singing was popular with mainstream audiences.

The following is the Chordettes' hit song which most should already know:


This is the McGuire Sisters with another barbershop quartet. Try searching for "Sincerely" or "Sugartime", two of their popular hits.


Well, the following isn't barbershop per se. But it did include a short barbershop quartet prelude. Enjoy.

Listening Recommendations: Crucifixus arr. John August Pamintuan

Hey guys,

Here's a really cool piece arranged by John August Pamintuan, a Filipino composer with a flair for composing highly technical and perhaps virtuosic pieces. If you get the impression that it's your typical sacred work, think again.

The start of Crucifixus opens with a syncopated section between the altos and basses, with the sopranos and tenors taking the melody. This underlying syncopated figure ensues throughout the piece, with the harmonies gradually evolving and clashing, building the tension till the middle adagio where it climaxes. Its beauty lies in the anxiety and angst of the music, conveying the meaning behind the lyrics:

[He was] crucified also for us, under Pontius Pilate:
[he] suffered and was buried.

The sopranos have got their work cut out for them in this piece, frequently reaching those high notes that so many fear haha. But anyway, here's the piece (embeded) performed by the University of East Chorale (UEC) in South Korea, but you can actually take a peek at the score here or download the recording sang by the UEC here :)


--links taken from John August Pamintuan's official website---

Listening Recommendations: Ein deutsches Requiem

My maiden post on Sing 4 Harmony (yay). I'd like to clarify though, that I am no 'musicologist' as Yeshamiel said in an earlier post haha.

Anyway, let's skip the burger bun and get to the juicy meat.

Most young Singaporean choristers are familiar with contemporary choral works of Asian nature, and do know a few classcial works - and probably have sung them before - such as Mozart's Ave Verum Corpus. And we are all too familiar with the refrains of Handel's Hallejujah chorus and Beethoven's Ode to Joy.

And then there are other composers who we have heard of before but never knew much about their musical output. Honestly, before listening to Brahms' choral works i thought Brahms composed mainly for piano (having played one of his Hungarian Dances and Rhapsody in G minor) and other chamber works - small scale compositions for a few instruments. In fact, he composed quite a large proportion of choral works and songs (lieder) as well.

Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem, or A German Requiem, was composed after his mother's death, which could have inspired the composition. The lyrics to the symphonic choral work were taken from the German Luther Bible - one would find it intriguing that it is not set to traditional Latin verses instead. The Requiem omits Christian references, as Brahms intended the Requiem to be for just about anybody.

Two other facts about A German Requiem: it was Brahms' first large-scale success as a composer and it affirmed his position as an important German musician. More recently, the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Kurt Masur, performed it for a September 11th memorial concert days after the attack and was broadcasted live on American televsion.

Personally, I do enjoy listening to Brahms' a cappella choral works. Beautiful yet simple melodies, lush harmonies, with instances of polyphony, which I feel even choristers who are less familiar with classical works can listen to. For example, Op. 62 No. 2 Von Alten Liebeslieder.