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MP3 Berkshire Choral Festival - Beethoven & Cherubini
9 MP3 Songs in this album (72:19) !
Related styles: CLASSICAL: Choral Music, CLASSICAL: Classical era
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Live from the Berkshire Choral Festival
Beethoven & Cherubini
Ludwig van Beethoven was baptized in Bonn, Germany, on December 17, 1770, and died in Vienna on March 27, 1827.
The Elegischer Gesang (Elegiac Song, opus 118)was written in July 1814 for four SATB soloists and string quartet or pianoforte. Although it was composed for a modest ensemble, it is usually expanded to chorus-and-orchestra proportions, and it is in that form that the piece is on this recording.
It was probably first performed at a memorial service,
for Beethoven composed this tender elegy, to an anonymous poem, to mark the third anniversary of the death (during childbirth) of Eleonore Pasqualati, second wife of the eminent physician Baron Johann Baptist Pasqualati von Osterberg. From 1804 through 1814, Beethoven lived on-and-off in a home owned by Pasqualati and his siblings; on several occasions, Pasqualati interceded on the composer’s behalf in business dealings.
While Beethoven’s Elegischer Gesang is an intimate portrait, composed with close friends in mind, the Choral Fantasy is elegant, lighthearted, and invigorating — and a prototype for the Ninth Symphony. The premiere of the work marked his last public appearance as a pianist, and became one of the turning points in his career.
On December 22, 1808, Viennese devotees of new music made their way to the Theater-an-der-Wien for one of the most significant concerts of the century. The program, consisting entirely of Beethoven premieres, began with the Symphony No. 6, followed, in order, by the concert aria, Ah, perfido, two movements from the Mass in C Major, the Fourth Piano Concerto, the Symphony No. 5, and, last but not least, the Choral Fantasy. It was to be more than four hours of new music. The orchestra, which was a pick-up group of local professionals and amateurs, had already had such a falling out during rehearsals that Beethoven had
been asked to remove himself to an anteroom in the back of the theater while they rehearsed, and then pass his comments to the concertmaster. The theater was bitterly cold and candlelit for the evening concert, and the soprano soloist was so nervous that she had to be given a sedative. The whole experience led one listener to comment later, “one can have too much of a good thing—and still more of a loud.”
Beethoven wanted a grand finale to close the concert but did not want to hold the fifth symphony until the end, so he decided to compose a work which would open with piano, then bring in the orchestra, the vocal soloists, and finally the chorus. He quickly had a text prepared according to his own ideas by Christoph Kuffner, a poet of his acquaintance, and barely completed the score in time for dress rehearsal. Unfortunately the Choral Fantasy fell short in providing the stirring climax that Beethoven intended. There was some confusion in the orchestra and
Beethoven, conducting from the piano, angrily stopped the piece and restarted it.
Modern audiences usually hear the Choral Fantasy as a precursor to the ninth symphony, a work to which it does bear great resemblance: a main theme centering around the third scale-degree (mi), a series of twelve variations for orchestra, and a triumphant choral conclusion. Beethoven improvised the opening piano solo section for the premiere but notated it later for publication in 1810 by the London firm of Muzio Clementi.
The most extraordinary of the documents that relate specifically to Beethoven’s improvisatory skill are his solo piano Fantasy and the opening section of the Choral Fantasy. Hearing this curious, fantastical piece is about as close as we can get to eavesdropping on Beethoven in an unbridled sprint of spontaneous creation. In the composer''s own words, “Music shows us the door to a higher universe. We will never get there, but we can see the door.”
1 Elegischer Gesang, op. 118 (Anon.)
Sanft wie di lebtest hast du vollendet,
zu heilig für den Schmerz!
Kein Auge wein’ ob des
himmlischen Geistes Heimkehr,
Sanft, sanft wie du lebtest
hast du vollendet.
As gently as you lived have you ended,
too hallowed for grief!
No eye weeps because of your
heavenly spirit’s return home.
Gently, gently as you lived,
now life has ended.
2. Choral Fantasy, op. 80 (Poetry by Christoph Kuffner)
Schmeichelnd hold und lieblich
klingen unsres Lebens Harmonien,
und dem Schönheitssinn entschwingen
Blumen sich, die ewig blüh’n.
Fried’ und Freude gleiten freundlich
wie der Wellen Wechselspiel;
was sich drängte rauh und feindlich,
ordnet sich zu Hochgefühl.
Wenn der Töne Zauber walten
und des Wortes Weihe spricht,
muß sich Herrliches gestalten,
Nacht und Stürme werden Licht.
Äuss’re Ruhe, inn’re Wonne
herrschen für den Glücklichen.
Doch der Künste Frühlingssonne
läßt aus beiden Licht entstehn.
Großes, das ins Herz gedrungen,
blüht dann neu und schön empor,
hat, ein Geist sich aufgeschwungen,
hallt ihm stets ein Geisterchor.
Nehmt denn hin, ihr schönen Seelen,
froh die Gaben schöner Kunst.
Wenn sich Lieb’ und Kraft vermählen,
lohnt den Menschen Göttergunst.
Beguiling, gracious and lovely
sound our life’s harmonies,
and awareness of beauty begets
flowers which bloom eternally.
Peace and joy move in concord
like the rhythm of waves;
all the harsh and hostile tumult
is resolved into delight.
When the magical sound holds sway,
consecrated by the word,
beauty must emerge,
night and tempest turn to light.
Outer peace and inner bliss
reign for the lucky one.
Yet the spring sunshine of the arts
draws light from both.
The greatness which permeates the heart
blooms again with fresh beauty,
when the spirit exalts,
a spirit chorus reverberates forever.
Receive then, all noble souls,
with joy the gifts of high art.
When love and power unite,
then god’s favor rewards mankind.
Cherubini - Requiem in C Minor
Maria Luigi Carlo Zenobio Salvatore Cherubini was born in Florence on September 14, 1760, and died in Paris on March 15, 1842.
On January 21, 1817, an unusual memorial took place in the crypt below the abbey church of St. Denis, where most of the kings of France were buried. It was there, to commemorate the anniversary of the execution of Louis XVI at the hands of the French Revolution, that Luigi Cherubini’s Requiem in C Minor was first performed. A few years earlier, following Napoleon’s abdication and exile to Elba, the restored monarchy had ordered a search for the bodies of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. They were found and brought to the crypt of St. Denis. Then, after
Napoleon’s return and final defeat atWaterloo, the government of Louis XVIII planned the memorial service and commissioned Cherubini to compose a piece for the occasion. The success of Cherubini’s Requiem was immediate and overwhelming.
Luigi Cherubini, Italian composer, theorist, and Director of the Paris Conservatoire, is perhaps best known for his operas and Requiem in C Minor. A contemporary of Mozart and Beethoven, he moved to Paris in 1785 and spent most of his creative life there. This was clearly a difficult time for an artistic career in Paris; Cherubini lived through the turmoil of the French Revolution, the Directorate, the Napoleonic Wars, and the Restoration.
In 1789 he was named director of the Theatre de Monsieur under the patronage of the Comte de Provence, the brother of King Louis XVI, who himself would assume the throne in 1814 after the defeat of Napoleon. Cherubini embarked on an operatic career, completing over thirty 35 elegant, refined operas, but popular taste had begun to prefer the
lighter comic style of another Italian emigré, Rossini.
Disappointed with his lack of success in the theater, Cherubini turned increasingly to church music, writing seven masses and many ceremonial pieces (including military marches).
After the French Revolution, he was forced to downplay his royalist sympathies. He was acquainted with Napoleon, who did not particularly care for Cherubini’s music, but nevertheless did commission works from him. In 1805, Cherubini went to Vienna to mount a production of a new opera, but unfortunately was reunited with Napoleon during his subsequent occupation of the city. The emperor placed him in charge of the musical activities at the Schönbrunn
Palace, which he did without enthusiasm, biding his time before his return to Paris.
Cherubini’s fortunes improved markedly after the Restoration. His old patron, now Louis XVIII, appointed him co-director of the Chapel Royal, Royal Superintendent of Music, and ultimately Director of the Paris Conservatoire.
Cherubini’s Requiem in C Minor is unusual in several respects. It is set for chorus and orchestra only, with no soloists and no subdivisions of the principal movements, and greatly resembles the liturgical construction of Beethoven’s earlier Mass in C. It opens softly, with an ascending figure in the strings, setting an appropriately solemn mood. Despite the restraint of the choral entrance, Cherubini imbues the music with emotion through dramatic use of crescendo (exaudi orationem meam, “hear my prayer”) and key (ending in the parallel major). The Graduale has a
decidedly Mozartean flavor, with a beautiful soprano-tenor
duet presented in canon with an alto-bass duet, and like the Introitus, ends in major.
The Sequence (Dies irae), is a nineteen-verse dramatic
poem contrasting graphic images of the Day of Judgment with supplications for mercy. Cherubini opens this movement with a trumpet fanfare, followed by the crash of a gong. The chorus enters softly, again in a canon, which builds until a climax is reached at Tuba mirum, announcing the last trumpet. Over the next several verses, the music is repeated, again reaching a climax on Rex tremendae, the entrance of the terrifying King of Majesty, followed by a suddenly quiet salva me, “save me.” Long passages for the individual voice parts of the chorus build to a climatic crescendo on the confutatis maledictis text, “the damned will be confounded and consigned to the flames,” again followed by a hopeful voca me, “call me to be among the blessed.”
The Offertorium, Cherubini’s longest movement, opens with a dignified and majestic phrase which moves to a very beautiful trio set for the upper three voices. Following tradition, Cherubini sets the Quam olim Abrahae text as a rousing fugue, doubling the tempo when he repeats the text. The Sanctus is equally majestic but very brief, and leads directly into the rare choral treatment of the Pie Jesu prayer.
The Agnus Dei is the most unusual movement in the Requiem. It opens with an angular orchestral phrase, increasing in intensity until the chorus enters with an almost anguished plea, followed by a much more subdued Dona eis requiem, “grant them rest.” Cherubini repeats the final line, dona eis requiem sempiternam, “grant them eternal rest,” ending with a very long modulation on the word sempiternam, like a musical depiction of eternity. The chorus sings the last phrases on a unison C while the orchestra plays a descending phrase, almost in a mirror image of the opening music, and finally settles into a gentle C major chord as the music also finds rest.
Beethoven had met Cherubini when he was in Vienna in 1805. He was an ardent admirer of Cherubini’s music, once calling him “the greatest living dramatic composer,” and this influence can be heard in his opera Fidelio and in the heroic style of some of his overtures. Beethoven may have had a secondary motive for his effusive praise, for he tried to use Cherubini’s influence to have the Missa Solemnis performed in Paris, and enlisted Cherubini in a plan to offer subscription copies of the Missa to various
European rulers. For his part, Cherubini did not return Beethoven’s admiration. He famously called Beethoven “an unlicked bear,” complained that because of all the modulations he was unable to tell what key the Leonore overture was in, and said that Beethoven’s later music made him sneeze!
The Requiem Mass in C Minor was cited by Robert Schumann as being “without equal in the world.” It represents what Beethoven and many of Cherubini’s contemporaries particularly admired about his style: the ability to weave polyphonic virtuosity, Classical stylistic polish, and a truly Romantic sense of drama into music of extraordinary depth and power. Upon hearing a performance of this work, Beethoven declared to Cherubini that if he himself ever wrote a requiem, this would be his model, and it was performed for one of the memorial services following
Beethoven’s death in 1827.
© 2007 Laura Stanfield Prichard
https://www.tradebit.com
3. Requiem Mass
PART I
1. Requiem aeternam
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine;
et lux perpetua luceat eis.
Te decet hymnus, Deus in Sion,
et tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem:
ad te omnis caro veniet.
exaudi orationem meam,
Requiem aeternam, etc.
Kyrie eleison.
Christe eleison.
Kyrie eleison.
1. Eternal Rest Grant Them
Eternal rest grant them, O Lord;
and let perpetual light shine on them.
A hymn, O God, becometh Thee in Sion,
and a vow shall be paid to Thee in Jerusalem:
O hear my prayer, to Thee all flesh shall come.
Eternal rest grant them, O Lord, etc.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
2. Graduale
Requiem aeternam, etc.
In memoria aeterna erit justus
ab auditione male, non timebit.
Requiem aeternam, etc.
2. Gradual
Eternal rest grant them, O Lord, etc.
The just shall be held in everlasting remembrance,
and shall not fear evil hearing.
Eternal rest grant them, O Lord, etc.
3. Dies Irae
Dies irae, dies illa
Solvet saeclum in favilla,
Teste David cum Sibylla.
Quantus tremor est futurus,
Quando Judex est venturus,
Cuncta stricte discussurus.
Tuba mirum spargens sonum
Per sepulchra regionum,
Coget omnes ante thronum.
Mors stupebit et natura,
Cum resurget creatura,
Judicanti responsura.
Liber scriptus proferetur,
In quo totum continetur,
Unde mundus judicetur.
Judex ergo cum sedebit,
Quidquid latet apparebi:
Nil inultum remanebit.
Quid sum miser tunc dicturus,
Quem patronem rogaturus,
Cum vix justus sit securus?
Rex tremendae majestatis,
Qui salvandos salvas gratis,
Salva me, fons pietatis.
Recordare Jesu pie,
Quod sum causa tuae viae,
Ne me perdas illa die.
Quaerens me, sedisti lassus,
Redemisti crucem passus:
Tantus labor non sit cassus.
Juste Judex ultionis,
Donum fac remissionis
Ante diem rationis.
Ingemisco tanquam reus,
Culpa rubet vultus meus,
Supplicanti parce, Deus.
Qui Mariam absolvisti,
Et latronem exaudisti,
Mihi quoque spem dedisti.
Preces meae non sunt dignae;
Sed tu bonus fac benigne,
Ne perenni cremer igne.
Inter oves locum praesta,
Et ab haedis me sequestra,
Statuens in parte dextra.
Confutatis maledictis,
Flammis acribus addictis,
Voca me cum benedictis.
Oro supplex et acclinis,
Cor contritum quasi cinis:
Gere curam mei finis.
Lacrymosa dies illa,
Qua resurget ex favilla
Judicandus homo reus.
Huic ergo parce, Deus,
Pie Jesu Domine,
Dona eis requiem. Amen.
3. The Day of Wrath
The day of wrath, that day will
dissolve the world in ash,
as David prophesied with the Sibyl.
How great a terror there will be
when the Judge shall come who will
thresh out everything thoroughly.
The trumpet, scattering a wondrous
sound through the tombs of every land,
will gather all before the throne.
Death and nature will stand
amazed when creation rises again
to answer to the Judge.
A written book will be brought
forth which contains everything
for which the world shall be judged.
And so when the Judge takes his seat
whatever is hidden shall be made manifest:
nothing shall remain unavenged.
What shall I, wretch, say,
whom shall I ask to plead for me,
when scarcely the righteous shall be safe?
King of dreadful majesty,
who freely saves the redeemed,
save me, O Fount of Pity.
Recall, merciful Jesus, that I was
the reason for Thy journey:
do not destroy me on that day.
Seeking me, Thou didst sit down weary,
Thou didst redeem me, having endured the cross:
let not such great pains have been in vain.
Just Judge of vengeance,
give me the gift of redemption
before the day of reckoning.
I groan as one guilty,
my face blushes with guilt;
spare the supplicant, O God.
Thou who didst absolve Mary (Magdalen),
and hear the prayer of the thief,
hast given hope to me too.
My prayers are not worthy,
but thou, O good one, show mercy,
lest I burn in everlasting fire.
Give me a place among the sheep,
and separate me from the goats,
placing me on Thy right hand.
When the damned are confounded
and consigned to keen flames,
call me with the blessed.
I pray, supplicant and kneeling,
a heart as contrite as ashes:
take Thou my ending into Thy care.
That day is one of weeping,
on which shall rise again from the ashes
the guilty man, to be judged.
Therefore spare this one, O God,
merciful Lord Jesus.
Grant them rest. Amen.
PART II
4. Offertorium
Domine Jesu Christe, Rex gloriae,
libera animas omnium fidelium defunctorum
de poenis inferni,
et de profundo lacu;
libera eas de ore leonis,
ne absorbeat eas tartarus,
ne cadant in obscurum;
sed signifer sanctus Michael
repraesentet eas in lucem sanctam.
Quam olim Abrahae promisisti,
et semini ejus.
4. Offertory
O Lord Jesus Christ, King of Glory,
deliver the souls of all the faithful departed
from the pains of hell
and from the deep pit:
deliver them from the lion’s mouth,
may hell not swallow them up,
nor may they not fall into darkness,
but may Michael, the holy standard-bearer,
bring them into the holy light;
which Thou didst promise of old to Abraham
and to his seed.
5. Hostias
Hostias et preces tibi, Domine,
laudis offerimus;
tu suscipe pro animabus illis,
quarum hodie memoriam facimus;
fac eas, Domine, de morte
transire ad vitam.
Quam olim Abrahae promisisti,
et semini ejus.
5. We offer thee
We offer Thee, O Lord,
sacrifices and prayers of praise:
do Thou receive them on behalf of those souls
whom we commemorate this day.
Grant them, O Lord, to pass from death
to that life;
which Thou didst promise of old to Abraham
and his seed.
6. Sanctus
Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus,
Dominus Deus Sabaoth.
Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua.
Hosanna in excelsis!
Benedictus, qui venit in nomine Domini.
Hosanna in excelsis!
6. Holy
Holy, holy, holy,
Lord God of Sabaoth.
Heaven and earth are filled with Thy glory.
Hosanna in the highest!
Blessed is He who cometh in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest!
7. Pie Jesu
Pie Jesu Domine,
dona eis requiem,
requiem sempiternam.
7. Merciful Lord Jesus
Merciful Lord Jesus,
grant them rest,
rest everlasting.
8. Agnus Dei
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,
dona eis requiem.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,
dona eis requiem.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi,
dona eis requiem sempiternam.
Lux aeterna luceat eis Domine,
cum sanctis tuis in aeternum:
quia pius es.
Requiem aeternam dona eis Domine,
et lux perpetua luceat eis.
8. Lamb of God
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
grant them rest.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
grant them rest.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
grant them eternal rest.
May light eternal shine on them, O Lord,
with Thy saints forever;
for Thou art merciful.
Grant them eternal rest, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
In 1982, music at the Berkshire Choral Festival began with the thrilling Verdi Requiem, conducted by Robert Page and accompanied by the Springfield Symphony Orchestra on the
campus of Berkshire School in Sheffield, Massachusetts. There were only three concerts that first year, and the choruses averaged only 81 singers, but over the next quarter-century, the Berkshire Choral Festival expanded to encompass, at times, eight singing weeks spread among five venues located on two continents, and choruses of 225 singers.
Each year, the Berkshire Choral Festival brings together over 1,300 choristers from the U.S. and abroad to rehearse and perform the great choral-orchestral masterpieces. The Choral Festival has singing weeks in Sheffield, Massachusetts, Canterbury, England, Salzburg, Austria and Vancouver, Canada. Choristers attend classes in a variety of musical subjects and rehearse for five hours a day to prepare for concerts with orchestra, outstanding soloists and distinguished choral conductors. The Berkshire Choral
Festival offers the competitive Apprentice Program for
professional-track, post-graduate singers and conductors,
and the Berkshire Scholar Program, which invites upwards of thirty college-aged students to attend a singing week on full scholarship. The Berkshire Choral Festival is proud to acknowledge over 6,000 alumni.
The Berkshire Choral Festival is a not-for-profit educational institution dedicated to enhancing the skills of choral singers while extending the knowledge and appreciation of choral singing and its tradition to singers and audiences. We accomplish this by:
• Bringing together knowledgeable amateur singers, in weeklong sessions, to study, rehearse and perform major choral-orchestral works.
• Creating opportunities to work with pre-eminent conductors, professional symphony orchestras, and a skilled music staff.
• Establishing an environment in which singers, conductors and other music professionals can immerse themselves and flourish as musicians.
• Building development opportunities for young music professionals.
• Providing scholarship opportunities for college-aged
students.
• Striving for quality performances that challenge the chorus, attract outstanding conductors and develop an appreciative and loyal audience.
David Hayes, guest conductor, is music director of The Philadelphia Singers, on the conducting staff of The Philadelphia Orchestra, director of orchestral and conducting studies for the Mannes College of Music in New York City, and staff conductor of the Curtis Symphony Orchestra. He has also served as cover conductor for the New York Philharmonic and for Sir Andre Previn on the Curtis Symphony Orchestra’s 1999 European Tour.
He has conducted the Philadelphia Orchestra in Verizon Hall, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Richmond Symphony Orchestra, the Warsaw Philharmonic in Prague, the Washington Chorus at the Kennedy Center, Los Angeles Master Chorale and Sinfonia Orchestra, the Berlioz Requiem with the Mannes Orchestra and Philadelphia Singers in
Carnegie Hall, and at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland.
With The Philadelphia Singers, Mr. Hayes has conducted the Philadelphia premieres of Sir Michael Tippett’s A Child of Our Time and Rossini’s Il viaggio a Reims, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and all of the major choral works of J. S. Bach, Beethoven, Brahms and Mozart. He has conducted world premieres of Laderman’s Brotherly Love, Robert Capanna’s Day and several works written by Jennifer Higdon for The Philadelphia Singers. Mr. Hayes also worked closely with Sir James MacMillan on the U. S. premiere of his large-scale choral/orchestral work, Quickening. He is a member of
the board of directors of Chorus America.
Melvin Chen, pianist, has performed in major venues, including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Weill Recital Hall, the Frick Collection, Kennedy Center, and Boston’s Jordan Hall, in addition to other appearances throughout the United States, Canada, and Asia. In recent seasons Mr. Chen’s concerts have included concerto performances with the American Symphony Orchestra and numerous solo and chamber music appearances. He was the pianist in Ricky
Ian Gordon’s Orpheus and Euridice, which was presented by Lincoln Center and which received a special citation from the Obie awards. Recently released recordings include Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations and Shostakovich piano sonatas, both on the Bridge label, a recording of Joan Tower’s piano music on the Naxos label, and Gordon’s Orpheus and Euridice on the Ghostlight label.
An enthusiastic chamber musician, Mr. Chen has collaborated with such artists as Ida Kavafian, Steven Tenenbom, David Shifrin, Steven Isserlis, Pamela Frank, and Peter Wiley; with the Shanghai, Tokyo, Miami, Penderecki, Borromeo, and Miro quartets; and in contemporary music collaborations with the Da Capo Chamber Players and The St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble. Mr. Chen is an alumnus of Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center: Chamber Music Society Two, where he appeared with members
of the Chamber Music Society in performance and educational programs for two seasons. A performer in numerous music festivals, he has performed at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, Music Mountain, Chautauqua, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Chamber Music Northwest, Bard Music Festival, and Music from Angel Fire, among others.
Berkshire Choral Festival music faculty members Katherine FitzGibbon, Barbara A. Peters, sopranos; Pamela Dellal, Catherine McKeever, altos; Brandon Brack, Carl Johengen, tenors; Richard Giarusso, Thomas Helmsberger, basses are professional singers and conductors who teach and perform at the Choral Festival. As solo artists, they perform throughout the U.S. and abroad and many also teach at the university level.
The Springfield Symphony Orchestra
Kevin Rhodes, Music Director
The Springfield Symphony Orchestra has been the resident orchestra for the Berkshire Choral Festival since its inception. One of the nation’s premier regional orchestras, the SSO provides a wide range of concerts and educational programs to audiences throughout western and central Massachusetts and northern Connecticut. Led by Maestro Rhodes, the orchestra presents 130 orchestral and ensemble performances annually, including classical, pops,
lunchtime and educational concerts, special ensemble
events and dozens of community and in-school presentations.
The SSO also manages two youth orchestras and the 120 voice SSO Chorus. For more information about the orchestra, please visit https://www.tradebit.com.
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