Ed’s Playlists – Spring 2020

In the following are mp3 playlists containing a variety of musical content. The first three playlists contain recordings of Dickie’s piano playing of quartet numbers, Gospel songs and some hymns. It should be noted that these are essentially ad hoc recordings, which contain occasional errors, but hopefully not overly distracting.

Following that is a brief playlist demonstrating how interpretations of Southern Gospel songs change over time, focusing on three quartet numbers.

Next, there are several playlists of sacred choral music. The first includes choral numbers that were associated with the ENC A Capella Choir, the ENC Choral Union, and the Wollaston Nazarene Church choir.

Following that is a playlist containing the sections of Haydn’s Paukenmesse, a Mass that Ed sang with the South Shore Choral Arts choir in the mid-2010s.

Then there are two playlists containing selected choruses from Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248, followed by another two containing Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis and Vivaldi’s Gloria.

Sacred Piano – Faster

Here’s a playlist of what might be called “faster songs”:

Sacred Piano – Slower

Here’s a playlist of what might be called “slower songs”:

Classical Piano (and Violin)

This playlist contains “classical” music, mostly sacred. The first group are Bach chorales, and then there are two vocal solos from “Elijah”, each followed by a choral response. In the next set of three, “The Call” is from a Vaughn-Williams “Five Mystical Songs”. The next two items? I do not remember what they are, but they came off a tape cassette from the 1980’s. Might have been something I sent to Mom, when she was staying in Vermont after her stroke.

The violin tracks are Handel sonatas from 1963, when I was at Princeton. I used to “rehearse” with a fellow chemistry graduate student. We never performed anywhere, but he kindly tolerated my often tenuous playing.

The final number reminds me of Baccalaureate at ENC, with the solemn processional including gowns and flat hats with tassels, all to Mendelssohn’s “War March of the Priests”.

Early Southern Gospel Quartet Songs

In this playlist, there are three songs, with two versions each, an earlier version and a later version. Note that Cleavant Derricks wrote both “Just a Little Talk” and “When God Dips His Pen”. In the case of “Jericho Road”, the Blackwood version predated the Weatherfords by several years:

Choral Music from ENC and College Church

In this playlist are found choral performances of music that was presented by the ENC A Capella Choir, ENC Choral Union, or Wollaston Nazarene Church Choir in the 1950s through 1970s.

Haydn – Paukenmesse

(From Wikipedia) Missa in tempore belli (English: Mass in Time of War), is a setting of the mass by Joseph Haydn. It is catalogued Mass No. 10 in C major. Known also as the Paukenmesse due to the dramatic use of timpani, it is one of the most popular of his fourteen mass settings. The autograph manuscript contains the title “Missa in tempore belli” in Haydn’s handwriting.

Mendelssohn – Elijah – Selected Choruses

(From Wikipedia) Elijah (German: Elias), Op. 70, is an oratorio by Felix Mendelssohn depicting events in the life of the Prophet Elijah as told in the books 1 Kings and 2 Kings of the Old Testament. It premiered in 1846 at the Birmingham Festival.

Bach – Christmas Oratorio (BWV 248) – Choruses (mostly)

(From Wikipedia) The Christmas Oratorio is in six parts, each part being intended for performance on one of the major feast days of the Christmas period. The piece is often presented as a whole or split into two equal parts. The total running time for the entire work is nearly three hours.

The first part (for Christmas Day) describes the Birth of Jesus, the second (for December 26) the annunciation to the shepherds, the third (for December 27) the adoration of the shepherds, the fourth (for New Year’s Day) the circumcision and naming of Jesus, the fifth (for the first Sunday after New Year) the journey of the Magi, and the sixth (for Epiphany) the adoration of the Magi.

Beethoven – Missa Solemnis

This performance is by the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra with Chorus Pro Musica, directed by Benjamin Zander. The chorus was prepared by Don Palumbo, now Chorus Master for the Metropolitan Opera. An analysis of this recording can be found here.

Vivaldi Gloria

(From Wikipedia) Antonio Vivaldi wrote at least three settings of the hymn Gloria in excelsis Deo, whose words date probably from the 4th Century and which is an integral part of the Ordinary of the Mass. Two survive: RV 588 and RV 589. A third, RV 590, is mentioned only in the Kreuzherren catalogue and presumed lost. The RV 589 Gloria is a familiar and popular piece among sacred works by Vivaldi. It was probably written at about the same time as the RV 588, possibly in 1715.

Twelfth Baptist Choir at Park Street Church – 1987

The Twelfth Baptist Choir from Roxbury visited Park Street Church on a Sunday evening in 1987. Twelfth Baptist pastor Michael Haynes introduced the songs. The pianist was Dennis Montgomery, then a student at Berklee College of Music, and now a member of their faculty.

Fern and Ray Jones – 1950s Southern Gospel

(From Wikipedia) Fern Jones (1923–1996) was an American gospel singer from Arkansas who blended traditional gospel music with elements of country and rockabilly.

Jones got married at 16 to Ray Jones, and with her husband she toured the Southern revival circuit. The only album she ever recorded was Singing a Happy Song, released in 1959 on Dot Records. The album, with additional songs, was released in 2005 as Fern Jones/The Glory Road and music from the album is heard in movies and on television.