The BEST Music For Eastertide 2023
Renaissance choral music (mostly) for your daily observances
Welcome To Cheap Thoughts for Holy Week. I hope everyone has been able to make time to focus on spiritual health regardless of the distractions thrown-up by the MSM. We are in a spiritual battle, and we had better be winning.
As a retired church musician, I feel that the music of Holy Week is the best of the entire church calendar. I decided that this year I should make a shortlist of selections illustrating some of the supreme achievements of liturgical musicians of the past, mostly from about 1450 to 1600. The selections are interspersed with basic info from Wikipedia about the individual feast days and their significance.
Holy Week should be a time of deep reflection, repentance, and renewal. Great music can only help, and I hope this substack is of use to you on your journey. May you find peace.
Tenebrae (Latin for darkness) is a religious service of Western Christianity held during the three days preceding Easter Sunday.
Tenebrae was originally a celebration of matins and lauds of the last three days of Holy Week (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday) on the evening of the previous day (Holy Wednesday), to the accompaniment of special ceremonies that included the gradual extinguishing of candles on a special triangular candelabra, and by a "strepitus" or "loud noise" taking place in total darkness near the end of the service.
The lessons of the first nocturn are taken on all three days from the Book of Lamentations and are sung to a specific Gregorian reciting tone, which has been called "the saddest melody within the whole range of music.’
The lessons of the second nocturn are from writings of St. Augustine, and the lessons of the third nocturn from two New Testament epistles. These are chanted to the ordinary lesson tone and have been relatively neglected by composers, though there are a few settings by Manuel Cardoso.
The Tenebrae responsories have been set by, among others, Lassus, Gesualdo, Victoria, Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Francesco Antonio Vallotti, and Jan Dismas Zelenka.
Holy Wednesday commemorates the Bargain of Judas as a clandestine spy among the disciples. It is also called Spy Wednesday or Good Wednesday in Western Christianity, and Great and Holy Wednesday in Eastern Christianity.
In Western Christianity many churches of various denominations [e.g. Roman Catholic, Anglican and Methodist] observe the tenebrae service on Holy Wednesday…the name comes from the Latin word tenebrae, meaning darkness. In this service, all the candles on a special candelabra and on the altar are gradually extinguished except for one, which is then hidden, so the church is left in complete darkness…
Musical selections:
O rex gloriose (John Mason) - Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford / Darlington
In manus tuas (John Sheppard) - The Cambridge Singers / Rutter
Domine, exaudi orationem meam (Orlando di Lasso) - Collegium Vocale Gent / Herreweghe
Ave Regina caelorum a 5 (Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina) - The King's Singers
Ave regina caelorum (Giovanni Francesco Anerio) - The Sixteen / Christophers
Lamentations (Thomas Tallis) - Choir of the University of King's College Chapel, Cambridge / Halley - recorded live at the Service of Tenebrae during Holy Week 2019, in the Cathedral Church of All Saints, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday commemorates the Washing of the Feet and the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles…it is the fifth day of Holy Week, preceded by Holy Wednesday and followed by Good Friday. "Maundy" comes from the Latin word mandatum, meaning commandment, reflecting Jesus' words "I give you a new commandment…”
Musical selections:
Lamentations (Marbrianus de Orto) - Huelgas Ensemble / van Nevel
In monte Oliveti (Orlando di Lasso) - The Hilliard Ensemble
Nos autem gloriari (Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina) - Choir of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception / Latona
Tenebrae Responsories for Maundy Thursday (Carlo Gesualdo) - Collegium Vocale Gent / Herreweghe
Tristis est anima mea (Johann Kuhnau) - Opella Musica / Meyer
Good Friday commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. It is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum. It is also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday…
Musical selections:
Stabat mater dolorosa (John Browne) - Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford / Darlington
Stabat mater (Gaspar van Weerbeke) - Byrd International Singers (2018) / Obenza
Stabat mater (Giuseppe Tartini) - Benedictine Sisters of Mary, Queen of Apostles
And of course, no Good Friday observance would be complete without a Passion setting by Johann Sebastian Bach, considered by many to be the greatest church musician EVER. Bach wrote a setting of the Passion from all four Gospels; and here is his first effort, the Passion According To St. John.
Mincham says:
“…Bach was in a position to build on this tradition, and he did so with the greatest alacrity. After all, a passion was far more independent of the liturgy than a cantata, not only because of its length, but also because of its dramatic character. And so, within a year of his appointment, on 7 April 1724, Bach’s passion music after the Gospel of John received its first performance. In contrast with Kuhnau, Bach, of course, did not compose a ‘churchly,’ modest passion; but instead made use of every means available to him…”
From a very special recording: “For this performance, we selected a cast of singers under the age of 35. Apart from the leaders, all the orchestra members are also younger than 35. The concert series was preceded by a course of auditions and masterclasses…Recorded for the project ‘All of Bach’ on March 11th, 2017 at the Grote Kerk, Naarden.”
Passion According To St. John (JS Bach) - Netherlands Bach Society / Jos van Veldhoven
To follow along with the words, and for more information:
https://www.bach-cantatas.com/Vocal/BWV245.htm
https://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/BWV245-Eng3P.htm
http://www.pieterdirksen.nl/Essays/Johannespassion.htm
Holy Saturday commemorates the Harrowing of Hell while Jesus Christ's body lay in the tomb; it is the final day of Holy Week, between Good Friday and Easter Sunday.
Musical selections:
Ecce quomodo moritur justus (Jacob Handl) - Choir of the University of King's College Chapel, Cambridge / Halley
Vexilla Regis 'more hispano' (Tomás Luis de Victoria) - La Colombina / Schola Antiqua
O vos omnes (Michael Haydn) - Choir of MDR Rundfunkchor Leipzig / Ahmann
Christus factus est (Johann Ernst Eberlin) - The Rodolfus Choir / Allwood
Music for Holy Saturday (Palestrina) - Musica Contexta / Ravens
Easter is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in the New Testament as having occurred on the third day of his burial following his crucifixion. It is the culmination of the Passion of Jesus Christ, and it is preceded by Lent, a 40-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance.
And finally, although JS Bach wrote 3 additional cantatas for Ostersonntag, I always go straight for the Easter Oratorio, Kommet, eilet und laufet (Come, hasten and run), BWV 249 — first performed on April 1, 1725 at the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, where Bach spent the last 30 years of his career.
Mincham says:
…the oratorio now assumes a well-established pattern of alternating recitatives and arias, constructed so as to achieve the maximum of variety. The first of the recitatives is for four voices and continuo, expressing communal and universal grief…the second is for three voices (omitting the soprano), gathering around the uncovered tomb and discarded sweat cloth, where they learn of His rising.
The third is for soprano and alto only, an expression of the desire burning within the heart to see the Saviour. The ardent emotion, expressed exquisitely in this arioso duet, is urged on by a nervously imploring, persistent figure in the continuo line.
The last recitative is for continuo and just the one voice, the bass, here representative of Christ′s disciples (or possibly Mankind as a whole) - we rejoice that He lives in our hearts, and the pain of losing Him can be forgotten, as we now celebrate with jubilant anthems…
HE IS RISEN
Easter Oratorio, Kommet, eilet und laufet (Bach) - Netherlands Bach Society / Jos van Veldhoven
To follow along with the words, and for more information:
https://www.bach-cantatas.com/Vocal/BWV249.htm
https://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/BWV249-Eng3P.htm
https://www.jsbachcantatas.com/documents/chapter-49-bwv-249/
Happy Eastertide to all, and until next time, stay Skeptical.
