Tag: choral

Hezekiah Walker + the Love Fellowship Crusade Choir | Calling My Name

AllMusic details that “gospel singer, composer, and choir leader Hezekiah Walker, known as ‘the hip-hop pastor,’ has brought a lot of young people to gospel and choir music, and has shown that he has no problem using modern vernacular and recording techniques to expand his fan and worship base. A New York native, Walker grew up in the Fort Greene housing projects of Brooklyn. He formed his first gospel group, the Love Fellowship Crusade Choir, when he was in his twenties and serving as a Pentecostal minister.”

Walker has produced and led many top ten Billboard gospel recordings, including Grammy-winning live gospel recordings; he was inducted into the Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame in 2016. Rev. Walker now leads the Kingdom Church in New York and Pennsylvania.

Featuring soloist Timiney Figueroa-Caton, the Love Fellowship Crusade Choir’s live 2008 version of “Calling My Name” was originally released in 1994. Written by the prolific Jules Bartholomew, the track begins in Db major but shifts to Bb major at 4:31. Many thanks to our recurrent contributor JB for submitting this tune!

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Deis Irae (from the Requiem Mass in D Minor, 1791)

The Requiem Mass in D minor (K. 626) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was left unfinished at the composer’s death on December 5, 1791. A completion by Franz Xaver Süssmayr was delivered to Count Franz von Walsegg in 1792; von Walsegg had commissioned the piece for a requiem Mass to commemorate the February 14 anniversary of his wife’s death. The lyrics of “Dies Irae” (Day of Wrath) are derived from a thirteenth century Latin hymn.

Süssmayr must have completed a great deal of this movement; as Classic FM reports, “In July 1791 an ‘unknown, gray stranger’ turned up at the composer’s door saying he represented someone who wanted a Requiem from Mozart on the understanding that he not seek to learn the identity of his patron.

Spooked by the commission, Mozart threw himself obsessively into the work. But it was all too much. He was only able to complete the Requiem and Kyrie movements, and managed to sketch the voice parts and bass lines for the Dies Irae through to the Hostias.”

There are several short sections: D minor, F major, C minor, and finally returning to D minor. Many thanks to regular contributor JB for this submission!

J.S. Bach | Sheep May Safely Graze (BWV 208)

This version of J.S. Bach’s “Sheep May Safely Graze,” originally Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd (The lively hunt is all my heart’s desire), part of a larger 15-movement cantata, features an orchestral instrumentation, including modern flutes. But according to Bach Digital, the original score calls for two recorders and continuo (harpsichord and cello or viola de gamba). While a large portion of Bach’s income came from the church, this 1713 work is Bach’s first known secular cantata, composed while he was employed as court organist in Weimar. It is thought to have been intended as a gift from Bach’s employer, William Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Weimar, for one of his neighbors, Duke Christian, who was a keen hunter.

Classical FM explains further: “…sheep may graze safely where there’s a good shepherd who stays awake and where there’s a good nobleman watching over a blissful nation. Why did Bach set such a line? Well, because he was writing this music for the birthday of Duke Christian in 1713 and he knew on which side his bread was buttered. The commission also gives rise to its third name, ‘the Birthday Cantata.'”

This version, featuring an English text, was performed by The Voices of Azusa Pacific University with the Concertante Ensemble of London. Starting in G major, there’s a substantial mid-section from 1:59 – 3:50 (starting in A minor but featuring plenty of pivots) before a return to G major at 3:50.

Jean Berger | The Eyes of All Wait Upon Thee

According to the Milken Archive of Jewish Music, composer Jean Berger was born Arthur Schlossberg in Germany in 1909. After earning a Ph.D. in musicology in 1931, he moved to Paris and changed his name to Jean Berger as the Nazis came to power in Germany. He later moved to the United States, became an American citizen, and enlisted in the US Army in 1942. After the war, he became an arranger for CBS and NBC and toured as a concert accompanist. During the latter part of his career, he taught for decades at several American colleges and universities while continuing to compose.

Choral works were very much the central focus of Berger’s composition. “The Eyes of All Wait Upon Thee” (1959), one of Berger’s best known pieces, is based on text from Psalm 145. This performance, taken from a 2012 collection entitled Worthy to Be Praised, is by the Messiah University Choirs’ Chamber Singers.

After starting in E minor, the piece features a mid-section (0:49 – 1:18) which shifts across several keys. The third section partially mirrors the first, with the substantial difference of closing the piece in E major.

Flash Mob, Turin, Italy | Mozart’s “Ave Verum Corpus”

Of all the things we’re missing now, the feeling of participating in a flash mob (as a planful participant or an unwitting audience member) might be among the most difficult to recall. This 2013 a cappella performance of Mozart’s “Ave Verum Corpus” (1791), nothing less than a pillar of the choral repertoire, resounds beautifully in the setting of a soaring Italian atrium.

Dr. Jimbob’s Mozart page (written by Dr. James Chi-Shin Liu, an internist with a specialty in performing arts medicine as well as an extensive scholarship of music!) has this to say about the piece: “Mozart’s setting is far from pedestrian or undistinguished…Artur Schnabel famously described as too simple for children and too difficult for adults (after all, simple music like this exposes any lapses of rhythm, intonation, or ensemble). And the music seems to encompass a universe of feeling in forty-six short bars.”

This rendition begins with an extended D major drone as the shoppers gradually figure out that a performance is afoot; the performance itself begins at 2:18. At 3:23, the piece’s dominant key of D major gives way to F major, returning to D major at 3:57. The choir returns to the D major drone, gradually tapering down to nothing and transitioning to applause, before the shoppers go on about their day.

Nathaniel Dett Chorale | Abide With Me

The Nathaniel Dett Chorale, based in Canada, specializes in Afrocentric music of all styles, including classical, spirituals, gospel, jazz, folk and blues. Founded in 1998 by Brainerd Blyden-Taylor (who continues to serve as director), the group has performed across the US and in Canada, and was featured at the 2009 inauguration of Barack Obama. From their website:

“The Chorale’s vision is to be a premier performer of Afrocentric composers — past, present, and future — and to be a touchstone for the education for audiences and communities regarding the full spectrum of Afrocentric choral music. The Nathaniel Dett Chorale’s mission is to build bridges of understanding, appreciation, and acceptance between communities of people, both Afrocentric and other, through the medium of music. The Chorale seeks to dissolve the barriers of stereotype, to empower humans in general, and those of African descent in particular.”

“Abide With Me,” a 19th century hymn, is featured on one of their live performance DVDs. Key change at 2:47.

Spirit of the Season (from “The Polar Express”)

Weekend bonus mod: From our Twitter follower @PTMusicGrind comes “Spirit of the Season” from The Polar Express (2004). The piece was composed by Alan Silvestri, a multiple Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominee.

The piece is a parade of modulations; the first key change arrives at 0:33.

Only Boys Aloud | You Will Be Found (from “Dear Evan Hansen”)

From live theatre critic Michael J. Curtiss comes this knockout crowd-sourced 2019 cover of “You Will Be Found” from Dear Evan Hansen. Boys’ choruses from Welsh towns and cities large and small were brought together through Only Boys Aloud, the boys’ division of The Aloud Charity. Aloud’s mission is “to engage young people across Wales with the power of choral singing.”

The modulation is at 2:29 after a gorgeous transition passage starting at 2:18.

Ralph M. Johnson | This House of Peace | St. Olaf College Choir

Here’s a performance of Ralph M. Johnson’s “This House of Peace” (2011) by The St. Olaf Choir, the top choral ensemble at St. Olaf College. Johnson is a Minnesota-based composer who has written works for choir, solo voice, and the theater. A chill-inducing modulation comes out of nowhere at 5:43.