A death in the family this week has me thinking about grief and how musicians in history handled it. Case in point: William Byrd’s magnificent ode to his friend and mentor Thomas Tallis.
Ye sacred muses (Elegy for Thomas Tallis - 1585)
by William Byrd
with Sonnambula: Shirley Hunt, Amy Domingues, Elizabeth Weinfield, and Colleen McGary-Smith
in conjunction with the Henry Purcell Society of Boston
recorded by Russ Anderson, T-Stop Productions
Live performance, October 2018
Purcell wasn’t the only composer to set the story of Dido and Aeneas. This week’s post is the gorgeous “Dulces Exuviae” of Jean Mouton, his version of Dido’s lament ~200 years earlier.
Read the text here, and then listen below!
Part expressive device, part musica ficta challenge, Early Music Monday goes back to the Renaissance this week with an awesome video on false relations from Early Music Sources!
“At the coronation itself on 11 October 1727, the choir of Westminster Abbey sang Zadok the Priest in the wrong part of the service; they had earlier entirely forgotten to sing one anthem and another ended ‘in confusion’.”
Despite a questionable debut, this epic Handel Coronation Anthem has been a part of the coronation of every British monarch since 1727.
Read more here, and then listen below!
Never one to forget solo instruments as well, July of Handel continues this week with the Chaconne and Variations in G major, HWV 435!
Before Handel moved to London, he spent time in Italy at the invitation of the Medici family. Opera was banned in Rome at the time, so he turned his attention to sacred music, including this glorious soprano duet from Dixit Dominus.
Before Handel started writing oratorios (like Messiah), he was a successful and celebrated composer of operas, including Rinaldo, his first opera after moving to London.
Handel receives a lot of attention in December (for Messiah, of course), but there’s SO much more to explore than that. On this Early Music Monday, we’ll kick off July of Handel with Music for the Royal Fireworks!
Want to clean up an edition without actually converting it to modern notation? Early Music Sources has developed a font to make it all possible! Check it out here!
Sang this yesterday for Trinity Sunday at Church of the Advent. It definitely lives up to its “for trebles” designation!