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| Beethoven in 1803 |
Did you know ...
... that Beethoven's Third Cello Sonata,
first performed in 1809, has been described as the first sonata
for piano and cello to treat the instruments as equal partners?
... that when Johannes Chum,
a tenor in operatic roles from Nerone to Lohengrin,
performed in Harnoncourt's recording of Beethoven's Missa solemnis,
a reviewer described his singing as "seraphic"?
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Did you know ...
... that Ave Maria, an obscure piece for two men's choirs
by Franz Biebl published in 1964,
became a choral standard after Chanticleer
made it part of their holiday programs?
(1 January 2020 · listen to Chanticleer, 2015)
... that John Rutter wrote the text and music for
Angels' Carol, a choral piece for Christmas,
using the Latin "Gloria in excelsis Deo" as a refrain?
(24 December 2019 · listen to us, 2019)
Calendar 2020
edit2019 was another green year
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ice flowers -
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cherry blossom -
carnations -
daisies -
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sunflowers -
dahlias -
apples on the tree -
beech foliage -
Rombergpark in Dortmund
Months and music for 2020
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Advent · expectation
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| Ecumenical service · Abendlob | |
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Did you know ...
... that the German Advent song "Tochter Zion, freue dich"
has words by Friedrich Heinrich Ranke set to music used for
triumphant entrances in two of Handel's oratorios?
... that a verse from Psalm 85 inspired artworks
depicting the kiss of Justice and Peace?
... that Dixit Maria, a motet in Latin by Hans Leo Hassler,
sets to music the narrative of Mary's consent to the Annunciation?
... that one of the versions of Vivaldi's Magnificat
included five arias to be performed
by girl soloists from the Ospedale della Pietà,
who were named in the score?
... that the hymn "Nun lässest du, o Herr",
written by Georg Thurmair as a paraphrase of the Nunc dimittis,
appeared with a 16th-century melody in the first Gotteslob,
but with a new one in the second?
... that Ave Maria, an obscure piece for two men's choirs
by Franz Biebl published in 1964, became famous
when the Chanticleer made it part of their holiday programs?
Christmas · radiance and light
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January
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Did you know ...
... that the Figuralchor Frankfurt,
founded in 1966 as a youth choir for the state broadcaster Hessischer Rundfunk,
sang Mahler's Symphony of a Thousand
at the opening of the Alte Oper?
... that the hymn "Gott, der du warst und bist und bleibst" was composed for
the opening of the Sankt Georgen seminary church in Frankfurt?
(11 January 2020)
... that American coloratura soprano Laura Aikin
who began her opera career in Berlin,
appeared as Marie in Zimmermann's Die Soldaten at the 2012 Salzburg Festival?
... that "Wir pflügen und wir streuen" by Matthias Claudius, began as a song of
a fictional harvest festival, and is now a Protestant hymn for Erntedankfest?
February and March
editBeethoven 1
edit
Did you know ...
... that "Die Himmel rühmen!"
('The heavens praise'), which begins a song
from an 1803 lieder collection by Beethoven
setting Gellert's paraphrase of Psalm 19,
became the title of
a concert series by a pop singer?
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Did you know ...
... that in his 1831 chorale cantata Verleih uns Frieden, Mendelssohn set Luther's German prayer for peace to a new melody?
... that O salutaris hostia (O saving victim), a setting of a Eucharistic hymn for mixed choir by Vytautas Miškinis, was performed in Brussels when Lithuania held the EU presidency?
... that Three Latin Motets (Beati), Charles Villiers Stanford's only church music not in English, was dedicated to Alan Gray, who succeeded him as organist at Trinity College, Cambridge, and the college's choir?
... that Henry Purcell (pictured) composed basically two settings of Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts, a complex one early, and a simple one for the burial of Queen Mary?
March
editgood plans but cancelled
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Passion
editfrom Unionskirche, Idstein
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| Ubi caritas et amor |
Did you know ...
... that in a motet for Maundy Thursday,
Tristis est anima mea,
Jesus says in Gethsemane
"Sad is my soul even unto death"?
... that in his 1960
Quatre Motets sur des thèmes grégoriens,
Maurice Duruflé "shows his
particular genius for invoking
the spiritual element of plainsong
in a polyphonic context"?
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Matthäuspassion (cancelled)
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... that Bach used stanzas
of the 1533 hymn
"In dich hab ich gehoffet, Herr",
a paraphrase of Psalm 31,
as chorales in three vocal works,
including in the St Matthew Passion?
... that the soprano Jo Vincent appeared
in Willem Mengelberg's 1939 recording
of Bach's St Matthew Passion,
and in the world premiere of
Britten's Spring Symphony in 1949?
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| Kreuzabnahme |
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Did you know ...
... that according to Luke the Evangelist,
the last words of Jesus on the cross
came from Psalm 31?
... that 2019 concerts
in the 19th-century
Bergkirche in Wiesbaden
included Pärt's Passio and
Handel's Messiah?
(more)
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Did you know ...
... that on Good Friday 2020,
Benedikt Kristjánsson sang all roles
in a chamber arrangement of Bach's St John Passion,
broadcast live from the composer's burial place?
... that three of the 34 stanzas of "Jesu Leiden, Pein und Tod",
a Passion hymn by Paul Stockmann,
were included in Bach's St John Passion?
April
editEaster
editgood plans, but cancelled
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| Happy Easter |
Did you know ...
... that I Will Mention the Loving-kindnesses
is an 1875 Easter anthem by Arthur Sullivan
for solo tenor, mixed choir, and organ,
setting a passage from the Book of Isaiah?
... that Krzysztof Penderecki
inserted at the end of his Credo,
from Psalm 118,
"Haec dies, quam fecit Dominus ..."
(This is the day, which the Lord has made:
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.)?
(more)
in memoriam
edit |
Did you know ...
... that Dmitri Smirnov (pictured)
composed the
Triple Concerto No. 2
for the centenary concert
of the London Symphony Orchestra,
with the principal
violinist, harpist, and double bassist
as soloists?
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| memories |
Did you know ...
... that Erhard Egidi (23 April 1929 – 8 September 2014)
conducted at the Neustädter Kirche both
the first performance after more than 300 years
of a funeral music by the church's first organist
and Bach's Mass in B minor?
(25 May 2013)
... that Le Concert Spirituel played Handel's open-air music
at the Proms with an ensemble that comprised
18 oboes, 9 trumpets, 9 trombones, and strings?
May
editgood plan, but cancelled 31 Pentecost - Chor von St. Bonifatius + Wiesbadener Knabenchor (60th anniversary) - Schubert: Mass in E-flat major
Did you know ...
... that several hymns for Pentecost in different languages
are based on the 9th-century Veni Creator Spiritus?
(31 May 2020, Pentecost)
June
editgood plans but cancelled 7 Kirchweih - St. Martin - Colin Mawby: Halleluja / Rheingau Musik Festival, also July and August
Places and songs
editI asked my friends to tell me a location where they would like to sing a song with me. Mine is first. For all but two so far, the images are placeholders, more or less similar to what I received, sometimes rather showing the mood than the location. When you read this, feel free to add one ;) - The small dates for the places indicate that I took the image. The small dates for the songs indicate when we actually sang the songs (first). 5 and 12 July are church dates, which covered five of them, be it mind-reading or a look here ;)
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_Pfarrkirche.jpg)
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Anna and Bernhard Blume
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Did you know ...
... that the art photographers Anna and Bernhard Blume
created Kitchen Frenzy and Pure Reason?
... that in 1968, the German artist Bazon Brock created
a sign in the style of a high voltage warning saying
that "death must be abolished ..."?
July
editback to singing in church at St. Martin, Idstein
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August
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Did you know ...
... that Rhythm Is It!
is a 2004 documentary film
about 250 public school students
trained by Royston Maldoom
to dance Stravinsky's Le Sacre du printemps
with the Berlin Philharmonic?
September
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Did you know ...
... that Franz Leuninger, a Catholic trade unionist in Silesia
who ran against the Nazis for election to the Reichstag in 1933,
was executed in March 1945?
(16 September 2020)
... that Felix Mendelssohn subtitled Sechs Lieder, Op. 59,
six songs for four voices
setting poems by Eichendorff and others,
"Im Freien zu singen"?
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Did you know ...
... that Nerotalanlagen,
a park along a creek in Wiesbaden,
was built in the late 19th century
to enhance the town's spa quality?
good plans but cancelled:
26 - Concert - Chor St. Martin + Idsteiner Kantorei + Zwijndrecht Korale - St. Martin - Martín Palmeri: Misatango + Peter Reulein: Te Deum
27 - same
October
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Did you know ...
... that Louis Vierne (pictured) completed his
Third Organ Symphony
during a summer vacation with the family of Marcel Dupré,
who played the world premiere in Paris in 1912?
... that "Einer ist unser Leben",
a hymn with text written by Lothar Zenetti in 1973,
was recommended for a regional ecumenical service in 2020?
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Did you know ...
... that conductor Eugen Szenkar,
who promoted works by Béla Bartók and Gustav Mahler
in Germany, Russia, and Brazil,
caused a "near riot" with the world premiere of
The Miraculous Mandarin?
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Did you know ...
... that Katrin Lea Tag,
named the 2020 Scenic Designer of the Year,
created sets and costumes,
for Die Schutzbefohlenen at the Burgtheater (pictured),
and for Barrie Kosky's Salome at Oper Frankfurt?
good plans, but cancelled
3 - Concert - St. Bonifatius - Johannes Brahms: Schicksalslied · Joachim Raff: De profundis [2]
24 - Concert - Reger-Chor - St. Bonifatius - Bach: O ewiges Feuer, BWV 34/1 · Duruflé: Requiem · Van Nuffel: In Convertendo + Bach: Bleib bei uns, BWV 6/1
31 - Brugge Cathedral - same
November
edit |
Did you know ...
... that Variations for Cello Solo,
premiered by the composer Graham Waterhouse
in Vienna in 2020,
depicts characteristics of members of his family?
(7 November 2020 · #1500 · memories)
... that "All Praise and Glad Thanksgiving"
is sung to the hymn tune
of "Gott Vater, sei gepriesen"?
unite what is divided ... give wisdom to our leaders ... give peace to our world
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Did you know ...
... that Benjamin Britten (pictured) composed
Children's Crusade,
with text by Bertolt Brecht,
as a piece to be performed by children
about a group of children
in wartime Poland?
Did you know ...
... that the Advent song "Kündet allen in der Not",
an appeal to those in need to take courage,
was written by Friedrich Dörr, based on Isaiah's prophecy?
... that in For the beauty of the earth,
a 1978 anthem for choir and orchestra,
John Rutter gave a 19th-century hymn text a new melody,
marking it to be sung "Happily"?
good plans but cancelled
13 Abendlob for Advent - St. Martin
December
editBeethoven 2
edit| | |
| Beethoven in 1803 | |
|---|---|
| ... did you know? |
Did you know ...
... that Beethoven's Third Cello Sonata, first performed in 1809, has been described
as the first sonata for piano and cello to treat the instruments as equal partners?
... that Gustav Classens, music director in Bonn from 1933, performed
Beethoven's Choral Fantasy, Missa solemnis, and Ninth Symphony
during his first two seasons, offering the Ninth in both?
... that Christian Schreiber, a church administrator, philosopher and poet,
wrote a German version of the Latin Mass
for the publication of Beethoven's Mass in C major?
... that when Johannes Chum, a tenor in operatic roles from Nerone to Lohengrin,
performed in Harnoncourt's recording of Beethoven's Missa solemnis,
a reviewer described his singing as "seraphic"?
Advent 2020 · take courage
Did you know ...
... that in Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, a cantata in eleven movements for Advent,
Georg Böhm set all eight stanzas of Luther's hymn, and all differently?
(20 December 2020 · #1530)
... that "Mit Ernst, o Menschenkinder", a 1642 Advent hymn,
includes a call to penitence that John the Baptist took from the prophet Isaiah?
... that the Advent song "Kündet allen in der Not",
an appeal to those in need to take courage,
was written by Friedrich Dörr, based on Isaiah's prophecy?
... that "Macht weit die Pforten in der Welt", written for the Basel Mission,
was included with a new melody in Kirchenlied
to proclaim Christ the King in opposition to the Nazi regime?
good plans but cancelled
24 Christmas Eve - St. Martin
25 Christmas Day - St. Bonifatius