SKU: CA.1025000
ISBN 9790007251826. Key: D major. English.
â??Hail! bright Cecilia, hail to thee. Great patroness of us and harmony!â? â?? this exclamation opens the final chorus of Henry Purcellâ??s eponymous Ode to St. Cecilia from 1692. A paean to the power of music, the work is one of the undoubted masterpieces of English choral odes of that time. A resolution of the Musical Society of London in 1683 launched the great tradition of annual celebrations for St. Ceciliaâ??s Day (November 22), featuring a church service followed by performances of specially composed music. Over the years, Purcell wrote several odes for the occasion, of which this example from 1692 is one of the most popular. Four decades later, Handel would also contribute to the celebrations with his Alexanderâ??s Feast, HWV 75 (Carus 55.075), and his Ode for St. Ceciliaâ??s Day, HWV 76 (Carus 55.076).Purcellâ??s magnificent music, which features a huge range of tonal color and form, offers delightful parts for a variety of solo, ensemble, and choral settings. With its richly expressive palette, the Ode to St. Cecilia is an extremely rewarding work by the â??Orpheus Britannicusâ?, as Purcell was admiringly called by contemporaries.- Festive, rousing ode to music- Highlight of the choral ode genre in the 17th century
SKU: CA.2732111
ISBN M-007-25435-3. Latin.
The best-known setting of the Requiem Mass before Mozart's unfinished work is by the celebrated opera composer Niccolo Jommelli. The Missa pro defunctis was composed in 1756, during Jommelli's time as Kapellmeister at the court of the Wurttemberg Duke Carl Eugen, on the occasion of the death of the Dowager Duchess Maria Augusta. The work went on to enjoy wide circulation and numerous further performances. Jommelli composed it in the Neapolitan style, with orchestral forces of just strings and basso continuo. The simple but effective choral movements are partly contrapuntal in the stile antico, and partly with solo/tutti alternation and numerous suspended dissonances, whilst in the solo parts the opera composer can be recognized. This beautiful sounding Missa pro defunctis is now published for the first time in a critical edition. Where sections are missing in Jommelli's composition, the Appendix contains settings by another composer from his circle, Nicola Sala. * The best-known setting of the Requiem Mass before Mozart * First critical edition * Effective choral movements with numerous suspended dissonances and solo/tutti alternation * Scored for small instrumental forces of strings and organ.
SKU: CA.5040619
ISBN 9790007138363. Key: G major. Language: German/English.
The chorale cantatas are Reger's most personal and most substantial contribution to one of the principal categories of Protestant church music, and they are the only major works in this field by one of the foremost composers of his time. In order to make Reger's choral works more widely usable in English-speaking countries, the publishers have added a singable English translation to the voice parts. Score and parts available separately - see item CA.5040600.
