Seraphic Singles: A Day to Pray for Priests

Yes, I'm re-blogging, but Seraphic is right on the money here, and I couldn't possibly begin to add to what she's written.


Seraphic Singles: A Day to Pray for Priests


I hope everyone has a blessed Holy Thursday, and I'm thinking of recording our choir tonight, so perhaps I'll have some music to share with you tomorrow.

Missa Pange Lingua- Josquin des Prez

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I was assigned to do an analysis of the Kyrie from Josquin's Missa Pange Lingua for Written Theory class. We were actually allowed to chose our own piece to analyse, and it was fun to see what pieces my colleagues had chosen to work on.

I chose the Josquin for a few reasons, the first being that Missa Pange Lingua is probably my most favourite polyphonic Mass out of the countless settings our choir has sung. I also chose it because I was always fascinated by the counterpoint that Josquin uses throughout the Mass. Years ago, when first starting out as Alto section leader, this Mass was a huge challenge for me to sing. In an attempt to make it easier, I went through the score and indicated all the places where the alto line mimicked or was mimicked by another part, as well as those passages in which the alto line moved with another part rhythmically. Little did I know that I was outlining in broad strokes Josquin's use of counterpoint. And it makes my musicianly heart swell with pride to see my teenaged handwriting all over my score, with the notes pointing out all the parallels between the voice parts. Also, the Pange Lingua chant is my favourite plainchant, and one thing I never had done, and wanted to do, was to figure out how much of the plainchant Josquin used in order to set the motifs for his paraphrase Mass.

As I worked on the analysis, I was amazed to find that in the Kyrie alone, Josquin pulled at least 3 motifs from the chant, and incorporated them into his polyphonic setting. The main theme, which is pulled from the first 10 notes of the chant, is used repeatedly, with different embellishments, and it jumps from voice part to voice part in an intricate fugue-like setting. Josquin also likes to set up his counterpoint between the Altos/Basses and then the Sopranos/Tenors. It's not until the third movement of the Kyrie that Josquin puts the counterpoint between the two outer voices, setting up a sequential motif that leads the Sopranos and Basses to move in parallel thirds, while the inner voices move in contrary motion to the outer lines.

It is just simply brilliant composing, which is even more impressive considering it's use of modality rather than tonality, as Josquin keeps the Mass in the Phrygian mode in which the original chant was set. This also explains the extensive use of counterpoint between two voices, rather than extensive homophonic writing, relying more on the implied harmony than harmonic progressions. Indeed, Josquin's use of an open fifth at cadences underscores his use of implied harmony, and to the listener it is positively striking.

Well, before I bore my readers any further, I'd just like to add that in my study of the piece, I learned that the Missa Pange Lingua is believed to be the last Mass that des Prez composed. As a musician, I cannot imagine having written a more fitting final piece.

Pange lingua gloriosi

Sing, O tongue,

Corporis mysterium

of the mystery of the glorious Body

Sanguinisque pretiosi

and of the precious Blood

Quem in mundi pretium

which the King of the nations,

Fructus ventris generosi

the fruit of a noble womb

Rex effudit gentium

shed for the sake of the world. 

More Debussy

A friend posted this on Facebook the other day, and I thought I would share it with you all. What follows is a beautiful and practically flawless performance of Claude Debussy's Reverie, transcribed and arranged for Harp.





Even more interesting is to compare this version with the original for piano; The same music with very different moods, due in part to the atmospheric effects of the different instruments.



I hope you all enjoy the pieces as much as I do!

Heh... and now I must stop procrastinating and get back to work on my paper comparing Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children with Gabriel García Márquez's A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.

Counterpoint!

Yes, I'm re-blogging. Sorry.

Honestly, though, I'm glad I came across this, as I have to do an analysis of the Kyrie from Josquin des Prez's Missa Pange Lingua as my final assignment for Advanced Music Theory. The Kyrie is almost all imitative counterpoint, so this video was really helpful in clarifying some of my vague understanding of contrapuntal (I love that word!!) music.

Thanks to Jeffrey Tucker over at The Chant Cafe for sharing this!

Exciting News of Various Kinds!!!

So... yeah, I've been slacking off on my blogging, yet again. This time, however, I have a really good excuse!

So, when I last posted, I mentioned the recital I was preparing for. Well, for those who are interested in knowing, the recital went beautifully! In the days leading up to it I was ridiculously busy. My partner, (A baritone I shall nickname Barry for the purposes of this blog) Barry, and I spent a lot of time practicing amidst our already busy schedules as teachers. We rehearsed together, we rehearsed with the pianist, we rehearsed on our own. We practiced at my house, at my University, as his University (where he teaches), at the music school where we both teach, and at the venue for our recital.

When we weren't rehearsing, we were making translations for the texts we were singing- French, Spanish, German, Italian- and typing up the translation sheets to give to the audience. In addition, we designed and printed the programs, which took us until almost 2 am one night, both of us working together via Google Voice Chat and Google Docs (Have I mentioned how much I love Google?) to get the program finished. We experimented with type settings, formats, program orders, tweaked our bios, and surfed around (with much laughter and goofing around, I'll admit) for the perfect picture to adorn the front of our programs.

Then, I had to run about for my recital gown: buying new character shoes, doing the dress fitting, picking up the dress after the fitting, picking up the necessary essentials to go with the gown, playing around with different updos for my somewhat short hair. (What can I say? This was my debut recital. I wasn't going to do it halfway.)

Finally, the big day arrived. After singing at our respective churches for Sunday Mass, Barry and I met early to do the last minute preparations and run through some last minute changes with the pianist. Then, I got into my new gown, did my hair and makeup, and we waited backstage for the audience to finish arriving and for the clock to strike 3.

I won't say too much about the recital itself here, because I plan on posting clips from the recording as well as plenty of pictures. I will say, however, that it went exceptionally well. All of our loved ones came out to support us and then some. We both sang exceptionally well, the audience told us that we moved them, and we had a great time. We got a standing ovation at the end and everything!!

Most importantly, at the last minute, Barry and I learned that they would be recording the recital for broadcasting on our local NPR station!!!!

I could hardly believe it!! I still don't believe it, but the sound technicians were there, and they'll be sending us a copy of the recital for us to review before it gets put on the air! I also learned that our station streams live online, so when I know when the concert will be aired, I'll be certain to post the info here so that anyone who is interested can tune in! :D

After the recital was over, it was time to decompress a little, as the week or two before had been more than hectic.

(Oh! And in the middle of all the preparations, I had my 25th birthday!)

This week has been a lot more subdued and I've been able to focus a lot more on my coursework. I also got to pick out some new repertoire to fiddle with for the rest of the semester and some of it is really fun!

Now, for some more exciting news: I got to speak with Scot over the weekend and we had a lovely chat about how his study of the Faith is going (he's been wanting to become a Catholic for quite some time now). The happiest news of all was to learn that he may possibly be coming into the Church during Holy Week! If this is indeed the case, Husband and I will be going to Scotland for Easter to celebrate Scot's happy day with him. It isn't certain just yet, but I should know definitely by tomorrow the latest. In any case, we've already been prepping in case it does indeed happen, and things seems to be falling perfectly in place. Husband has been able to get the necessary days off of work, we were able to find reasonably priced airline tickets, and even my teaching schedule for the days we'd be gone straightened themselves out rather easily.

My question to my readers in the UK: Know of any good places to stay while we're in Edinburgh? Stuff to do? :D

Finally, I'd ask your prayers for Scot as he prepares for his entrance into the Church (whenever it may be). Thank you!!

Busy, busy, busy...

Lent so far seems to be progressing well... I'm doing okay at keeping to my resolutions, with the exception of the spiritual reading. It's no excuse certainly, but I have so much to do between school and work that it's hard to get it done on a daily basis. I find that I'm doing more doubling up to make up for missing a day, but I suspect that cramming a bunch of spiritual literature in my head is kind of defeating the purpose, as then I have too much to meditate on.

Hmm... I wonder if reading Fr. Z's Blog will count towards spiritual reading, as I seem to read at least one of his articles everyday?

Haha, just kidding! :p

Last night I sang for the General Recital at school. I sang three of the songs from Fernando Obradors' Canciones clasicas espanolas. It was good practice for my recital on Sunday, in which I'll be singing the whole cycle. I'm hopeful that we'll be able to record the recital, so that I can post some of the music here. :)

And speaking of said recital, I must go now and work on memorizing the recitative that comes before Batti, Batti (Mozart's Don Giovanni).

Ma se colpa io non ho...

PS- Go check out the latest post at Seraphic's Blog -Taxonomy of Trids-. It's hysterically funny!!

Claude Debussy - Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun

There are days that I am so happy to be a music major...

Today was one of them, as one of my assignments for Written Theory was to do a harmonic analysis of Debussy's Prélude Á "L'aprés-midi d'un faune" or Prelude to "Afternoon of a Faun."

It's a challenging piece of music as it has little real harmonic function, lots of what he does is linear, and there's lots of chromaticism... and oh! whole tone scales! Yay!

Regardless of it's difficulties analytically, it's a pleasure to get to listen to it over and over while I complete my homework. Debussy is responsible for some truly beautiful music, and this piece is among his masterpieces. God truly blessed him with musical genius.

I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I did. It was a much needed respite from the craziness that is known as my life. Thank the Lord for beautiful moments like this...

Eep...

Wow, I've been pretty quiet here for a good while...

Sorry about that. Life, as usual, has gotten pretty hectic, especially since this semester.

Some big things have happened since I last updated. The biggest thing was that I auditioned for a BIG music conservatory over Spring Break. It's one of the top music conservatories in the country, to be honest. I auditioned as an incoming transfer, so I'd hopefully finish my last two years in my undergraduate program there... provided I get in, of course.

If I do get in, it'll mean moving to a big city, far away from everyone I know. The prospect is a little scary, but I think the change will be very good. The music program is better, they have an actual Opera Department (yay!), and just the shear size of the music program will hopefully negate some of the ridiculous politicking like what goes on at the University where I currently study.

The audition went very well, and I should hear back sometime this week regarding whether or not I've been accepted into the program. Prayers that God's Will may be done in this would be greatly appreciated!

The next most important thing is the big recital that I'll be singing in later this month. I'll be giving the recital with a good friend of mine who is also a fabulous baritone. It's pretty exciting preparing for the event, because it'll be the first big solo-ish thing that I'm undertaking, plus the venue is spectacular, our accompanist is top-notch, and the repertoire selection is challenging, but also a lot of fun.

However, this means that much of my spare time is spent practising and memorizing foreign languages. Oh, the life of a singer!

Speaking of Opera and singing and such, over break one thing that I did was to go into New York City to the Metropolitan Opera. I went to go and see the Season Premiere of the new production of Gounod's Romeo et Juliette.

It. was. AMAZING.

The cast was incredible. Piotr Beczala sang Romeo and, in a last minute change from Angela Gheorghiu, Juliette was sung by Hei-Kyung Hong. It was, quite frankly, one of the most beautiful things I've ever experienced.

Beczala was a perfect Romeo, delivering a performance that was breathtakingly nuanced. His voice is truly one that I could listen to for hours, and he didn't disappoint in this production either. The role of Romeo isn't easy, by any means, but Beczala owned it, with beautiful high notes and great depth of expression. I was reduced to tears in the final act.

Hong was equally impressive as Juliette. She was convincing as a young girl in love, yet torn by the rivalry that in the end destroys her happiness. She was in exceptional vocal form for the opening night, and the Je veux vivre was a delight to hear. I did miss Gheorghiu however, as she has more depth and body in her upper register than Hong does at times. Still, Hong's performance was effortless and the sparkle in her voice was gorgeous.

I definitely recommend going to see the production if you have a chance.

Finally, but not least, we are now upon Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Usually I cringe when I know Lent is approaching, but somehow not this year. On a personal level, things have been very trying in the last few months, and I know that Lent is the perfect time to help sort things out. I need to be more disciplined in my spiritual life, especially as I'm discerning a decision that may have a huge impact on my life. 

I've spent a lot of time thinking about what I should do for Lent this year, and I think I may have come up with a good regimen. I'm going to try to fast and abstain for all of Lent this year, provided my health will allow (it hasn't in the past...). Also, I'm giving up dessert, as usual. I'm going to make sure I say morning and evening prayers as well as daily spiritual reading (which has sadly fallen by the wayside) and definitely saying the Rosary every day. One of the biggest sacrifices, which will help with the last one immensely, is giving up instant messenger.

For me, IM eats up a huge amount of free time, although I'm not sorry for it. Two of my best friends live quite far away, so phone calls are expensive and IM is the best way to keep in touch. However, all my local friends are on as well, so I always end up in random conversations instead of, say, cleaning or doing homework or praying...

So, we'll see how Lent goes this year. So far, so good, but I'm not even a whole day through yet. ;) I'm going to try and keep this updated more often, so I should be posting again soon.

Have a Blessed Lent everyone!

Best. Commercial. Ever.

So, I watched the Super Bowl this year... in it's entirety, actually.

I'm beginning to wonder what is happening to me... but then I remember that I'm so dang busy, that any excuse is a good excuse to just SIT STILL for two hours. And so, the Super Bowl counts as one of said excuses.

It wasn't a total waste of time, however. The food pickings were good, the company was fun to talk to when they weren't glued to the television screen, and then there was this:

My inner child leapt for joy upon seeing this. I hope yours does, too, 'cause it's just AWESOME on so many levels.

And now, I must be off to bed. I've got to be up super early tomorrow (5:30am). Don't ask.

*yawn*

Ugh... I hate early mornings. I am not a morning person by any means, especially when it is cold and dark out when your alarm clock goes off. Personally, I think that if the sun isn't up yet, no human being in their right mind has any business being out of bed.

Unfortunately, this semester I have early classes every morning, the earliest of which are on Tuesdays & Thursdays. On these days I feel some very anti-alarm clock leanings, and desire to chuck the thing out the window when it goes off... after hitting the snooze button three or four times, of course.

I suppose it's not so bad, but the 8:30 class on Tues & Thurs is my Intro to World Lit class, which requires having a fully functioning brain. The rest of the week my first class is one in which I can leisurely power up my brain cells. World Lit class, however, requires that I be on the top of my game, ready to make obscure connections, thorough character analysis and catch every iota of symbolism.

I was kind of worried about this World Lit class at the beginning of the semester, because the book list revealed that my teacher is obsessed with modern literature (Woolf, Rushdie, Marat/Sade, etc.). It's not even good modern literature! Where is Lewis, Chesterton, Waugh??

However, the beginning of the class hasn't been terrible, thankfully. I'm actually enjoying the reading we've done so far- Kipling, Yeats and Joyce- but we'll see what happens the further we get away from Romanticism...

Anyway, speaking of Joyce, I've just read The Dead, which is a lovely short story. It's full of depth and symbolism, and it resonated deeply with me, perhaps because I identify with some of the characters. Although a short story, by the end Joyce had hooked me, and the final paragraphs made me verclempt. I definitely recommend it, especially if you're looking for something to read that has some philosophical depth to it.