Sure on This Shining Night
Poem by James Agee
Music by René Clausen
The Concordia Choir of Moorhead, Minnesota
Christoph Hartmann demonstrates how he makes reeds while on tour. Of course the reeds he plays on are quite different than ours, but I love that little device he has! And yes, they use box cutters rather than knives like ours. I’d heard about that many years ago, when I met up with a person who learned reed making in Germany.
Sorry … actually Sunday NIGHT Music since this is so late.
From the landmark concert on October 3, watch Cantus and Chanticleer sing “We Shall Walk Through the Valley in Peace” live from Orchestra Hall.
Sven-Eric Johansson: Som sådden förnimmer Guds välbehag
S:t Jacobs Chamber Choir; Gary Graden, Director
I’ve been a woman for a little over 50 years and have gotten over my initial astonishment. As for conducting an orchestra, that’s a job where I don’t think sex plays much part.
—Nadia Boulanger
By Edmond Joaillier, Paris
Bibliothèque nationale de France, Public Domain
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10792503
Women on the podium are not my cup of tea. It’s a question of what one is used to. I grew up in a different world,” the conducting maestro says.
Unfortunately I can see this quote but to read the entire article I have to pay a fee and I’m not interested in subscribing to The Telegraph. Perhaps it would come across differently if I could see the whole quote? Or not.
UPDATE: I found more of the quote here:
Hmm, well. Well I don’t want to give offence,” said Jansons, “and I am not against it, that would be very wrong. I understand the world has changed, and there is now no profession that can be confined to this or that gender. It’s a question of what one is used to. I grew up in a different world, and for me seeing a woman on the podium… well, let’s just say it’s not my cup of tea.
I do take “offence” and I suggest that he adjust his thinking.
SECOND UPDATE:
A sort of apology:
“In a recent interview with the British newspaper ‘The Telegraph’, a quote from me was published which has provoked considerable attention in the media. I would like to respond to this with the following statement:
I come from a generation in which the conducting profession was almost exclusively reserved to men. Even today, many more men than women pursue conducting professionally. But it was undiplomatic, unnecessary and counterproductive for me to point out that I’m not yet accustomed to seeing women on the conducting platform. Every one of my female colleagues and every young woman wishing to become a conductor can be assured of my support, for we all work in pursuit of a common goal: to excite people for the art form we love so dearly – music.”
Dmitri Hvorostovsky, the charismatic Siberian baritone who won critical acclaim and devoted fans around the world for his burnished voice, uncanny breath control and rueful expressivity, died on Wednesday in London. He was 55.
Mark Hildrew of Askonas Holt, the talent management agency that represented Mr. Hvorostovsky, said the cause was brain cancer. Mr. Hvorostovsky announced the diagnosis in June 2015 and died in a hospice facility near his London home.
A favorite of audiences thanks to his alluring voice and heartthrob presence, Mr. Hvorostovsky cut a striking figure, his trim 6-foot-1 frame topped by a mane of prematurely white hair.
He also had a compelling personal story: He escaped the street-gang life as a teenager in a grim Siberian city, found his talent there despite the region’s cultural isolation, and overcame a tempestuous drinking problem that could have ruined his career.
You can read more here and, of course, a lot of other places.
6th Century Compline Office Hymn: To You Before The Close Of Day; David Cherwein, arr.
National Lutheran Choir; Dr. David Cherwein, Conductor
Kedroff: Otche Nash
National Lutheran Choir; Dr. David Cherwien
First, they sing well. I like the arrangement. I can understand every word.
But mostly? Look at this group: it’s not all just heavily made up young people. It’s a group of singers of ALL ages and many different looks.
I especially love the variety of ages … being [ahem] a woman of the older generation. (If you are younger you won’t know how bizarre it is to write that: inside I still feel like a kid. Time is weird.)
The group, “Greg is Back” is from Germany, in case you wondered.
