Video of the first performance of Faith Is Like a Mystic Spirit during the Baccalaureate service for Gateway High School.
Bel Canto Choir of Gateway High School
Chris Barletta, conductor
Wm. Glenn Osborne, composer and pianist
Text by John Dalles
Below is the video of the first performance of The Chariot by the Bel Canto Choir of Gateway High School under the direction of Chris Barletta.
Recorded live at the 2013 Basilica Christmas Concert, William Picher conductor.
The score is available here, and the CD can be purchased here.
Written by request for the choral concert given on May 22, 2011 by William Picher and the Basilica Choir with friends. The choral group for the day contained 16 singers, and Bill was looking for a 16-voice piece. I sat with this request for quite a while before finally settling on this text and the general style of the piece. Most of the piece is written for 8-part choir, but the middle section is a 16 part fugue. The recording below was made at the dress rehearsal prior to the concert.
Psalm 96: 1-3
Cantate Domino canticum novum:
Cantate Domino omnis terra.
Cantate Domino, benedicite nomini eius:
Adnuntiate diem de die salutare eius.
Purchase of the PDF download includes permission to reprint copies as necessary for performance.
Event Description:Join with the
Central Florida Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and the Orlando Brass Quintet to celebrate the season of Easter in song. Among the hymns included on the program will be Jesus Christ Is Risen Today, O Sons and Daughters, Now the Green Blade Rises. Come even if you just want to listen because this will be a glorious occasion to bask in the joy of Eastertide.
05/14/2013
7:00 pm
Holy Redeemer Catholic Church
1603 N. Thacker Ave. Kissimmee, FL 34741
While looking around on-line today, I discovered that TampaKurt had posted videos from the Festival Singers of Florida concert in January. The video playlist includes 11 selections from The British Way! and may be seen here. It was a pleasure to work with Dr Kevin Fenton and the Festival Singers.
As a teaser, here’s the first piece on the program: ‘Let The People Praise Thee, O God’ by William Mathias
Americans are used to reading hymns with the text set between the treble and bass clef staffs with the syllables more or less lined up with the music. British hymns are usually set with the music at the top of the page and all the lyrics at the bottom in a format that makes the poetry more obvious. The score for The Crucifixion by John Stainer presents the five hymns in British style. While preparing for the CFAGO combined choir performance of the work, this has proved a bit of a challenge for my American choir, I have taken the time to set the text within the music and am offering the files for download below. Some files include the performance instructions which we followed.
Hymns from the Crucificion by John Stainer:
Event Description:A St. Patrick’s Day Celebration with the Basilica Choir and the Emerald String Quartet
Erin Go Bragh! Hear traditional Irish favorites along with new with a Celtic flavor composed by Robert Kerr.
Wm. Glenn Osborne, organist
Dr. William Picher, director
Tickets $10
Sunday, 3/17/2013
3:00pm
Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe
8300 Vineland Avenue
Orlando, Florida 32821
407-239-6600
One of the difficulties in using a historical musical setting of the Latin Mass in the Novus Ordo is the lack of Memorial Acclamation and Amen. With only two syllables, it’s usually pretty easy to do some text replacement and derive an Amen from material in other movements. It may even be possible to simply use the amen found at the end of the Gloria or Credo as a stand alone Eucharistic acclamation. The Memorial Acclamation, regardless of the text option chosen, proves a much tougher challenge.
For the Choral Mass on February 22, 2013, at the Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe, Dr. William Picher gave me the task of creating something for him to use alongside Palestrina’s Missa Papae Marcelli. While I initially wrote something for the SATTBB voicing that Palestrina uses, I forgot that this was to be a Latin Mass and set the English response “Save Us, Savior of the World.” Mea culpa. As six contrapuntal voices seemed a bit of a stretch for me in the limited time I had to prepare the piece, when I started over again with the equivalent Latin text, I opted for the more traditional (and perhaps more useful) SATB voicing.
I hope to have a recording of live singers performing the piece after February 22. In the meantime, the music notation program Finale has provided this rendering:
Salvator mundi, salva nos, qui per crucem et resurrectionem tuam liberasti nos.
Lord, by your cross and resurrection you have set us free. You are the Savior of the world.
Choristers from Central Florida American Guild of Organists member choirs will perform The Crucifixion by John Stainer.
Ben Lane, Canon Musician at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke will conduct.
Wm. Glenn Osborne will serve as organist.
A free will offering will be collected to benefit the scholarship fund of the CFAGO.
3/10/2013
3:00 pm
First United Methodist Church
142 East Jackson Street
Orlando, FL 32801