Posts Tagged ‘Bach’
A Great Week For Music In Atlanta – Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Morehouse and Spelman, Clark Atlanta
This is a great week for music in Atlanta if you love Christmas music. There is so much going on that you can’t possibly catch it all. I’m going to list just a few of the events.
The ASO Gospel Christmas
The ASO Gospel Christmas concert is on Friday, Dec. 4th at 8:00 PM and Saturday, Dec 5th at 2:00 PM in Symphony Hall. The program includes Carol of the Bells and For Every Mountain.
Handel’s Messiah
The ASO is performing the Christmas portion of Handel’s Messiah along with the Hallelujah! Chorus, and Part III of Bach’s Weihnachts-Oratorium (Christmas Oratorio), BWV 248 (1734). For those of you who think that you do not like classical music, this may be a good concert to attend because some of the music may be familiar. This concert is Thursday, Dec. 3rd at 8:00 PM and Saturday, Dec. 5th at 8:00 at Symphony Hall.
ASO Kid’s Christmas
The ASO Kid’s Christmas is Sunday, Dec. 6th at 1:30 PM and 3:30 PM ; and Sunday, Dec. 13th at 1:30 PM and 3:30 PM. This program features the musical Second Chance Christmas, with some favorite sing-alongs (“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Jingle Bells,” “Frosty the Snowman”)!
Spelman – Morehouse Christmas Concert
The 83rd Annual Spelman – Morehouse Christmas will be Friday, Dec. 4 at 8:00 PM in the King Chapel at Morehouse College; Saturday, Dec. 5th at 8:00 PM in Sisters Chapel at Spelman College; and again on Sunday, Dec. 6th at 8:00 PM the King Chapel at Morehouse. The first time that I attended this concert I was about 7 years old. I have never forgotten it. That was the first time that I heard “Go, Tell It On The Mountain.” The youth choir director at my church in LaGrange brought us to the concert. I will always be grateful for that experience.
This concert is free! You should arrive early.
Clark Atlanta University Philharmonic Society
The CAU Philharmonic Society gives a very fine Christmas concert every year. I know because I attend it every year. Their group is small by comparison with Spelman and Morehouse, but director Glynn Halsey is known for the beautiful sound of his choirs. I’ve never been disappointed by CAU’s Philharmonic Society. This concert is Sunday, Dec. 6 at 4:00 PM. at the Park St. Music and Art Complex, 793 Park St., S.W., Atlanta, GA 30310. The concert is free.
Good Friday – St. Matthew Passion by J. S. Bach
It is Good Friday as I write this, and I feel compelled to share a notable piece of music with you which is traditionally performed on Good Friday. This work, The St. Matthew Passion by J. S. Bach, is to me one of the greatest works of art ever created, and yet it is not art for art’s sake. It is religious art of the highest order. It is a sublime, religious work that has moved even the most militant atheists.
Unlike some works that are performed during Holy Week, this work does not combine the Passion Stories from the different gospels, but instead takes the story from the Gospel According to Matthew, hence the title “St. Matthew Passion.”
I don’t remember the first time that I heard the St. Matthew Passion, but I do remember that I immediately felt that it was one of the most beautiful musical works that I had ever heard. It is beautiful beyond words, and it has density. Read the rest of this entry »
- Yossele Rosenblatt: The Cantor With The Heavenly VoiceHe was said to have sang while still in the crib and toured Eastern Europe synagogues before he was 10. And that was just the beginning. By the 1920s, Rosenblatt transcended the boundaries of Jewish sacred music to become an international sensation. […]
- First Listen: Steve Reich, 'Double Sextet, 2x5'The composer's innovations have been distilled and polished to a new, compelling sheen in the Pulitzer Prize-winning Double Sextet and the new, rock-inflected 2x5. Hear both works here until they're released on Sept. 14. […]
- Opera Noir: Alban Berg's 'Wozzeck'As he struggles with jealousy and poverty in this powerful tragedy, the psychologically disturbed title character endures ridicule from his superiors and undergoes bizarre medical experiments. […]
- First Listen: 'Cantique,' With The Music Of Arvo PartThe Estonian composer's evocative music has opened a window into a world of spiritual ideals and aspirations, and attracted many fans along the way. Hear Cantique, the new CD of Pärt's music, in its entirety. […]
- Photo: Paolo FresuA Blog Supreme is on vacation. Until we return, we are periodically leaving you with some shots from The NPR Jazz Photography Pool on Flickr. Here, Vicenzo Cosenza writes about capturing the great Italian trumpeter on film recently. […]
- First Listen: The Bad Plus, 'Never Stop'It may be one of the leading names in jazz, but The Bad Plus probably wouldn't mind if you called it a weirdo instrumental rock band. Hear the decade-old trio's latest album, the all-original Never Stop, in its entirety until its release on Sept. 14. […]
- Six Decades Of Jazz With Nat HentoffHentoff was 11 years old, strolling along a Boston street, when he first heard jazz clarinetist Artie Shaw's famous composition "Nightmare" and was hooked. He has spent roughly six decades covering the world of jazz, and he's collected his thoughts and memories in a new book, At the Jazz Band Ball: Sixty Years on the Jazz Scene. […]