奈奴達 降E大調小號與弦樂協奏曲 
奈奴達 降E大調小號與弦樂協奏曲
Johann Baptist Georg Neruda (1707-1780)
Concerto Trumpet and String Orchestra in E flat major
Allegro spiritoso
Largo
Vivace
As 2007 draws to a close, there is just time to squeeze in one more musical anniversary. This year has marked the tercentenary of the birth of the Czech composer Johann Baptist Georg Neruda (1707-1780), who worked as a violinist in a theatre orchestra in Prague before moving to Dresden in 1750. He remained there for the rest of his life, and it was for the orchestra of the Dresden court that he wrote most of his music, including 18 symphonies and 14 concertos. Most of Neruda’s music has fallen into oblivion, but his Trumpet Concerto in E flat has justifiably remained in the repertoire. Its three movements open with an elegant Allegro spiritoso the trumpet emerging in noble fashion after a lengthy orchestral introduction. Next comes an elegant Largo which reveals the more lyrical side of an instrument more usually associated with pomp and ceremony. The Concerto closes with a spirited Vivace.
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布烈頓 《聖誕頌歌儀式》，作品28 (選段)
布烈頓 《聖誕頌歌儀式》，作品28 (選段)
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
A Ceremony of Carols (Op.28)
Procession
This Little Babe
In Freezing Winter Night
Deo Gracias
One of the musical anniversaries taking place next year is the 95th anniversary of the birth, in Lowestoft, of one of the most important English composers of the 20th century, Benjamin Britten (1913-1976). For the first three years of the Second World War Britten sought refuge in the USA, but once America became involved in the War he decided to return to the UK and did so on board a Swedish merchant ship called the Axel Johnson. Before embarking at New York he had received a commission for a harp concerto and had bought two books on harp technique with the intention of studying them on the journey to Europe. The Axel Johnson sailed by way of Halifax, Nova Scotia, where Britten spent some time ashore and found in a bookshop a slim volume called The English Galaxy of Shorter Poems. Inspired by those short poems, Britten spent the remaining part of the voyage setting five of them to music with harp accompaniment (in the event the concerto for the instrument never materialised), and, back on dry land in England, added further settings eventually moulding them into a 12-movement work for harp and chorus, A Ceremony of Carols. 11 of the movements were first performed in Norwich Castle in eastern England on 5th December 1942, Britten adding the 12th (That yongë child) shortly before the work’s publication the following year.
The work opens with the ancient plainchant Procession.
This little Babe and In Freezing Winter Night were among the original five poems Britten set on board the Axel Johnson. The words of both are by the 15th century English poet William Cornish.
Also set whilst Britten was crossing the Atlantic was the exuberant 15th century hymn of praise, Deo Gracias!
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韓德爾 《彌賽亞》精華片段
韓德爾 《彌賽亞》精華片段
George Frederick Handel (1685-1759)
The Messiah (HWV56)
I know that my Redeemer liveth
Glory to God in the highest
Rejoice Greatly, O daughter of Zion
Hallelujah
It will be another year before the musical world celebrates the 250th anniversary of the death of one of the greatest composers of the Baroque era, George Frederick Handel (1685-1759). It was, however, the 50th anniversary of his death which ignited the public’s passion for his great oratorio, The Messiah. First performed in Dublin on 13th April 1742, it was rather frowned upon by the English, who felt that a composer better known (then) for writing operas should not be setting words from The Bible. However, when the work was performed by over 1000 musicians in Westminster Abbey to mark the 50th anniversary of Handel’s death, The Messiah suddenly caught the public’s imagination and over the next few centuries, performances became ever more overblown (there is a report of one performance in London’s Crystal Palace which involved over 4000 musicians), and while things have calmed down considerably today, it remains the most popular oratorio of all. While its text, drawn from both the New and Old Testaments of The Bible by Charles Jennens (1700-73), covers the life of Jesus Christ, it has become particularly associated with Christmas.
In today’s concert we hear first the great soprano aria, “I Know that my Redeemer Liveth”, the text drawn from the Book of Job (chapter 19, verses 25 and 26).
We return to the Old Testament for the words of the soprano aria “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion”. They are taken from the Book of Zechariah (chapter 9, verses 9 and 10).
The most popular number from The Messiah is undoubtedly the “Hallelujah Chorus”, words taken from The Revelation of St John the Divine (chapter 19, verse 6 and chapter 11 verse 15). A legend has grown up that at one performance King George III was so excited that he stood up and, as was the custom of the day, on seeing their King on his feet, the entire audience followed suit. In truth, though, the King was far from excited: he stood up in order to leave the theatre having felt he had heard enough of Handel’s music for one evening.
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莫扎特 《歡樂頌》
莫扎特 《歡樂頌》
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Exsultate Jubilate (K165)
Allegro
Recitativo
Andante
Molto Allegro.
In late 1772 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) was in the Italian city of Milan overseeing final preparations for the première of his opera Lucio Silla which took place the day after Christmas. Three weeks later Milan witnessed another Mozart première, this time a sacred work, Exsultate Jubilate which was first performed on 17th January 1773 at the Theatrine Church by the great castrati singer, Venanzio Rauzzini, who had created the role of Cecilio in Lucio Silla. The practice of castrating young boys in order to preserve their high voices has long since been abandoned, so this glorious work is invariably sung by a soprano. The anonymous text refers to the liturgy of the day devoted to the Virgin Mary. Mozart set it as a three movement sonata for voice, two oboes, two horns, strings and organ (adding a part for flute when he revised the work for a performance in Salzburg in 1779). Opening with a joyful orchestral prelude, the first movement addresses itself to those happy souls who sing the praises of God and ends with a vocal cadenza designed to display Rauzzini’s spectacular range.
An extended recitative links the first and second movements. The second movement is a gentle prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary; while
the final movement follows without a break and is an exuberant setting of the single word “Alleluia!”.
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奇卡特/伍卓賢(改編) 爵士小彌撒曲
奇卡特/伍卓賢(改編) 爵士小彌撒曲
Bob Chilcott (b.1955)
A Little Jazz Mass
Kyrie
Gloria
Sanctus
Benedictus
Agnus Dei
Mozart was 17 when he composed the sublime work we have just heard. Set against that youthful achievement, the English composer Bob Chilcott (b.1955) could be said to have been something of a late developer. “I have been composing since the age of 15”, he acknowledges, “but it was not really until 1991 that I gained the confidence to imagine that I could have a life where people would be interested in my compositions”. That people are interested in Chilcott’s compositions is an understatement; he is one of the most popular choral composers around today. His understanding of what choirs enjoy comes from his own long experience as a singer; he was a treble in the choir of King’s College in Cambridge (whose annual Christmas Eve Service of Nine Lessons and Carols, broadcast around the world, is, for many, the true beginning of Christmas) and from 1985 to 1997 was a member of the internationally renowned choral group, the Kings Singers. Commissioned in 2004 to write a setting of the Latin Missa Brevis for the New Orleans Children’s’ Choir, Chilcott decided to celebrate the musical idiom most closely associated with that city in A Little Jazz Mass. As one commentator has put it, “The Kyrie has real groove, the Gloria swings, the Sanctus sits right back, the Benedictus hums along, and the Agnus Dei draws inspiration from the Blues.”
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盧特 天使之歌
盧特 天使之歌
John Rutter (b.1945)
The Angels’ Carol
Another extremely popular choral composer from England is John Rutter (b.1945). He has made something of a speciality out of arranging Christmas carols, and Christmas would certainly be a lot poorer musically without his magical arrangements. Rutter has also written both the words and the melodies of original carols, one of which is The Angels’ Carol which he originally intended as a duet for the Choirboy and Choirgirl of the Year Competition held in 1987. He subsequently arranged it for choir and in his orchestration gave a significant part for that instrument most closely associated with angels, the harp.
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安德森 雪橇之旅
安德森 雪橇之旅
Leroy Anderson (1908-1975)
Sleigh Ride
Next year marks the centenary of the birth in Cambridge, Massachusetts, of Leroy Anderson (1908-1975). He made his name through his orchestral “lollipops”; short and catchy pieces originally written as encores for the Boston ‘Pops’ Orchestra. Among the most successful of these was Sleigh Ride dating from 1948 which perfectly captures the image of a horse-drawn sleigh trotting through the snow, occasionally slipping on the ice, and ending of with a suitably exhausted neigh.
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胡夫(改編) / 伍卓賢(改編) 叮叮噹噹聖誕夜
胡夫(改編) / 伍卓賢(改編) 叮叮噹噹聖誕夜
Mac Huff (arr.)
A Jingle Bell Christmas
Mac Huff originates from Indianapolis in the USA and has become familiar through his jazz and pop arrangements of well known songs; “I began arranging while in high school on a dare from my choir teacher. Two years later I was at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, writing the entire show for the university show group, the Wisconsin Singers. That relationship lasted 15 years. I always say that’s where I learned to write”. A Jingle Bell Christmas is a medley made up of Huff’s arrangements of popular Christmas songs with the word “Jingle” in their title; “Jingle Bell Rock”, “Jingle Bells” and “Jingle, Jingle, Jingle”.
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