Ceremony of Carols
Evening Music | May 6, 2010
With Christmas fast approaching, we feature in our first hour “A Ceremony of Carols,” Benjamin Britten’s extraordinary setting of mediaeval texts for boys’ voices, treble soloists, and harp.
Martin Neary leads the boys of the Choir of Westminster Abbey and harpist Aline Brewer; the treble soloists are Timothy Dickinson and Richard Farnsworth. Follow them down the aisle with your mind’s ear as they sing the Processional, enjoy the nine carol settings and harp solo, and then bid them farewell as the Recessional fades away.
Murray Perahia is plays Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 1 in F Minor, dedicated to Haydn and designed to display Ludwig’s youthful virtuosity to Vienna’s music-loving aristocracy. Murray Perahia’s own virtuosity is unquestioned, and his performance is a delight.
The magnum opus of the evening is Johann Sebastian Bach’s Magnificat in D; he reworked his first E-flat setting of this text, and in so doing eliminated four movements that specifically related to the Christmas season, thus creating in this version a work suitable for all seasons. Ton Koopman conducts the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Choir.
Martin Neary leads the boys of the Choir of Westminster Abbey and harpist Aline Brewer; the treble soloists are Timothy Dickinson and Richard Farnsworth. Follow them down the aisle with your mind’s ear as they sing the Processional, enjoy the nine carol settings and harp solo, and then bid them farewell as the Recessional fades away.
Murray Perahia is plays Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 1 in F Minor, dedicated to Haydn and designed to display Ludwig’s youthful virtuosity to Vienna’s music-loving aristocracy. Murray Perahia’s own virtuosity is unquestioned, and his performance is a delight.
The magnum opus of the evening is Johann Sebastian Bach’s Magnificat in D; he reworked his first E-flat setting of this text, and in so doing eliminated four movements that specifically related to the Christmas season, thus creating in this version a work suitable for all seasons. Ton Koopman conducts the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Choir.
