Just got back from the Big Band Syndrome and it was an incredible show. But right now I was watching Warren Haynes with Brad Whitford and Joe Bonamassa...

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Tomas Luis de Victoria is my man.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/embed/br0weaJgrnw[/youtube]

Thank you, Stella, for a great video.  BBC, A.D. 2011.

Four things come to mind seeing and hearing this:

1)  How could it be that this great composer, arguably the greatest of all the Renaissance Composers, is not referred to as "venerable?"  According to this BBC presentation his life was one of holiness, deep devotion, and dedication to the practice of the Faith, to which he always applied his talents in the art and practice of choral music to the best of his great ability.  Where, then is the cause for his beatification, after 400 years?

2)  The great mystic and foundress of the Discalced Carmelites, St. Theresa of Avila, was not only his contemporary with whom he shared the very village of his birth (Avila, Spain), but her friendship was perhaps the key inspiration for the tremendous mystical depth of his compositions, and even today we can hear in his works the voice of her ecstasies.  This BBC production refers to her as his "mentor," yet he was the priest, and she was the nun!  I am left wondering if the mentorship was not reciprocal!  Who is to say for sure that it was not hearing the heavenly harmonies of this music that was the impetus behind the mystical ecstasies of St. Theresa of Avila?!

3)  The lifelong patron of Tomas Luis de Victoria, King Philipp II of Spain, was the same person after whom the Philippines are named.  It was his patronage that funded de Victoria's education and development, and without which the world might well have been deprived of the effects of his genius.

4)  While musicologists marvel at the "singular" technical prowess of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to the point where Mozart is enshrined in his own special room of commemoration, the skill and incomparable achievement in harmony and unprecedented overall artistic effect of de Victoria's compositions seems to overshadow even Mozart's, in the area of choral music, which is all de Victoria really excelled in (perhaps with the exception of some minor works of voice accompanied by lute).  But de Victoria did not compose for orchestra or string instruments.  Nonetheless, Mozart's choral works, as impressive as they are, do not really come close to the ominous mystical power of de Victoria's.  Both are fine examples of great choral music, and one can tell immediately the difference in style given any pair of examples thereof.


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I heard an Irish folk song recently that was utterly captivating.  

The song was about an Irishman in Australia who was homesick, and while he had some family ties or business dealings that demanded his continued presence "down under," he was doing a lot of thinking about how he could somehow bring his fond memories of the Emerald Isle overseas to his new homeland (since he couldn't leave, himself).  It's kind of sad, really, but when you think about how much he loved his native country, it becomes a thing of haunting beauty.  

This is a song you can sing every week and get real happy.


It goes like this:  :guitar:

I was dreaming of old Ireland, of Kilarney's lakes and fells
I was dreaming of the shamrock and the dear old Shannon bells
When my memory suggested in a vision bright and clear
All the strange things that would happen if we had old Ireland here.

If the Blarney Stone stood out on Sydney Harbor
And Dublin town to Melbourne came to stay
If the Shannon River joined the Brisbane waters
And Killarney's lakes flowed into Botany Bay

If the Shannon bells rang out in old Freemantle
And County Cork in Adelaide did appear
Erin's sons would never roam, all the boys would stay at home
If we only had old Ireland over here.  

There are lots of lovely fairies dancing on the village green
There are lots of lovely colleens, the finest ever seen
Where the boys are all called Paddy and the girls called Molly dear
Sure we'd wrap the green flag 'round them if we had old Ireland here.

If the Blarney Stone stood out on Sydney Harbor...
And Dublin town to Melbourne came to stay
If the Shannon River joined the Brisbane waters
And Killarney's lakes flowed into Botany Bay

If the Shannon bells rang out in old Freemantle
And County Cork in Adelaide did appear
Erin's sons would never roam, all the boys would stay at home
If we only had old Ireland over here.

Erin's sons would never roam, all the boys would stay at home
If we only had old Ireland over here  (quietly...)
Erin's sons would never roam, all the boys would stay at home (big finish...)
If we only had old Ireland over here!



Recording data:  

Barnbrack
Pete St. John
F. Mc Peake
McMaster

Irish Sing-along
ISBN: 0-7396-0053-2
Compose Records
800-738-3747
ppisales@peterpan.com
http://www.peterpan.com  <--- that website is a real DUD!!!!


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Nothing at all  :guitar:

The news on the radio.

There is a recording of portions of a radio broadcast from 1940 of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis conducted by Toscanini on youtube, the channel-name is themfromspace. A recording of Siegfried's Funeral March conducted by Furtwangler in 1933 is also on youtube, the channel-name in this case being shellac1925.

Gregorian Chants - Amazing Grace