Honoring a Major Palestrina Anniversary

Cover of the album being discussed (from its Amazon.com Web page)

As is often the case in the study of early music, there is some debate as to when Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina was born. However, the prevailing consensus puts his birth somewhere around February 3, 1525, meaning that next month would be a time to celebrate his 500th anniversary. Given their repertoire, it should be no surprise that, this coming Friday, harmonia mundi will release an album for this occasion. The full title of that album will be Palestrina Revealed: Byrd, White, Mundy. It will present a cappella performances by the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge led by Graham Ross. As is almost always the case, Amazon.com has already created a Web page for taking pre-orders.

All of the Palestrina selections will be world premiere recordings. (This explains the appearance of “revealed” in the album title!) These will include two mass settings, Missa Emendemus in melius a 4 and Missa Memor esto verbi tui a 5, and the single-movement “Magnificat secundi toni a 5.” The remaining selections are polyphonic anthems, which alternate with anthems by William Byrd (five parts), Robert White (six parts), and William Munday (six parts). Unless some critical data have missed my attention, the last time I encountered White’s music was on another harmonia mundi album that he shared with Byrd, The Phoenix Rising, performed by Stile Antico. This album was released in the summer of 2013, prior to an October tour of the United States.

It is somewhat ironic that Palestrina is known better for his style than his substance. His counterpoint technique was documented in the treatise Gradus ad Parnassum (steps to Parnassus) by Johann Joseph Fux, which was first published in 1725 but still served as one of the foundations for my own studies in music composition during my undergraduate years. Nevertheless, almost all of my past encounters with the music itself on this site involve performances of Mass settings at the Church of the Advent of Christ the King with a few program selections by San Francisco Renaissance Voices and at least one presented by Chanticleer.

Personally, I was delighted to add this album to my collection. Yes, it is convenient that the Church of the Advent is a short walk from where I live. However, this is music that is best appreciated through repeated listening experiences. After all, the style is a far cry from what would later emerge from the pens of composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The only way in which it can rise to a similar level of attention will be through the more-than-modest collection of recordings that are sensitive to the nuances of style in the sixteenth century.

Next Clerestory Program Inspired by Bridges

The western section of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge photographed by a DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone (photograph by InvadingInvader, from Wikimedia Commons, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license)

Most readers do not need to be reminded that bridges play a major role in the San Francisco Bay Area. Indeed, I still remember that, on my first visit to San Francisco (with my parents because my father was attending a conference), we took our rented car on the “circuit” that consisted of the Golden Gate Bridge, the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, and the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge. In should therefore be no surprise that the Clerestory vocal chamber ensemble should organize their first performance of the season around a program given the full title Bridges: Music Connecting Places & Times.

As of this writing, full program details have not yet been announced. Nevertheless, contributing composers have already been identified. These include those from the early period of music history, such as Josquin des Prez, William Byrd, and Henry Purcell, the twentieth century (Sergei Rachmaninoff and Arvo Pärt), and living composers, such as Steven Stucky. Lesser-known composers will include, from the past, Sigismondo d’India (a contemporary of Claudio Monteverdi) and Tiburtio Massaino (a Roman friar), and, from the present, Jung Jai-Il (who has provided the music for video games) and Abbie Betinis.

The San Francisco performance of this program will take place and the end of next week on Saturday, November 16, beginning at 8 p.m. The venue will be the Noe Valley Ministry, which is located at 1021 Sanchez Street, between 23rd Street and Elizabeth Street. Tickets may be purchased through an Eventbrite Web page with prices of $35 for general admission, $25 for seniors, and $5 for students.

Third Sunday Series for 2024–25 Announced

Portrait of Palestrina holding his “Missa Papae Marcelli” (artist and date unknown, from Wikimedia Commons, public domain)

Last night Dr. Paul Ellison, Director of Music for the Church of the Advent of Christ the King, announced plans for the second season of Third Sunday Choral Masses. Readers familiar with this venue probably already know that these are not concerts. Rather, they are High Mass services for which music is provided. One of the earliest sources of that music will be Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, who is now considered to be the leading composer of late sixteenth-century Europe. However, the composers contributing to this series cover a wide band of music history. For this season, the most recent of those composers will be Harold Darke, who died in 1976.

The schedule for the works to be performed over the course of the season is as follows:

• November 17: Josef Rheinberger, “Missa Brevis,” Opus 83
• December 15: William Byrd: “Mass for five voices”
• January 19: Cristóbal de Morales, “Missa Caça”
• February 16: John Ireland, “Communion service in C”
• March 16: Harold Darke, “Communion Service in A minor”
• May 18: Palestrina, “Missa Aeterna Christi munera”
• June 15: Charles Villiers Stanford, “Service in B-flat major,” Opus 10
• June 19 (Thursday evening): Palestrina, “Missa Papae Marcelli”
• August 15 (Friday evening): Palestrina, “Missa Assumpta est Maria”

The Church of the Advent of Christ the King is located at 261 Fell Street, between Franklin Street and Gough Street. The entry is diagonally across the street from the SFJAZZ Center. This is an inclusive parish of the Episcopal Church in the Anglo-Catholic tradition. Those wishing further information may call 415-431-0454. For those planning to drive, free parking will be available in the gravel lot behind the church on Hickory Street.

Elizabeth Reed Leads Viol Consort for VoM

Last night Voices of Music (VoM) returned to St. Mark’s Lutheran Church to present the San Francisco performance of the second program in its 2023–2024 season. The title of the program was Entertainment for Elizabeth, and there is a good chance that all of the selections on the program were, at some time or another, performed at the court of the Queen of England, Elizabeth I. Those selections were performed by a viol consort directed by Elizabeth Reed, whose other members were Wendy Gillespie, David H. Miller, Farley Pearce, and William Skeen, playing instruments of different sizes over the course of the evening. They were occasionally joined by VoM Directors Hanneke van Proosdij (recorder) and David Tayler (lute). There were also vocal selections performed by soprano Molly Netter.

I suspect that some (many?) of us attended this event as a “refuge from the flood” of “seasonal programming.” More likely is that the selections on the program had served as “dinner music” for one (or more) of the feats offered by Queen Elizabeth. Mind you, such dinners provided settings for conversations that (for better or worse) could lapse into political issues, leaving any musicians to be relegated to the background; but that’s the way things were in the sixteenth century! (Have they changed that much?)

Reed prepared a “usual suspects” program, presenting compositions by John Dowland, William Byrd, Orlando Gibbons, and several of their lesser-known contemporaries. Netter delivered a clear account of the vocal selections, always with a keen ear to balance with the viols. I have to confess that I appreciated her contribution to that blend, since the sonorities of the viols differ only in register. As a result, there is a uniformity of instrumental coloration that contrasts significantly with the rich sonorities of a string quartet.

Thus, as the evening progressed, I began to feel as if I was experiencing too much of a good thing. A sense of “sonorous uniformity” only passed at the end of the program with two “Holiday special” selections, both of which offered novel and engaging alternatives. The first of these was Hugh Martin’s “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” with a thoroughly effective vocal delivery of Ralph Blane’s words by Netter. Netter then shifted over to the Christmas carol “Es ist ein Ros entsprungen” (a rose has sprung up).

Would Elizabeth have appreciated such diversity, or would she have been too wrapped up in “head-of-state conversations?”

Elizabethan Music on Today’s VoM Sunday Video

Screen shot of the viol consort of Wendy Gillespie, Elisabeth Reed, Farley Pearce, and William Skeen playing a Byrd fantasia

Early this afternoon I decided to check out today’s video installment (Season 3, Episode 46) in the Sunday Mornings at Ten series of YouTube concerts presented by Voices of Music (VoM). The title of the program was Entertainment for Elizabeth, described as anticipating upcoming holiday concerts with a sampling of music played at the court of Queen Elizabeth I. The content was a playlist of eleven past performances, two of which were by William Byrd (four-part settings of a Fantasia and an In Nomine) for his 400th anniversary.

As I expected, I found the video work consistently satisfying. (For those interested in such details, I watched the program through the YouTube app on my xfinity television service, rather than staring at my computer screen.) Nevertheless, it was interesting to experience videos that were recorded over an extended period of time. David Tayler put in an appearance on each of the eleven videos on the program, and one could not be unaware of his aging process!

What mattered most, however, was the diversity of the sources. The Byrd selections were “outnumbered” by the three compositions by John Dowland. There were also two selections by Anthony Holborne, one each by Thomas Morley and John Wilson, and two familiar anonymous offerings (“Greensleeves” and “It was a lover and his lass”). Taken as a whole, the program was a first-rate way to spend a quiet Sunday afternoon.

SF to Conclude Chanticleer Xmas Performances

Members of Chanticleer celebrating the Christmas spirit through song (banner for the Web page with the details for this season’s holiday tour)

Those that have followed this site for some time probably know that Chanticleer celebrates the season with a program entitled A Chanticleer Christmas, whose title speaks for itself. In the past the program has been taken on tour through many different venues in California, and last year the tour ran from December 11 to December 23. This year, however, there has been a significant change of plans.

First of all, the tour begins tonight, not in California but in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. As the tour continues, both New York and Chicago will host two performances of the program, while, here in California, the only cities to enjoy repeat performances will be Petaluma and Carmel. That means that San Francisco will host only one performance, and that will be the one that concludes the entire tour on December 23.

As in the past, the program will begin with a candlelight procession, which provided the setting for selections by Renaissance composers. However, this year the music for the procession will be works by William Byrd and Arvo Pärt. Taken as a whole, the program will feature selections from the Renaissance to spirituals and traditional carols. Three of the Chanticleer vocalists, Adam Brett Ward, Jared Graveley, and Andrew Van Allsburg, will provide arrangements for many of the selections. There will also be a new “guest” arrangement provided by Cedric Dent, one of the recent members to join the Take 6 American a cappella gospel sextet. Another tradition will be concluding the evening with Joseph Jennings’ raucous settings of traditional spirituals.

As already mentioned, the San Francisco performance will begin at 8 p.m. on Saturday, December 23, and run for about two hours without interruption.  As in the past, the venue will be Saint Ignatius Church, located on the campus of the University of San Francisco at 650 Parker Avenue on the northeast corner of Fulton Street. Ticket prices will be $85 for Premiere seating, $68 for Preferred seating, $54 for Reserved seating in the Balcony, and $36 for general admission seating in the side sections of the sanctuary. All tickets are being sold online by City Box Office. Tickets can also be purchased by calling City Box Office at 415-392-4400.

SFBC to Launch December Holiday Programming

A previous “seasonal” performance by SFBC

As usual, December is the month of holiday-appropriate programming, regardless of what holiday is being celebrated. This year the San Francisco Bach Choir and its Artistic Director Magen Solomon will be “first out of the gate” with two performances of a program entitled A (Mostly) English Candlelight Christmas. The “mostly” qualifier applies to the composers that will be represented on the program. Specific selections have not yet been announced; but the contributing composers will be William Byrd, Edward Elgar, John Rutter, Christopher Tye, Chen Yi, and (of course) George Frideric Handel, who will be represented by three choruses from his HWV 56 oratorio Messiah. There will also be a world premiere performance, whose details also have not yet been announced. Instrumental performances will be by both the Golden Gate Brass Quintet and the organ of Calvary Presbyterian Church.

The church will host two performance of the program. The first will be at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, December 2, followed by a 4 p.m. performance on Sunday, December 3. The church is located at 2515 Fillmore Street on the northwest corner of Jackson Street. General admission will be $40, $35 for seniors, and $15 for students. Those under the age of eighteen will be admitted for free. The concert will be recorded and made available to ticket holders roughly 2–3 weeks later. In-person concert tickets include access to the video when it is available. The video will be available for sale for those without tickets at $25. It will be launched about 30 days after the performances. Tickets may be purchased online through separate Web pages for December 2 and December 3. Both Web pages also include a hyperlink for donations.

Corpus Christi at Church of the Advent

The celebration of Advent Sunday at the Church of the Advent of Christ the King

This coming Thursday evening, the Church of the Advent of Christ the King will celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi with a High Mass, a Solemn Procession to the Garden, and the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Music will be provided by Schola Adventus, a professional chamber choir, led by the church’s Director of Music Paul Ellison. Celebration of the High Mass will include the choir singing William Byrd’s Mass for Five Voices, which was probably composed and published in the 1590s.

The Church of the Advent of Christ the King is located at 261 Fell Street, between Franklin Street and Gough Street. The entry is diagonally across the street from the SFJAZZ Center. This is an inclusive parish of the Episcopal Church in the Anglo-Catholic tradition. The service will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 8. Ellison usually performs an organ prelude beginning about twenty minutes in advance of the service. The ceremony will conclude at 8 p.m. Those wishing further information may call 415-431-0454. For those planning to drive, free parking will be available in the gravel lot behind the church on Hickory Street.

SF Girls Chorus and Chanticleer Join Forces

Those that have been following the season plans for the San Francisco Girls Chorus (SFGC) and/or Chanticleer probably know by now that these two ensembles will be joining forces next month. They have agreed on a program structured into three segments, one for each of the groups and one for joint performance. The title of the program will be Neighbor Tones, which is not merely metaphorical, because both of the organizations are based in the Kanbar Performing Arts Center at 44 Page Street.

The SFGC portion of the program will begin with another preview of excerpts from Tomorrow’s Memories: A Little Manila Diary, which SFGC commissioned Matthew Welch to compose in 2020. This will be followed by “Baba Afzal Kashan,” one of the movements in Richard Danielpour’s Three Parables, which SFGC commissioned in 2019. The other two compositions in this segment will be “Wanting Memories” by Ysaye M. Barnwell and “Father Death Blues” by Philip Glass.

Composer Ayanna Woods (provided by the composer, courtesy of SFGC)

The Chanticleer segment will also begin with a recent commission. The ensemble commissioned Ayanna Woods in 2021, and the result was her composition of “close[r], now.” The remainder of the segment will be more traditional. The first selection will be “Civitas sancti tui,” a five-voice motet in William Byrd’s collection entitled Liber primus sacrarum cantionum (the first book of sacred canticles). This will be followed by Jonathan Woody’s arrangement of the spiritual “God’s Gonna Trouble,” better known as “Wade in the Water.”

The program will begin with combined forces, so to speak. The opening selection will be a world premiere excerpt commissioned for both ensembles. The commission was awarded to composer Ayanna Woods, whose composition is entitled “Years of Light.” This will be followed by Erin Bentlage’s arrangement of “Desert Song, composed by säje. The remaining selections will be “O Daedalus, Fly Away Home” by Trevor Weston and Franz Biebl’s “Ave Maria” setting.

This program will be given its San Francisco performance beginning at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, March 17. Ticket prices range from $21 to $63. Tickets may be purchased online through a City Box Office Web page or by calling 415-392-4400. The venue will be Herbst Theater, whose entrance is on the ground floor of the Veterans Building, located on the southwest corner of McAllister Street and Van Ness Avenue.

SFRV’s “Choral Renaissance” Continues

Last night at the Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in the Castro, San Francisco Renaissance Voices (SFRV) presented a “second installment” of a program performed almost exactly a year ago at the same venue. At that time A Choral Renaissance was presented to highlight many of the significant performances that were given during the first sixteen years of this a cappella ensemble. Last night SFRV presented A Choral Renaissance II, once again reviewing highlights in the overall repertoire.

According to my records, I have not attended an SFRV performance since before the pandemic, more specifically in August of 2019. Much happened since then, including the tragic loss of the ensemble’s former Executive Director J. Jeff Badger. Nevertheless, I did my best to keep readers apprised of the SFRV schedule; and last night my wife and I were able to “get back on the track,” returning to Most Holy Redeemer.

Last night’s program was given the subtitle Passion, perhaps as an acknowledgement that Ash Wednesday will be celebrated three days from today. However, music appropriate for the Lenten season was performed only at the beginning and the conclusion of last night’s program. The evening began with Josquin des Prez’ setting of the “Stabat Mater” hymn and concluded with the “Libera me” portion from the six-voice setting of the Missa pro defunctis by Tomás Luis de Victoria. In other words the entire evening was framed by composers from earlier and later periods in the history of Renaissance music.

The other extended selections were the six-voice Missa Papae Marcelli by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and the “Miserere” setting of Psalm 51 by Gregorio Allegri, which is probably best known for the (not necessarily true) story of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart writing out the entire score from memory. Allegri composed the work for two choirs and was performed last night by four soloists in a balcony to the rear of the audience with the remainder of the ensemble in front of the audience accounting for the “primary” choir. There were also performances of three shorter sacred texts by William Byrd, Thomas Tallis, and Thomas Tomkins.

Finally, the Victoria setting was preceded by three selections from Claudio Monteverdi’s third book of madrigals. Two of the texts were by Giovanni Battista Guarini, “O primavera, gioventù de l’anno” and “Occhi, un tempo mia vita.” The set concluded with the first madrigal in the book, “La giovinetta pianta.” I am so used to listening to this music in one-voice-to-a-part settings that I found myself disappointed with the thicker textures of last night’s choral performances. However, that was the only down-side of an otherwise highly stimulating survey of sacred music from the Renaissance period of history.

Dawn Upshaw to Launch SFP Art of Song Series

Soprano Dawn Upshaw (left) with the members of the Brentano String Quartet: Misha Amory (viola), Serena Canin (violin), Nina Lee (cello), and Mark Steinberg (violin) (courtesy of SFP)

The first San Francisco Performances (SFP) concert of the new year will be the program that launches this season’s Art of Song Series. The featured vocalist will be soprano Dawn Upshaw. She will be accompanied by the members of the Brentano String Quartet, violinists Serena Canin and Mark Steinberg, violist Misha Amory, and cellist Nina Lee, rather than by a pianist. This program will not follow the usual vocal recital format. Rather, it is being called a “performance project,” given the title Dido Reimagined, which is also the title of the final work to be presented.

That work was composed by Melinda Wagner, and it will account for the entire second half of the program. The first half of the program will set context with both instrumental and vocal works by English composers Matthew Locke, John Dowland, Thomas Tomkins, William Byrd, and Robert Johnson, culminating in a set of pieces by Henry Purcell, the last of which will be “Dido’s Lament,” the final aria in the three-act opera Dido and Aeneas. Working with librettist Stephanie Fleischmann, Wagner composed “Dido Reimagined” to breathe new life into the character of Dido, imagining a different outcome for her. Wagner released a statement that her composition focuses on “the emotional journey of a powerful woman who has, in spite of her strength of character, been broken by love. Through the lens of the seasons, Dido discovers, confronts, and ultimately makes peace with her fate and with her place in the world.”

This program will be performed in Herbst Theatre on Thursday, January 12, beginning at 7:30 p.m. The entrance to Herbst Theatre is the main entrance to the Veterans Building at 401 Van Ness Avenue, located on the southwest corner of McAllister Street. The venue is excellent for public transportation, since that corner has Muni bus stops for both north-south and east-west travel. Ticket prices are $65 (premium Orchestra and front and center Dress Circle), $55 (remainder of Orchestra, all Side Boxes, and center rear Dress Circle), and $45 (remaining Dress Circle and Balcony); and they may be purchased through an SFP secure Web page. Single tickets can also be purchased at the door as available with a 50% discount for students and a 20% discount for seniors.

SFRV Will Review Sixteen Years of Repertoire

As was observed this past September, this will be the seventeenth season of San Francisco Renaissance Voices. As a result, the first full concert of this season, entitled A Choral Renaissance, will highlight many of the significant performances that were given during the first sixteen years. That program has been finalized as the following eleven selections:

1. Adrian Batten: O Sing Joyfully
2. Cipriano de Rore: Jubilate Deo omnis terra
3. Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina: Jubilate Deo à 8
4. William Byrd: Mass in Four Parts
5. Cristóbal de Morales: Lamentabatur Jacob à 5
6. Hildegard of Bingen: Alleluia, O virga mediatrix
7. Hildegard of Bingen: O Pastor Animarum
8. Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla: Exsultate Iusti in Domino
9. Philippe de Monte: Super flumina Babylonis
10. Orlando Gibbons: Hosanna to the Son of David
11. Orlando Gibbons: O Clap Your Hands

The sanctuary space of Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church (from a Web page on the church’s Web site)

This program will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 26. The venue will be the Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church, located in the Castro at 100 Diamond Street on the southwest corner of Eighteenth Street. Ticket prices will be $28. Tickets may be purchased online through an Eventbrite event page.

SFGC’s Highly Imaginative Holiday Concert

For the second year in a row, the annual holiday concert of the San Francisco Girls Chorus (SFGC) took place in cyberspace. Last year’s event, Island Holiday, was a relatively modest affair. Sean San José managed the comings and goings of the different choral and instrumental resources, and the results were captured on video by Joan Osato and New Art Media. For yesterday afternoon’s production, however, Taylor Joshua Rankin’s approaches to video were far more adventurous, combining familiar settings (including Davies Symphony Hall) with the imaginative products of video synthesis techniques. Taken as a whole, the diversity of those techniques was a bit overwhelming, often for the viewers and occasionally for the performers themselves; but by the end of the program the assets clearly outweighed the liabilities.

The full title of the program was Sprit of the Season: A Global Celebration of Baroque and Early Music, and the duration was roughly an hour. The program consisted of fifteen selections involving a generous range of durations. As always, the SFGC Premiere Ensemble, which performs all of the subscription programs, was joined by students at all levels of the Chorus School, from the Prep Chorus, through the Training Chorus, and up through the subsequent four levels of expertise. As in the past, those “on the way up” were joined by half a dozen SFGC alumnae. Within the Premiere Ensemble, there is also a Soloist Intensive division, which began the program with William Byrd’s “Lulla, Lullaby.”

In the past the “traditional” performances at Davies involved a fair amount of time for the different vocal groups to enter and leave the stage. Those prolonged interruptions occasionally tried the patience of the listener, but they could be accepted as necessary. Video afforded the opportunity for a more “streamlined” account of the program, as well as opportunities to transcend the limitations of the physical.

Readers may recall that, a year ago, Volti presented a video of a performance in which its sixteen vocalists were “socially distanced,” taking the affordances of Zoom technology as a point of departure. Rankin ramped up those affordances to “eleven” (thank you, Spinal Tap) with elaborate mosaics, often with stunning symmetries:

Screen shot of a performance by Chorus School students (from the YouTube video of the concert)

Now, to be fair, the  younger students clearly showed some difficulty in dealing with headsets and physical separation. However, as the level of performance skill advanced, so did the capacity for working with a wide diversity of video techniques.

Those techniques were particularly impressive when the Premier Ensemble joined forces with the program’s guest artist, violinist Edwin Huizinga. Performing in a church setting, the group presented an arrangement of the first section of the Ciaccona that concludes Johann Sebastian Bach’s BWV 1004 solo violin partita in D minor, which was augmented with “chorale reconstructions” composed by Helga Thorne. The video for this selection was produced by Starr Sutherland with Atypical Project, and the synthesized images were positively mind-blowing.

The video experience, taken as a whole, may not have consistently risen to the standards of sophisticated technology coupled with excellent musical technique. However, there was no doubt that more than considerable imagination went into creating this video. Artistic Director Valérie Sainte-Agathe merits a vigorous shout-out for managing such an impressive enterprise and consistently holding the attention of viewers throughout the entire performance.

Lenten Evensong at Church of the Advent

[updated 4/12, 5:45 p.m.: All public liturgies at The Church of the Advent have been suspended for the remainder of the month of March.

This coming Sunday, March 15, will be the Third Sunday in Lent. The Church of the Advent of Christ the King will celebrate it with Evensong and the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Music will be provided, as usual, by Schola Adventus, the church’s resident choir directed by Paul Ellison. Selections will include The Second Service by William Byrd, “When David heard” by Thomas Tomkins, and “O salutaris Hostia” by Thomas Tallis. The music for the Preces versicles and responses will also be by Tomkins.

The Church of the Advent of Christ the King is located at 261 Fell Street, between Franklin Street and Gough Street. The entry is diagonally across the street from the SFJAZZ Center. This is an inclusive parish of the Episcopal Church in the Anglo-Catholic tradition. The service will begin at 4 p.m. this coming Sunday, March 15. Those wishing further information may call 415-431-0454.]

Music for Candlemas at Church of the Advent

A Candlemas tapestry that hangs in the nave of the cathedral of Strasbourg (photograph by Tangopaso, from Wikimedia Commons, public domain)

This Sunday Schola Adventus, the resident choir at the Church of the Advent of Christ the King, will provide the music for the Procession and High Mass service for the celebration of Candlemas. Also known as the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus Christ and the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, this is a Christian Holy Day that commemorates the presentation of Jesus at the Temple. For the celebration of the High Mass, Director of Music Paul Ellison has arranged for Schola Adventus to sing William Byrd’s five-voice setting of the Mass text. They will also sing Byrd’s anthem “Senex puerum portabat” (the old man carried the boy), as depicted in the above image of a tapestry illustrating the Presentation of Jesus Christ. Ellison will also provide organ music for the Procession and Postlude, drawing upon compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach and Johannes Brahms.

The Church of the Advent of Christ the King is located at 261 Fell Street, between Franklin Street and Gough Street. The entry is diagonally across the street from the SFJAZZ Center. This is an inclusive parish of the Episcopal Church in the Anglo-Catholic tradition. The service will begin at 11 a.m. this coming Sunday, February 2. Those wishing further information may call 415-431-0454.

Sacred Music on Beethoven’s Birthday

Having established that the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players will be celebrating the birthday of Ludwig van Beethoven with music that will have absolutely nothing to do with Beethoven, it is worth adding that this coming Sunday will also see two Christmas-related performances. This is due, in some part, to the fact that this year Beethoven’s birthday also happens to be the third Sunday in Advent; but that impacts only one of the two offerings to be presented. The other is a celebration of a Mass that incorporates the Nativity narrative. Both of these performances will take place this coming Sunday, December 16. Specifics are as follows:

4 p.m., Church of the Advent of Christ the King: The third Sunday in Advent will be celebrated with a Solemn Evensong and a Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. The celebrant will be the Church’s rector, Father Paul Allick. Music Director Paul Ellison will lead the resident choir, Schola Adventus, and play both the prelude and the postlude on the church organ. These will be two chorale preludes by Johann Sebastian Bach, both based on the Advent hymn “Nun komm der Heiden Heiland” (come now, saviour of the heathen). Music for the Preces and Responses will be by Thomas Tomkins. The other composers whose music will be performed during the service will be William Byrd (canticles for the Second Service), Orlando Gibbons (the anthem “This is the Record of John”), and Thomas Tallis (the hymn “O Salutaris”).

Since this is a religious service, no admission will be charged; but a collection will be taken. The Church of the Advent of Christ the King is located at 261 Fell Street, between Franklin Street and Gough Street. The entry is diagonally across the street from the SFJAZZ Center.

8 p.m., Episcopal Church of the Incarnation: San Francisco Renaissance Voices will begin its fifteenth anniversary season with a Mexican Pastorela, which presents the Nativity story from the perspective of the shepherds that were the first to see the Christ child. The music will include the Missa Queramus cum pastoribus (Mass of the quaking shepherds), composed in the early sixteenth century by Cristóbal de Morales. The program will also include the enactment of a somewhat humorous fight between good and evil. The former will be embodied as the Archangel Michael, sung by soprano Susan Gundunas, opposing the Devil, portrayed by actor Joseph Schmitz. Instrumental accompaniment will include classical guitar played by guest artist Giacomo Fiore.

Susan Gundunas and Joseph Schmitz rehearsing for this Sunday’s Pastorela (courtesy of San Francisco Renaissance Voices)

The Episcopal Church of the Incarnation is located in the Sunset at 1750 29th Avenue, about halfway between Moraga Street and Noriega Street. Ticket prices will be $30 for general admission with a $25 rate for students and seniors and a $20 charge for children aged twelve and younger. Tickets may be purchased online through a Brown Paper Tickets event page.

Voices of Music Uploads Another Viol Video from the Ansel Adams House

Regular readers probably know by now that the next best thing to attending a Voices of Music recital is visiting the Voices of Music YouTube channel, with its consistently impressively edited high-definition video documents of concert performances. This past December saw the first release of videos taken from the The Voice of the Viol project, inaugurated by Director Adaiha MacAdam-Sommer this past October. The two videos uploaded at that time were both taken from a recital at the Ansel Adams house here in San Francisco.

A third video from that same concert was uploaded about a month ago:

As in the other two videos from this recital MacAdam-Somer plays tenor viol, joined by Joanna Blendulf on treble, and both Farley Pearce and Elisabeth Reed on bass. The music being performed is a setting of the “In Nomine” tune composed by William Byrd. The source for this tune is the “Gloria Tibi Trinitas” plainchant, which was adopted by John Taverner. Just about every important English composer from Thomas Tallis to Henry Purcell composed a setting, usually using the tune itself as a cantus firmus in long, evenly sustained notes. (The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book has four “In Nomine” pieces, two by John Bull and one each by John Blitheman, listed as William Blitheman in the manuscript, and John Parsons.)

The other recent video to be added to the YouTube channel was taken from the Voices of Music Holiday Concert given in December. The title of that concert was Virtuoso Concertos, but this is a recording of an ensemble performance of festive dance music appropriate for the season. The dance is a courante; and the source is Terpsichore, a collection of French instrumental dances compiled by Michael Praetorius in 1612:

This performance is thoroughly delightful for many reasons, not the least of which is the improvised percussion work by Peter Maund. All of the other performers are familiar Voices of Music players: Carla Moore, Gabrielle Wunsch, Lisa Grodin, and Maxine Nemerovski on violin, Maria Caswell on viola, Reed and Tanya Tomkins on cello, Pearce on violone, Hanneke van Proosdij on harpsichord, and David Tayler (still the primary force behind capturing these events on video) on archlute.

Music Selections for Holy Week at Church of the Advent

Today is Palm Sunday, which marks the beginning of Holy Week leading up to Easter Sunday next week. At the Church of the Advent of Christ the King, Schola Adventus, under the leadership of Director Paul Ellison, has prepared an extensive repertoire of music for both the solemn and celebratory aspects of the occasion. Here is a summary of the musical offerings that will be encountered between this morning and the celebration of Easter Sunday:

Sunday, April 9, 11 a.m.: The Palm Sunday service will include the plainsong incantation of the Passion text from the Gospel According to Matthew; choral selections will be by Thomas Weelkes, Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, and Orlande de Lassus.

Wednesday, April 12, 6:30 p.m.: There will be a Choral Tenebrae service held for Holy Wednesday, which will include motets by Manuel Cardoso and Tomás Luis de Victoria.

Thursday, April 13, 6:30 p.m.: There will be a High Mass and Procession for the Stripping of the Alter on Maundy Thursday; there will also be a performance of William Byrd’s setting of the “Ave Verum Corpus,” as well as motets by both Byrd and Maurice Duruflé.

Friday, April 14, 6:30 p.m.: The Good Friday service will include the plainsong incantation of the Passion text from the Gospel According to John. The Mass of the Presanctified will also be celebrated. Once again, there will be motets by Victoria and Lassus, as well as music by Carlo Gesualdo and John IV of Portugal.

Saturday, April 15, 10:30 p.m.: The night of Holy Saturday will be celebrated with the Great Vigil, leading up to the First Mass of Easter; music will be by Palestrina, Heinrich Isaac, Felice Anerio, and Jean Langlais.

Sunday, April 16, 11 a.m.: Music for the High Mass of Easter Sunday will include the selections by Isaac, Anerio, and Langlais performed for the First Mass of Easter; there will also be another Victoria motet and Charles Wood’s arrangement of the Dutch hymn “This joyful Eastertide.”

The Church of the Advent of Christ the King is located at 261 Fell Street, between Franklin Street and Gough Street. The entry is diagonally across the street from the SFJAZZ Center. This is an inclusive parish of the Episcopal Church in the Anglo-Catholic tradition. Those wishing further information may call 415-431-0454. Those driving will be able to use the parking lot adjacent to the church whose entrance is on Hickory Street. A hosted reception will follow the First Mass of Easter.

Harpsichordist Alina Rotaru Records a Pioneering Publication of English Keyboard Music

This past Friday Sono Luminus released a recording of the entire contents of Parthenia or the Maydenhead of the first musicke that ever was printed for the Virginalls:

Original cover of the collection being discussed (from Wikimedia Commons, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license)

The 21 compositions in this volume are divided among (although the author of the Wikipedia page for this collection cautiously says “ascribed to”) William Byrd (eight pieces), John Bull (seven pieces), and Orlando Gibbons (six pieces). The title comes from the Greek noun parthenos, which can be translated as “maiden” or, more specifically “virgin.” The noun “Maydenhead” has nothing to do with the latter denotation but rather refers to the “maiden voyage” of the publication, i.e. its first printing. The exact date is unknown, but it is usually taken to be late in 1612 or early in 1613. This would be consistent with the dedication;

To the high and mighty Frederick, Elector Palatine of the Reine: and his betrothed Lady, Elizabeth the only daughter of my Lord the king.

In other words the publication was intended as a gift for a wedding that was about to take place.

The harpsichordist for this new album in Alina Rotaru. The recordings were made at the Sono Luminus Studios in October of 2015, and those familiar with English composers will probably be amused to learn that these studios are located in Boyce, Virginia. She plays an appropriate single-manual instrument made by Thomas and Barbara Wolff in 1995 and based on an instrument made in 1738 in Hannover by Christian Vater. The recording comes with a booklet that presents an excellent background essay by John Moraitis. Rotaru has established herself as an active member of the Early Music community and has previously recorded solo harpsichord music by Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck and Johann Jakob Froberger.

So much for historical and technical background. What about the music? At this point I should own up and let readers know that I have a copy of the critical edition of these 21 pieces as transcribed and edited by Thurston Dart for Stainer & Bell. To date I have only played the first three Byrd pieces, but I believe they are representative enough to advance the claim that the music in this collection fits the amateur hands very well. Furthermore, the experience of playing these pieces provides a perfectly accessible introduction to the techniques through which embellishments were applied to tunes that, in their own day, were far more familiar than they are today. In other words the very act of sitting down to play these pieces amounts to entering a time machine in which the practices of making music differed significantly from the sorts of things we tend to learn through our present-day “music lessons.” I personally recommend trying to play at least a few of the selections in this volume even to those who feel unsure about their keyboard skills.

What about listening? By now I have a healthy amount of familiarity with what seventeenth-century music makers were doing. Thus, as a listener I can appreciate the technique that Rotaru brings to these recordings just as readily as I can appreciate how Yuja Wang can tear her way through some finger-busting passages by Sergei Prokofiev. At the same time I can appreciate the clarity with which Rotaru can distinguish embellishments of greater and lesser elaboration from the themes that are being embellished. Thus, the listener that is not steeped in historical knowledge can still discern “where the tunes are” and how, for Rotaru, playing them includes techniques for playing with them. As a result, I would conclude that this is an album that has the potential to appeal to anyone taking the trouble to give it some serious listening, regardless of any personal preferences for any particular historical period.

San Francisco Renaissance Voices will Perform for both All Saints and All Souls

In addition to the participation of the Schola Adventus choir in the Feast celebrations for All Saints and All Souls at the Church of the Advent of Christ the King, San Francisco Renaissance Voices (SFRV), Artists-in-Residence at the Seventh Avenue Presbyterian Church, will also be giving performances on both of these Feast days.

Tomorrow SFRV will make its debut at the Noontime Concerts (“San Francisco’s Musical Lunch Break”) free concert series. The program will feature plainchant, motets, anthems, and other music for the Feast of All Saints. Composers will be William Byrd, Juana Inés de la Cruz, Carlotta Ferrari, Hildegard of Bingen, Mark Schweizer, and Thomas Tallis. This concert will begin at 12:30 p.m. tomorrow (Tuesday), November 1. It will take place at Old Saint Mary’s Cathedral, located in Chinatown at 660 California Street on the northeast corner of Grant Avenue. These concerts are usually planned to last about 45 minutes. Neither tickets nor reservations are required, but donations are both accepted and encouraged with a suggested amount of $5.

The following evening SFRV will return to Seventh Avenue Presbyterian Church. The Feast of All Souls will be celebrated by a service of prayer and music in the meditative Taizé style. The music will include selections from the program presented at Noontime Concerts. The service will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, November 2. Seventh Avenue Presbyterian Church is located at 1329 Seventh Avenue, a short walk from the Seventh Avenue stop on the Muni N trolley line. Since this is a service, neither tickets nor reservations are required; but a collection will be taken.