Choral masterworks : a listener's guide / Michael Steinberg.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Steinberg, Michael, 1928-2009.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Choral music--Analysis, appreciation.

Choral music.

Physical Description:

xiii, 321 pages : music ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2005.

Summary:

Michael Steinberg's highly successful listener's guides-The Symphony and The Concerto-have been universally praised for their blend of captivating biography, crystal clear musical analysis, and delightful humor. Now Steinberg follows these two greatly admired volumes with Choral Masterworks: A Listener's Guide, the only such guide available to this most popular of musical forms.

Here are more than fifty illuminating essays on the classic choral masterworks, ranging from Handel's Messiah, Bach's Mass in B Minor, and Beethoven's Missa solemnis, to works by Haydn, Brahms, Mendelssohn, and many others. Steinberg spans the entire history of classical music, from such giants of the Romantic era as Verdi and Berlioz, to leading modern composers such as Elgar, Rachmaninoff, Vaughan Williams, and Stravinsky, to contemporary masters such as John Adams and Charles Wuorinen. For each piece, Steinberg includes a fascinating biographical account of the work's genesis, often spiced with wonderful asides, such as the true story of Mozart's Requiem-Salieri had nothing to do with the composition of it, nor did he poison Mozart, who most likely died of rheumatic fever. The author also includes an astute musical analysis of each piece, one that casual music lovers can easily appreciate and that musicians and more serious fans will find invaluable. The book also includes basic information such as the various movements of the work, the organization of the chorus and orchestra, and brief historical notes on early performances.

More than twenty million Americans perform regularly in choirs or choruses. Choral Masterworks will appeal not only to concert goers and CD collectors, but also to this vast multitude of choral performers, an especially engaged and active community.

Contents:

Sacred Texts in a Secular World: A Word to Nonbelievers-and Believers 3

Adams

Harmonium 9

Bach

The Passions 16

Saint John Passion 18

Saint Matthew Passion 26

Magnificat 31

Mass in B Minor 34

Beethoven

Missa solemnis 45

Berlioz

Requiem 61

Brahms

A German Requiem 68

The Shorter Choral Works 75

Schicksalslied (Song of Destiny) 76

Nanie (Lament) 81

Gesang der Parzen (Song of the Fates) 83

Britten

War Requiem 86

Cherubini

Requiem in C Minor 97

Dallapiccola

Canti di prigonia (Songs of Captivity) 104

Dvorak

Stabat Mater 113

Elgar

The Dream of Gerontius 119

Faure

Requiem 131

Handel

Messiah 138

Der messias (arr. Mozart) 150

Haydn

Harmoniemesse (Wind-Band Mass) 155

Two Great Oratorios 159

Die Schopfung (The Creation) 163

Die Jahreszeiten (The Seasons) 171

Honegger

Le Roi David (King David) 177

Janacek

Glagolitic Mass 186

Kodaly

Psalmus hungaricus 194

Mendelssohn

Elias (Elijah) 200

Mozart

The Shorter Choral Works 210

Mass in C Minor 212

Requiem 219

Orff

Carmina burana 230

Rachmaninoff

The Bells 238

Schmidt

Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln (The Book with Seven Seals) 243

Sessions

When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd 252

Stravinsky

The Wedding 257

Persephone 260

Symphony of Psalms 265

Mass 269

Canticum Sacrum (Sacred Canticle) 273

Requiem Canticles 277

Tippett

A Child of Our Time 280

Vaughan Williams

A Sea Symphony 288

Sancta Civitas 295

Verdi

Requiem 301

Walton

Belshazzar's Feast 311

Wuorinen

Genesis 317.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

0195126440

OCLC:

55625221

Publisher Number:

9780195126440