Missa Brevis

The first four YouTube videos below feature the beautiful Missa Brevis by Giovanni Perluigi da Palestrina (c.1525-1594), which is one of the pieces RSCM Scottish Voices will be rehearsing during our forthcoming residential rehearsal weekend for use in future services.  As an extra treat at the end is the lovely Ave Verum Corpus by William Byrd (c.1539 - 1623) which is on the music list for the same sevice in which we'll be singing the Palestrina Mass.

The Mass recordings below are by the excellent Tallis Scholars (as appears to be the Byrd), and I would recommend buying the CD from Amazon and the sheet music can be downloaded free from CPDL as a PDF from here

For those who know about such things, you may notice that the Credo is missing, but that's simply because we won't be singing that movement in the Mass.

Kyrie



Gloria



Sanctus & Benedictus



Agnus Dei I & II





Ave Verum Corpus

Rehearsal assistance for Aberdeen

Below are a few videos I've found on YouTube which feature some of the music we'll be doing at Choral Evensong in St Andrew's Episcopal Cathedral in Aberdeen on Saturday 18th June 2011.  They may be useful if some choir members haven't sung the pieces before.  The quality of the singing is a bit varied (although the magnificent Westminster Abbey Choir does feature), but it gives an idea of the notes!

Ayleward Preces, sung by the Trinity Singers of Westbury on Trym Parish Church, Bristol



Ayleward Responses (which for some unknown reason omits the first two Amens), sung by the Trinity Singers of Westbury on Trym Parish Church, Bristol



Harwood in A flat Nunc Dimittis (I couldn't find the Magnificat) sung by St Andrew's Schola Cantorum of Pittsburgh USA



Stainer - I saw the Lord, sung by Westminster Abbey Choir



I bind unto myself today (tune: St Patrick's Breastplate) sung by the choir of Keble College, Oxford

Music for Strathallan

Below are some rehearsal aids for our forthcoming residential rehearsal weekend at Strathallan School.  Some of the following, and much more, will form the basis of our next few events.

I couldn't find clips of Sir John Stainer in B Flat Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis, John Bertalot Fauxbourdons, John L Bell's There is a Place, Frikki Walker's Prayer for Peace, or John Madden's We will remember them.

The first video below contains only the first part (I couldn't find the second part) of the Thomas Morley Responses, which can be found about 50 seconds into the clip.  Be aware though that they perform the 1662 Prayer Book version in which the priest sings "Glory be to the Father ......." followed by a response from the choir, whereas we'll doubtless be doing the correct version as set by Morley!  If none of that makes sense don't worry, all will be obvious on the day.




The video below is of the William Byrd Praise our Lord all ye gentiles, and it's an apt one because it was recorded (albeit not by the Cathedral choir) in the very beautiful Wells Cathedral where our own Musical Director Frikki Walker was a Vicar Choral in the choir for a few years (and you wondered how he got to know so much about singing!).  Having sung there a few times with one of Frikki's former choirs The Marian Consort, I can safely say it's one of my favourite cathedrals, and in fact one of my favourite English cities.  Great pubs!



Below is Samuel Sebastian Wesley's Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace.



John Ireland's Greater Love hath no man than this is below.



Edgar Bainton's And I saw a new heaven, with powerful words from the Book of Revelation, is one of my absolute all time favourite anthems, is very near the top of the exceptionally long list of things I want sung at my funeral, and can be found below.



Also near the top of my funeral list is Sir Edward Cuthbert Bairstow's atmospheric anthem Let all mortal flesh keep silence, which a very important person in a former life of mine always described as my anthem because whenever she heard it she apparently always remembered me singing the tenor solo in it, and which is below.



Lastly, but by no means leastly, Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck's Gaudete Omnes is below.

Enjoy them all!

Kilmarnock music list

The next meeting of RSCM Scottish Voices will be this coming Saturday, 17th April 2010, at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, 1 Dundonald Road, Kilmarnock KA1 1EQ and Choral Evensong will take place at 4pm, lasting around an hour.

The music list, hot off the press this afternoon, is:

Introit: This Joyful Eastertide (Anon - arranged Wood)
Responses: William Smith of Durham
Psalm: 89 vv1-19
Canticles: Healey Willan in E flat
Anthem: Sing Joyfully (William Byrd)

I've found the following on YouTube, which may be of some use for giving the choir an idea of what some of the music sounds like, as a rehearsal aid.  You have to go to 4minutes 8seconds on the Westminster Abbey one to get to the Smith, and it's only the first part (the Preces) they sing.  Part of the second bit (the Responses) is on the next video down, and I couldn't find the rest of it!

Oh, and just for Ruth, Sing Joyfully is performed by a New Zealand choir!

Blow and Greene rehearsal aids

Thanks to Patsy for pointing us in the direction of YouTube to find rehearsal aids for our next meeting in St Mary's Cathedral in Glasgow in about 3 weeks!

Below you will find the videos she mentioned in her comment. The Blow in particular is handy as the images are of the sheet music!

Just click on the big triangle in the middle of each frame below to play the video.