Category: Program Notes
A Ukrainian Wedding (Program Notes from Nadia Tarnawsky)
The traditional Ukrainian wedding ritual lasts at least a week – sometimes longer. There are some variations from region to region and village to village, but the main outline of the ritual follows the same journey. The young couple is engaged. Various wedding items are made – the wedding bread, the wreaths for the young…
Somewhere In Between: Ivan Moody’s Greek Liturgy
For someone familiar with Greek Orthodox liturgy, today’s performance will echo the experience of actual services, with abbreviations appropriate to a concert. At the same time, those new to the form may experience the performance as though it were liturgically complete even with the adjustments made for a concert context. Cappella Romana presents here the…
Tchaikovsky’s Divine Liturgy: Program Notes
Russian choral artistry, and especially its sacred choral singing, has long enjoyed the admiration of the Western musical world. After hearing the Choir of the Imperial Chapel of St. Petersburg in 1844, Robert Schumann wrote in his diary that “the Chapel is the most wonderful choir we have ever had the occasion of hearing.” Tchaikovsky…
Kastalsky Requiem: Program Notes
Vasily Polikarpovich Titov (c.1650–c.1715) – Cherubic Hymn; Megalynarion Vasily Titov was one of two leading composers of Russian Baroque music, the other being Nikolai Diletsky (c. 1630–80). Titov’s life and work mark the mid-point of the process of Russia’s musical Westernization, which gained new momentum during the reign of Tsar Peter the Great (1689 –1725).…
Psaltikon: The Day of Resurrection
The Historical Development of Easter The celebration of Easter (i.e., Pascha) for Orthodox Christians commences on Saturday morning with a Vesperal Liturgy that comprises psalms, hymns, and Old Testament readings, followed by the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. Pascha is formally inaugurated several hours later, at midnight, in a rush of blazing candles, exuberant…
Ave Maria: Program Notes
Josquin des Prez and Heinrich Isaac were two Renaissance composers with two quite different characters, in music and in life. We know what Isaac’s signature looked like because he dutifully signed the account books as a musical servant of the Emperor Maximilian. We know what Josquin’s signature looked like because he carved it (not at…
Lost Treasures of Armenia
The Holy Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church continues to embody a living tradition of primarily monodic vocal music of exceptional richness and beauty. Though its hymnography is traditionally believed to have commenced with the invention of the Armenian alphabet in the fifth century, and the Hymnal as a canonical collection was definitively closed in the fourteenth…
Christmas in Ukraine
Khrïstos razhdayetsia! Slavite yeho! Christ is born! Glorify Him! When Cappella Romana invited me to prepare this concert “Christmas in Ukraine,” a wealth of musical memories came into my imagination. Since I am of Ukrainian descent, I felt instant inspiration and also a sense of responsibility. How can I represent the many centuries of Ukraine’s sacred…
They Are At Rest – Program Notes
At the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, an armistice was signed which brought to a close the greatest human conflict so far known to man. What had begun as a border dispute in the Balkan States of South-Eastern Europe in 1914, expected to last but a few weeks,…
Notes on Heaven and Earth: A Song of Creation
Heaven and Earth: A Song of Creation Dedicated to Richard Toensing (+2014) and Archimandrite Ephrem Lash (+2016) of blessed memory Program Notes by Richard Barrett, Artistic Director, The Saint John of Damascus Society HEAVEN AND EARTH TICKETS 10/12 SEATTLE TICKETS 10/13 PORTLAND TICKETS 10/14 PORTLAND TICKETS The Saint John of Damascus Society is a sacred arts…
Venice in the East
Venice In The East: April 27-29, 2018 Program Notes by Alexander Lingas From its emergence as a significant political entity in the sixth century under the rule of the Eastern Roman (“Byzantine”) Empire to the dissolution of the Republic by Napoleon in 1797, the city of Venice remained closely tied to the Greek East. Following…
Machaut: Messe de Nostre Dame
Guillaume de Machaut (1300-1377) Guillaume de Machaut’s Messe de Nostre Dame (c. 1360-65) began to attract great interest during the 20th century. It is the first mass composed for four voices with a known composer, and as such, it is widely considered to mark the beginning of a new musical era. In addition, Machaut himself…
You must be logged in to post a comment.