The 19th century poet Christina Rossetti (1830-1894) gave the world a great gift in her masterful poem about the birth of Christ, “In the Bleak Midwinter”. Certain verses of the poem are immediately familiar to most Christians through its celebrated musical setting by Gustav Holst (1874-1934). Both poet and composer were English-born despite their [...]
Roman Catholics venerate the extraordinary 4th century poet and writer known as Ephrem the Syrian together with the Syriac Orthodox Church. St. Ephrem is a canonized saint in both traditions and was named a Doctor of the Church by Pope Benedict XV in 1920. Ephrem served as a deacon in his homeland of Nisbis [...]
The Shepherd English composer, choirmaster and conductor, John Rutter, sets the most famous of all psalms (Psalm 23, “The Lord is my Shepherd”) to music in an exquisite piece of art that incorporates voice, orchestra and vivid musical imagery. This commentary is the first of two on Rutter's piece. Part 1 focuses on the [...]
The Sheep English choirmaster, John Rutter, established the Cambridge Singers in the early 1980s for the purpose of producing musical recordings. They have been amazingly prolific with nearly forty albums in their vast repertoire. In The Lord is My Shepherd we hear a mixed choir of men’s and women’s voices intertwining effortlessly with the [...]
I’m sure that the 19th century English hymn writer, Frances Havergal, never imagined her unassuming hymn, “Take My Life and Let It Be” (1874), would be brought out of its obscurity and made into an enchanting devotional piece nearly 150 years after she wrote it. The poetry is simple, and the traditional hymn tune [...]
The French creator of the soul-stirring Pie Jesu, Gabriel Fauré, was one of the premier composers and directors of the 19th/20th centuries though, surprisingly, he was not a man of deep faith. Yet, he must have had a mystical soul. The Pie Jesu is the centerpiece of Fauré’s Requiem, which he completed in 1890, [...]