For Your Listening Pleasure

"J. S. Bach: Mass in B Minor (Part 2)" After the death of Augustus II in 1733, five months of mourning followed, during which all public music-making was suspended. Bach used the opportunity to work on the composition of a Missa, a portion of the liturgy sung in Latin and common to both the Lutheran and Roman Catholic rites. His aim was to dedicate the work to the new sovereign Augustus III, a Catholic, with the hope of obtaining the title "Electoral Saxon Court Composer” (Bach eventually was made court composer to Augustus III in 1736.) Details at our archive page @ https://archive.org/details/12Credo [First Time on our Podcasting Channel]

"J. S. Bach: Mass in B Minor (Part 1)" After the death of Augustus II in 1733, five months of mourning followed, during which all public music-making was suspended. Bach used the opportunity to work on the composition of a Missa, a portion of the liturgy sung in Latin and common to both the Lutheran and Roman Catholic rites. His aim was to dedicate the work to the new sovereign Augustus III, a Catholic, with the hope of obtaining the title "Electoral Saxon Court Composer” (Bach eventually was made court composer to Augustus III in 1736.) Details at our archive page @ https://archive.org/details/04Gloria [First Time on our Podcasting Channel]

"Shellac's Revenge" George Dorrington Cunningham (1878 - 1948) was an important English organist and teacher, who counted among his students the two other eminent British organists on deck here, E. Power Biggs and George Thalben-Ball. There is no doubt that there is a long tradition of organ music in Britain, and it probably dates back to one of the great organ composers of the Baroque era, Georg Fredertic Handel, who elected to become a British subject in 1726. Details at our archive page @ https://archive.org/details/03HandelOrganConcertoNo.13InFM [First Time on our Podcasting Channel]

"Groundhog Day" Groundhog Day is a celebrated on February 2nd in the United States and Canada. According to folklore, if it is cloudy when a groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day, it will leave the burrow, signifying that winter-like weather will soon end. If it is sunny, the groundhog will supposedly see its shadow and retreat back into its burrow, and the winter weather will continue for six more weeks. Details on our archive page @ https://archive.org/details/GroundhogDay

"George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)" Psalm 110 (also known under the Latin name Dixit Dominus), refers in the general sense to a King ruling over the enemies of the Israelites and is regarded by Jews and Christians as referring to the Messiah. Though they translate this Psalm similarly, Christians and Jews interpret its meaning very differently—Jews as referring to a righteous king favored by God to rule over Israel on earth and smite her enemies in battle, and Christians as referring to Jesus literally sitting at God's right hand in heaven as a divine being of equal stature to God. Details on our archive page @ https://archive.org/details/pcast244

"Haendel: Radamisto (Act 3)" London’s Royal Academy of Music was formed in 1720, with sixty-two original subscribers, a place on the stock market, a royal subsidy from George I, and annual subscribers for each season. Their financial resources were secure and the directors sought to engage to best singers from Italy, and they hired composers in residence as well. George Frederic Handel was hired as master of the orchestra and given an annual salary. Between 1711 and 1740 Handel wrote upwards of 40 Italian operas, most of which are stunning masterpieces of the form. Radamisto, was Handel's first opera composed for the Academy. Details at our archive page @ https://archive.org/details/rada-04 [First Time on our Podcasting Channel]

Just in time for the forthcoming Winter Carnival season, this week, a montage wholly dedicated to carnivals and festivals, featuring music by Schumann and Respighi. Read our commentary on January 31 @ https://itywltmt.blogspot.com/, details @ https://archive.org/details/pcast332-Playlist

"Haendel: Radamisto (Act 2)" London’s Royal Academy of Music was formed in 1720, with sixty-two original subscribers, a place on the stock market, a royal subsidy from George I, and annual subscribers for each season. Their financial resources were secure and the directors sought to engage to best singers from Italy, and they hired composers in residence as well. George Frederic Handel was hired as master of the orchestra and given an annual salary. Between 1711 and 1740 Handel wrote upwards of 40 Italian operas, most of which are stunning masterpieces of the form. Radamisto, was Handel's first opera composed for the Academy. Details at our archive page @ https://archive.org/details/rada-04 [First Time on our Podcasting Channel]

"Haendel: Radamisto (Act 1)" London’s Royal Academy of Music was formed in 1720, with sixty-two original subscribers, a place on the stock market, a royal subsidy from George I, and annual subscribers for each season. Their financial resources were secure and the directors sought to engage to best singers from Italy, and they hired composers in residence as well. George Frederic Handel was hired as master of the orchestra and given an annual salary. Between 1711 and 1740 Handel wrote upwards of 40 Italian operas, most of which are stunning masterpieces of the form. Radamisto, was Handel's first opera composed for the Academy. Details at our archive page @ https://archive.org/details/rada-04 [First Time on our Podcasting Channel]

"Vivaldi: Trio Sonatas Op. 1" Vivaldi published twelve trio sonatas his opus one in 1705. This edition has only partly survived; today's performers rely on a reprint by Estienne Roger of Amsterdam which dates from around 1715. However, it is assumed that the 1705 edition was in fact a reprint as well and that the first edition could have been from 1703 and may have been published shortly before Vivaldi had been appointed in his post at La Pieta in September of that year. Today’s share is a World premiere recording authorised and based on the Critical Edition of these 12 sonatas by Fabrizio Ammetto, Istituto Italiano Antonio Vivaldi, Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice. Details at our archive page @ https://archive.org/details/LArteDellArcoVivaldiTrioSonatasOp.1 [First Time on our Podcasting Channel]

"Baroque Showcase" Early music, the era when composers start codifying music rather than relying on aural tradition, encapsulates mainly two musical periods – the renaissance and the baroque. Baroque music applies to music composed from approximately 1600 to 1750 and forms a major portion of the "classical music" canon, being widely studied, performed, and listened to. This playlist avoids the composers we’ve often programmed in past montages and provides a modest sampling of compositions by other baroque-era composers. Details at our archive page @ https://archive.org/details/Pcast123 https://archive.org/details/pcast241

"Organ Music Before Bach" This listener guide provides an overview of the music that stands as a foundation for Bach’s great organ music. Three works on this playlist are by Buxtehude; other composers represented on this disc, which covers the period from the 16th to the 18th centuries, include such well known names as Johann Pachelbel and Georg Böhm, as well as lesser known composers such as Nicolaus Bruhns, Samuel Scheidt and Vincent Lübeck. The wide variety of music presented gives the listener a very good idea of what Bach heard and studied - music which had a great influence on his own compositions. Details at our archive page @ https://archive.org/details/ppyjc61_yahoo_OMBB [First Time on our Podcasting Channel]

“Robert Johnson: Lute Music” Robert Johnson (c. 1583 – 1633) was an English composer and lutenist of the late Tudor and early Jacobean eras. (To complicate things, he is sometimes called "Robert Johnson II" to distinguish him from an earlier Scottish composer…) Details at our archive page @ https://archive.org/details/NigelNorthRobertJohnsonLuteWorksComplete [First Time on our Podcasting Channel]

[Project 366 Listener Guide #122] Leonard Bernstein was a gifted communicator, conductor and composer, who had a long history with the Boston Symphony and the Tanglewood festival. It is there that he interacted with people like Serge Koussevitzky and Aaron Copland, and held conducting master classes where he took people like Seiji Ozawa under his wing. Bernstein’s final concert in Tanglewood featured Bernstein “the conductor” in two major works, and featured BSO assistant conductor Carl St. Clair playing Bernstein “the composer”. All three works are significant in their own way, making this concert truly special. Read our fresh take on January 24 @ http://itywltmt.blogspot.com/ Details @ https://archive.org/details/Pcast018Playlist (ITYWLTMT Montage #18 - 19 Aug. 2011)

“Igor Markevitch (1912-1983)” Markevitch gained important recognition in 1929 when Serge Diaghilev discovered him and commissioned a piano concerto from him. In a letter to the London Times, Diaghilev hailed Markevitch as the composer who would put an end to 'a scandalous period of music ... of cynical-sentimental simplicity'. He produced at least one major work per year during the 1930s. He was rated among the leading contemporary composers of the time, even to the extent of being hailed as "the second Igor", after Igor Stravinsky. Details at our archive page @ https://archive.org/details/pcast248