Friday, April 28

I have come across this gem. "O Magnum Mysterium" - Robert Shaw Chamber Singers. Check it out.

At 1:03 PM, May 01, 2006, Cap Stewart said...: Ah, a soothing and reverential contemplation on the birth of Christ. Thanks for posting this. I don’t know if there’s anything else in the world that beats choral music. The human voice is indeed the most beautiful of all musical instruments—showing the masterful creativity of our Creator.

Although I’m a little confused. This is a motet, which, if I understand correctly, is supposed to have a polyphonic texture. Maybe I’m wrong, but I really only hear one melodic line with harmonic accompaniment (i.e., homophonic texture).
At 2:27 PM, May 01, 2006, Squatty said...: Well Cap, this piece follows the Palestrina tradition of the Baroque style, maintained by the Vatican, where the motet showed studious craftsmanship, schematic sequences and monotonous harmony.

*Thanks to http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/g_motet.html
At 2:41 PM, May 01, 2006, Cap Stewart said...: So there are two independent lines? Hmm. I still don't hear it...but then again, I'm no music expert either.
At 3:03 PM, May 01, 2006, Holly said...: Um, that's pretty much my favorite song ever. We sang it in my choir freshman year. I'll have to let you listen to our choir CDs... we were really freakin' good.

Squatty Wisdom