st mark’s choir notes - constant...

ST MARK’S CHOIR NOTES February 2017 Volume 36 Song Lyrics: Glory to God in the Highest, and peace to his people on earth. Lord God heavenly King Almighty God and Father, we

worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your Glory. Lord Jesus Christ only son of the Father, Lord God Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the

world have mercy on us. You are seated at the right hand of the Father, receive our prayer, for you alone are the Holy one, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the most High Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father, Amen. On the Choir Calendar

Anthems: February: Sun. Feb. 5th --- If ye love me – Tallis--Ox. --- #29, pg. # 98. Sun. Feb. 19th --- Be still – Evans ---NEW---Flex. --- #3, pg.#10. March: Sun. Mar.5th ---Thou wilt keep Him ---Wesley --- Sheet Sun Mar.19th --- Irish Blessing

---Chilcott --- Flex. #2, pg. #128.

Quizzical Question: Who is He? He was born on the 4th of March in 1678 in Venice. He was baptized by the midwife immediately following his birth which has led to the belief that his life was in danger. The infant may have been in poor health which is why he was baptized immediately following his birth, or he may have been baptized right away because an earthquake shook the city that day & in the trauma of the earthquake, his mother may have dedicated him to the priesthood. His official church baptism took place two months after his birth at San Giovanni Church, Bragora, Sestiere di Castello, Venice. He was one of 9 children born to Giovanni Battista & Camilla Calicchio. His father, Giovanni was a barber before he became a professional violinist & was one of the founders of the Sovvegno dei musicisti di Santa Cecillia, an association for musicians. It is believed that Giovanni began to teach his son the violin at a young age & father & son toured Venice as violinists. It is possible that the president of the Sovvengino, Giovanni Legrenzi (1626-1690) who was an early

ST MARK’S CHOIR NOTES February 2017 Volume 36 Baroque composer & the maestro di cappella at St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice gave the young violinist his first lessons in composition. In 1671 at the age of 13, the young violinist composed his first work Laetatus sum (RV Anh 31) which Luxembourg scholar Walter Kolneder (1910-1994)had discerned shows the influence of Legrenzi’s style. This young teenager would go on to become a well-known composer, composing many concertos throughout his life. This body of work includes his most famous & revolutionary composition of 1723. It also includes more than 500 other concertos with some 350 of these being for solo instrument & strings, of which 230 were for violin with the others being for a variety of other instruments, sinfonias, sonatas, & chamber music. Who is He?

No “Birthday Babies” on the choir calendar in February….

The Funnies or Moaners & Groaners: WARNING: …New Unstoppable Virus...

.............

AGEING ............ I thought you know about this e-mail virus. Even the most advanced programs from Norton or McAfee cannot take care of this one. It appears to affect those who were born prior to 1955. SYMPTOMS: 1. Causes you to send the same e-mail twice. Done that! 2. Causes you to send a blank e-mail! That too! 3. Causes you to send e-mail to the wrong person. Yep! 4. Causes you to send it back to the person who sent it to you. Aha! 5. Causes you to forget to attach the attachment. Well well! 6. Causes you to hit "SEND" before you've finished. Oh, no not again!

ST MARK’S CHOIR NOTES February 2017 Volume 36 7. Causes you to hit "DELETE" instead of "SEND." And I just hate that! 8. Causes you to hit "SEND" when you should "DELETE." Oh XXXX!!! IT'S CALLED THE "C-NILE VIRUS." (a friend sent this to us recently & I groaned at the “Punch Line” then moaned as it seems I have most of these “SYMPTOMS”).

Quizzical Question Answer: Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (1678-1741) was a virtuoso violinist & composer who is recognized as one of the great Baroque composers. His

influence during his lifetime was

widespread across Europe. As well as composing concertos for the violin & other instruments, he composed more than 40

operas & a large body of sacred choral music. He also had

success staging operas in Venice, Mantua & Vienna.

As well as being a composer & violinist, he was also a teacher & cleric. Perhaps his mother, Camilla’s dedication to the priesthood at his birth foresaw a future for the infant, as in 1693 at the age of 15, he began to study for the priesthood. He was ordained at the age of 25 in 1703 & was soon given the nickname of il Prete Rosso, “The Red Priest” referring to his red hair, a family trait. However, his health was problematic with symptoms of strettezza di petto (tightness of the chest) which has been interpreted as a form of asthma & shortly after his ordination, he was given a dispensation from celebrating the Mass due to his ill health, after which time, he seems to have withdrawn from priestly duties, though, he remained a priest. By the age 24,

perhaps in part, due to his father’s earlier teaching, Vivaldi had acquired extensive music

knowledge. This knowledge would serve him well as in 1703 at the age of 25, he would begin employment at the Pio Ospedale della Pieta

ST MARK’S CHOIR NOTES February 2017 Volume 36 (Devout Hospital of Mercy) a convent, orphanage & music school in Venice as maestro di violin. The Pieta was originally established as a hotel for the Crusaders. As the Crusades ended, it changed by degrees into a charitable institution for orphans & abandoned girls. The original building of the Ospedale Orphange (right side of photo) is currently The Metropole Hotel & Restaurant complex. The Church of the Santa Maria (left on the photo) is known today as Vivaldi’s church although it wasn’t built until 2 decades after his death with the façade being only being completed in the early 20th C. There is commemorative plaque for Vivaldi located beside the site of Ospedale Della Pieta Orphanage where from 1703-1715 & again from 1723-1740, he would work. Over the next 30 years of his life, he composed most of his major works beginning with the first collection of his works Connor Cassara published in 1705. Many of Vivaldi’s compositions were written for the female music ensemble at the orphanage. The girls housed there formed the choir and they were the instrumentalists in the orchestra. During his tenure at the orphanage, he also held the positions of viola all’inglese, maestro di coro & maestro de’ concerti. The maestro di coro position was one

that particularly required a lot of time & work as Vivaldi had to compose an oratorio or concerto at every feast, as well as, teach the students both music theory & how to play certain instruments. Vivaldi’s relationship with the board of directors of the orphanage was often strained, wherein, the board members would take a yearly vote on keeping him as a teacher. The vote was seldom unanimous & went against him in 1709, but he was called back a year later, suggesting that the board realized the value of his role to the orphanage. In 1717 or 1718, Vivaldi was offered a new prestigious position as Maestro di Cappella of the court of prince Philip of Hesse-Darmstadt (1671-1736) governor of Mantua. He moved to Mantua for 3 years & produced several operas. In 1721 & 1722, he presented a pastoral drama & an oratorio in Milan, & moved to Rome in 1722 where he introduced his operas’ new style to that city, & played for the new pope Benedict XIII (1649-1730). It was during his time in Mantua about 1723 that he composed his best-known work: The Four Seasons. This series of four-violin concertos depicts scenes for each season with three of the concerti being of original conception, while the first “Spring”

ST MARK’S CHOIR NOTES February 2017 Volume 36 borrows motifs from a Sinfonia in the first act of his contemporaneous opera II Giustino. The inspiration for the concertos was most likely the countryside around Mantua. The concertos were revolutionary in music composition as in them Vivaldi represented all manner of nature. Each concerto is associated with a sonnet, possibly by the composer’s descripting moods & scenes for each of the four seasons in the music. This work has been described as an outstanding instance of pre-19th C. program music. The work was published in Amsterdam by Michel-Charles Le Cene (1684-1734, French printer) in 1725 as the first four concertos in a collection of twelve, II cimento dell’armonia e dell’inventione, Opus 8. At the height of his career, Vivaldi received many commissions from European nobility & royalty. His Opus 9, La Cetra was dedicated to Emperor Charles VI (1685-1740) whom Vivaldi met in 1728 while the Emperor was visiting Trieste, Italy to oversee the construction of a new port. Vivaldi had moved back to Italy in 1725 after his stay in Mantua. Emperor Charles admired the music of the “Red Priest” & is said to have spoken with the composer more during that one visit than he’d spoken to his ministers in 2 yrs. Charles gave

Vivaldi the title of knight, a gold medal & an invitation to Vienna. Vivaldi gifted the Emperor with a manuscript copy of La Cetra, a set of concerti which was almost completely different from the set of the same title published as Opus 9 which the composer had dedicated to the Emperor. It is suggested that the printing of the work was probably delayed which forced Vivadi to gather an improvised collection to give to Charles. Like many composers of his time, Vivaldi’s final years found him in financial difficulties. His compositions were no longer held in high esteem in Venice as changing musical tastes of the day quickly made his work outmoded. To finance a move to Vienna where he hoped to find preferment with the Emperor Charles, Vivaldi sold a sizeable number of his manuscripts for paltry pieces. In 1740, he moved to Vienna & took up residency near the Karntnertortheater where he hoped to stage operas & find a benefactor in the Emperor. However, Emperor Charles died in 1740 shortly after the Vivaldi’s arrival in Vienna which left the composer without any royal protection or steady source of income. Vivaldi died in 1741 & was buried in a simple grave in a burial ground owned by the public

ST MARK’S CHOIR NOTES February 2017 Volume 36 hospital fund. His funeral was held at St. Stephen’s Cathedral & with no music being performed at that service, the young Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) who’d just begun his musical career as a choirboy where he trained & worked for 9 years did not take part in Vivaldi’s funeral. The funeral cost with a ‘Kleingelaut’ was 19 Gulden 45 Kreuzer which was considered rather expensive for the lowest class of peal of bells. After his death, Vivaldi’s popularity dwindled & after the Baroque period, his published concerti became relatively unknown & were largely ignored with even his most famous work The Four Seasons being unknown during the Classical & Romantic periods. The 20th C. saw a revival taking place thanks to several people who were interested in Vivaldi’s works with many of his manuscripts being rediscovered & his unpublished manuscripts being resurrected. Since WWII, Vivaldi’s compositions have enjoyed a wide success with some historically informed performances having taken place often on “original instruments” which has increased his fame still further. Discoveries of Vivaldi’s works have taken place as recently as 2003, 2005 & with Vivaldi’s Arigippo (RV 697) lost from 1730 being found in 2006. It

was performed at Prague Castle in May 2008. In 2005 The ABC Radio National, Australia commissioned a play about the composer: The Angel and the Red Priest. It was later adapted for the stage & presented at the Adelaide Festival of Arts. In 2008 a children’s book I, Vivaldi was written which aids in keeping Vivaldi’s name & work alive in our time. In June of 2017, St. Mark’s Choir & Music Niagara will further keep the composer’s work alive during our concert in Celebration of the 225th Anniversary of the arrival Rev. Robert Addison to NOTL & St. Mark’s Church with our performance of: Vivaldi’s Gloria. (quiz info-book.google.com; google.ca; kimteter.com; wikivisually.com; Wikipedia .org; songlyrics.pg.1, Gloria—from my copy with Michael Tansley music,2013—an English translation for Latin words in Vivaldi’s “Gloria”- on the webpg. listed which has the traditional language from the “Book of Common Prayer & a modern language in posted-Vatican II vernacular--wiki/index.php/Gloria).

Recap of Message From: MICHAEL TANSLEY

Subject: New initiative To ALL Choristers Since the formation of a Carolling group from St. Marks a couple of years ago, I have been mulling over the possibility of a VOCAL OCTET which would specialise in Madrigals and Part Songs, of which there is a

ST MARK’S CHOIR NOTES February 2017 Volume 36 wealth of wonderful music. Ideally, I am looking for independently good sight-singers with a sensitivity to choral blend, and who wish to work towards performance opportunities. I envisage meeting once every TWO weeks from Oct. – Dec. and Apr. – June. I require TWO singers per part (SATB). If this interests you, or someone you know, please speak to me in the next while. Rehearsal days, dates, and times are negotiable at this time. Michael

Psalm 361 There is a voice of

rebellion deep in the heart of the wicked;*there is no fear of God before their eyes.

2

They flatter themselves in their own eyes*that their hateful sin will not be found out.

3 The words of their mouths are wicked and deceitful;*they have left off acting wisely and doing good.

4 They think up wickedness upon their beds and have set themselves in no good way;* they do not abhor that which is evil.

5 Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens,*and your faithfulness to the clouds.

6 Your righteousness is like the strong mountains, your justice like the great deep;* you save both human and beast, O Lord.

7 How priceless is your love, O God!* your people take refuge under the shadow of your wings.

ST MARK’S CHOIR NOTES February 2017 Volume 36

8 They feast upon the abundance of your house;* you give them drink from the river of your delights.

9 For with you is the well of life,*and in your light we see light.

10

Continue your loving-kindness to those who know you,*and your favour to those who are true of heart.

11

Let not the foot of the proud come near me,* nor the hand of the wicked push me aside.

12

See how they are fallen, those who work wickedness!*they are cast down and shall not be able to rise.

O God, the fountain and source of everlasting life, in your light we see light: increase in us the brightness of knowledgethat we may be lightened with the radiance of your wisdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (on-line resources-psalm--Anglicans on-line-Liturgical Resources).

Well, I guess that’s about it for this edition of St. Mark’s Notes.


All the paths of the Lord are love and faithfulness* to those who keep his covenant and his testimonies. HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL!!!

st mark’s choir notes - constant...

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