Simon Halsey about Elgar’s “The Dream of Gerontius”
Simon Halsey writes in CARUS Highlights about Edward Elgar’s “The Dream of Gerontius” – a masterpiece that deserves more attention.
Oratorio
The following articles on the keyword "Oratorios" have previously appeared in the CARUS blog.Tag Archive for: Oratorio
9 questions to Joachim Linckelmann
Due to the limited sheet music for the wind quintet, Joachim Linckelmann began arranging great choral works for smaller scorings while he was still a student. Today he is responsible for most of the published arrangements in our category “Great choral works in small scorings”.
César Franck: “Les Béatitudes”
César Franck regarded his oratorio “Les béatitudes” as his most important work. The first performance of the version with piano accompaniment was given in Franck’s private apartment. But the “real” premiere of the orchestral version with over 250 performers took place only after the composer’s death in 1891 in Dijon. It was an overwhelming success, as was the Paris premiere in March 1893.
Editorial work on Haydn’s oratorio “Die Jahreszeiten” (The Seasons)
What is an Urtext edition based on if there is no surviving autograph? Which discoveries does a comparison of different sources allow – whether these are copies or printed editions, parts or scores? Where are mistakes always found? The musicologist Ernst Herttrich has edited works including Beethoven’s masses in Urtext editions for Carus. In his new edition of Haydn’s oratorio “Die Jahreszeiten”, he reveals what can be deduced from studying the different sources and why this edition is based on several sources.
In Handel’s footsteps through London
When George Frideric Handel crossed the English Channel the first time in 1710, London was enjoying a huge economic upturn. The building boom altered the cityscape of the second largest city in Europe, with almost 630,000 inhabitants, the financial market grew and experienced the first stockmarket crash, the social contrasts were stark, but a simple musician such as Handel could die a rich man. In the midst of the hustle and bustle of today’s metropolis, we can still set out on a walk in the footsteps of Handel.
Mendelssohn: St. Paul
St. Paul is Philipp Schweizer’s favorite piece because the music and the content go hand in hand and are easily accessible to the listener. The confrontation between those who recognize Christ as the son of God (that is the Christians), and those who hold fast to the Jewish faith could scarcely be portrayed more thrillingly …
Handel: Alexander’s Feast
The favorite piece of Reiner Leister comes from Handel’s Alexander’s Feast with which Handel opened his oratorio season on 19 February 1736 at the Covent Garden Theatre, London. For Reiner Leister, it is here that the power and the emotional force of the music is absolutely clear and unambiguous.
