Carissimi, Handel and a fateful vow
Carus editor Barbara Mohn explores Carissimi’s and Handel’s musical settings of the Old Testament story of Jephthah and his daughter.
Music stories
Did you know where Handel lived and worked in London? Or why Mozart composed his C Minor Mass? In this section you will find fascinating articles on interesting connections between choral works and composers.
Bach 300: The year 1723 and its repercussions
Renowned Bach expert Prof. Christoph Wolff explains why 1723 was a turning point in J.S. Bach’s creative and compositional career.
George Frideric Handel: well connected in Great Britain
Although George Frideric Handel was born in 1685 in Halle an der Saale, he is now admired above all as an English composer. But he was a cosmopolitan. He travelled with enthusiasm throughout Europe and lived in several different cities. In 1710, he moved to London. Here he devoted himself first and foremost to studying the English language, music, and culture – but he also composed constantly and very successfully. But read for yourself!
Josef Gabriel Rheinberger’s Musica Sacra
Church music was particularly dear to the Liechtenstein composer Josef Gabriel Rheinberger. But he was not a follower of the prevalent Cecilianism movement of his time. He strove instead for emotional warmth and sensuality in his musical language, rather than serene austerity. In his works he found his own individual sound, combining traditional structures with tension-laden harmonic writing in equal measure. Read more!
Beethoven’s instrumental works with text settings
The “Moonlight Sonata” sung as a “Kyrie”, the slow movement from Beethoven’s 7th Symphony as a “Persian Nocturne” for choir – these vocal interpretations of Beethoven’s instrumental works may surprise you, but they will also convince. A tradition of arranging, incidentally, which was already well-established in Beethoven’s time. And every now and then, these arrangements for choir also reveal aspects of the compositions which were previously hidden.
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.
Psalm settings as a cry for help and comfort
At a time of great changes in which the uncertain, the unpredictable, indeed, even the unsettling can become the new normal, it is the psalms in particular which can offer comfort, confidence, and hope – not only for believers, but also for people who have little or no faith.
In search of Bach in his music library
It is an exciting undertaking to research the intellectual and musical horizons of a great composer. What Bach was interested in, whether it be musical, literary, theological or even the natural sciences, what was in his music cabinet apart from his own compositions – this sometimes arouses greater attention than studying well-known works by the composer for the umpteenth time.
Monteverdi’s Forest
It is a repertoire from which quite different programs can be derived – both in terms of length, scoring, level of difficulty (which is moderate in many compositions), but also in terms of fundamental conception: possibilities would be to focus on either a feasible liturgical sequence or a musical exploration of different aspects of the Selva.
The Te Deum in the History of Music
The Te Deum is an early Christian hymn based on a combination of biblical quotations. Discover how composers including Mozart, Mendelssohn, Bruckner and Verdi have set this timeless hymn.
