Gaudete - An Earworm from Medieval Times

[WMcD]

It is more appropriate for Christmas but Easter needs joy too.

Steel Eye Span (big in the 1970s)

More sophisticated.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbKWk6RzaiM

With a bit of snazzy percussion from the old days.

And the remarkable story.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaudete

WMcD

Edited March 26, 2016 by WMcD

[oldtimer]

I have posted the Steel Eye Span version before, always a favorite.  Thanks.

[LarryC]

Very interesting.  I don't get to hear enough of how musical works span the centuries.

 

One remarkable story is the durable hymn, Ave maris stella ("Hail star of the sea"), a Marian hymn thought to have first been written in the 9th century.  See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ave_Maris_Stella

 

Here is a purportedly early version:, but probably not from that far back:

 

Skipping ahead a few centuries is the superlative version composed by Claudio Monteverdi for his Vespers of the Blessed Virgin 1610:  

Note the use of Monteverdi's orchestration with period instruments (only 2 solo violins, viola, and 2 cellos, cornettos, trombones, and two theorbos (the long-necked lute)).  There are eight vocal parts.  This is a work of stunning greatness IMO, solidly based on the earlier Medieval version posted just above it.

Edited March 27, 2016 by LarryC

[Mallette]

Such wonderful stuff!  Thanks, Gil and Larry.  Blessed my day. 

 

If you're in a mode for a quick tour of religious music you might be interested in my take on it here.  I didn't select the examples for their source quality as much as their appropriateness to the subject and, of course, the notes are sparse as it was designed as a presentation.  However, some interesting stuff you don't find every day in there.

 

Looking forward to the most important day of the year for Christians tomorrow, and my first in over 45 years back in my home parish. 

 

Dave

[Marvel]

My wife and I attended the Sat. Vigil Mass at our parish. Sadly a Novus Ordo parish, but we have an incredible priest there. Still brought tears, and we had many adults baptized for the first time, and a few converts. Our pastor's teaching is always superb, and it it wasn't, we'd be off somewhere else. Three hours...

 

Most only come tot eh Sunday service which doesn't cover as much ground.

[RT FAN]

I saw Steeleye Span many times over the years, but never saw them play Gaudete live. Maddy Prior has a wonderful voice, their early albums with Ashley Hutchings & Martin Carthy are important British/Irish folk rock issues.

[Dr Morbius]

I'm starting to get into religious music myself,  Gregorian chants and such. I think Klipsch speakers bring out the best in those recordings. For me anyway!

[oldtimer]

a Novus Ordo parish,

 

is that what it's called?  All I know is I don't like mass anymore. 

[Mallette]

All I know is I don't like mass anymore.

 

The observance of mass differs widely, so that's a lot like saying you don't like potatoes anymore.  But, like potatoes, it's basically a variation on a very set sequence and theme.  I am happy as a clam back in my home parish where a quarter or so of the mass is Latin and the gospel is chanted.  Love incense, but frankincense is pungent to say the least and our nave fills with it readily.  Doesn't pay to take a deep breath to belt out a response or hymn as you can choke. 

 

Religious preference aside (as it must remain here), an Anglican, Roman, or Orthodox high mass is magnificent theatre and well worth experiencing something that a person from 300 AD would feel perfectly at home with.  This is probably the one experience common to about half the world now for 1800 years.

 

Price is right, too.

 

Dave

Edited March 30, 2016 by Mallette

[oldtimer]

I like potatoes too.  But mass has been ruined as far as I can experience.  I need a time machine.

[Mallette]

I need a time machine.

 

That's exactly why I am so happy.  The very same experience in my parish as when I first attended in 1971.  Oddly, when I told the minister at the door my first time back how long it had been, his response blew me away: "Is this religion as you remember it" with a big smile.

 

Yes, it is.

 

Dave

[oldtimer]

OK quit bragging.  I might just go full Druid, unless Orthos will take me without schooling.

Edited March 30, 2016 by oldtimer

[Mallette]

I might just go full Druid, unless Orthos will take me without schooling.

 

I found a great deal of pleasure in Hindu, Buddhist, and Taoist ceremonies while living in Asia.  Much less strange when explained and experienced in the company of adherents than pictures or video.  Some of these rituals are even older than those of the west. 

 

Dave