Paul, is a startling departure from the Academy of Ancient Music’s usual routine- as an eclipse must have been in ancient times. The work, which illustrates the conversion of St. Tavener’s piece is written for the orchestra plus soprano saxophone, countertenor, tenor, choir-and a percussion ensemble featuring 19 tympani and Tibetan percussion instruments, such as the ritual temple bowl and tamtam. And we’ll hear a little of their early fare before sampling something completely different, a commissioned piece by 20th and 21st century composer John Tavener called Total Eclipse. The English period-instrument orchestra the Academy of Ancient Music is best known for…well….ancient music. 16: Chorus: Oh first created beam (3:34) The Aria Total Eclipse, followed by a recitative and then the Chorus Oh First Created Beam, from a recording of George Friederich Handel’s Oratorio Samson by The Sixteen under the direction of Harry Christophers. 15 Recit: Since Light So Necessary is to life (1:12) D. Samson: Handel The Sixteen and Harry Christophers Coro 1997 George Friederich Handel D. We’ll hear Total Eclipse, as well as the recitative and chorus that follow in the oratorio, recorded here by The Sixteen under the direction of Harry Christophers. Handel himself eventually lost his sight, and some accounts have described his own aria moving him to tears toward the end of his life. In the famous aria “Total Eclipse,” Samson uses the eclipse as a metaphor for his lost eyesight, bewailing his fortune. His captors put Samson’s eyes out, blinding him. He whispers the secret of his powers to his wife Dalila, who cuts off his hair while he sleeps, rendering him helpless to resist capture by the enemy Philistines. In George Friederich Handel’s oratorio Samson, the title character’s hair gives him supernatural strength. And before that a Gloria composed by “Roy Henry-“ possibly Henry V of England. We heard Leonel Power’s motet Ave Regina Caelorum. 7 Ave Regina Caelorum (2:53) Two pieces recorded by The Binchois Consort. Music for Henry V and the House of Lancaster The Binchois Consort and Andrew Kirkman Hyperion 2011 Henry V? Tr. Both tracks were recorded by The Binchois Consort under the direction of Andrew Kirkman. Then we’ll hear Ave Regina Caelorum by Leonel Power, one of the major players in early 1400s English musical life. First a Gloria, possibly composed by another English King, Henry V. Let’s hear some of the music that might have been in the air at the English Court during the time of James’s captivity. James was a composer as well as a King, and when he returned to Scotland he brought with him the musical styles he’d learned abroad. “In the same yeere the seventeenth day of June, was a terrible eclipse of the Sunne, at three of the clocke at afternoone, the day being darkened over head for the space of one halfe hour together, as though it had been night, and thereup it was called “The Blacke Hour.” Among those with the opportunity to witness the Black Hour was a musical king, James I of Scotland, not so long ago returned from many years’ captivity at the English Court. What would you think? How would you feel? In his 1577 Historie of Scotland, Raphael Holinshed described what happened in 1433. But imagine if you lived in 15th century Scotland and the sun succumbed, without warning, to darkness. Maybe you mapped out your route, booked an AirBandB, or bought a stylish pair of eclipse glasses. Have you ever witnessed an eclipse? If you were among the lucky witnesses to 2017’s total solar eclipse, you probably planned ahead. The text depicts an anguished scene: As darkness falls and Jesus is crucified, he cries out: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me.” It’s a heartfelt cry that Victoria, who was a Catholic priest as well as a composer, must have felt keenly. Tenebræ factæ sunt (4:27) That was Stile Antico singing “Tenebrae factae sunt” from the Spanish Renaissance composer Tomas Luis de Victoria’s Good Friday Responsories. Stile Antico Victoria: Tenebrae Responsories Harmonia Mundi 2018 Tomas Luis de Victoria Tr 9 Good Friday Responsories, Second and Third Nocturns: II. We’ll also sample a dark 2018 release, Rions Noir, from a group with the fascinating name Ratas del Viejo Mundo. From Scotland’s Black Hour to waning sight, we’ll explore eclipse-themed music from across the centuries. Join us this hour as we delve into music that cries out against the gathering dark. You might not know why the sun was disappearing- or, if it would ever return. Eclipses are awe-inspiring even today- but imagine witnessing an eclipse in the days before dollar- store glasses.
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