Holst was right

From yesterday's Guardian:

"Accordingly, about 400 scientists voted at the International Astronomical Union meeting in Prague that Pluto would have to be relegated. The decision in Prague is also a posthumous triumph for the composer Gustav Holst, who, invited after the discovery of Pluto to add one more item to his Planets Suite, completed in 1917, said he would rather not. Since then, another composer has tacked one on. Its survival must be in doubt: on the face of it, you can scarcely have something that isn't a planet in a Planets Suite. It is not quite clear how this issue might be resolved, unless by a vote of 400 musicologists, if such a number exists, on the model of the recent assembly in Prague."

Obscure composer of the week:

Johann Christoph Bach (1642-1703). A cousin of JSB, his music is startlingly original with a real gift for colourful word setting and unusual harmonic twists. I’ve done a couple of motets by him in the last few months and heard a cantata for alto and strings sung by a brilliant young countertenor Iestyn Davies. In some ways this music reminds me of a German refraction of Purcell (a contemporary of Johann Christoph Bach), where it continues to sound surprising even after one becomes better acquainted with it.

I’ve also gained a new appreciation for Schutz (kind of the beginning of this wonderful era in German composition that culminated with Bach) as a result of my wall-to-wall-German Baroque week in Cambridge. We had the opportunity to perform the Schutz ‘Seven Last Words of Christ’ in the final concert over the weekend. It is a stunning, beautifully dark work for 5 vocal soloists (four of who share the role of the Evangelist with a low tenor/high baritone as Jesus). The instrumentation is appropriately sombre: 3 violas, 2 cellos and continuo. Schutz manages to look back to the colourfully expressive consort writing of the Renaissance as well as employing Caccini’s method of somewhat speech-like monody. We had a cracking group of soloists and the band played sensitively for the singers. I look forward to singing this work again some Lent in a dark church somewhere...

I'm officially sick of Baroque music for at least a little while.

Choralation MIA

Apologies for Choralation's lack of presence lately. I've been in Cambridge for the last week at the Early Music Summer School and have had limited access to the internet. I hope to pick it up again when I'm back in York next week trying to avoid writing my final essay and learning my recital music.

Back to England, Back to work

Arrived back in the UK yesterday to be pleasantly surprised by the cool weather. Quite a contrast from the scorching heat we had in Philly last week. I have some interesting ideas for posts that will hopefully find their way into Choralation soon. Until then, it's time to conquer my jetlag.