Meeting in Music: Byrd W

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Following the guide below you will be able to create the ultimate HQ rip and upload for sharing here at the Meeting in Music Internet Community or on your own blog if you have one.

RIPPING A CD USING EXACT AUDIO COPY (EAC)

1. Start Exact Audio Copy and load the clean and scratchless CD into you drive.
2. Pressing ALT+G will pull track and album info from the FreeDB database if this feature is set up properly.
3. If no info is found the CD is not registered in the database and you will have to type in the info manually.
4. Adjust the Drive Settings according to the model of your drive and enable the ”Create Log-file” option.
5. Adjust the Compression Settings to rip in Flac format at 768 kBit/s. Alternatively rip in the Ape fomat.
6. Rip the CD by pressing Action -> Test & Copy Image & Create CUE Sheet -> Compressed...
7. Check the log-file to see if any ripping errors or AccurateRip inaccuracies were registered.

SCANNING THE COVERS OF THE ALBUM

1. Scans of the front and back covers should be included if available as should the booklet. 300dpi is standard.

COMPRESSING THE FOLDER USING WINRAR

1. Wrap the audio files and images in a folder marked the composer and album name etc.
2. Set Compression method to ”Store” and the volume size to 200000000. Add a 3% recovery record.
3. Compress the folder using a not-too-obvious filename.

UPLOADING TO A FILEHOST AND SHARING WITH THE WORLD

Now all you need to do is to upload the rar-files to a filehost of your choice. Mega.nz is the standard and most stable option but there are many others and some services even feature upload to multiple filehosts. Finally the download links are ready to be presented on your blog.

THE MEDIEVAL ERA (600 - 1450)

At around 500 AD, western civilization began to emerge from the period known as “The Dark Ages”, the time when invading hordes of Vandals, Huns and Visigoths overran Europe and brought an end to the Roman Empire. For the next ten centuries, the newly emerging Christian Church would dominate Europe, administering justice, instigating “Holy” Crusades against the East, establishing universities, and generally dictating the destiny of music, art and literature

During this time, Pope Gregory I is generally believed to have collected and codified the music known as Gregorian Chant, which was the approved music of the Church. Much later, the University at Notre Dame in Paris saw the creation of a new kind of music called organum.

Secular music was sung all over Europe by the troubadours and trouvères of France, and it was during the Middle Ages that western culture saw the arrival of the first great name in music, Guilliame de Machaut.

THE RENAISSANCE ERA (1450 - 1600)

Generally considered to be from c.1420 to 1600, the Renaissance (which literally means “rebirth”) was a time of great cultural awakening and a flowering of the arts, letters, and sciences throughout Europe.

With the rise of humanism, sacred music began for the first time to break free of the confines of the Church, and a school of composers trained in the Netherlands mastered the art of polyphony in their settings of sacred music. One of the early masters of the Flemish style was Josquin des Prez. These polyphonic traditions reached their culmination in the unsurpassed works of Giovanni da Palestrina.

The late Renaissance also saw in England the flourishing of the English madrigal, the best known of which were composed by such masters as John Dowland, William Byrd, Thomas Morley and others.

THE BAROQUE ERA (1600 - 1750)

Named after the popular ornate architectural style of the time, the Baroque period (c.1600 to 1750) saw composers beginning to rebel against the styles that were prevalent during the High Renaissance. Many monarchs employed composers at their courts, where they were little more than servants expected to churn out music for any desired occasions. The greatest composer of the period, Johann Sebastian Bach, was such a servant. Yet the best composers of the time were able to break new musical ground, and in so doing succeeded in creating an entirely new style of music.

The instrumental concerto became a staple of the Baroque era, and found its strongest exponent in the works of the Venetian composer Antonio Vivaldi. Harpsichord music achieved new heights, due to the works of such masters as Domenico Scarlatti and others. But vocal and choral music still reigned supreme during this age, and culminated in the operas and oratorios of German-born composer George Frideric Handel.

THE CLASSICAL ERA (1750 - 1820)

From roughly 1750 to 1820, artists, architects, and musicians moved away from the heavily ornamented styles of the Baroque and the Rococo, and instead embraced a clean, uncluttered style they thought reminiscent of Classical Greece.

At this time the Austrian capital of Vienna became the musical centre of Europe, and works of the period are often referred to as being in the Viennese style. Composers came from all over Europe to train in and around Vienna, and gradually they developed and formalized the standard musical forms that were to dominate European musical culture for the next several decades. The Classical period reached its majestic culmination with the masterful symphonies, sonatas, and string quartets by the three great composers of the Viennese school: Franz Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven.

During the same period, the first voice of the burgeoning Romantic musical ethic can be found in the music of Viennese composer Franz Schubert.

THE ROMANTIC ERA (1820 - 1910)

The earliest Romantic composers were all born within a few years of each other in the early years of the nineteenth century. These include the great German masters Felix Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann; the Polish poet of the piano Frédéric Chopin; the French genius Hector Berlioz; and the greatest pianistic showman in history, the Hungarian composer Franz Liszt. The field of Italian opera was dominated by Giuseppe Verdi, while German opera was virtually monopolized by Richard Wagner.

Composers like Antonin Dvorak began looking for ways in which they could express the musical soul of their homelands. Legends were therefore used as plots for operas, and folk melodies and dance rhythms were frequently used as inspiration for symphonies and instrumental music.

With the continued enhancement of instruments, plus the invention of new ones, the late Romantic composers of the second half of the nineteenth-century created richer and ever larger symphonies, ballets, and concertos. Two of the giants of this period are the German-born Johannes Brahms and the great Russian melodist Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY ERA (1910 - 1960)

In the early part of the twentieth century music became either outwardly expressive (as in the early symphonic poems of Richard Strauss, the huge symphonies of Gustav Mahler, or the operas of Giacomo Puccini), or more introverted (as in the so-called “impressionist” music of Claude Debussy). The previous century’s tide of Nationalism found a twentieth century advocate in the Hungarian Béla Bartók.

In a time of deepening psychological awareness, the expressionistic music of Arnold Schoenberg and his disciples germinated and flourished for a time.

Twentieth-century music has seen a great coming and going of various movements, among them post-romanticism, serialism and neo-classicism in the earlier years of the century, all of which were practiced at one time or another by Russian composer Igor Stravinsky.

Many of the greatest and best-known composers of the century, including Russian composers Sergei Rachmaninov, Sergei Prokofiev, and Dmitri Shostakovich along with British composers William Walton and Benjamin Britten were those who wrote music directly descended from the approved models of the past, while investing these forms with a style and modernistic tone of their own.

THE LATE 20TH CENTURY ERA (1940 - 2000)

Composers of this era sought to free music from its rigidity, placing the performance above the composition. Similarly, many composers sought to break from traditional performance rituals by incorporating theatre and multimedia into their compositions, going beyond sound itself to achieve their artistic goals. In some cases the line is difficult to draw between genres. Composers were quick to adopt developing electronic technology. As early as the 1940s, composers such as Olivier Messiaen incorporated electronic instruments into live performance. Recording technology was used to produce art music, as well.

The musique concrète of the late 1940s and ’50s was produced by editing together natural and industrial sounds. Steve Reich created music by manipulating tape recordings of people speaking, and later went on to compose process music for traditional instruments based on such recordings. Other notable pioneers of electronic music include Edgard Varèse, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Luigi Nono, and Krzysztof Penderecki.

As more electronic technology matured, so did the music. In the 1950s aleatoric music was first championed by American composer John Cage. Early minimalist compositions of the 1960s such as those by Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass stemmed from aleatoric and electronic music.

THE CONTEMPORARY ERA (from 1975)

In the broadest sense, contemporary music is any music being written in the present day. In the context of classical music the term has been applied to music written in the last quarter century or so, particularly works post-1975. Minimalism was practiced heavily throughout the latter half of the century and has carried over into the 21st century, with composers like Arvo Pärt, Henryk Górecki and John Tavener working in the more popular “mystic minimalism” variant.

Recently there has been increasing stylistic variety, with far too many schools of composition to name or label. However, in general, there are three broad trends. The first is the continuation of modern avant-garde traditions, including musical experimentalism. The second are schools which sought to revitalize a tonal style based on previous common practice. The third focuses on non-functional triadic harmony, exemplified by composers working in the minimalist and related traditions.

2/24/2019

Renaissance Music

Claudio Monteverdi - Amore di Marte

Accademia Piacere, Fahmi Alqhai

Robert Parsons - First Great Service

Voces Cantabiles, Barbara Smith

Orlando di Lasso in Münich

Münchner Dommusik, Karl-Ludwig Nies

Monteverdi, Byrd - Masses for Four Voices

Duodena Cantitans, Petr Danek

[flacs & scans]

6/08/2018

Anglican Choral Tradition [25 CDs]

The roots of the Anglican Choral Tradition predate the formation of the Anglican Church itself. St Sylvester, who was Pope from 314 to 336, founded a school of song in Rome to promote singing technique and learning of the repertoire of plainsong church music. Of course the Anglican Church itself was not founded until the middle of the 16th Century, but being one of the more discreet reformations, aside from the translation of the liturgy into the vernacular, not a whole lot changed from the point of view of the average chorister. However, the following period of alternating puritanical and romanizing backlashes and then the inadvisability of anything smacking of high church in the years leading up to the Restoration, had a rather more severe effect on music in English churches, almost wiping it out entirely for a while.

This enabled choral music in Anglican worship to develop a flavour all of its own as it recovered from the brink of extinction. The relative scarcity of organs after a particularly overzealous spate of puritanical vandalism made an especially deep impact. This scarcity broke the continuity with Roman Catholic traditions and also forced choirs to compensate for the lack of instrumental accompaniment. Even today a choir's duties include supporting the congregational singing, and the Anglican psalm chants can stand alone harmonically without accompaniment. This disruption, along with the time it took for organs to be rebuilt (many of those destroyed in the 17th Century were not rebuilt or replaced for a century and a half after the restoration of the episcopacy), is probably the most significant factor in the early development of the tradition - most of the settings have been centred around the 1662 edition of the Book of Common Prayer, but this is not substantially different from the original 1549 version, so all the upheaval ultimately had a far greater musical impact than it did liturgical.

Towards the end of the 18th Century, pretty much everywhere that was going to build another organ had already done so, and we saw another step towards choirs of the form we see today. There was a movement to improve decorum and presentation in choirs, and this led to the widespread enforcement of a dress code for each choir. The surplice and cassock is a tradition originating in college choirs, particularly those of Oxford. This appears to have been the last major development to pervade the world of Anglican choral music.

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12/15/2017

Byrd and Gibbons [5 CD's]

William Byrd (c.1540-1623)

Masses for 4 & 5 voices, Motets

Philippe de Monte (1521-1603)

Super flumina Babylonis

The Sixteen

Harry Christophers - direction

Label: Virgin 562013 2

Recorded September 1988 & 1989 (2CD)

[flacs & scans]

Download

6/18/2017

William Byrd, by Ursula Duetschler

William Byrd (1543-1623)

Pieces from The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book

Ursula Duetschler - harpsichord

Label: Claves CD 50-9001

Recorded October 1989

[Flac & scans]

Download

1/22/2016

Dutch Organists - Part#8

I will continue my series of recordings of Dutch Organists. Bernard Winsemius is since 1981 appointed organist of the historic organs of the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam, thirty years together with Gustav Leonhardt, a post he still holds today. His main focus lies on the music of the Renaissance and the Baroque. The recordings around Sweelinck are dear to me and still landmarks of how to execute this music on impecable Dutch organs.

Sweelinck: His sources, his influence Vol 1
Bernard Winsemius, Nieuwe kerk Amsterdam
Sweelinck: His sources, his influence Vol 2
Bernard Winsemius, Nieuwe kerk Amsterdam
Sweelinck: His sources, his influence Vol 3
Bernard Winsemius, Edam, Zeerijp & virginal
Famous Dutch Organs Vol 2
Hans van Nieuwkoop, Oosthuizen

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12/23/2015

Christmas to Easter - Dean Close School Chapel Choir

Christmas:
01. Plainsong (Mode i): Veni Redemptor [3'21]
02. John Sheppard: Verbum Caro [4'03]
03. Michael Praetorius: A Great and Mighty Wonder [2'22]
04. Richard Knight: Come Rock His Cradle [4'52]
05. 16th C. French Tune (harmonised by Charles Wood): Ding Dong Merrily on High [1'50]
The Epiphany to Candlemas:
06. Orlando Gibbons: See, See, The Word is Incarnate [6'19]
07. Jacob Handl: Omnes De Saba [1'55]
The Queen's Accession to Quinquagesima:
08. William Byrd: O Lord Make Thy Servant Elizabeth 2'47]
09. Lennox Berkeley: The Lord is My Shpherd [3'37]
Ash Wednesday and Lent:
10. Henry Purcell: Hear My Prayer [2'05]
11. Maurice Greene: Lord Let Me Know Mine End [6'51]
12. William Walton: Litany [2'25]
13. Thomas Tallis: When Rising from the Bed of Death [3'34]
14. W A Mozart: Ave Verum Corpus [2'39]
Psalm Sunday:
15. William Byrd: Bow Thine Ear O Lord [2'25]
Holy Week:
16. Orlando Gibbons: Hosanna to the Son of David [4'21]
17. Palestrina: Agnus Dei [3'07]
Easter:
18. G F Handel: Hallelujah from 'Messiah' [4'35]
19. H J Gauntlett: Ye Choirs of New Jerusalem [2'37]
20. John Taverner: Dum Transisset Sabbatum [3'41]
21. Plainsong (Mode viii): Ad Conum Agni [1'57]

Sacred Music sung by Dean Close School Chapel Choir. Choirmaster Peter Cairns and with Colin Sherratt- organ.

Priory PRCD476 (recorded June 1993; CD not commercially released)

(flacs and scans)
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12/05/2015

Music for harpsichord [7 CD's]

Dr. John Bull (1562-1628)

Keyboard Works

Peter Watchorn - harpsichord

Mahan Esfahani - harpsichord

Label: Musica Omnia MO 0301 (2CD)

Recorded July 2007

10/30/2014

Renaissance Music: Wolkenstein, de la Rue, Byrd, Gabrieli

Oswald von Wolkenstein (1377-1445) and his Italian contempories
Les Menestrels (Viennese ensemble for early music)
Recorded on the occasion of the Landshuter Hofmusiktage 1998, under the motto "German-Italian Relations in Music".
Total Time: 67:04

Pierre de la Rue (c. 1460-1518):
The Complete Magnificats - Three Salve Reginas
VivaVoce
Peter Schubert, Artistic Director
Recorded 2005/2006, Published 2007
2 CDs 61:53 + 58:00

William Byrd (1539/40-1623):
Gradualia (The Marian Masses)
The William Byrd Choir,
Gavin Turner, director
Recorded 1990, re-published 2002
Total Time: 79:39

Giovanni Gabrieli (c. 1553/6-1612):
Canzoni et Sonate Vol I (Music for brass)
London Symphony Orchestra Brass
Eric Crees
Recorded 1996
Total Time: 52:27
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9/20/2014

Summer Nights #10

Last Summer night... Best of English!

Drifting through the magic of Britten's world, including my favourite amongst his stage works: the haunting and sublime Turn of the Screw.
There is a remarkably common musical ground between three absolute masterpieces: Britten's Spring Symphony, Walton's celebrated Belshazzar's Feast and Bernstein's Chichester Psalms.

The BBC album by Maltman is a must-have, combining Vaughan Williams's fine Songs of Travel with John Adams's enchanting orchestration of 4 out of 5 Debussy's Poèmes de Baudelaire, plus a great rendition of Ravel's delightful set Don Quichotte à Dulcinée.

And of course Elgar's glorious Cello Concerto, and a rare and beautiful recording of the grand 2nd Symphony under the baton of the unforgotten Maestro from Kent: Malcolm Sargent.

Michael Tippett's masterpiece, A Child of Our Time, offers a more modern perspective to this post, which winds up with Delius's wonderful ultra-chromatic tone poems, featuring a few recordings of the lovely interlude from A Village Romeo & Juliet, the "Walk to the Paradise Garden", with its late Romantic flair and heady harmonies, gently taking us into a new Autumn.

Benjamin Britten
Spring Symphony Op. 44
Hymn to St. Cecilia Op. 27
5 Flower Songs Op. 47

Alison Hagley, Soprano, Catherine Robbin, Contralto,
John Mark Ainsley, Tenor.
Salisbury Cathedral Choristers & Monteverdi Choir
Philharmonia Orchestra
John Eliot Gardiner
DGG 453 433-2 (1995)
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