FULL Chichester Psalms (Bernstein) Cincinnati OH 2024 Marin Alsop, Elessar DeHoff
Information on the Performance
- Work Title: Chichester Psalms
- Composer: Bernstein Leonard
- Libretto: text arranged by the composer from the Book of Psalms in the original Hebrew. Part 1 uses Psalms 100 and 108, Part 2 uses 2 and 23, and Part 3 uses 131 and 133.
- Venue & Opera Company: Music Hall, Cincinnati, Ohio
- Recorded: November 17, 2024
- Type: Concert Live
- Singers: Elessar DeHoff
- Conductor: Marin Alsop
- Orchestra: Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
- Chorus: May Festival Chorus
- Chorus Master: Matthew Swanson
- Stage Director:
- Costume Designer:
Information about the Recording
- Published by: Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
- Date Published: 2024
- Format: Streaming
- Quality Video: 4 Audio:4
- Subtitles: nosubs
- Video Recording from: vk FULL VIDEO
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE
Program
BERNSTEIN:
Chichester Psalms
SHOSTAKOVICH:
Symphony No. 7, Leningrad
Chichester Psalms is an extended choral composition in three movements by Leonard Bernstein for boy treble or countertenor, choir and orchestra. The text was arranged by the composer from the Book of Psalms in the original Hebrew. Part 1 uses Psalms 100 and 108, Part 2 uses 2 and 23, and Part 3 uses 131 and 133. Bernstein scored the work for a reduced orchestra, but also made a version for an even smaller ensemble of organ, one harp, and percussion.
The work premiered at the Philharmonic Hall in New York City on 15 July 1965, conducted by the composer. That was followed by a performance at Chichester Cathedral as part of the Southern Cathedrals Festival, for which it was commissioned, on 31 July that year, conducted by John Birch.
The Psalms, and the first movement in particular, are noted for the difficulty they pose for the performers. For example, the opening is difficult for the tenors, owing to the unusually wide vocal range, rhythmic complexity, and the consistent presence of strange and difficult-to-maintain parallel 7ths between the tenor and bass parts. The interval of a seventh figures prominently throughout the piece because of its numerological importance in the Judeo-Christian tradition; the first movement is written in the unusual 7/4 meter.
Chichester Psalms significantly features the harp; the full orchestral version requires two intricate harp parts. Bernstein completed the harp parts before composing the accompanying orchestral and choral parts, thus granting the harpists a pivotal role in realizing the music. In rehearsals, he is noted to have requested that the harpists play through the piece before the rest of the orchestra to emphasize the importance of the harps’ role.
Quoted from Wikipedia