The Toronto of my youth was a city transitioning from what one wag labelled a "quaint Presbyterian backwater" - a city that used to chain down the park swings on Sundays so that nobody could play on them - to the multicultural, though unaffordable (!) metropolis that it is today. If Sundays were somewhat restrictive, even oppressive, they were also peaceful and contemplative. The best of Healey Willan's music reflects this aspect of repose. We will hear one of his numerous Missa Brevis, along with music by the 18th Century French composer Jacques Duphly, and by Jean Sibelius; a composer who even in the early 60's in Toronto was considered by certain concert goers, particularly of the blue-rinsed dowager set, as "too modern". A quaint Presbyterian backwater indeed...
Jacques Duphly: Pièces de Clavecin, Le 4-ième livre Hilbrand Borkent, fortepiano - Hilbrand Borkent - Attacca Babel |
La de Juigné (d’un stil noble et tendre) – La de Sartine – La de Drummond (Rondeau Gracieux) – La de Vaucanson – La de Pothouïn (Rondeau) – La de Buq |
Healey Willan: Missa Brevis No, 7 in G Minor, “O westron wynde” The Choirs of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene; Robert Hunter Bell, director - Willan: Tenebrae Responsaries - Virgin Classics |
I. Kyrie
II. Sanctus & Benedictus III. Agnus Dei |
Jean Sibelius: Symphony No. 7 in C Major, Op. 106 Philharmonia Orchestra; Vladimir Ashkenazy, conductor - Sibelius: Symphonies 3, 5, 6 & 7, etc. - London |
Before Sunday shopping I could ride my bike around downtown with no traffic. It was great!;-) Nice tunes! Gonna listen.
9:44 AM, January 26th, 2022