I enjoy these when you put them up here. Sometimes I see things I wouldn't otherwise.
Not apropos to this video, but related to the holiday music theme: over the last couple of years, my appreciation for the old carol "Gaudete" has really grown. But over this last weekend I was thinking, as I hummed some of the parts to myself, that I'm not sure the song really shines without the acoustics of a cathedral behind it.
Gaudete came back into common knowledge when Steeleye Span did it in 1973. It was apparently a single in the UK, but I first heard it when a pianist we sometimes played with, who worked in a record store< brought me in, pulled out "Below the Salt" the album and put this on, grinning. I was captivated, bought the album and have been a SS and then Maddy Prior fan ever since. That version did have the cathedral, monks processing, sound to it, which was part of the charm.
I believe it was originally Finnish! It is very typical of those medieval arrangements common when few were literate. The chorus is learned by everyone while the verses are sung by a trained leader. Lots of Black Spirituals have that form as well, and if you look for it you can see it the world over.
I enjoy these when you put them up here. Sometimes I see things I wouldn't otherwise.
ReplyDeleteNot apropos to this video, but related to the holiday music theme: over the last couple of years, my appreciation for the old carol "Gaudete" has really grown. But over this last weekend I was thinking, as I hummed some of the parts to myself, that I'm not sure the song really shines without the acoustics of a cathedral behind it.
Gaudete came back into common knowledge when Steeleye Span did it in 1973. It was apparently a single in the UK, but I first heard it when a pianist we sometimes played with, who worked in a record store< brought me in, pulled out "Below the Salt" the album and put this on, grinning. I was captivated, bought the album and have been a SS and then Maddy Prior fan ever since. That version did have the cathedral, monks processing, sound to it, which was part of the charm.
ReplyDeleteI believe it was originally Finnish! It is very typical of those medieval arrangements common when few were literate. The chorus is learned by everyone while the verses are sung by a trained leader. Lots of Black Spirituals have that form as well, and if you look for it you can see it the world over.