A performance of Samuel Barber’s evocative, nostalgic “Knoxville: Summer of 1915”, performed here by the gifted soprano Dawn Upshaw, accompanied by the Orchestra of St. Luke’s with David Zinman conducting.
I heard this piece for the first time at a London Symphony Orchestra concert in 2007 and foolishly allowed it to slip from my mind until I recently stumbled upon it once again.
Well worth purchasing this particular recording if you are a Samuel Barber fan.
Leonard Bernstein, here conducting “Chichester Psalms”, his own composition from 1965, performed by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and Wiener Jeunesse Choir, at the Philharmonie Hall, Berlin:
Here in its entirety, because it is great.
Gotta love the 1980s hair, glasses and clothing too.
Awake, psaltery and harp:
I will rouse the dawn!
Make a joyful noise unto the Lord all ye lands.
Serve the Lord with gladness.
Come before His presence with singing.
Know that the Lord, He is God.
It is He that has made us, and not we ourselves.
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Come unto His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His court with praise.
Be thankful unto Him and bless His name.
the Lord is good, His mercy everlasting
And His truth endureth to all generations.
“Let All The World In Every Corner Sing”, part of Five Mystical Songs by Ralph Vaughan Williams:
Performed here by the choir of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London.
Semi-Partisan Politics 