5 on Friday -- Set 252

Spinning Friday tunes since 2010...

For anyone who wants to join in, simply choose five pieces of music and post them for other bloggers to enjoy. Then check out the set posted by the other 5 on Friday blogger -- you can sign in over at Golch Central's Rambling Stuff.

By this time next week, we'll be kicking the wrapping paper out of the way and cozying in to enjoy Boxing Day.

So for my final Christmas set of 2014, here are five of my favorite sacred pieces. Wishing you all a very happy and blessed Christmas.

1 - O Come, O Come Emmanuel  --  composer unknown, first documented in a French work dating from the 1400s -- performed by the Robert Shaw Chamber Singers     

2 - O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion -- composed by George Frideric Handel -- performed by Tafelmusik 

3 - Domine Deus  --  composed by Antonio Vivaldi -- performed by Nadine Nassar 

   

4 - Panis Angelicus  -- composed by Cesar Franck -- performed by Elina Garanca 

5 - Wolcum Yole!  --  composed by Benjamin Britten -- performed by Christ Church Cathedral Choir 

Blog 4 Peace -- 7 -- Dona Nobis Pacem -- Grant Us Peace

Today I'm joining with Mimi Lenox and a world of Peace Bloggers as we put our thirst for Peace into the Universe.

This piece is from Vivaldi's Gloria, which my choir is singing at the end of the month. Vivaldi's Gloria is one of my favorite works, and as an alto I love this piece in particular.

On Dona Nobis Pacem day, Vivaldi's work sends out this wish:

"Lamb of God

You who take away the sins of the world

Grant us peace"

I'd like to take a moment to address this wish, sent out into the Universe.

Wishes are a good starting point. You can't get anywhere without wishing for something. Whether you wish you could write a book, or visit a place you've always longed to see, if you don't start by hoping for it, where will you be?

You'll be in the same place you're in now.

The Blog 4 Peace movement asks us to take our wishes a little further than that. On Blog 4 Peace Day, we're asked to fill social media with our hopes for peace, in order to further the worldwide conversation towards peace.

What will that do? you may ask. Just a bunch of bloggers and Facebookers, Twitter users and Pinterest pinners posting about peace.

Well, if you think about Amazon and its algorithms, when a book goes on sale and a good number of people all purchase it on the same day, that activity drives the book higher onto Top 100 or even Top 10 lists. Amazon then starts promoting the book to readers who have bought similar books. Success builds on success.

If we all continue to blog for peace every year on Nov. 4th, if we send out Facebook posts, tweet about peace and pin peace to our Pinterest boards, we will collectively push our wishes and hopes for peace into the Universe's Top 10 algorithm.

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.  

Thanks to the National Chamber Choir of Armenia for such a rich interpretation.

5 on Friday - Set 164

Travis at Trav's Thoughts invites everyone to lay down a short set of music that takes their fancies for his 5 on Friday meme.

On this Easter weekend, I'm sharing some pieces of sacred music appropriate for the celebratory mass on Easter Sunday.

For those who don't celebrate this holiday or who take a more Universalist approach to life, these pieces are so filled with rejoicing in renewal and rediscovery, they speak to those emotions without any need for religious connotation. 

1 - Gloria - composed by Antonio Vivaldi - New Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus  - conducted by Riccardo Mutti

One of my favorite choral pieces ever. So lucky to have sung this with my former choir and an orchestra.

2 - Sanctus - Unknown choral group 

The music ends at the 1:38 mark

3 - Te Deum - composed by Jean-Baptiste Lully

4 -Benedictus - composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Orchestra dei Ducati, conducted by Fausto Pedretti

5 - Agnus Dei, also known as Adagio - composed by Samuel Barber - Dresdner Kreuzchor, directed by Roderich Kreile

Dona Nobis Pacem

Happy BlogBlast for Peace Day!

I dedicate this year's post to all prisoners who have suffered torture throughout the centuries, and who continue to suffer today.

As I write the second book in my Dragonsfyre dark fantasy series featuring Scorpius, the falconer's apprentice turned lord's man, I'm dealing with issues of torture and its psychological aftermath.

This piece by Vivaldi is a beautiful contemplation on true peace being elusive in life, and waiting for us in the afterlife.

However, that doesn't mean we shouldn't reach our hands out to our brothers and sisters who suffer.

To all whose cries have been shielded from those who could hear and offer protection, I offer this post and the book I'm writing.

Peace to all from A Piece of My Mind.

Nulla in mundo pax sincera

In this world
there is no honest peace
free from bitterness

pure and true
sweet Jesus, lies in Thee

Amidst punishment and torment
lives the contented soul,
chaste love its only hope

5 on Friday - Set 117

Travis at Trav's Thoughts invites everyone to lay down a short set of music that takes their fancies for his 5 on Friday meme.





It's all Scorpius, all the time with me this month. Just receiving my critiques from readers, for a next-to-last polish from me before I send it to the print editor. After which will come THE final revision, and then it will be released.


YAY!


And in the meantime, working with Andy Miller, my designer on the book cover, and Caroline Ruyle, my online editor on the book trailer.


And working two overtime shifts a week at my day job.


Definitely not sleeping. Who has time for that...LOL...zzz...


So here's some Scorpius music. I have two You Tube playlists which get a lot of use when I'm writing about this character: my Vivaldi playlist, and my Renaissance playlist.


I previously posted a set of Scorpius music, which you can find HERE.

1 - La spagna quarta recercada - composed by Diego Ortiz - performed by Ernst Stoltz


This is the musical heart of my Scorpius character.



2 - Vedro con mio diletto (I will see with delight) - composed by Vivaldi - performed by Sonia Prina with Il Guardino Armonico



3 - Italian Song with Variations - composed by Diego Fernandez de Huete - performed by Nicanor Zabaleta



4 - Gypsy Baroque, Uhrovska collection - performed by Ensemble Caprice



5 - In Trutina (In the balance) from Carmina Burana - composed by Carl Orff - performed by Sylvia Greenberg with Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra

5 on Friday - Set 77

Travis at Trav's Thoughts invites everyone to lay down a short set of music that takes their fancies for his 5 on Friday meme.

Last week urban fantasy writer A.C. Ruttan shared a playlist from her creative process as she wrote Incarnate.

This week, I'll take you inside some of the inspiration for my Scorpius serial - his boyhood backstory - as well as the adult storyline for which I received requests at the writers' conference. Lots of Scorpius on the brain, these days, from two age ranges.

1 - Stabat Mater by Vivaldi - Philippe Jaroussky

The opening section is my favorite part (first 2 minutes.)



2 - La Stravaganza Concerto 6 in G minor by Vivaldi - Sir Neville Marriner, The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields

The section that begins at the 2:50 mark is the part that belongs to my Scorpius tale.



3 - Recercada No. 1 by Diego Ortiz - Flanders Recorder Quartet



4 - Mandolin Music for Renaissance Faires - Allan and Alexandra Alexander



5 - Credo from Missa da Pacem by Jacobus de Kerle - Paul van Nevel, Huelgas Ensemble



An added bonus track:

Last weekend I shot some footage for my uncle, who played a gig at an art gallery with my aunt. Here's the video of one of their repertoire, Wave by Antonio Carlos Jobim. In the video you'll see kids playing on an art piece down at the Halifax waterfront entitled Wave.

The footage I shot was the musical performance and my uncle's art pieces on display at the gallery, the stuff outside the gallery, etc.

Uncle Charlie added other footage he'd shot of the waterfront area and Halifax Harbour.

Thursday Thirteen - 14 - 13 Favorite Pieces of Classical Music

1 - Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker
Pas de Deux: Adagio and Coda (romantic dance between the Sugar Plum Fairy and either the Prince or Peter)

2 - Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake
No. 28 and 29 Scene finale (the battle between Siegfried and Rothbart at the end, the tragic parting of the Swan and Siegfried)


















3 - Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet
No. 19-21 The Balcony scene/ Romeo's variation/ Love Dance



















4 - Puccini's Tosca
"E Lucevan le stelle" ("And the stars were shining") / the prison lament of painter Mario Cavaradossi

"How the stars seemed to shimmer,
the sweet scents of the garden,
how the creaking gate whispered,
and a footstep skimmed over the sand,
how she then entered, so fragrant,
and then fell into my two arms!
Ah sweetest of kiss, languorous caresses,
while I stood trembling, searching her features
concealed by her mantle. My dreams of pure love,
forgotten forever! All of it's gone now!
I die hopeless, despairing, and never before
have I loved life like this!"

















5 - Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries
Beginning of Act III of "Die Walkure" / about eight minutes in length, the Ride consists of four Valkyrie sisters who prepare to transport the fallen heroes to Valhalla. As the four other sisters join them, the Valkyries greet one another with their battle cries as the orchestra provides the thunderous, hair-on-the-back-of-my-neck-raising motif.
















6 - Puccini's Turandot
"Nessun dorma" ("None shall sleep") / the hope for victory by Calaf that he will be the one to finally win the heart of Princess Turandot

"The Prince - Nobody shall sleep!... Nobody shall sleep! Even you, o Princess, in your cold room, watch the stars, that tremble with love and with hope.
But my secret is hidden within me, my name no one shall know... No!...No!... On your mouth I will tell it when the light shines.
And my kiss will dissolve the silence that makes you mine!...

The Chorus of women - No one will know his name and we must, alas, die.

The Prince - Vanish, o night! Set, stars! Set, stars! At dawn, I will win! I will win! I will win!"

7 - Mozart's Requiem
Rex tremendae majestatis / this pretty much sums up my feelings about the Creator. I was lucky enough to sing this with my old choir in Toronto.

"Rex tremendae majestatis, King of awful majesty,
Qui salvandos salvas gratis, Who freely savest the redeemed,
Salve me, fons pietatis. Save me, O fount of goodness."


















8 - Carl Orf's Carmina Burana
I got to sing this amazing piece as well. What a heart-stopper!








9 - Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker
Snow Queen Pas de Trois (from the National Ballet of Canada version) or Tableau II, a pine forest in winter / the part of the winter scene that comes before the Waltz of the Snowflakes

10 - Puccini's Madama Butterfly
The "Humming Chorus"

While Butterfly awaits the return of her American lover when his ship returns to port in Japan, her lovechild and her servant Suzuki fall asleep when he does not arrive. But Butterfly never stops waiting. / this part usually has the men in the audience in tears

11 - Vivaldi's Gloria

Another choral piece I was lucky enough to sing. This goes through my head often.















12 - Satie's Trois Gymnopedies
The 1st Gymnopedie / one of my favorite pieces of music, and when my bridesmaids and I were arranging our bouquets, etc. before my wedding, I heard the pianist start to play this. I got chills and knew it was a good sign.









13 - Handel's Messiah
The Hallelujah Chorus / of course, which choir hasn't sung this one? But when we get to the part where we're singing "King of Kings and Lord of Lords" I have never been able to get through it without crying. It gives me shivers just thinking about it.