{"id":82142,"date":"2020-10-26T23:41:28","date_gmt":"2020-10-26T21:41:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=82142"},"modified":"2020-10-27T00:52:01","modified_gmt":"2020-10-26T22:52:01","slug":"blessing-god-in-five-voices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/blessing-god-in-five-voices\/","title":{"rendered":"Blessing God In Five Voices\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"82142","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":79834,"related_cahpter":"598","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"A new series - this time: Carl Nielsen\r\n\r\n","content":"

Carl Nielsen, Benedictus Dominus, from “3 Motets” op. 55, 1929<\/span><\/p>\n

Carl Nielsen (1865-1934), the Danish violinist and composer, wrote six symphonies, which were among the most important of his age. His musical journey was a constant progress from romanticism to a unique modernism. Today, he is seen, together with his peer Jean Sibelius, to be one of the great representatives of \u201cthe Nordic breakthrough\u201d in music at the beginning of the 20th century.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After about 1920, his compositions become more difficult and enigmatic, and even his 6th Symphony (1924), which is full of invention and humor, took a long time in becoming accepted among orchestras and audiences.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As a compatriot of Kirkegaard, Nielsen was exposed to sacred scripture, and an absolutist, puritan and otherworldly faith. The three motets from 1929 strongly reflect this approach. During their composition, Nielsen was assiduously studying the academic research of his countryman Knud Jeppesen (known to all students of counterpoint) of the work of the Renaissance composer Palestrina, the way different voices would imitate one another, and then join in unison for the clear pronunciation of the words of the verses. Consequently, the motets are written a cappella, in a style known as \u201cneo-Renaisssance.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The third motet is based on 31:22 – \u201cBlessed is the LORD, for He has been wondrously faithful to me, a veritable bastion.\u201d It begins with a lively and complex fugue for five voices on \u201cBlessed is the LORD\u201d (Benedictus Dominus). After a rich development, a new fugue opens, on \u201cfor He has been wondrously faithful to me,\u201d which then merges with the fist fugue, for a double fugue.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Listen to the rhythmic pattern on \u201cBe-ne-dic-tus\u201d (\u201cblessed\u201d), that is present throughout the work, and how it contrasts with the quieter \u201cquo-ni-am\u201d (\u201cfor\u201d), which also complements it. This synthesis leads to the climactic moment, and the concluding blessing of thanks<\/span><\/p>\n

The music isn\u2019t easy – but the attentive listener can derive pleasure and many insights from this special experience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Carl Nielsen, “3 Motets” op. 55, 1929. The motet <\/span>Benedictus Dominus <\/span><\/i>begins at 9:44 on the video.
\n<\/span>Performed by Vocal Ensemble Musica Ficta Copenhagen. Conductor: Bo Holten<\/span><\/p>\n","image":false,"embedded_video":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=TcVLzAHrFD4&feature=youtu.be","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"The Psalms In Classical Music","main_caption":"Blessing God In Five Voices\u00a0","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"A new series - this time: Carl Nielsen","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":false,"preview_video":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=TcVLzAHrFD4&feature=youtu.be","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"links":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82142"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82142"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82171,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82142\/revisions\/82171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}