Blog topic: Music

Henry Purcell. Te Deum & Jubilate for Voices and Instruments made for St. Cecilia’s Day 1694. 

Memorial Library of Music, MLM 850

Guest blogger: Michael Evans Kinney

While not much is known about the early St. Cecilia’s Day celebrations circa 1683, England’s premier composer, Henry Purcell (1659-1695), wrote many pieces for the festivities. In 1694, he wrote one such piece, titled Te Deum & Jubilate for Voices and Instruments made for St. Cecilia’s Day 1694. The landmark work sets an English translation of the St. Ambrose Hymn and revolutionized church music with its scoring for violins, viola, basso continuo, and two trumpets, with soloists and choir.

Founded by Richard Weize in 1975, the German re-issue label Bear Family Records has been a leader in reissuing lavishly produced box sets of American roots music, with a particular focus on American country music (and related genres) from the 1920s through the 1980s.   Bear Family’s box sets are impeccably curated, with recordings sourced from the best known copies, or master tapes whenever possible.  The reissued recordings are accompanied by extensively researched discographies and book-length liner notes. Bear Family recordings have been the recipient of a number of prestigious awards, including 17 ARSC (Association for Record Sound Collections) Awards for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research and 6 Grammy nominations.

Canzonetta for cello and piano [1882]
by Alfredo Piatti (1822-1901)

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Carlo Alfredo Piatti (1822-1901) was one of the most famous cellists of the 19^th century.  Born in Bergamo, Italy, he began his cello studies at age 5 with his uncle. At age 7 he played in the local opera orchestra. In his teens, he studied at the Milan Conservatory and then began touring Europe. After meeting Liszt in Munich, the pianist invited Piatti to share a concert billing in Paris. There, Liszt presented Piatti with a fine Amati cello, having learned that he was playing on borrowed instruments after having to sell his cello during hard times on the road. Piatti later owned a fine Stradivarius cello, now nicknamed the “Piatti.” The book, The Adventures of a Cello, chronicles this instrument's story from its creation in Cremona in 1720 to the present day.