Isaac Watts: The Father of English Hymnody

O God, Our Help in Ages Past

Westminster Abbey - London, England

Jesus Shall Reign Where'er the Sun

From All That Dwell Below the Skies

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

In 2011, Christianity Today magazine surveyed 28 Protestant hymnals.  Only 13 hymns were in all editions.  "Jesus Shall Reign," & "When I Survey," were among these.  "O God, Our Help" appeared in 27 hymn books. Isaac Watts tried to direct singers attention to Jesus Christ. His words have done that across denominational lines for generations. 

Charles Wesley: The Greatest English Hymn Writer

O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing

Jesus, Lover of My Soul

Love Divine, All Loves Excelling

Come, Thou Almighty King

Charles Wesley's hymn, "Love Divine" has appeared in 28 Protestant hymnals since 1878.  In 27 hymn books are:  "Come, Thou Almighty King," and "O, for a Thousand Tongues to Sing."  "Christ the Lord is Risen Today!"  has appeared in 26.  Wesley's formal words of doctrine and love continue to touch and strengthen hearts across denominational lines.

Claudio Monteverdi: Leading Composer of Italian Baroque Music

"Monteverdi was the choirmaster of St. Mark's (Venice, Italy) for 30 years and the most universal composer of the early Baroque.  Dramatic conflict was the essence of his style.  He used dissonance for dramatic effectiveness and believed that rhythm is bound up with emotion."  (Jane Stuart Smith)

"Vespers": Sung in the Palace of Versailles - Paris, France

The setting shows the grand style of King Louis IV of France who built the splendid Palace of Versailles.  Everything was immense.  It was a center of the arts during Louis's reign.

George Frederick Handel: A German Who Composed famous "English" Operas

"I did think that I did see all Heaven before me, and the great God Himself!"

Handel was music director to the elector of Hanover, but he found the position so tedious that he asked for a leave of absence to visit England.  There he became an instant success, but after about two years he returned to Hanover.  In 1712 he again asked for a leave, which was granted.  He did not return.  In fact, he was still in Britain when the elector became King George I.  In 1717 Water Music was performed on the Thames River for the King and his guests.  Some believe this gesture led to reconciliation with his former employer.

Handel - Water Music Suite No. 3 in G major

BBC Proms, 2012

"I Know That My Redeemer Liveth": Sylvia McNair

Conductor:  Sir Neville Marriner

St. Martins in the Fields, London, England

Hallelujah Chorus: The Atlanta Symphony & Chorus

Conductor:  Robert Shaw

Johann Sebastian Bach: German Baroque Composer Who Sought to Glorify God

"Bach was the outstanding member of the greatest musical family the world has ever known.  His influence in music history has been one of health and strength.  Bach never wrote empty virtuosity; his music has content.  Listen to Bach, appreciate the richness and diversity of his music, but hear his message too."  

"Saint Matthew Passion is considered one of the richest and noblest sacred works.  It is the creation of a mind intimately familiar and profoundly moved by the Gospel text.  It is indeed one of civilization's imcomparable masterpieces."  (Jane Stuart Smith)

St. Matthew Passion

Franz Joseph Haydn: An Austrian Became The Father of the Symphony

He was born to a wheelwright who also served as mayor of an Austrian village.  As a musician, Hadyn developed slowly.  In Englad he became a sensation and performed before large crowds. Haydn's musical compositions and performances during short British visits established his financial security.

Te Deum in C

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: A Musical Genius from Austria

Experts consider Mozart to be the most sheerly musical composer who ever lived.  He had the single-mindedness of genius. Mozart seemed born to create music.  From age four until 35 he hardly had a day’s rest. The sheer beauty, perfection, and profundity of his music continues to astonish and delight.

He is regarded as one of the greatest musical dramatists.  Figaro set the model for all comic opera of the future.  Mozart made comic figures for the first time in opera. This expressed Mozart's own love of life. Yet, the masterpiece Don Giovanni was composed after his father's death, a time of sorrow and decline.  His final opera, one of the greatest modern German operas, was The Magic Flute.  A testament to the brotherhood of man, it is a combination of morals, magic and fairy tale.

Cecilia Bartoli and Renee Fleming in a duet from Mozart's, "The Marriage of Figaro".

The finale of Act I of a Royal Opera production of Don Giovanni

The Magic Flute: "Pa-pa-pa Papageno" - Nathan Gunn (Met Opera)

Ludwig van Beethoven: German Who Bridged the Gap Between Classical & Romantic

"Freedom Above All"

"It seemed unthinkable for me to leave the world forever before I had produced all that I felt called upon to produce."

"Beethoven was one of the great thinkers in the realm of music.  Early he got rid of the frivolous. His intellectual curiosity was enormous; he continued to learn all his life.  He merged the two concepts of the Enlightenment and the Romantic movements, the clear resoluteness of the one, the dark introspection of the other.  Both are present in his music.  By all means, we should listen to the music of Beethoven.  His music brings together thoughts and emotions which are more intense than we can produce."  (Jane Stuart Smith)

This piece is one of Beethoven's most popular compositions for the piano, and it was a popular favorite even in his own day. Beethoven wrote the Moonlight Sonata in his early thirties, and did so after he had finished with some commissioned work; there is no evidence that he was commissioned to write this.  Sonata is an Italian word for a piece that is played, rather than sung. 

"Moonlight Sonata" opus 27 # 2 Movement 3

5th Symphony; Gustavo Dudamel, Simon Bolivar Orchestra, Venezuela

6th Symphony / "Pastoral": Leonard Bernstein conducts the Vienna Philharmonic

7th Symphony: soundtrack of "The King's Speech"

9th Symphony: Leonard Bernstein conducts celebrating the fall of the Berlin Wall - 1989

Frederic Chopin: Polish Supreme Poet of the Piano

Chopin's father was French; his mother was Polish.  All of his life Chopin remained true to Poland, even though he lived the latter half of his life in France.  He devoted his life to composing for the piano and teaching wealthy children how to play it.  His disliked large concerts and gave only a few during his lifetime.  Most of his performances were for small, intimate groups of friends.  He was the first great nationalistic composer. 

Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor, Op. 35

Horowitz plays Chopin Polonaise Op. 53 in A flat major

Franz Liszt: Hungarian Inventor of the Solo Recital

He showed talent at an early age, and several nobles financed his musical education.  Liszt gave his first performance in Vienna, Austria at eleven.  At his solo recitals he played mostly variations on other people's music.  He generously taught others to play the piano, often without charging for his services.  By giving lessons to people from all over the globe, his technique spread much farther than might otherwise have occurred. 

Adam Gyorgy performing "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 "

Peter IlichTchaikovsky: Russian Composer of Symphonies & Ballets

His music with all its strength and beauty nevertheless expressed the pessimism that attended the final phase of the Romantic movement.

1812 Overture

Atlanta Ballet's Nutcracker: Snow Pas de Deux

Sleeping Beauty ballet

Johannes Brahms: German Producer of Romantic Orchestral Works

"In my study I can lay my hand on my Bible even in the dark."

Yo-Yo Ma, Kathryn Stott -" Lullaby"

from Brahms "Requiem" "How Lovely is Thy Dwelling Place"

From the funeral for the Queen Mother, Westminster Abbey, London,

"Requiem" is a fundamentally Protestant one for it professes faith in the resurrection and reunion with God through the atoning death of Jesus Christ. Brahms' choice of words reveals and understanding of the vanity and emptiness of life when it is lived apart from knowing the consolation of Christian truth.  (Jane Stuart Smith)

To Brahms, travel and the enjoyment of nature were a necessity of life.  He loved to bathe in beauty.

Giuseppe Verdi Composed Italian Operas Where Good Triumphed Over Evil

At 18 he applied for admission to the conservatory of music in Milan, but was rejected.  Ironically, when he later became famous, the name was changed to Verdi Conservatory.  Due to his great talent, Verdi was able to make his own way in life, but the going was difficult.  His first opportunity for recognition came when he was asked to write the music for a religious poem on Nebuchadnezzar's capture of Jerusalem.  The opera, titled Nabucco, made him famous.  Later he produced many patriotic operas; their arias became the songs of the revolution.  Some of the fund Verdi earned were used to help arm the rebels.

"Aida": Nile Scene

Aida & Amonasro's Duet - Leontyne Price & Simon Estes 

"Aida" - The Grand March; Metropolitan Opera

"MacBeth" Sleepwalking Scene

Richard Wagner: German Opera with a Nationalistic Flavor

Wagner was and is controversial. Critics discuss his "bad moral example." His passion-filled music and philosophy were greatly influential, moving people with great emotion.  Wagner's hatred of Jews strongly influenced his music which provided fertile soil in 20th Century Germany for the rise of Nazism.  The Nazis frequently played Wagner's music in their mass rallies.  It became a powerful symbol for national socialism. 

The Ride of the Valkyries from Wagner's Ring Cycle at the Met

film- "Apocalypse Now" - Ride of the Valkyries

"Lohengrin" - Bridal Chorus