Feature: A Concert for Mother's Day        Back to Features page

Mothers Day Concert - click to listen 

Songs and Music for Mothers

What with the abstract nature of instrumental music, composers' views on the subject of motherhood have tended to be expressed via an intermediary poet or librettist. Operatic mothers give little scope for a celebration of the subject - few could cite Medea or Jocasta as good parental role models! So instead we turn here to song, with gorgeous settings by Dvorak and Copland to start us off. Following on, we have Ravel's Mother Goose Suite and a suitable excerpt from Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker

Johannes Brahms

 
There has been much conjecture as to the inspiration for Brahms' mighty German Requiem; although fellow composer Robert Schumann is a strong contender, the death of Brahms' mother can hardly have been far from his thoughts as he composed.  In this concert we feature one of the more carefree moments, Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen.  Bringing relief from the weightier movements which precede it, the music illustrates the text of Psalm 84, "How amiable are thy tabernacles...".  But it must surely also harken back to happier days spent with the departed.

The Greatest Mother of them All?

Composers have traditionally focused on arguably the greatest mother of them all, the Virgin Mary. One could argue that in so doing they give thanks to all mothers - or perhaps that the Church is a more lucrative sponsor! Either way the resulting music is a pleasure for all, yielding choral classics for hundreds of years. In this concert we present a movement from Rachmaninov's Vespers and motets by Tallis and Taverner.

 

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