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From: sutherland9
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  • Originally supposed to be sung with a boys choir instead of women, but I think I like it better this way...

  • A beautiful sound, but why does the conductor take them through it like it's a race??!?

  • flowers built the earth,the atmosphare i mean...

  • STOP NATURE BEING RUINED,stop tory nppf planNing laws..................,a ajudge said in latestcase if l aws are not consented to,it gets scrapped...do not comply,and nationally we can stop j nature being ruined............

  • castrato?

    

  • In case anyone wants to follow along to the meaning of the words, they are:

    Adonai ro-i, lo ehsar (The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want)

    Bin'ot deshe yarbitseini (He maketh me to lie down in green pastures)

    Al mei m'nuhot y'nahaleini (He leadeth me beside the still waters)

    Naf'shi y'shovev (He restoreth my soul)

    Yan'heini bma'aglei tsadek (He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness)

    L'ma'an sh'mo (For His name's sake)

    (sorry, I can't post them all in one comment-there's a character limit)

  • Vitas who? Zazzo is the best! and he actually sings live

  • AAA DOOOO NAIIIIIII JOJO BONITO BONITO

  • so i have been given the opportunity of a lifetime... My school choir is going to London where we will go to a few different venues and sing THIS! We had to go through an audition to get to go and i made it!... I have never been out of the country and i have never heard this piece until now ... and i must say i am ecstatic to have been given such an opportunity! ^^

  • Now a bit of useless trivia! LOL

    The music for this aria started out life as a song Bernstein wrote for a production of Thornton Wilder's play "By The Skin of Our Teeth"

    The production never came off and Bernstein eventually recycled it as this aria.

    The song was originally called "Spring Will Come Again" I should add it's only the song that Zazzo sings that was recyled.If you want to hear the original its(as a filler) on the CD of Bernsteins music for Peter Pan.

    It works both ways I think.

  • I heard Bernstein composed all his great songs in his sleep. He'd wake up, grab a pen, and write them down. You can kind of hear it in the dreamy odd modulations he throws in.

  • AMAZING!!!!! I'm SO in love with the Chichester Psalms!!!!

  • excited to hear my schools choir perform this

  • 2:36 - 2:37 totally made me jump.

  • J'adore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    

  • I've played this video so many times. It's so beautiful that I can't stop listening. I mostly listen to the solo though. Doesn't hurt looking at him either ;)

  • Nearly perfect performance! I think it captures something extremely close to what Bernstein had in mind (despite the reduced orchestration, which I think Bernstein 'signed off' on anyway, right?) Wish I could actually HEAR the men during the fast section - they took the pp a bit too literally. Zazzo's pp entrance at 2:15 is REALLY beautiful.

  • When I first heard that our University Choir was going to sing this and I had my doubts, but when I heard it sung for the first time I cried. Out of all the choir pieces that I have performed, Chichester Psalms is my favorite.

  • When I first heard that our University Choir was going to sing this and I had my doubts, but when I heard it sung for the first time I cried. Out of all the choir pieces that I have performed, Chichester Psalms is my favorite.

  • Countertenor for the win :D

  • Beautiful. I don't understand how 6 people could dislike this performance or music.

  • @kivawolfspeaker i know he is a counter tenor, i just said boy soprano cause its sort of an insider

  • wow boy soprano im jealous i wish i could hit that high, im a soprano 2, im doing this for my high school concert choir, this music is so beautiful, but its difficult to remember the hebrew >.<

  • @Coolio256Foolio I believe he is actually a countertenor.

  • La! MAH! La Mah! It is total tongue twister, but I love that part singing with choir!

  • why countertenor singing the beginning?

  • @zemotheon12987 Bernstein specifically wrote in the music that this was to be a countertenor or young boy solo.

  • i love the switch of music

  • 1:00......wow

  • Beautiful! Thank you!

  • The Chichester Psalms should only be sung my boys and young men. Absolutely beautiful!

  • Easily - easily the finest, most professional recording of this movement. Where are the 1st and 3rd movements from this fine ensemble?

  • Crosses: This piece was written for the Anglican Choir festival held at Chichester Cathedral in the 1960's, with this setting for organ, harp and percussion. Although in Hebrew it is not a "liturgical" piece, per se. Here it is being performed by a College Choir from Cambridge in their chapel.

  • What's with the crosses? This is a Hebrew piece!

  • meravigliosa.

  • Has anyone heard his original version of this song (Spring Will Come Again)?

  • I think that solo is meant for a solo treble.  Why is an alto singing it?

  • @sarum1surplice it's meant for a tenor, preferably a "young boy"

  • @h0meskill3tt It is definitely NOT meant for a tenor. It is meant for a male-alto, either a boy or a countertenor. From the Bernstein's actual written notes, "However, the long male-alto solo in the second movement must not be sung by a woman, but either by a boy or a counter-tenor."

  • @CountertenorJ lol idk that's what it says in my score, so w/e

  • @h0meskill3tt I understand. I can send ya his notes sometime, if you are ever interested. I especially took note to it, because it is one of the very few times a composer definitively states that a woman is NOT to sing the higher-ranged part.

  • the part was originally written for a young boy but he said if not that then a counter tennor

  • @shortyirish Not just that part, all of the soprano and alto choir parts are meant for boys. Understanding the scarcity of good boy choirs, he was okay with women singing the choral parts. He only explicitly said no women on the alto solo in this movement.

  • omg the opening harp is so amazing

  • BERSTEIN genius...and sopranist voice came from heaven

  • Ah, memories! Love this stuff! Sang at MENC in Anaheim long ago. Loved it!!!

  • I love the very first color introduced in the harp. It really sets the first melody off nicely.

  • I think it sounds much better with a boy as a soloist, for the reason that little boys has some purity in their voice, something naive that adult will never have....

    But still he is a very good singer.

  • We listened to this at our school choir's vocal retreat ('cause we're learning to sing it! <3). There were huge speakers in the room... The girl next to me practically fell out of her chair at the ending. xD

    I love this... So beautiful.

  • Remarkable! That Lawrence Zazzo sure has some pipes on him!

  • agreed!

  • Goddamnit...2:37 gets me every time. Hard not to jump when singing it at our concerts. :P

  • i would've liked it if the basses and tenors were a bit quicker during their part, the tempo there was too slow -_-

    but otherwise it sounds beautiful.

  • Have you guys heard the "Spring Will Come Again" version of this song? Its even more beautiful in my opinion. It was written for some Peter Pan Leonard did or something?

  • Hmm kate7smith, I'm not sure that you're well informed in your criticism. The Chichester Psalms were commissioned by Chichester Cathedral (as part of the Southern Cathedrals Festival) where I'm sure they would have sung from the score, in a building which you would also deem a "spooky place". The solo was written for counter tenor but Bernstein said it could be sung by either a counter tenor or boy.

  • This masterful composition lifts up a sacred text which is being performed in a sacred setting, a chapel. The performers are attired in cassocks, not mere robes, befitting the setting, the text, and the nature of this performance. Most people don't consider a college chapel a "spooky place."

  • the video keeps reloading, and i notice more things about it i dont like. like the HEAVINESS a counter-tenor brings to what i hear as a light, almost angelic-type of voice, not refined by years of training and the natural voice maturity., also girls look weird in robes.... ok, i need to calm down, peace, y'all.

  • and i am not taking anything away from the counter-tenor, i just dont like this particular performance of this piece. (nor HIM performing it). afterall, it's not ALL about how wide your range is. i would love to hear him do Bach, and some other stuff, and i think can have a brilliant career.

  • also, i might have appreciated the theatrical aspect of this performance a little more, had they not been looking at the music, and the conductor as well, that's the least he can do is learn the damned score (it's not like it's a 200-page symphony) if he's going to make this spooky church-cathedral setting with eerie lighting. If you can put all the robes on, you should be man enough to memorize the score. SERIOUSLY!

  • i thought this was supposed to be sung by a boy CHILD, according to Bernstein. and um... this kid, ummm.... maybe a boy, but he ain't a child. Secondly, the setting is SPOOKY, like out of a horror nightmare in a psycho-thriller movie, about crazy killer MONKS. And one can argue that was the effect Bernstein might have been going for, but you should see HIS video performances, and the feel and setting of these Psalms are 180 from this performance.

  • Bernstein said either a boy, or a counter-tenor, but NEVER a women.

  • This is used in his Peter Pan production or something, and he uses a woman's voice. But the lyrics change. It's called "Spring Will Come Again".

  • Well, then it's not "Chichester Psalms", is it?

  • Ha-ha, yeah. But you guys should try to find it. I really think it's even more beautiful than this version.

  • Super! Do you have mvt. 1 and 3 from this performance?

  • Comment removed

  • Perfection!  Bernstein would be smiling

  • So beautiful...

  • Lawrence Zazzo, not only your beautiful voice but your whole countenannce fills me with inspiration and joy.

    God has already blessed you, and I add my blessing too.

  • omigish.

    so brilliant.

  • I love lawrence zazzo

  • Holy SHIT, that man has range. I didn't know ANY tenors or baritones/basses in my high school choir who could hit those notes so clearly when we did Chichester Psalms my senior year :-)

  • Um... that's because he's not a tenor. He's a countertenor. You did know that right.

  • Yes, MrWagnerlover, I knew that. :P You could also say he has a kick-ass falsetto

  • definitely best counter tenor i've heard singing this piece, i think i prefer this to the many versions i've heard with boys voice.

  • ... a boy would have sounded a lot better. the rest is great though.

  • My lord, Lenny was a genius. Stunning.

  • i performed as part of a marching band performance! it was so amazing to play :D i loved it.

  • Countertenor =/= Castrato

  • Castrado?

  • No, not in the least. Countertenors and Castratos are two completely different vocal types. I should know seeng as how I myself am Countertenor.

  • @MrWagnerlover

    i always thought that countertenors appeared when  there were no more castratos...to fill the gap, so to speak...

  • No, they're two completely different vocal ranges that really don't have much to do with one another. The Countertenor utilizes his falsetto to reach high notes, a Castro is castrated at birth to intentionaly reach those notes. And honestly, I don't think there are many castratos around anymore. They were more popular in Baroque opera/chamber music.

  • @MrWagnerlover

    yes i know this, i just thought that the need for the falsetto tenors, came when there were no more castrated singers to sing the music written for castratos.

  • @MrWagnerlover

    have you heard of ALESSANDRO MORESCHI known as the ''last castrato'' ?

    he made some very primitive recordings in1902 and one can listen to them on YouTube. very low fidelity of course and Moreschi was past his prime at the time...

    But i think that the amazing jazz singer

    Jimmy Scott who was born with kallmann's syndrome, has, especially in his early recordings, this ''castrato'' tone...

  • @MrWagnerlover The vocal ranges have everything to do with each other. They are the same names. Even today's women wouldn't deal well with singing them in the style of the castrati -- because they employed heavy, heavy chest mechanism up until at least C5 (C4 being middle C). And an FYI, most operatic countertenors do not use merely falsetto. Most of the range is a falsetto-head mixed voice with the upper ranges (past D5) in full falsetto.

  • @CountertenorJ I was under the impression that they were two names for two different kinds of voice. The Countertenor being the male with his 'parts' and has a large falsetto range and the Castrati being the one who has been castrated and only can sing soprano range. Castrati and Countertenor are two classifications for the same voice type but are distinct by way of how the voice is achieved... at least that is my understanding. I myself am a countertenor and I certianly am not a castrati.

  • i love this song! i sang this for choir last year! i loved it :D

    but if i tried singing the song again, i think it would be epic fail. lol XD

  • kudos! my high school choir is singing the entire thing and its pretty awesome!

  • Have to agree - not a huge 'counter' fan, but for this guy I'll happily make an exception ! Great clip.

  • wow the best tenor i have heard on this song

  • Um... whose the tenor? The soloist is Countertenor.

  • that C natural..... every time..... damn

  • Whoo!! He has to be one of the best countertenors I've ever heard. :D What a hauntingly beautiful melody. It gives me chills every time.

  • HOW THE HECK IS HE REACHING THOSE, half our sopranos can hardly reach those lol

  • Comment removed

  • Proper training and one hell of a falsetto. FANTISSIMO!!!!!!

  • I'm sorry, but if only half your soprano's can barely hit that, they aren't very good soprano's. I'm an alto, and I've got those notes just fine.

  • i...was....joking?

  • that guy has a really high voice

  • beautiful

  • one of the better counter tenors I've heard. Personally, I'm not a fan of them, but I actually like Lawrence's singing. Beautiful song.

  • Grandissimo Lawrence!

  • This is absolutely beautiful. I wish I could have been born British and have gone to Cambridge and be part of this ensemble or ensembles like it.

  • Now this is the voice Lenny wanted at the right tempi... Thanks, John

  • Beautiful, Bernstein was a truly great composer.

  • Really soothing...

  • we're doing this for our holiday spectacular! the whole piece! it's so hard haha the first movement has like 2345867347856 different time signatures haha. but they're fantastic!

  • Absolutely fabulous. No question.

  • amazing soloist....i must say. great girls also but the echo needs to be stronger in the beginning.

    great entrace BOYS! phenomial.

    amazing all together!

  • Angel voice by Lawrence. Thks for posting

  • I love this!!!

    In my town, there was a concert last tuesday and it was such so great!

  • ye...i did this in the Barbican Hall last week...in 2 weeks i have to perform in the Opera House for 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. Hope I do well... :0

  • ye...i did this iin the barbican last week as a solo. now i have to perform in the opera house...hope i don't muck up :0

  • you guys are all doing this because it's the year of what would have been Bernstein's 90th birthday.

  • We're doing this for our main Spring performance in Murray State's concert choir. We just got it last week. Hopefully we'll find a soloist that sounds like this. It's amazing!

  • we have to do this song for chorus

  • our high schools doing this too i go to hh high school and we have to memorize it too i hope i get one of the solos :)

  • I know you then because I go to HH too. O_O Who are youuuuu?

  • I have to sing this for my chorus at school. We have to have it memorized though. And I'm only in 9th grade!!

  • yeah i did that in 9th grade too. it's not that big of a deal... great song though.

  • im doing this song for my ballad in my marching band! xD

  • you wouldnt happen to be in cp band, would you? :)

  • You are right xD and who might u be

  • like this voice, he is old enough to mke the use of vibrato sound manly :-)

  • ROAR!

  • Larry Zazzo is amazing.

  • All was good except the men needed better consonants!!The men are supposed to drown out the ladies, you cant mumble and over power without pronuciation. And that high E gets every soloist, I havent heard the perfect soloist. Though he's done better than the rest!

  • The promise that countertenor (American-Philadelphia) showed in this recording many years ago recording has been fullfilled; he is now one of the world's leading countertenors.

  • Beautifully done.

  • ethereally beautiful solo and very fine work from the tenors and basses in the fiendishly difficult rhythms of the middle section which is "why do the nations rage" set against the soloist and women singing "the lord is my shepherd" which they do so very beautifully. Bravo.

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