How Lovely are Thy Dwellings - Westminster Abbey Choir
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- Опубліковано 28 тра 2007
- The choirs of Westminster (and the Chapel Royal) sing Brahms's "How Lovely are Thy Dwellings Fair" at the Queen Mother's funeral. (Strange, because I've never heard it called or sung as anything else in the past other than "How Lovely is Thy Dwelling Place")
Anyway... it's utterly sublime!
This was played at my wedding on the day of Diana's Funeral...It is so beautiful a piece of music. I have very fond memories of this
As members of the royal family are allowed to choose the hymns and music for their own funerals, I'd say this is proof of the Queen Mother's impeccable taste, nicht wahr?
These boys are not arrogant, but sing from their hearts, as do all the members of the choir. The sound of this choir is heavenly!
This hymn is overwhelming in it's magnificence. It truly exalts God our Saviour.
The diction is very audible along with the course of the music; Wow!
This excellent music, the beautiful voices performing it, the Cathedral in which it is being sung - how could anyone NOT like this, or better yet, love it! This is an excellent recording of this part of Brahms Requiem taken from Psalm 84, a great Psalm on its own.
How lovely are your dwellings,
O Lord of Hosts!
My soul desires and longs for the courts of the Lord; my body and soul delight in the living God.
Blessed are they who live in your house; they will praise you forever more.
(Psalm 84: 1, 2, 4)
Why I can never, ever, leave the Anglican/Episcopal Church. The music is just perfection.
When I was in the Choir of Peterborough Cathedral, this is just one of the many Anthems we sang. Expectans Expectavi was another.In Mendelssohn's 'Hear My Prayer' I was the soloist - then the family moved to London and I was in the choir of The King's Chapel in the Savoy. As a Chorister I sang in the Combined Choirs at St.Paul's Cathedral every Easter (Bach St.Matthews' Passion) and Christmas (Handel's Messiah) Dr.Dykes-Bower conducting Alfred Deller (one of St.Paul's Cathedral Counter-Tenors) Soloist. Those fancy costumes worn by the Chapel Royal Choristers were present in that Combined Choir as were the Choristers from Eton School. This was in the late 1940's and early 1950's.
This piece was actually composed by Johannes Brahms, a Lutheran.
Hearing this is Almost as good as singing it! Aren't the boys wonderful? I wonder if the fully understand how fortunate they are to sing in such a fantastic choir and receive this uncomparable education?
boys singing treble parts in a choir are the most ethereal sounds one can ever imagine....
“Joy is the heart’s harmonious response to the Lord’s song of love.”
- A.W. Tozer
Oh how lovely is this piece, wonderfully sung and played by the organist
Wonderful! A great choral piece of music, for a grand, great Lady... a fitting tribute for her funeral service (she had this picked out for her service).
I sang Brahm's Requiem with my school choir in Wimbledon Town Hall many years ago. It has stayed with me - such a beautiful piece of music. We sang it in English, but in fact it sounds better in German!
What I'm impressed at is how good it sounds in English since translation from German texts can often become wonky in English, especially when it's supposed to fit to the music written!
I sang this at evensong in St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney, Australia, as Head Chorister on the occasion of my farewell from the Cathedral Choir; Organist and Master of the Choristers was Michael Hemans.
She chose the music for her funeral as perfectly as she did everything else. God, I miss her, but thank you for letting her stay with us as long as she did.
We learned and sang this at Sutton Vallence about 1944 or 1945. The words have changed. We sang 'How lovely is they dwelling fair Oh Lord of Hosts' It was a summer month, hot, really hot. And we are in the huge hall, sweating, no fans in those days, learning the Requiem and can hear the other boys splashing in the swimming pool.
There are a number of translations from the original German libretto of this 4th and central movement from Johannes Brahms' "Ein Deutsches Requiem", believed to have been composed in memory of his own mother. All seven movements are set to German scripture.
The original text, from the Martin Luther translation of Psalm 84, reads, _"Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen, Herr Zebaot!"_ and literally translates: How lovely are Thy *houses,* LORD Sabaoth.
The original Hebrew of Psalm 84 translates directly to English, as: "How pleasant are Thy tabernacles, O Jehovah of hosts ! " [ASV 1904], but doesn't fit Brahms' original score as nicely as some of the more poetic English translations from Brahms' lyrics.
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Absolutely Heavenly. This is a perfect hymn. Thank you for posting it.
with tears in my eyes I remember my beloved mother's funeral. I miss her so much.
I sung this as my first choral work in Year 7 (aka first year secondary) in 1973 and it was definitely "How lovely is thy dwelling place". Lovely piece.
BEAUTIFUL ANTHEM / HYMN SUNG MAGNIFICANTLY BY THIS GREAT CHOIR.
On point. Beautiful
Got to sing this in my church choir as well only we weren't an "all male only" chorale. This is one of my favourites and miss singing together with them
0:22 gets me every time "Oh Lord of Hosts!" I sang this in high school in a huge auditorium as a conglomerate along with about 10-20 other schools who also learned the parts. To say it was a spiritual experience to be surrounded with such harmony, live, would be an understatement. God lives within music. This is no exception.
Used to sing this in the Temple Church, London quite a bit. It's one of my favourites and the clash at 3:39 always sends shivers down my spine.
Beautiful music. My daughter had this played at her wedding as a tribute to 'absent' loved ones. Not a dry in the house...
What a beautiful thing to say.. I had never heard that quote before and it is so true.
The use of the phrase is poetic, yet justified linquistically. Their rendition if we listen carefully is "Dwellings fair". The German deine Wohnungen is plural - so the correct tranlation is "How lovely are thy dwelling places" - so the transmutation of dwelling places to dwellings fair gives some impression of the plural 'places' while allowing for some maintenance of the beat/rhythm of the piece.
ANOTHER BRILLIANT HYMN / ANTHEM SUNG MAGNIFICANTLY BY THIS FANTASTIC CHOIR AT WESTMINSTER ABBEY
The reason for singing this in English is simply - it is a Royal service. At St. George's Chapel, Windsor, the music must be performed in English when Her Majesty is in attendance. Most of us should be so lucky as to have a funeral service even 1/10th as majestic as this. No toaster (digital organ) here.
Exciting and Beautiful!
another great hymn from this great choir at the Abbey. great solo pieces as part of the hymn by members of the choir. .
Another great hymn from the Anglicans from the choir of Westminster Abbey. This hymn has not got a lot of airing as a lot of more popular hymns have got but it is a great hymn sung beautifully by this great choir.
it's not a hymn. It's a movement from the German Requiem.
It's not Anglican. It was written to omit religious dogma - more a work to provide comfort for the living during times of grief.
Yes this is from a German Requiem by Brahms. However the words are borrowed from King David in the Bible in Psalm 84.
Confusingly, although the words are from a psalm, it's technically an anthem, in the Anglican canon.
I whole heartedly agree and thank you for your shared feelings.
I sang this version in the days of my youth in a young peoples choir. It had meaning then, it has more now.
Beautiful!
@Tidespring73 This piece always sends chills up my spine. I can't begin to imagine what it must feel like to actually perform it, let alone among the groups you describe. I think I would float off the floor, or maybe faint :)
nashvilledisco, there are members of 2 choirs singing together here. The choir with uniforms that look like pages' (red w/gold) are from the Choir of the Chapel Royal. The rest are the Choir of Westminster Abbey. And I hope heaven sounds this good!
I know this work from memory as a choirmaster, organist, singer and a violist and I even knew and studied with the god-son of Brahms!
Stunning.
these people are very great singers
5 stars
Beautiful.
I love these recordings, they move me and bring peace. Not being brought up in the Anglican church, it would be so helpful to include the lyrics along with the exquisite music.
very nice---makes happy
Indeed! Many thanks, DonRaphel.
sellisti89, to sing in a choir like this takes years and years of practice. Been there and done that. It isn't easy, but to reach that level puts you light years ahead of other choirs.
... beautiful ... schon ... eindrucksvoll ...
Thanks for posting. I've sung it in English with some variation in the words. Just sublime music!
A beautiful piece of choral singing. To be sung by Leicester
by Leicester Cathedral on Sunday 22nd June.
we are going to sing that soon
A GREAT HYMN SUNG VERY WELL.
Truly the MOST beautiful funeral hymn I could imagine...truly deserved by HM the Queen Mother.
The first "...blest are they..." just takes my breath away...and the hymn as a whole is what I would imagine awaits us if we are fortunate enough to dwell in His house.
Amen to that, brother...
Well, the boys in red are from the Chapel Royal, while the others are from the choir of Westminster..
You can see these Chapel-Royal-boys also at RyanGoldRedux's vids from the Queen's Golden Jubilee, e.g. at Parry's I Was Glad, or: Let All The World in every corner sing.
Yours,
LS
Just in passing, the words are from Psalm 84, so that's maybe what we should all compare it with ("How amiable are Thy tabernacles", as the King James version puts it.)
My tuppence: the vowel sounds and lack of terminal consonants in "are" and "fair" sing much better than "is" and "place", and as a bonus constitute very minor shifts from the other vowels in the line. The ideal is to strongly establish the haunting sense of ethereal beauty from the outset. Gramatically it's dodgy (redundancy), but that's small beer. Heck, Shakespeare used redundancy frequently, not to mention oftimes.
@notyobs ,
This piece is from the 4th movement of Johannes Brahms' _"Ein Deutsches Requiem"_ (A GERMAN Requiem !) which I have sung multiple times in the original German -with full orchestra, as originally scored.
Understandably, there have probably been several attempts to render the entire 7-movement requiem in English, with some semblance of poetic elegance.
The plural, "dwellings" is the most correct literal translation from Brahms' German, _"Wohnungen",_ as well as the original Hebrew _מִשְׁכְּנוֹתֶיךָ_ (courts) in Psalm 84. The original German, _"lieblich"_ translates directly to "lovely" in English. ( I prefer "pleasant" over the KJV's "amiable".)
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@ValkyrieRides1966 True! If music is idolatry, then the choirs of angels in heaven, the heavenly hosts singing God's praises for eternity, are idolators of the highest degree. "Bach gave us God's Word. Mozart gave us God's laughter. Beethoven gave us God's fire. But God gave us music."
I've also seen different titles, but that might be the publisher's translation from the German.
I know it mucks up searches, but we get here eventually.
This tune is from the Brahms German Requiem! A masterpiece but not originally English! It is Lutheran I believe!
❤🙏
I greatly enjoy singing this or listening to it. This is a great rendition - Thanks for posting it, notyobs!
I had never heard it in German, so I went searching. I found that the German is "Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen". I found only one video of a German version, but I couldn't enjoy it as it was done too fast for my taste!Also, the accompaniment was piano. I prefer organ over either piano or orchestra!
LIVING MINDFULLY 1975..WHAT WOULD YOU KNOW. GREAT CHOIRS ALWAYS SING FROM THEIR HEARTS AND EXPRESS THEIR GREAT TALENTS AS CHOIR MEMBERS.
3.34 and 5.05. lovely.
The "Sanctus" of Brahms' Ein Deutches Requiem! A beautiful rendition!
This is not the "Sanctus". This is a translation of Movement IV , "Wie Lieblich sind Deine Wohnungen, Herr Zabaoth" (Ps 84:1-2 "¹ How beautiful are thy tabernacles, O Jehovah of hosts! ² My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of Jehovah; My heart and my flesh cry out unto the living God." ASV )
:-) True! I was just reminded by the “Sanctus” movement in Faure’s Requiem whenever I hear this movement. That’s why I mentioned it. The texts are different, but the effect and contrast between the movement, at least in my opinion, carry the same bearing.
This is a Royal service, therefore the piece was sung in English. This is the practice at St. George's, Windsor.
@eeClaytonification And I love the white bow ties......
Did the young boys in the front rows sing the female parts of this song?
I've only heard this with mixed choir... sounds brilliant with the boy trebles. I'm in two minds whether I prefer the organ. The organ is nice and understated by comparison to the orchestra and helps the voices come through.
Brahm's Requiem is brilliant.
Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen... Strange that in English... But the choir sings very good and it sounds lovely. Brahm's Requiem is a big work, and so peaceful...!
i've sung this (alto part) at Ely Cathedral
glorious; what a privilege. Blessed art thou.
ok
Sang it there again yesterday at a concert
I have sung this requiem more times than I've had hot dinners in my life, O have ALWAYS maintained that this is a piece of heaven on earth to listen to, but a piece of hell on earth to sing. The soprano part is very heavy going already, and the other parts are no sinecure either but it is a gorgeous piece of music for all that.
ahahaha you're so right!!!!
Why can't it be played in the background on my phone, when it's played on my PC?
How did you notice?? I've never heard anything from Westminster Cathedral Choir..
I've been thinking about joining the Kampen Boys Choir, but decided not to, because of the distance. I do help most of their concerts though, as 'registrant'.
At school, I'm also trying to focus the English Choir (TweeTaligOnderwijs-koor) on the Anglican tradition of Evensongs etc.. If it works out, we might be singing one next year or the year after. I'll send you an invitation if it gets through;)
I agree with pizmyr. Down the page a few postings. He obviously has a great appreciation of great Anglican choir pieces and the brilliant singing by this great choir.
Excellent piece
I thought this might interest you.
The Chapel Royal is a group of clergy and musicians whose role is to serve the spiritual needs of the Sovereign. It has been in existence since before the Norman Conquest of 1066. The red suits have been worn for nearly 300yrs.
On waht occasion was this lovely version recited ?
I sang this song in high school and this version sounds the exact same except I KNOW that some of the words are way different and I cannot for the life of me figure out what they're saying/singing through some parts. But It sounds beautiful nonetheless. And it was Brahms Requiem "How lovely are thy dwellings"...we didn't sing "thy dwellings fair" so that's why it sounds a bit different to me, they've had to accommodate the notes to the words. It was more like "how lovely are thy dwellings, oh lord, of hosts! Oh lord of hosts!" (Beginning verse)
Special about Brahms requiem is that he didn't use the Latin text of the missa pro defunctis but only took verses of the bible.
Can somebody tell me about the difference of the "normal" choristers and the ones in that red whatever-it-is-called dress???
@Alfred0047 yes
Is there a CD of this out there??? If so where can I get one?
Isn't the name of the piece "How Lovely is Thy Dwelling Place"?
I am a purist, and prefer this in German (it annoys me so much when trying to sing the Brahms Req where the editor puts the English OVER the German! Much harder) but this is very well sung (what do you expect) and I enjoyed it very much.
They are actually singing 'How Lovely are Thy Dwellings fair' which is the correct translation from German to english. The german line is "Wie Lieblich (how lovely) sind (are) deine (your) wohningen (dwellings)" The english translation had to add the word 'fair' to fit the music. The title is as you say, correct but they do not sing the 'title'
Good for him!
Apparently they're from the Chapel Royal
Lovely performance,, Westminster is really good as well:) Especially in the my Soul ever longeth and yearneth, I prefer the boys'sound. It's great to hear these boys in contrast with the men. Beloved and impressive music on an impressive occasion, at an impressive place.
Thanks for posting:)
(strangely, I've never heard it called or sung as anything else as this,, no Dwelling place..)
Beautiful, learning the tenor part is a bugger tho?
really? it must be easy for me because my director simplified our version. I bet Brahms is rolling in his grave.
Brahms, what to say, the swell is so beautiful towards the end. I prefer hearing the organ or orchestra over the piano.
vote for the organ. when you got a good one like here anyway:-)
wait until you sing it in germany its beautiful
Fair instead of Place, is not the better translation, in fact, "lovely" almost contradicts a mere "fair." I wonder if someone thought it gave better diction. This is such a magnificent melody, it deserves attention if needed. Auch lieb auf Deutsch.
Mickey McOmber Of course the German text fits better - however, the English version is beautiful too.
Mickey McOmber f
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@ValkyrieRides1966 I agree. In Vivaldi's times, a wrong accent in a syllable, a breath taken at a wrong time and a letter said wrongly would mean drawing away from God and to the Devil himself. We're singing Vivaldi's Gloria and the choir conductor is very fussy about how we sing because of these things.
the words in this version are slightly different than mine, and mines in english hmm
No Oldgattonian2 is right: The guys in de red uniforms ar choirmembers of the Chapel Royal. I dont think that they would let "probationers" sing at a State Funeral
Dwight Shrute at 2:15
It could just be that, as in some other choirs, the new boys ("probationers") don't wear full choir uniform until they have been accepted as full members?
ooops, i guess it was yesterdays Hymn! as today is June 12. my bad!
Germans want everything in their language, movies, tv series everything. I'm nor English or German but this piece sounds way better in English, and I've sung it many times myself.
The Hebrew is in the plural.
a very wunderful interpretation, although i prefer adult voices for Brahm's Requiem.
Aaah....beautiful, but it totally kicks ass in German...from experience ;)
I want to to church with you g and then you come to church with me
Hard to say which language "sounds" better. The English is lovely but don't know the German.