SKU: A0.533578

The Acts of the Apostles (2009), an oratorio for baritone, chorus, congregation/audience, and chamber orchestra (piano, organ, strings-suggested minimum of 3.3.3.2.1),
was commissioned by The Memorial Church at Harvard University. It is dedicated to Edward Elwyn Jones and the
Harvard University Choir.
The biblical books of Luke and Acts form a pair of documents from a single author and with a single audience (the
likely-metaphorical “Theophilus�), yet they are unusual for being composed in such contrasting genres. Luke’s
gospel, using Mark as a primary source throughout, features a comparable literary style to that of the other
evangelists. Acts, by contrast, is a historical monograph that charts the birth of the Church with dramatic stories
about—and speeches from—the apostles, painting a vivid, if not necessarily chronological, picture of their victories
and struggles. As such, it is a book that provides excellent source material for a dramatic choral libretto of this scale.
Although much of Acts is focused on the ministry of Saul/Paul, this oratorio draws most of its material from the
first third of the book, prior to and including the conversion of Saul. In the Prologue, Christ’s ascension is narrated
and—following an orchestral Sinfonia—the chorus sings words of Jesus from the Sermon on the Plain in Luke’s
gospel that foreshadow many of the trials the apostles go on to face. The astounding account of Pentecost follows:
here, words from the book of Ruth, customarily read on the feast of Shavuot (Pentecost), are included, telling the
story of a Moabite woman who converted to the Israelite faith—a parallel to the expansion of the Christian message
to all nations by the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Prayer for Boldness, quoting Psalm 2, asks God for protection from
the threats of persecution that the apostles will now face.
Stephen, regarded as the proto-martyr of the Christian Church, offers one of the most developed speeches in Acts,
only a small portion of which is presented here. Full of scriptural references, including the quotation from Isaiah
“Heaven is my throne…�, the end of the narrative is remarkable for two reasons: firstly, Stephen’s final words
mirror those of Christ on the cross in Luke’s gospel—where Jesus forgives his executioners and prays “Father, into
your hands I commend my spirit� (Luke 23:46); secondly, Saul is specifically mentioned as one who approved of
Stephen’s stoning, indicative of the redemptive possibilities of the Christian message.
The account of the baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch here in the oratorio ends with the First Song of Isaiah—while
not quoted in Acts, it seems a fitting conclusion to the scene as Philip and the eunuch were reading Isaiah together,
and the canticle has often been associated by Christians with the rite of baptism. Similarly, the story of Saul’s
Conversion is followed here by a Christological poem found in Paul’s letter to the Philippians, though it is likely a
quotation from an earlier source. It is often regarded as the earliest extant Christian hymn.
The Acts of the Apostles concludes with Luke’s realistic assessment that in spite of Paul’s energetic evangelism many
remained unconvinced by the Christian message. At the heart of both Luke’s gospel and Acts is the tension between
the uniquely important role of the Jewish traditions that Jesus himself practiced and the expansion of the gospel to
gentiles, of whom Luke himself is one. It is appropriate, therefore, to follow Paul’s message of salvation to the
gentiles with the Magnificat: a canticle that emphasizes the promises of God to the people of Israel throughout
history.
Three traditional hymn texts are found in the oratorio, each set congregationally to a pre-existing tune. The first,
“Spirit of mercy, truth, and love� is an eighteenth century poem that e.

SKU: A0.914991

This piece was arranged for strings, harp and voice.

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SKU: A0.828700

Karl Friedrich Abel - Sinfonia Op. 7 n. 1 - Secondo Movimento - Adagio Edited by Guido Menestrina - Full score and single parts for 2 oboe, 2 F Horns (originally cor de chasse, tacet on 2nd movement), 2 violins, viola and cello (originally basse de violon). Abel was born in Köthen, a small German city, where his father, Christian Ferdinand Abel, had worked for years as the principal viola da gamba and cello player in the court orchestra. In 1723 Abel senior became director of the orchestra, when the previous director, Johann Sebastian Bach moved to Leipzig. The young Abel later boarded at Leipzig's Thomasschule, where he was taught by Bach. On Bach's recommendation in 1743 he was able to join Johann Adolph Hasse's court orchestra at Dresden where he remained for fifteen years.[3][5] In 1759 (or 1758 according to Chambers),[1] he went to England and became chamber-musician to Queen Charlotte, in 1764.[3][5] He gave a concert of his own compositions in London, performing on various instruments, one of which was a five-string cello known as a pentachord, which had been recently invented by John Joseph Merlin.[6] In 1762, Johann Christian Bach, the eleventh son of J.S. Bach, joined him in London, and the friendship between him and Abel led, in 1764 or 1765, to the establishment of the famous Bach-Abel concerts, England's first subscription concerts. In those concerts, many celebrated guest artists appeared, and many works of Haydn received their first English performance. For ten years the concerts were organized by Mrs. Theresa Cornelys, a retired Venetian opera singer who owned a concert hall at Carlisle House in Soho Square, then the height of fashionable events. In 1775 the concerts became independent of her, to be continued by Abel and Bach until Bach's death in 1782. Abel still remained in great demand as a player on various instruments new and old. He traveled to Germany and France between 1782 and 1785, and upon his return to London, became a leading member of the Grand Professional Concerts at the Hanover Square Rooms in Soho. Throughout his life he had enjoyed excessive living, and his drinking probably hastened his death, which occurred in London on 20 June 1787. One of Abel's works became famous due to a misattribution: in the 19th century, a manuscript symphony in the hand of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, was catalogued as his Symphony no. 3 in E flat, K. 18, and was published as such in the first complete edition of Mozart's works by Breitkopf & Härtel. Later, it was discovered that this symphony was actually the work of Abel, copied by the boy Mozart-evidently for study purposes-while he was visiting London in 1764. That symphony was originally published as the concluding work in Abel's Six Symphonies, Op. 7. Follow the score on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_urGVpH7Pls.