Repertoire: IDEAL "Te Deum" Settings

[@salocindejuan9648]

Very appropiate, timely presentation of the great works to thank and praise God. Merry Chirstmas, full of blessings to you, David, and to all the listeners!!

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Same to you!

[@barryguerrero6480]

Thank you so much. I love this - I love Te Deums in general. Jennifer Higdon ought to do one (maybe). I love your moment re. Dvorak: "it's like the Carnival Overture goes to church". I also like the William Walton Te Deum.

[@WesSmith-m6i]

Thank you, Dave. Just terrific!

[@freddygolzofficial4129]

Thank you for your contagious energy & enthusiasm! 😊🙌🏼🙏🏼

[@Eef-wg3fg]

Wow thanks for this great presentation! After hearing you speak, i'm in such good spirits that i don't need a te deum to lift me up anymore - and tomorrow YES i'm going to the store and the library to get ALL of them and listen at home, you made me curious! So thank you again, my evening is a happy one now!

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Wonderful! Thanks!

[@mattestabrook]

I had a great time singing Haydn's "football fight song" Te Deum with my high school glee club in the 1980s--a fact that I had forgotten completely until I heard you sing its first couple bars in this video! Thanks for refreshing my memory!

[@bernardohanlon3498]

Dave - greetings from the Penal Colonies where things are heating up. I always love it when you say "Bbbbrrrruuuucccckkkknnnnnneeeeerrr!" I too am surprised that you did not include Charpentier's tremendous contribution to the the domain (Corboz all the way!). I agree with your decision not to waste time on Mozart's sole Te Deum (K 140) which is surprisingly lame. Wishing you and all your loved ones Seasons Greeting and a safe and prosperous New Year - keep up the great work, B

[@ftumschk]

I love the Charpentier _Te Deum,_ although I favour William Christie's recording, with a stirring timpani intro ("Marche des Timbales" by Jacques Philidor) leading into the fanfares of Charpentier's prelude.

[@barryguerrero7652]

All these Te Deums are just great.

[@dianelewis4774]

Thanks again for these great te deums which are so fun to sing in concerts!

[@johnwright7749]

Agree! You have discussed all my favorite Te Deums, bar none. Happy Holidays!😀

[@lilivonshtupp1527]

Well, you didn't ask for anyone else's ideal Te Deum list, but I will give mine to play your usual game: Handel Utrecht: Harnoncourt (Teldec) - with a solid team of soloists. Handel Dettingden: Fasolis (Arts Music) - while I'm not hot on countertenors, the chorus is superb. Haydn: Fricsay (DG) - not his wheelhouse, but Hickox on Chandos was the only other one I know. Berlioz: Colin Davis (Philips) - I probably like the Abbado more; never did care for Nelsons' French chorus. Bruckner: Jochum (DG) - his box of Bruckner choral works needs a serious remastering. I like his symphonic approach to the masses. Dvorak: Smetacek (Supraphon) - I really find this one exciting; oddly I was disappointed in Antoni Wit's version on Naxos. Verdi: Solti (Decca) - The Giulini is excellent, but so I don't repeat you, the Solti is very commanding too. Thanks for the videos! VS

[@Alex-ze2xt]

There is one great example of perfect musical 'Te Deum' bombast which gets more performances everywhere than all other Te Deums combined: the Te Deum finale of the Puccini's Tosca Act I and that's probably my favorite one :)

[@murraylow4523]

I was thinking about that - it was certainly the first Te Deum I heard, helps you understand the context for when these got performed, and, oh man, it really is quite an act finale altogether :)

[@anonymusmester]

Hope my comment is not going to be deleted :) If Dvorak is included as a "Te Deum" to know, then I think the Kodály Te Deum must be mentioned as well among the great ones. About the same length and about the same popularity (that is it is not well known outside the country of origin). The piece is quite accessible for amateur choirs (as opposed to Verdi's or Dvorak's), and has glorious soprano solo part. A choir singer from Hungary. Keep up the good work, great channel !

[@nigelsimeone9966]

In spite of terrifyingly bad sound, Toscanini's Verdi Te Deum is a magnificent thing. Giulini pretty good though. So glad you mentioned Dvořák - a really wonderful piece and Neumann's recording is my favourite. Ok, you said no lists, but I've got to make a pitch for one more: Walton's Coronation Te Deum which does get done quite a bit (certainly in the UK) and is rather exciting.

[@jfddoc]

For the Verdi Te Deum, no one captures the sheer terror of the piece like Toscanini and the 1954 RCA recording is High Fidelity mono.

[@joetucker2274]

Has anyone heard the Colin Davis / Staatskapelle Dresden Berlioz Te Deum? I sang this piece in the boy choir under Davis' direction in Boston several decades ago. i was wondering if the recording on Profil has merit.

[@KingOuf1er]

Another excellent list (I will have to add the Nelson Berlioz Te Deum to my next order). My only gripe is that you couldn't include one of my favourite settings (and I apologise in advance to anyone who accuses me of being parochial) which is the Coronation Te Deum by Walton. It's a big piece, with extra brass, a nice organ part AND (much to its credit) it ENDS QUIETLY! And is barely longer than the Haydn No.2 - what's not to like! [P.S. Do you know the Te Deum by Teixeira? CRAZY huge baroque piece (about 80 mins long) and great fun, but not really worthy of a place in your shortlist. Merry Christmas from the Plague Island!!

[@kedemberger8773]

In Europe I guess the Charpentier is the iconic setting (thanks for the ESC signature tune) but its a great setting with some particularly sensitive word setting.

[@tippettt]

There is another Bruckner Te Deum setting with Karajan and Wienner Ph. from a 1950-1960 Salzburg Festival which I belive is as great as the Berlin PO one. The soloist cast is also wonderfull: Leontyne Price, Hildegard Rossl-Maidan, Fritz Wunderlich and Walter Berry. That's my favourite! Merry Christmas Mr Hurwitz!

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Performance-wise, I hear you, but the sonics kill it.

[@2906nico]

Excellent selection, and definitely expanded my Te Deum knowledge (I know you said we couldn't add to your list, but I just want to say my favourite Te Deum, the Coronation Te Deum by William Walton, isn't on it).

[@carolleenkelmann3829]

Ha,ha,ha,ha. Yes, I just love this stuff!

[@davidrowe3356]

Do you have an opinion on the quality of the Robert Shaw/Telarc Dvorak Te Deum...? The Neumann isn't very available, and I WOULD like a recording to live with....

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

The Te Deum is pretty good, but the Glagolitic Mass that it comes with is dullsville. Get the Antoni Wit performance on Naxos with Dvorak's lovely and hugely undervalued Mass in D.

[@colinwrubleski7627]

The Dvorak "Te Deum Laudamus" is indeed rather a rarity--- have only ever heard it live once. An interesting program / concert as part of the Toronto International Choral Festival (year somewhere in the period 1993-1998; sorry my flawed memory cannot pin it down more precisely...), with "The Rozh", Gennady Rozhdestvensky, leading the Toronto S O and Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, or only the gentleman thereof, through that and the Sibelius Kullervo Symphony. (!?!) // Quite remarkable both works, as highly disparate as can be, were written in the same year, 1892...

[@isaacsegal2844]

I have an old Telarc DC of the Te Deum (paired with Janacek's Glagolitic Mass) played by the Atlanta Symphony and Robert Shaw. Is anyone else familiar with this?

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Yes. It's rather dull (Dvorak not bad, Janacek--a snooze).

[@isaacsegal2844]

@@DavesClassicalGuide Agreed. I bought it for the Janacek (and that Telarc bass) and kept it for the Dvorak. My intro to the Mass was the Bernstein NYPO back in the 60s. How does that hold up these days?

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

@@isaacsegal2844 Better than you'd think, horrible organ excepted.

[@gottfriedheumesser1994]

What I am missing is the original Gregorian version of the Te Deum.

[@marknewkirk4322]

I sang the Berlioz Te Deum in Cincinnati at the May Festival with Andrew Davis conducting the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra way back in the mid 1980. I found it utterly forgettable. Then I unforgot it long enough to play the viola part once somewhere or other, and as soon as I cashed the check, I forgot it again. But I freely admit that I don't like Berlioz. At all. The Bruckner Te Deum is so good that even Brahms recommended it for a performance. And he was not otherwise a fan of Bruckner. That is, in my opinion, the best Te Deum setting of the more recent ones. I absolutely love Verdi's Stabat Mater, but I'm indifferent to the other three numbers of the Four Sacred Pieces. That Handel Utrecht setting sounds gorgeous, and I will devote an evening to it and to Haydn's. Thanks for the tips.

[@jacobbump1282]

That's interesting how you say you don't like Berlioz. :-) It's cool how we are all different. I have heard his Te Deum only once, and would like to get to know it better. I absolutely LOVE Berlioz's Requiem however...which is a big reason for me liking Berlioz in general. What do you think of his Requiem?

[@marknewkirk4322]

@@jacobbump1282 I don't like Berlioz, and I don't like his Requiem. I can tolerate Roman Carnival Overture, and that's about it. When I hear his music, I feel like a cat getting its fur rubbed the wrong way. I would never, ever say Berlioz is a bad composer. I just don't like his music, and especially his slow, quiet music. It doesn't do what I want it to do. That's my problem, I know.

[@jacobbump1282]

Ha! It’s cool. We all have our different tastes. 🤗🎶 As far as these Te Deums go, Dvorak’s is my favorite. 🤗

[@ppfuchs]

Not entirely sure, but I think Te Deums were mostly sung to celebrate military victories. Hence the martial character of most of the music. And I love the part about no one wanting to use the "clods" in the title! LOL!

[@gottfriedheumesser1994]

On Sylvester Eve it is usual to celebrate an old year's blessing that is closed by a 'Te Deum'.

[@gottfriedheumesser1994]

The military aspect is restricted to the Händel Te Deums. The others have nothing to do with battles and wars. It is said that the original Te Deum was sung by Ambrosius when he Christianized Augustinus.

[@johnfowler7660]

favorite first line: "And did those feet?"

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Actually, for me it's Dido's Lament: "When I am laid."

[@carolleenkelmann3829]

@@DavesClassicalGuide you, ( one), really have to seek out the comments.

[@presbyterosBassI]

@@DavesClassicalGuide Or as it was announced in a student recital, "When I am laid by Henry Purcell".

[@canoodlian1226]

I'm rather fond of "All we like sheep" as an opening line.

[@marknewkirk4322]

@@canoodlian1226 Everyone in his own way.

[@flexusmaximus4701]

I have always thought theirs Bruckner and everyone else in this. Jochum, Karajan, have all that barbaric splendor for me.

[@jorgemittelmann620]

Please be assured that even your ‘stream of consciousness mode’ is extremely instructive and highly enjoyable!! Thanks for this wonderful year of music and merry Christmas 🎄 🎁❤️

[@vincentd.1424]

The Netherlands Bach Society recording is probably so good because Utrecht is a Dutch province and city 😃

[@canoodlian1226]

I believe the plural of "Te Deum" would be "Nos Deos", if the intended meaning is "We praise ye, O Gods" -- which I guess it isn't really.

[@ftumschk]

"Deos nostri"?

[@c.iuliusbalbus4399]

@@ftumschk 'Vos deos', actually. A somewhat polytheistic praise indeed... But one thing is putting this phrase in the plural, and another completely different putting in the plural the name of the poem or the musical setting, which is what we all do when we say 'Te Deums'.

[@canoodlian1226]

@@ftumschk I did make a mistake on the pronoun. Too many babies and too little sleep. I think "Vos Deos". We would want the accusative case "vos" rather than the genitive "vestri".

[@ftumschk]

@@canoodlian1226 "Romanes eunt domus" ;)

[@AlexMadorsky]

Another layer to your observation about Latin: debating “correct” medieval church Latin is silly because Latin was spoken differently by ancient Romans. So, anyone who is arguing about what church Latin should sound like is wasting their time twice over.

[@c.iuliusbalbus4399]

Following the comparison, there is indeed a living tradition that shows how church Latin should be pronounced: the way modern Italians, churchpeople or not, do it (Italian Latin teachers pronounce ancient Latin that way too). Therefore giving the letters the contemporary Italian sounds is a safe way, and nobody should correct anybody who does that. I have to confess, as an ancient Roman and consequently a native Latin speaker that pronunciation sounds a little strange to me, but, after all, Italian is one of the current versions of good old Latin... Anyway: te, David Hurwitz, laudamus! Vale! (i. e. Take care)!