At BCE’s most recent concert—Tenebræ—a series of musical works were performed with readings interspersed. The concert was loosely modeled on the Catholic Tenebræ tradition and followed some of the same traditions. In BCE’s case, however, the readings ranged far and wide, from Rumi to O’Hara and from Blake to Bob Dylan! Because so many asked [...]

We’d love to know what you thought of TENEBRÆ. Please consider writing a review on ArtsBoston’s website. Or, if you want, you can comment here. The Boston Choral Ensemble is a member of ArtsBoston, an organization whose mission is to promote the arts in Greater Boston by making the arts accessible, integral to our lives, [...]

Earlier this winter, on January 14, NB posted a series of audio clips from a 2009 interview with BCE’s Miguel Felipe and composer Paul Crabtree. In that interview, Paul discussed his personal story. Today, with the concert only days away, we present the second half of the interview when Paul describes the genesis of his [...]

In 2007 Crabtree’s Tenebræ Responsories received their first concert performance. The concert was presented by Conspirare, under Craig Hella Johnson, in Texas. In preparation for that program, a short written interview was prepared and we thought it might be nice to reprint this for BCE audiences. Thanks to Paul Crabtree for sharing this… and see [...]

“If this were a film, this would be the slow panning-back.” This is how composer Paul Crabtree describes the final movement of his set of nine Tenebræ responsories for Maundy Thursday. Listen below as he chats with BCE’s music director, Miguel Felipe, about how he approached this final movement. The clip ends with a bit [...]

Paul Crabtree’s Tenebræ Responsories on Songs by Bob Dylan ends softly with “Seniores populi/Changing of the Guards”, the ninth of nine responsories for Maundy Thursday. The responsory is taken from Matthew: When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son [...]

As we approach the end of the Responsories, composer Paul Crabtree introduces the eighth movement and, at the same time, explores his thoughts on how we interpret and experience Jesus. This audio clip wanders over to this broader subject and Paul makes a point about the difference between Jesus as a ‘character in a book’ [...]

“Una hora non potuisti vigilare” is the eighth of nine responsories and depicts a Jesus full of frustration. As the narrative continues, Jesus shows that he knows he’s been betrayed and, at the same time, the disciples who he’s asked to sit up and wait with him have fallen asleep. Indeed, the life Jesus has [...]

Listen below as BCE’s music director Miguel Felipe chats with composer Paul Crabtree. In this segment, the two walk through “Eram quasi agnus/In The Garden”, the seventh of nine responsories. Paul pays particular attention to form and text setting in this dark and vengeful text. See yesterday’s post as you listen to read along with [...]

“Eram quais agnus”, “I was like a lamb” begins the final trio of works in the Responsories. Considered the most difficult of the pieces by Crabtree, this movement runs over five minutes. The connection to Dylan—lyrics aside—lies in the unusual harmonic shifting of the work’s first half. In both Crabtree and Dylan, unusual minor progressions [...]