Sicut Cervus by Palestrina
O. Dan Smith — November 19, 2009 Sicut Cervus by Palestrina — Produced by O. Dan Smith on November 19, 2009. Performed by Union Avenue Christian Church Chancel Choir Directed by Scott Schoonover. The criteria for this project were simple, yet challenging: create and produce a music video of about five minutes in length, including acquiring permission for all performance rights for the music. This seemed like a problem at first, since I was not familiar with any local bands, even though I knew many local musicians. One other serious problem that I have noticed with many home videos is the quality of audio, a concern since this was something that would be a major factor in my production. After some consideration, I decided to produce my music video using a less conventional form of music than one would see on MTV. I selected Sicut Cervus by the Renaissance composer Palestrina, performed by the Union Avenue Christian Church Chancel Choir, under the direction of Scott Schoonover. Sicut Cervus is a very special piece to me. I have sung it since my childhood in many different settings, under many different directors, and with many different choirs. This work, in my opinion, represents one of the finest works produced in the Renaissance period. This performance by the Chancel Choir is a fine example of the strong yet delicate weavings of both harmony and vocal lines in an a cappella piece that is practically the definition of simply elegant beauty. The music soars and transcends …
Wonderful visuals with singing like gently flowing water. The critiques are strange. First of all, the gongs at the outset is the tonic and dominant -nice touch. Too fast is might be a matter of taste but this piece is in 2 instead of the usual 4 making it incorrectly slower and thus heavier. The psalm is the deer thirsting for water so what was the point saying “it is about God”? It’s pedantic to say that the tenor should be emphasized. A motet like a fugue is more than the sum of its parts.
Great choral performance, eerie video…
terrible audio before and after. should repost without those annoying sounds at a loud volume
best tenor sound out of all the recordings I have heard here on youtube
Too fast for my taste; gorgeous natural reverb; agree with the other guy about top heavy (but part of that may be due to mic placement); unbelievably, mind-numbingly good for a church choir. I’d be rightly proud of this. That tenor at 2:54 is gorgeous.
And totally agree with michaels7 about the St. Olaf off-the-cuff rendition and the Westminster rendition.
sicut cervus desiderat is one of the best songs ever written!
Good choral performance. HORRIBLE visual. The lyrics aren’t about fountains, they’re about God. Also, chorally, too much emphasis/throughput on the sopranos. The lyric line in this piece is clearly the tenor… all others, bass, alto, and soprano, should be subordinate. Of course, as in most well-written motets, ALL voices shine at times, this was WAYYYY too top heavy. My opinion, only.
There are so many poor vrsions of this piece on youtube. This has to be one
of the best. I like the St. Olaf version in California and the Westminster Cathedral Boys Choir also, but this is just as fine. The video is as beautiful as this haunting music.
n00b
simply wonderful…a caress to my soul