Great Awekening

"The Great Journey" is Colin Matthews' largest vocal work, running to nearly forty minutes. It is a setting of a condensation of the report by Alvar Nu-ez Cabeza de Vaca (c 1490 - c 1560) to Emperor Charles V. Cabeza de Vaca was part of a ill-planned Spanish expedition seeking the legendary (and unsubstantiated) treasures of Florida. The expedition shipwrecked. Left for dead in the swampy land, he was rescued by and lived among the Indians. He found three other stranded Spaniards. Together they made an incredible journey back to Spanish territory, travelling through totally unknown lands from Florida to Mexico, arriving at Spanish settlements nine years after their fleet left Spain……

Joseph Stevenson @ AllMusic

In Life Lessons from the Great Books, Professor J. Rufus Fears of the University of Oklahoma—a marvelous storyteller with deep historical knowledge—shows you how some of Western civilization's greatest literary masterpieces can speak to you and provide guidance in your life across the gulf of time and culture. Rich in historical perspective and infused with layers of meaning, these 36 lectures reveal the wealth of insight these enduring works can provide in your life. You'll come to see that each of these works—whether written 2,000, 200, or 20 years ago—remain relevant to all of us.

Mozarts Große Messe, KV 427, ist Fragment geblieben und gehört dennoch zu den eindrucksvollsten Werken geistlicher Musik in Europa. Der Salzburger Meister folgt hier den Messemodellen Bachs (und Händels). Auch Spuren der italienischen Gesangstradition lassen sich erkennen, vor allem was die Ausarbeitung der Sopranpartien betrifft. Frieder Bernius, in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Musikwissenschaftler Uwe Wolf, hat den Mut, der ausgedehnten Diskographie zu dieser Messe eine weitere Einspielung hinzuzufügen (Kammerchor Stuttgart/Hofkapelle Stuttgart). Das Besondere an dieser Aufnahme ist der aus Praxis, theoretischen und musikhistorischen Überlegungen gespeiste Versuch, eine sehr diskret ergänzte Fassung dieser Messe vorzulegen.