Sacred Choral, A Capella

CI 5.8.

Worship the Lord

Save Us (Psalm 17)

This Is All My Joy (Psalm 16)

Wait For The Lord (Psalm 27)

Jeff Adorador- Guitar, Bass, Synthesizer, Hand Percussion
Alex Marshall- Native American Flute
Ann Roach- Vocals

Dream Meditation

El Vuelo Nocturno continues.. Premiering a track as part of Baile Tropicante: A cumbia compilation made by our dear Lisboanian friend La Flama Blanca, celebrating the 3rd anniversary of his monthly party!

compilation: https://soundcloud.com/musicbox_lisboa/sets/baile-tropicante-de-la-flama-blanca

Umoja - Indiana

Un remix de "Danza Negra" de Lucho Bermúdez directa a la pista de baile!

DOWNLOAD

Danza Negra remix

Hey everybody!  This was my submission for the Tipper and Friends DJ competition to play at Tipper's festival in April of 2016.  This mix features four unreleased tunes as well as two from my last release with Merkaba.  The <3 and repost button help out with the contest.  Enjoy!

Big thanks to Dave and congrats on having the festival.  Tipper has set the benchmark and greatly inspired myself and so many others with his meticulously crafted music.  This set is an ohmage to him.  

That downtempo set on the Mayan Warrior???

Set list:

0 in 1 (unreleased)
Pura Vida (Merkaba)
My I ft. Sophia Boedecker(Merkaba)
Light Again (unreleased)
? (unreleased)
Baby Turtle Rocking Horse (unreleased)

Cualli - Tipper And Friends Original Mix

Remix de @srchancho
Exclusivo para RBMA Radio Panamérika
Mini Conga Remixes pronto en @selloregional

El Buga - Mini Conga (Señor Chancho Remix)

This track is available for purchase on CD Baby here: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/mortensemble3

About the Track

When my Aunt Nita died in the Philippines in May 2012, I looked for some prayers that were appropriate and found this passage from an Anglican Book of Common Prayer (It's from the Gospel of St. John).  I'm much better at communicating in music than I am in words, so I wrote an anthem in honor of her which I hoped would both please her spirit and bring comfort to those of us closest to her.

When writing sacred music in English, I've always been inspired by the great Elizabethan composers, such as William Byrd and many others, and this anthem for three male voices felt particularly right to be set in the style of Byrd.  As there was little time to find colleagues to record this in time for my aunt's funeral, I recorded this under the auspices of "Mortensemble", my professional recording group (search Mortensemble on CD Baby to see the group's bio).

The text:

This particular passage jumped out at me while I was going through the prayer book because I found it to be very uplifting and full of the joy of Christ's Resurrection, and I also wanted to make it a personal prayer from me for the hope and sake of my aunt. 

I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord;
he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; 
and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.

Amen.

Mortensemble Performers:

Erik-Peter Mortensen, (all parts - alto, tenor bass)

Follow EP on Facebook!: www.facebook.com/NYTroubador

Follow EP on Soundcloud!: www.soundcloud.com/Erik-Peter

I am the Resurrection

This track is available for purchase on CD Baby here: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/erikpetermortensen

About the track:

Heavily influenced by William Byrd's composition of the same name, Teach Me, O Lord is written in the style of an English Jacobean verse anthem, for soloist, full choir, and accompaniment of varying disposition - in this case, a cappella "loo's".  Accompaniment could also suitably be provided by organ or a chamber consort of viols or mixed instruments.

In religious music, the verse anthem is a species of choral music, or song, distinct from the motet or 'full' anthem (i.e. for full choir).

In the 'verse' anthem the music alternates between sections for a solo voice or voices (called the 'verse') and the full choir. The organ provided accompaniment in liturgical settings, but viols took the accompaniment outside of the church. In the 'verses', solo voices were expected to ornament their parts for expressive effect with the 'full choir' sections providing contrast in volume and texture. The verse anthems were a major part of the English Reformation due to the use of the vernacular. In addition to this, the use of soloists allowed the text to be expressed more clearly. For the choirmaster they were useful too: the choir only had to learn a small part of the anthem, leaving the hardest passages to a soloist to learn on their own, reducing rehearsal time. Verse anthems developed and were very popular during the early 17th to the middle of the 18th centuries. At the Restoration of Charles II, enthusiasm for the older 'motet' style of anthem returned, but composers continued to write verse anthems, sometimes on a grand scale, particularly for the Chapel Royal.

Notable composers of verse anthems include William Byrd, Orlando Gibbons, Thomas Weelkes, Thomas Tomkins, John Bull and Pelham Humfrey. The "Star Anthem" by John Bull was the most popular Jacobean verse anthem occurring in more contemporary sources than any other. Of the Jacobean anthems the most well known in the 21st century is "This is the Record of John" written by Orlando Gibbons for a visit of Archbishop Laud to his alma mater St. John's College Oxford. 

Verse anthems have been frequently transposed to suit modern English cathedral choir voices, so "This is the Record of John" exists as an alto solo as well as the original tenor.

Henry Purcell composed several examples, usually for special occasions like the composition of his odes. For example, "The Way of God is an Undefiled Way", apparently a Psalm setting, was to be sung by the famed bass soloist, the Reverend John Gostling, to celebrate King William III's safe and successful return from campaigning in Flanders. The larger anthems are often referred to as Symphony Anthems as they include, in addition to sections for 'verse' and 'full choir', passages for string instruments and organ alone, e.g. 'O sing unto the Lord' and 'Rejoice in the Lord always'.

About the text:

Source of text: Psalm 119 vv.33-38 (BCP), with the minor doxology. 
Description: Third Psalm to the Second Preces, this alphabetic acrostic is the longest Psalm: 176 verse lines and 1063 words. Together with Psalm 118, it functions in Book V as a bridge between two well-defined cycles, the First Group of Eleven Psalms (107-117) and the Songs of Ascents (120-134).

Book of Common Prayer (1662)
English text

33 Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes : and I shall keep it unto the end.
34 Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law : yea, I shall keep it with my whole heart.
35 Make me to go in the path of thy commandments : for therein is my desire.
36 Incline my heart unto thy testimonies : and not to covetousness.
37 O turn away mine eyes, lest they behold vanity : and quicken thou me in thy way.
38 O stablish thy word in thy servant : that I may fear thee.

(minor doxology)
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, 
and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Production:

Recorded, edited and mixed at Papagena Productions, New York City

Performers:

Emily Speer, soprano
Erik-Peter Mortensen, countertenor
Edwin Santayana, tenor
Erik-Peter Mortensen, bass

Teach Me, O Lord

This track is available for purchase on CD Baby here: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/erikpetermortensen3

Will also be part of an upcoming album release in Jan, 2014 - "Sacred Music in the English Style".

Erik-Peter Mortensen’s “Supplication for the Holocaust” prayer adapted from and inspired by “Prayer for the Six Million:” – last in a series of prayers from “Z’CHOR – REMEMBER – A Holocaust Prayer – In Memory – Written by a Holocaust Survivor”

Prayer for the Six Million:

Almighty God, remember the six million people that were gassed, killed, drowned, burned alive, tortured, beaten or frozen to death. In our hearts, their sacred memory will last forever and ever. Amen.
God of our Fathers, let the ashes of the children incinerated in Auschwitz, the rivers of blood spilled at Babbi Yar or Majdanek, be a warning to mankind that hatred is destructive, violence is contagious, while man has an unlimited capacity for cruelty. For our own sake and for the sake of our children, we have to be our brother's keeper.
Almighty God, fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah: "They shall beat their swords into ploughshares . . . nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." Man shall not lift weapon against man, and shall kill no more. Amen.

“Supplication for the Holocaust” text:

Almighty God,

Call to remembrance the number twenty-six million,
The number of them that died in the Great Holocaust.

For their sake, and ours,

“fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah:
They shall beat their swords into ploughshares…
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
Neither shall they learn war anymore.
Man shall not lift weapon against man,
And shall kill no more!”

Amen.
___________________

Research:

Informational excerpts below are from the http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1677.html web page as published on 4/30/2012.

The Holocaust is generally regarded as the systematic, state-sponsored persecution and slaughter of approximately 6 million Jews — two thirds of the total European Jewish population, and two-fifths of the Jews in the entire world — but also millions of other victims, by the Nazi regime and its collaborators under Adolf Hitler.

While the Jews were the primary target, there were many other ethnic, secular, religious, and national groups that suffered during the Holocaust, including Poles, Czechs, Greeks, Gypsies, Serbs, Ukranians, and Russians, as well as homosexuals, mentally and physically handicapped persons, trade unionists, prisoners of war, Jehovah's Witnesses, and uncounted others. All were targeted because of their perceived "racial inferiority."

Current estimates, based on Nazi war records and official government documents from various countries, place the death toll of the Holocaust at anywhere from 10 million (a conservative figure) to 26 million people.

Erik-Peter chose to musically set the figure “26 million” not because it is necessarily factually accurate, but because it represents an unfathomably large number of exterminated victims, linked together as a chain of humanity, brothers and sisters in death, across nations, religions, and ideologies. When one group of our human brothers is afflicted, we are all afflicted as we are all connected to each other!

Production:

Recorded, edited and mixed at Papagena Productions, New York

Performers:

Emily Speer, soprano
Emily Speer, alto
Edwin Santayana, tenor
Erik-Peter Mortensen, bass

Follow Erik-Peter on Facebook!

www.facebook.com/NYTroubador


Supplication for the Holocaust

This track is available for purchase on CD Baby here: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/mortensemble

Mortensemble was officially founded in January, 2013 with the debut release of William Byrd's "Ave verum corpus".

The concept of Mortensemble, under the direction of Erik-Peter Mortensen, is to be an ensemble of recording artists specializing in recording and producing performances of the great choral masters, as well as the choral works of Mr. Mortensen.  Based in New York, it is especially difficult to get top professional singers to coordinate recording and performance schedules, as they are always in high demand, and very busy.  To that end, Erik-Peter chooses recording projects based on the availability of his roster and the vocal requirements of a particular piece, which means, in some cases, a very versatile member may sing more than one vocal part on the recording. in the case of the debut release, for example, Mr. Mortensen sang all choral parts (SATB) doubled, producing a recorded ensemble of 8 singers!

Current Roster

The initial roster of professional singers that Mr. Mortensen will call upon for projects includes:

Sarah Moulton Faux (soprano, alto)
Katrina Montagne (soprano, alto)
Catherine Hedberg (soprano, alto)
John Tully (countertenor)
Aaron Lauber (countertenor)
Bill Heigen (countertenor, tenor, baritone)
Edwin Santayana (tenor)
Erik-Peter Mortensen (countertenor, tenor, baritone, bass)
Benjamin Clements (baritone, bass)

This roster will now doubt expand in the coming years, and it's more than probable that a live performance of Mortensemble may be planned in the future.


About the track

Ave verum corpus is a short Eucharistic hymn that has been set to music by various composers. It dates from the 14th century and has been attributed to Pope Innocent VI. During the Middle Ages it was sung at the elevation of the host during the consecration. It was also used frequently during Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. The hymn's title means "Hail, true body", and is based on a poem deriving from a 14th-century manuscript from the Abbey of Reichenau, Lake Constance. The poem is a meditation on the Catholic belief in Jesus's Real Presence in the sacrament of the Eucharist, and ties it to the Catholic conception of the redemptive meaning of suffering in the life of all believers.

Text

The text is in Latin, and reads:
Ave verum corpus, natum
de Maria Virgine,
vere passum, immolatum
in cruce pro homine,
cuius latus perforatum
fluxit aqua et sanguine:
esto nobis praegustatum
in mortis examine.
O Iesu dulcis, O Iesu pie, O Iesu, fili Mariae.
Miserere mei. Amen.

A translation into English is:
Hail, true Body, born
of the Virgin Mary,
who having truly suffered, was sacrificed
on the cross for mankind,
whose pierced side
flowed with water and blood:
May it be for us a foretaste [of the Heavenly banquet]
in the trial of death.
O sweet Jesus, O pious Jesus, O Jesus, son of Mary,
have mercy on me. Amen.

William Byrd's Setting (from Atrium Musicologicum)

Byrd was a student of Tallis, and they combine together various obligations through their lifetimes they were both gentlemen of the Chapel’s Royal Mix lead group of singers that followed the monarch around from venue to venue and provided the music for worship services. Byrd was a devoted catholic and was prosecuted for this during his lifetime.

In order to understand how Byrd sets the text of the motet Ave Verum Corpus it is necessary to understand what it meant to him: for Byrd, the Blessed Sacrament which is the consecrated bread at the Mass contains the real presence of Christ. The first phrase of this Ave Verum Corpus means Hail true body and for Byrd the most important word wasn’t Ave or Corpus, but Verum because word true meant that He was the true presence of Christ in this bread. This was one of the main differences between the Anglican Church and the Roman Catholic Church, and he wanted to emphasise this word Verum in the first phrase. And he did it by using a very particularly expressive device.
The device is called false-relation. A false-relation is when a note and it’s chromatically altered note appear very close to one another, in this case F# and F natural.

The "false-relation" of F#-F, between the Superius and Bassus, emphasises the Verum, in a sort of demosntrating of the true corpus. This "expression" was very common in English music of this period. Byrd's master Thomas Tallis often used it on some of his works.

A great English scholar comment once the vicious English taste for false-relations, where they put it on many contexts that the continentals wouldn’t. This marked English music out as particularly expressive.

Mortensemble members recorded on this track

Erik-Peter Mortensen, all choral parts (soprano, alto, tenor, bass), doubled

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William Byrd - Ave Verum Corpus, by Mortensemble

This is an excerpt (Kyrie and Gloria) from a live concert I sang in as a baritone with early music ensemble Polyhmnia (polyhymnia-nyc.org)

Here are more details about the concert and music:

___________________________________________
	
The Church of St. Ignatius of Antioch, 552 West End Ave, New York, NY 10024

Saturday, March 9, 8:00 pm

John Bradley - Director
Sarah Davies - Organ

Pre-concert Lecture, 7:00 PM, Dr. Antoni Pizà

Missa Surge propera a6, chant & motets

Francisco Guerrero, the quintessential Spanish Renaissance composer musically embodies the essence of Iberian spirituality with his dark-hued elegantly wrought polyphony. He wrote only one mass for six voices, the sensuous Missa Surge propera. Join us as we perform this magnificent mass ordinary in a liturgical reconstruction, with motets and Gregorian chant from Spanish sources, rediscovering a glorious musical and liturgical tradition as it might have been heard within the walls of Seville’s splendid cathedral.

_____________________________________________

Follow Erik-Peter on Facebook: www.facebook.com/NYTroubador

Follow Erik-Peter on soundcloud:  www.soundcloud.com/erik-peter


La Flor de Espana (Live Concert 3/9/13)-Polyhymnia-Kyrie/Gloria-Guerrero's Missa Surge propera a 6

Hi, My name is Erik-Peter Mortensen (aka Erik or EP).  I've been singing professionally at the Met & City Opera's since 9, as well as in many professional choirs through the present.  I have a serious love for Early and Classical music and wish to make its appeal reach out to a much vaster audience, either through fusing it with existing styles, creating new styles, or promulgating it through films & games.

I'm currently studying for my Master Certificate in Orchestration for Film and TV, and I'll be posting more of my work right here as my studies continue and I go back to remaster previous work.

If anyone has cool collaboration ideas, please feel free to reach out to me! :-)