FREE/BARGAIN — Media Deals (non-eBook/non-audiobook)

[GtrsRGr8]

Okay, I'm confused. But I'm sure that at least one MobileReader can help clear it up.

Today's free piece from YourClassical is called Ave Maria. There must be must at least two different pieces by this name, because this piece sounds nothing like the song that I know as "Ave Marie," of which the instrumental portion I believe may have been composed by Johann Sebastian Bach (IMHO, Luciano Pavarotti does an outstanding job of singing it in the modern day; the Il Volo trio does a fine job of singing it, too (what ever happened to them, anyway? I never hear anything about them anymore)).

This free piece is produced by a company called Sono Luminus. The album is called Season of Light: Songs of Thanksgiving, Christmas, Chanukah, New Year. The name of the group performing it goes by the name Essential Voices USA, with Lee Musiker performing on piano. Judith Clurman is the conductor.

You can find out more about the album here, a Naxos webpage. Wanna stream it or download the MP3? Navigate to this YourClassical webpage.

Yes, I'm disappointed. I was expecting and wanting to hear the Bach piece. But, don't get me wrong--there is nothing "wrong" with the freebie for today, either. It sounds fine. And, as my Southern pappy told me several times while I was growing up, "Son, don't look a gift horse in the mouth." If he was alive today, I'm sure that he would be pleased to know that I have downloaded, and am keeping, this free piece.

[Manabi]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

Okay, I'm confused. But I'm sure that at least one MobileReader can help clear it up.

Today's free piece from YourClassical is called Ave Maria. There must be must at least two different pieces by this name, because this piece sounds nothing like the song that I know as "Ave Marie," of which the instrumental portion I believe may have been composed by Johann Sebastian Bach (IMHO, Luciano Pavarotti does an outstanding job of singing it in the modern day; the Il Volo trio does a fine job of singing it, too (what ever happened to them, anyway? I never hear anything about them anymore)).

Since Ave Maria is Latin for "Hail Mary," and the name of a Catholic prayer, there's likely a lot more than two pieces written that have that name. In this case the piece is by Jean Mouton, a French composer of the Renaissance. Mouton is famous for his motets, this piece being an example of one.

And yeah, it's significantly different than Bach's version.

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by Manabi

Since Ave Maria is Latin for "Hail Mary," and the name of a Catholic prayer, there's likely a lot more than two pieces written that have that name. In this case the piece is by Jean Mouton, a French composer of the Renaissance. Mouton is famous for his motets, this piece being an example of one.

And yeah, it's significantly different than Bach's version.

I knew that someone could clear things up for me. You explained things, and very succinctly at that. Thanks, Manabi.

Latin used to be taught in high schools a lot more than it is today, at least in the deep South. This was years ago, say 75 years ago and before. The reason that I think that is that I scrounge the thrift stores, used book sales, etc. for used books. In the in the late 1970's when I first started doing it, I ran into a lot of used (and already old, then) Latin textbooks that had the markings that they had been issued from various high schools.

I cannot help but think of a certain pass in (American) football when I hear or read the words "Hail, Mary." It's one in which a team is down by a touchdown or less, they have time for probably only one more play before the end of the game, and they're a long way from the opponent's goal line. The quarterback throws a long pass into the end zone where a bunch of players--his team's and the opposing team's--are all bunched up. The quarterback's hope is that one of his team's players will catch it. It's a last-ditch effort. Sometimes it works. To non-Catholics, and probably just the ones interested in sports, that is probably the first thing that they think of when they hear or read "Hail, Mary."

Back to the song . . . . As I mentioned in my post, I don't know if Bach wrote the lyrics, but, to me, it is even more beautiful with a masterful singer singing the lyrics--I've listened to the instrumental only version, also. I've had the song running through my head all day, since I went to my free Spotify account and listened to three or four different performers singing it. Incredibly beautiful song. Perhaps we will be fortunate enough to have one of the free classical music providers give us that one sometime this holiday season.

[GtrsRGr8]

It's getting close to 2017.

The new year means a lot of new things: new notebook for mileage records if your automobile expense is deductible, new number to put in the "date" area on the personal checks that you write (if you're one of the six people in the world who still use printed checks) and other places, new folders for 2017 receipts for tax purposes, new group insurance plan at work or through ObamaCare . . . . well, lots of new things.

Among them is a new calendar. Actually, several of them, I'm sure. Do you have one or more, yet? Maybe you can pick up a free one from your bank, auto parts store, insurance company, veterinarian's, or some place like that. But, maybe not. You might decide that you'll just buy an advertisement-free one, from Amazon, with pictures of cute kittens or something like that.

But the fact that you're reading this thread, which is in the "Deals, Freebies, and Resources" forum tells me that you might not want to pay good money just to have a calendar. Moreover, what if none of those calendars that you can pick up for free are really the size, style, or whatever that you need or want?

Well, there's a website, Printable 2017 Calendars where there are just short of a gazillion different "free 2017 calendars that you can download, customize, and print." These calendars are available in PDF and Microsoft Word formats. A handful of them are in color; most are in black-or-white. They are advertisement-free, except for perhaps the name, in small print, of the website from which you got them.

I've done business (if you can call taking freebies from a company "doing business") with this website and its sister websites for probably 20 years. Even if most of their stuff is basically simple and not what you would call "pretty," all that I've gotten from them has been high quality. They do the job.

Check 'em out.

[GtrsRGr8]

Today, we have the opportunity to grab Franz Gruber's Silent Night, free. This is courtesy of YourClassical.

This piece, as performed, runs 3 minutes and 6 seconds long. It comes from the Naxos album Christmas with Septura: J.S. Bach - Handel - Rachmaninov - Warlock.

From the dedicated Naxos webpage for the album:
Brass Septet Music - BACH, J.S. / HANDEL, G.F. / RACHMANINOV, S. / WARLOCK, P. (Christmas with Septura)

Brass instruments are almost a Christmas cliché: synonymous with the celebration, but perhaps not with the wealth of great music that it has inspired. Septura sets out to rectify this, re-imagining for brass septet the Christmas offerings of the greatest composers of the past 450 years. Pushing the combinations and colours of the septet to the limits, the result is a virtuosic and varied selection of festive favourites.

In case you didn't "pick up" on implications in the blurb above, the album seems to be exclusively instrumental--there are no vocals. I can say for sure that the free piece is that way, at least.

Credits: Septura is the brass ensemble; Matthew Knight is one of two arrangers.

Just one quick comment from me about the piece. This all-horns rendition of Silent Night is a little different from other renditions that we have heard of that song , but it sounds really nice. However, I am who loves the horns (as well as woodwinds and cellos).

YourClassical's dedicated webpage for the free piece, as always, provides on it a way for you to stream the piece and/or download it. To download it, follow the "Direct MP3 download link" on that webpage.

[Manabi]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

Latin used to be taught in high schools a lot more than it is today, at least in the deep South. This was years ago, say 75 years ago and before. The reason that I think that is that I scrounge the thrift stores, used book sales, etc. for used books. In the in the late 1970's when I first started doing it, I ran into a lot of used (and already old, then) Latin textbooks that had the markings that they had been issued from various high schools.

My general understanding is Latin was the only language taught other than English in many K-12 schools back then. As schools moved to teaching Spanish, French, etc. they gradually dropped off teaching Latin since it was a dead language. However, it appears it's still taught in some public schools, private schools, home schools and often taught in Catholic secondary schools. From Wikipedia:

In the United States, Latin is occasionally taught in high schools and middle schools, usually as an elective or option. There is, however, a growing classical education movement consisting of private schools and home schools that are teaching Latin at the elementary, or grammar school level. Latin is often taught and is sometimes a mandatory requirement at Catholic secondary schools. More than 149,000 Latin students took the 2007 National Latin Exam. In 2006, 3,333 students took the AP Latin Literature exam.

I find it interesting that Catholic schools still teach it, as the Catholic church switched to an English mass in 1964, and dropped all Latin by 1969.

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

Back to the song . . . . As I mentioned in my post, I don't know if Bach wrote the lyrics, but, to me, it is even more beautiful with a masterful singer singing the lyrics--I've listened to the instrumental only version, also. I've had the song running through my head all day, since I went to my free Spotify account and listened to three or four different performers singing it. Incredibly beautiful song. Perhaps we will be fortunate enough to have one of the free classical music providers give us that one sometime this holiday season.

In the case of this song, the lyrics were probably either written by Mouton, or are the Latin Ave Maria prayer from the Catholic church. My bet is it's the prayer. I can't understand all of it well enough to compare, but here's the entire prayer in Latin:

AVE MARIA, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc, et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.

[bookmarked]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

Today, we have the opportunity to grab Franz Gruber's Silent Night, free. This is courtesy of YourClassical.

...

Wait, wasn't he the villian in "Die Hard"?

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Manabi

My general understanding is Latin was the only language taught other than English in many K-12 schools back then. As schools moved to teaching Spanish, French, etc. they gradually dropped off teaching Latin since it was a dead language. However, it appears it's still taught in some public schools, private schools, home schools and often taught in Catholic secondary schools. From Wikipedia:

I find it interesting that Catholic schools still teach it, as the Catholic church switched to an English mass in 1964, and dropped all Latin by 1969.

When I was in Catholic high school, we were required to study Latin in freshman year; then we could either continue with it or switch to another language. The rationale, as I remember it, was that Latin would provide a foundation for future language study; we didn't study any church Latin related to the Mass.

In the case of this song, the lyrics were probably either written by Mouton, or are the Latin Ave Maria prayer from the Catholic church. My bet is it's the prayer. I can't understand all of it well enough to compare, but here's the entire prayer in Latin:

AVE MARIA, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc, et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.

That's the traditional Hail Mary prayer:

Hail Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

Okay, I'm confused. But I'm sure that at least one MobileReader can help clear it up.

Today's free piece from YourClassical is called Ave Maria. There must be must at least two different pieces by this name, because this piece sounds nothing like the song that I know as "Ave Marie," of which the instrumental portion I believe may have been composed by Johann Sebastian Bach (IMHO, Luciano Pavarotti does an outstanding job of singing it in the modern day

The best-known Ave Maria is Schubert's; this is the one sung by Pavarotti. Second place probably goes to Gounod's; he wrote a melody destined to be played in conjunction with a Bach piece.

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by issybird

The best-known Ave Maria is Schubert's; this is the one sung by Pavarotti. Second place probably goes to Gounod's; he wrote a melody destined to be played in conjunction with a Bach piece.

Thanks. Not Bach, but Schubert.

I just had to listen to a couple more renditions of the song. I was a little bit disappointed in Andrea Bocelli's. A little bit surprising to me, because he did a fantastic job with the few songs that I've heard him sing. The number 3 rendition (after Pavarotti and Il Volo) that I heard may be the Vienna Boys' Choir. There's only so much singing by pre-pubescent boys that I can stand, though. Bocelli would be 4th.

[GtrsRGr8]

Yesterday's YourClassical piece (Ave Maria) was not the Bach composition by that name. Thanks for the correction by issybird.

But today's YourClassical giveaway is a Johann Sebastian Bach piece. It might not surprise you that it, too, is related to the holiday season (I think that we might as well expect that from YourClassical through at least December 25).

It is Bach's Cantata No. 147: Wachet Auf. The piece is 4 minutes and 2 seconds, as performed.

The piece comes from an album of a music publisher the name of which I do not remember coming across before, Opus Arte. Nevertheless, there is a dedicated webpage for the album, On Christmas Night, on YourClassical's website from none other than Naxos (it seems that they must maintain a database of almost every album ever produced, regardless of whether or not they are the ones who published them). Anyway, that webpage is chock-full of wonderful information about the album.

The cover of the album states that it is performed by the Choir of Magdalen College, Oxford and baritone Roderick Williams. However, I did not detect any vocal music at all on this particular piece that we can get for free. The "director," which I suppose is one and the same as the conductor, is Daniel Hyde.

The dominant musical instrument on the free piece (and it's soft--thank you!) is the organ and another musical instrument in that family, that I could not recognize.

It is certainly possible to stream the free piece before you decide whether or not to download it. If you will navigate to this webpage, you will see (what I call) the stream bar. Think the piece is a keeper? The "Direct MP3 download link" is located on the same webpage; if you click on it, the piece will automatically install itself on your computer's default drive or your smartphone's/MP3 player's memory.

[alee]

Originally Posted by bookmarked

Wait, wasn't he the villian in "Die Hard"?

No, that was Hans Gruber, played by Alan Rickman, who also played Professor Snape in the Harry Potter films.

Perhaps a future Die Hard film could use Franz Gruber's music, and make him the ancestor of Hans and his brother (the villain of Die Hard 3) as well as a new villain who's also related to them all.

[Gardenman]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

It's getting close to 2017.

The new year means a lot of new things: new notebook for mileage records if your automobile expense is deductible, new number to put in the "date" area on the personal checks that you write (if you're one of the six people in the world who still use printed checks) and other places, new folders for 2017 receipts for tax purposes, new group insurance plan at work or through ObamaCare . . . . well, lots of new things.

Among them is a new calendar. Actually, several of them, I'm sure. Do you have one or more, yet? Maybe you can pick up a free one from your bank, auto parts store, insurance company, veterinarian's, or some place like that. But, maybe not. You might decide that you'll just buy an advertisement-free one, from Amazon, with pictures of cute kittens or something like that.

But the fact that you're reading this thread, which is in the "Deals, Freebies, and Resources" forum tells me that you might not want to pay good money just to have a calendar. Moreover, what if none of those calendars that you can pick up for free are really the size, style, or whatever that you need or want?

Well, there's a website, Printable 2017 Calendars where there are just short of a gazillion different "free 2017 calendars that you can download, customize, and print." These calendars are available in PDF and Microsoft Word formats. A handful of them are in color; most are in black-or-white. They are advertisement-free, except for perhaps the name, in small print, of the website from which you got them.

I've done business (if you can call taking freebies from a company "doing business") with this website and its sister websites for probably 20 years. Even if most of their stuff is basically simple and not what you would call "pretty," all that I've gotten from them has been high quality. They do the job.

Check 'em out.

Thank you for the link. I will use them this year.

[Catlady]

deleted

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by Gardenman

Thank you for the link. I will use them this year.

Thanks. It is always nice to know that at least one person has enjoyed and/or benefited from a post.