Today's Classical Corner... awe and wonder, as only holiness can inspire!
The Cherubic Hymn is part of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom written in the fourth century by the Byzantine saint, and normally sung at the Great Entrance during the Byzantine liturgy.
a tribute to Thelonious Monk. Mingus tried to simulate with his bass play the dance like movements of the great musician. This composition is described by Mingus as "a profile of Monk", not a complete picture of the man but a side view or one aspect of a complex personality. Actually, it is a double profile because we can see an important aspect of the composer, Mingus. The eight-bar, many-voiced section that keeps alternating with the melody most certainly mirrors the emotional, earthy quality found in both subject and composer. If you listen carefully to the last chorus, you will hear Mingus shout during a couple of the sections, thus bearing out the identity.