Music for Advent and Christmas

[Karl Henning]

Richard Smert (c.1400 - c.1479)

"Dick Death," they call him in Novosibirsk . . . .

[pjme]

I'm sure he doesn't mind: he's dead for more than 530 years!

Yet, it's nice though:  eros-thanatos , all in one name!

P.

[Florestan]

The Star Is Rising (Romanian Carol)

http://www.youtube.com/v/LuVYRZ8cmsA

[Marc]

Mm, that does look nice!

It sounds nice, too!

[Cato]

How could I have forgotten this?

http://www.youtube.com/v/shTDEWgHNgQ

[pjme]

Excellent choice! It is such a wonderful work.

Frank Martin's "Le mystère de la nativité" is a tougher nut to crack.

When you're not exactly sure what to say about something you sort of like but can't quite classify, you might resort to using the word "interesting". Frank Martin's ponderous and intermittently fascinating "mystery play" certainly is interesting, from the huge choruses, highly dramatic vocal solo parts, passages of spoken dialogue, and richly colored orchestral accompaniments and interludes. But it's far more than that: its propulsive, compelling sense of action, multitude of "characters", and theatrical spirit keep you listening. The Stravinsky of Symphony of Psalms appears periodically--the opening gestures, the orchestral introduction to the "Et incarnatus est" movement, various starkly harmonized choral sections--and even more evident is the Debussy of Pelléas et Mélisande. But more apparent is the uniquely engaging style of Martin, who uses many tools and draws from many different materials to convey the meaning of the text: 12-tone themes, brass fanfares, extended vocal arias, speech/song, polyphonic choral sections, impressionistic, moody orchestral settings, and more traditional melodic/harmonic structures.

In Le Mystère de la Nativité he sets what the rather skimpy liner notes describe as the "complementary story to the passion--namely the birth of Jesus" based on texts to the 15th-century mystery play Mystère de la Passion by Arnoul Gréban. As usual with Martin, the work is laden with references to light and darkness, the spiritual and material, love and death--subjects holding priority among themes essential to human existence. Stage directions for this one-hour-and-40-minute work include "requiring three simultaneous stages representing the three levels of heaven, earth, and hell." As you listen to the music, you can tell which area is being represented even if you can't understand the text: the vulgar shouting and ugly vocalizations of Satan, the simpler, more tuneful, "folklike" earth music, and the more harmonically pure and fundamental sounds of the heavenly angels. Sometimes the sheer dramatic impact of the music--especially in the second and third parts--sounds more like an opera than a cantata or oratorio.

Nevertheless, listening to this intriguing piece puts you in the middle of a skillfully-crafted re-creation of one of the world's most revered stories, examined from an unusual perspective--with input from both heaven and hell! The chorus and orchestra are uniformly excellent and are shown to luminous effect by the detailed, well-balanced live recording (applause-o-phobes can just click "stop" in the slight pause after the last chord and you'll be fine). Soloists, too, are quite respectable, especially bass Michael Pavlu, baritone Peter Brechbühler, and tenor Hans-Jürg Rickenbacher. This certainly is one of the more unusual additions to the catalog of Christmas-themed recordings, but it's one that rewards as much as it mystifies. Unfortunately, for English speakers that mystery extends to the text translations, which are printed only in French and German.

[11/15/2001] --David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com on the third release / Musiques Suisses.


Cascavelle issued the worldpremiere recording with both Aafje Heynis and Elly Ameling in their youthful ( ca 1958?) prime.
Ameling's /Mary's slumbersong ( at ca 12.30) is exquisite.

http://www.youtube.com/v/dXmGhrbB0Jc


The Luna discs combines Golgotha, Le mystère de la nativité and the 2nd pianoconcerto. The line up of soloists and conductors is impressive!




Track 1-GOLGOTHA - PASSION ORATORIO (1946) 17 (Part One)

Edda Moser
Christa Ludwig
Peter Schreier
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Harry Peeters

Arnold Schönberg Chor - ORF Chor
Einstudierung: Erwin Ortner
Orgel: Thomas Daniel Schlee
ORF Symphonieorchester
Dirigent: Lothar Zagrosek
Salzburger Festspiele, Felsenreitschule
11. August 1986

CD 2

Track 1-2
GOLGOTHA - PASSION ORATORIO (1946) (Part Two)

Track 3-11
DAS MYSTERIUM VON DER GEBURT DES HERRN (Part One)

Le mystère de la Nativité
Oper in 3 Teilen (1959) sung in German

Gottvater /Simeon: Tugomir Franc
Erzengel Gabriel / Melchior: Stanley Kolk
Lucifer / Aloris / Jaspar / Le Prêtre: Kurt Ruzicka
Satan / Ysambert: Gerhard Stolze
Beelzebub / Rifflart: Herbert Prikopa
Prologus / Astaroth / Pellion / Balthasar: Hans Christian
Adam / Joseph: Otto Wiener
Eva / Unsere Frau: Ileana Cotrubas
Elisabeth: Anna- Ingrid Mayr

Wiener Jeunesse-Chor - ORF-Chor
Wiener Symphoniker
Director: Bruno Maderna
Wien, Wiener Konzerthaus, Grosser Saal,
December 21,1970

CD 3

Track 1-5
DAS MYSTERIUM VON DER GEBURT DES HERRN (Part Two)

Track 6-8
PIANO CONCERTO NO.2 (1968-1969)

Con moto
Lento
Presto – Cadenza
Paul Badura – Skoda

Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest
Conductor: Josef Krips
Amsterdam, Concertgebouw, January 27, 1972

- See more at: http://www.opera-club.net/release.asp?rel=413#sthash.5tw5yLah.dpuf

[Karl Henning]

It's not classical, but I find this one a good cheery one for first thing of a Christmas morning:

http://www.youtube.com/v/H2RZ9pzV2FM

[Wakefield]

The Cleveland Public Library Found a Lost First Edition Copy of 'A Christmas Carol'

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/arts-and-lifestyle/2013/12/cleveland-public-library-found-lost-first-edition-copy-christmas-carol/7957/

[Phrygian]

This moody and exotic character piece from "The Nutcracker" never fails to evoke pleasure - especially during the festive season.  It's the 'Arabian Dance' and I happen to think this little gem is Tchaikovsky's finest achievement.  A big call, but the whole ballet score itself is absolutely brilliant!!  The soaring oboe (or Cor Anglaise?) over a gentle string ostinato (so Mozartean!), delicately accompanied by an intermittent tambourine;  the bassoon with its haunting melancholy which inspissates the texture and, finally, that surging melody in the strings - tender and heartbreaking......  Without further circumlocution, here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jdv3g9rNs9A

[jochanaan]

...The soaring oboe (or Cor Anglaise?)...

It's both.  Oboe first, then that instrument which is neither English nor a horn.

[pjme]

Hi,

Wikipedia gives you a lot of information on the cor anglais.

The term cor anglais is French for English horn, but the instrument is neither from England nor related to the (French) horn. The instrument originated in Silesia about 1720, when a bulb bell was fitted to a curved oboe da caccia-type body by the Weigel family of Breslau. The two-keyed, open-belled, straight tenor oboe (French taille de hautbois, "tenor oboe"), and more particularly the flare-belled oboe da caccia, resembled the horns played by angels in religious images of the Middle Ages. This gave rise in German-speaking central Europe to the Middle High German name engellisches Horn, meaning angelic horn. Because engellisch also meant English in the vernacular of the time, the "angelic horn" became the "English horn." In the absence of any better alternative, the curved, bulb-belled tenor oboe then retained the name even after the oboe da caccia fell into disuse around 1760.[5]
The earliest known orchestral part specifically for the instrument is in the Vienna version of Niccolò Jommelli's opera Ezio dating from 1749,[6] where it was given the Italian name corno inglese.[7] Gluck and Haydn followed suit in the 1750s,[8] and the first English horn concertos were written in the 1770s. Considering the name "cor anglais," it is ironic that the instrument was not used in France until about 1800 or in England until the 1830s.[8] The local equivalent for "English horn" is also used in other European languages such as Italian, German, and Spanish.
The suggestion has been made that anglais might be a corruption of Middle French anglé (angular, or bent at an angle, angulaire in modern French),[9] but this has been rejected on grounds that there is no evidence of the term cor anglé before it was offered as a possible origin of anglais in the 19th century.[10] The cor anglais still has a bent metal pipe, known as the bocal, which connects the reed to the instrument proper. The name first appeared on a regular basis in Italian, German, and Austrian scores from 1741, usually in the Italian form corno inglese.[11]
Through the last quarter of the 19th century, the French and Italian names cor anglais and corno inglese were the only titles ever used for the instrument by English writers.[12] It is remarkable that the French version of the name persists in English-speaking countries, where colloquially the instrument is always referred to as the "cor".[1]


Peter

[springrite]

For this Christmas-- Cornfield Chase! Ha!

[pjme]

Anyway, soon it is time to take out all that great Christmas music again - from Heinrich Schütz and Johan Sebastian Bach to Arthur Honegger and...( Norwegian, Dutch, Flemish, German, Serbian, Hungarian, Rumanian, Greek, Italian , spanish and Portugese....) folksongs . And carols.

For those sensitive to a religious Christmas note:

A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols is broadcast live on BBC Radio 4 on 24 December at 3pm (10:00 EST or 07:00 PST). The service is also broadcast at 2pm on Radio 3 on Christmas Day, and at various times on the BBC World Service.

In the United States the service is broadcast by around 300 radio stations, including American Public Media and its affiliates (Minnesota Public Radio and WNYC-New York, for example). Unfortunately there is no list of radio stations that are broadcasting the service, so it's best to contact your local stations or check their online listings.

http://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/events/chapel-services/nine-lessons.html



P.

[Phrygian]

This will be my Christmas music for Latin carols and the whole Viennese experience - not to mention the Wiener Saengerknaben:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnLIMWLs0b8

I remember singing these carols myself in Latin when I was at school.  What a refreshing change from the commercialized public spectacles which pass for Christmas carols these days, taking the form of "Jingle Bell Rock" (or, as Dickens would say, 'nuts'!).  And the politically correct "happy holiday" sentiment which goes with it.

Happy Christmas!

[Cato]

This will be my Christmas music for Latin carols and the whole Viennese experience - not to mention the Wiener Saengerknaben:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnLIMWLs0b8

I remember singing these carols myself in Latin when I was at school.  What a refreshing change from the commercialized public spectacles which pass for Christmas carols these days, taking the form of "Jingle Bell Rock" (or, as Dickens would say, 'nuts'!).  And the politically correct "happy holiday" sentiment which goes with it.

Happy Christmas!

Amen, Sister!  0:) 0:) 0:)

It is hard to believe so many years have passed, but in the 1980's the Musical Heritage Society (are they still around?) issued a recording called Carols from New College with excellent versions of assorted Christmas carols.

"CRD Recordings" has re-issued it:

[asin]B000060K7S[/asin]

[EigenUser]

This moody and exotic character piece from "The Nutcracker" never fails to evoke pleasure - especially during the festive season.  It's the 'Arabian Dance' and I happen to think this little gem is Tchaikovsky's finest achievement.  A big call, but the whole ballet score itself is absolutely brilliant!!  The soaring oboe (or Cor Anglaise?) over a gentle string ostinato (so Mozartean!), delicately accompanied by an intermittent tambourine;  the bassoon with its haunting melancholy which inspissates the texture and, finally, that surging melody in the strings - tender and heartbreaking......  Without further circumlocution, here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jdv3g9rNs9A

I love The Nutcracker. I listen to it many times every Christmas season.

My mom and I were wrapping gifts the other day and she was playing music from her iPad. I asked if I could play music, and she said yes -- as long as it was Christmas music.

So, I put on Messiaen's Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant Jesus. 0:)

[Phrygian]

Amen, Sister!  0:) 0:) 0:)

It is hard to believe so many years have passed, but in the 1980's the Musical Heritage Society (are they still around?) issued a recording called Carols from New College with excellent versions of assorted Christmas carols.

"CRD Recordings" has re-issued it:

[asin]B000060K7S[/asin]

Somehow I knew you'd agree, Cato!!!  When it comes to Christmas I'm afraid my Catholic genes come to the fore;  no more the recessive secular variety, mine are atavistic and soon return to type. 

(Actually, John says most of these carols were composed by the "Protestants".  A bit of cognitive dissonance for me. )

[Phrygian]

I love The Nutcracker. I listen to it many times every Christmas season.

My mom and I were wrapping gifts the other day and she was playing music from her iPad. I asked if I could play music, and she said yes -- as long as it was Christmas music.

So, I put on Messiaen's Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant Jesus. 0:)

This is a beautiful anecdote, and I love your musical choice of Messiaen.  You have excellent taste and I hope you and your family have a very happy Christmas.  With all good wishes to my friends in the USA too!!

[not edward]

This thread wouldn't be complete without Schoenberg's Weihnachtsmusik.

https://www.youtube.com/v/yR94CiqtFLs

[Gurn Blanston]

I love The Nutcracker. I listen to it many times every Christmas season.

My mom and I were wrapping gifts the other day and she was playing music from her iPad. I asked if I could play music, and she said yes -- as long as it was Christmas music.

So, I put on Messiaen's Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant Jesus. 0:)

Me too. For many years I used my Dorati Two-Fer, then three years ago I got the Mackerras set, which I leave on repeat many times over.

Last year, a friend gave me the DVD of 'Balanchine's Nutcracker', which I had mentioned seeing years ago and never since. As that came post-Christmas, I will crack the shrinkwrap on it this year and watch/listen on Christmas Eve, followed by Mackerras on Christmas Day. As it happens, I also think The Nutcracker is among Tchaikovsky's greatest, as well as being perhaps the finest and most varied ballet ever. But hey, that's just me... 0:)