Release Date: 12 January 2000
Label: Naxos - Nxc / Naxos Classics
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 730099451420
Genres: Classical
Composer/Series: SCHUTZ
Description
Heinrich Sch??tz (1585 - 1672) The Christmas Story - Weinachtshistorie (SWV435) Cantiones sacrae (SWV 81, 69, 53-4) (1625)Der 100. Psalm (SWV 36)One might naturally assume that a composer wouldgo to any lengths to have his work published. Indeed Sch??tz tried to get asmuch of his music into print as possible during his lifetime - the majority ofhis five hundred surviving pieces were issued in a series of fourteencollections spanning a period of fifty years from 1611 to 1661. Of thesefourteen publications, nine were issued in Dresden, two each in Venice andFreiberg, and one in Leipzig. However, a substantial part of Sch??tz's outputremained unpublished owing to the intervention of war and resultant financialhardship. Of this unpublished music, much has been lost, the most significantof it owing to fires in Dresden and Copenhagen in the century after Sch??tz'sdeath. One can only lament the loss of such a substantial corpus of music,coming as it did from the pen of the first German composer of internationalrepute.In spite of the fact that Sch??tz was keen tohave the bulk of his music published, the case of The Christmas Story isdifferent. Sch??tz allowed only part of the work to be available for sale: thatof the music sung by the Evangelist. The rest of the piece (the Introduction,Conclusion, and the eight Intermedia) was only available for hire.Sinister as it sounds, it seems that only musicians of a certain standard wereallowed to hire these movements. As Sch??tz himself put it: 'Other than inwell-appointed royal chapels, this music cannot be adequately performed'. So,what of those musicians who did not make the grade? How were they to performthis 17th century masterwork? For those unfortunates, the advice was tointersperse the Evangelist's recitatives with any music that they saw fit. Onemight be tempted to regard this policy as somewhat short-sighted, for whatevermusical crimes a well-meaning group of dilettantes might have committed duringa performance of The Christmas Story, it would surely be more desirableto allow them access to the complete work rather than to encourage sub-standardmusicians to tamper with its dramatic structure. Given Sch??tz's possessive andterritorial attitude towards The Christmas Story, any group of musiciansthat undertakes its performance must do so with a certain degree oftrepidation, even three centuries after the composer's death.The Christmas Story isa succession of set pieces linked by narrative. Sch??tz's genius is mostapparent in his use of the different textures that paint this series ofChristmas portraits. The chorus is reserved for three Intermedia; thealmost matter-of-fact Introduction, the declamatory Conclusion, andthe appearance of the Company of Angels (the most lavish and characterful ofthe choir's three movements). The Angel's three Intermedia arecharacterized by the accompaniment of two violas -a particularly effectivesonority. Whereas another composer might naturally have leaned towards the useof hi
Tracklisting
Dariia Lytvishko
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; Marin Alsop
Alice Di Piazza; Basel Sinfonietta; NDR Bigband; Titus Engel
Anna Alas i Jove; Miquel Villalba
David Childs; Black Dyke Band; Nicholas Childs
Zenz:Cathariou:Iacovidou
Zahir Ensemble
Yun-Yi Qin
