Schutz - Weihnachtshistorie
£14.73
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Label: Ricercar
Cat No: RIC467
Format: CD
Number of Discs: 1
Genre: Christmas
Release Date: 18th October 2024
Contents
Works
Alleluja! Freuet euch, ihr ChristenEhre sei Gott in der Hohe
Freude, Freude, grosse Freude
Machet die Tore weit
Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen
Magnificat anima mea, SWV468
O bone Jesu, fili Mariae, SWV471
Weihnachtshistorie (Christmas Story), SWV435
Artists
Vox LuminisConductor
Lionel MeunierAbout
Heinrich Schütz continued to set himself challenges throughout his long career. Of all the genres of sacred music that he undertook, the oratorio offers us his most contrasting ideas. His Historia der Geburt Jesu Christi (1664) is in many respects the model for the genre that would later be employed by the musicians of Johann Sebastian Bach's generation; the score that Vox Luminis use for this recording has been reconstructed from manuscript sources in the Düben Collection in Uppsala. The album is completed with a number of particularly festive motets for the Christmas period by Heinrich Schütz and his illustrious contemporary Andreas Hammerschmidt.
Sound/Video
Paused
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1Hammerschmidt: Machet die Tore weit
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2Hammerschmidt: Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe
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3Schütz: O bone Jesu, fili Mariae, SWV471
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4Hammerschmidt: Alleluia, freuet euch, ihr Christen alle
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5Hammerschmidt: Freude, Freude, große Freude
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6Schütz: Magnificat, SWV468
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7Praetorius: Es ist ein Ros entsprungen
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8Schütz: Weihnachtshistorie, SWV435: Introduktion oder Eingang: Die Geburt unsres Herren Jesu
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9Schütz: Weihnachtshistorie, SWV435: Es begab sich aber (Evangelist)
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10Schütz: Weihnachtshistorie, SWV435: Fürchtet euch nicht (Der Engel)
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11Schütz: Weihnachtshistorie, SWV435: Und alsbald war dabei (Evangelist)
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12Schütz: Weihnachtshistorie, SWV435: Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe (Die Menge der Engel)
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13Schütz: Weihnachtshistorie, SWV435: Und da die Engel (Evangelist)
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14Schütz: Weihnachtshistorie, SWV435: Lasset uns nun gehen (Die Hirten auf dem Felde)
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15Schütz: Weihnachtshistorie, SWV435: Und sie kamen eilend (Evangelist)
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16Schütz: Weihnachtshistorie, SWV435: Wo ist der neugerborne König (Die Weisen aus Morgenlande)
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17Schütz: Weihnachtshistorie, SWV435: Da das der Könige Herodes (Evangelist)
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18Schütz: Weihnachtshistorie, SWV435: Zu Bethlehem in Jüdischen Lande (Hohepriester)
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19Schütz: Weihnachtshistorie, SWV435: Da berief Herodes (Evangelist)
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20Schütz: Weihnachtshistorie, SWV435: Ziehet hin und forschet fleißig (Herodes)
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21Schütz: Weihnachtshistorie, SWV435: Als sie nun den König gehöret hatten (Evangelist)
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22Schütz: Weihnachtshistorie, SWV435: Stehe auf, Joseph (Der Engel)
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23Schütz: Weihnachtshistorie, SWV435: Und er stund auf (Evangelist)
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24Schütz: Weihnachtshistorie, SWV435: Stehe auf, Joseph (Der Engel)
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25Schütz: Weihnachtshistorie, SWV435: Und er stund auf (Evangelist)
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26Schütz: Weihnachtshistorie, SWV435: Beschluß: Dank sagen wir alle
Europadisc Review
Every year around this time we have the difficult task of choosing from among the various festive-themed offerings one recording as our top Christmas recommendation. This year, however, the choice has been fairly straightforward, made easier by the fact that one of our favourite ensembles has turned to repertoire for which it is justly renowned. Under the direction of Lionel Meunier, the Belgian-based early music group Vox Luminis first came to wide attention with its 2011 award-winning release of Heinrich Schütz’s Musicalische Exequien, composed around 1635 for the funeral of Henry II, Count of Reuss-Gera. That release attracted a string of superlatives from the critics. Now Vox Luminis return to Schütz with a sumptuous recording of his Weihnachtshistorie (Christmas Story) of 1664.
The work’s full title is Historia der freuden- und gnadenreichen Geburt Gottes und Marien Sohnes Jesu Christi, but although this setting of the Biblical Nativity narrative in the Lutheran vernacular helped to establish a pattern culminating in J.S. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio of 1734, the music is far more compact. Lacking the chorales and reflective recitatives and arias that later became customary, the total duration is just over 35 minutes.
This does not, however, mean that the work lacks colour: on the contrary, Schütz’s setting is notable for its varied sonorities. The tenor Evangelist carries the greater part of the narrative, supported by plucked, bowed and keyboard continuo instruments. The Angel (soprano) is supported by two violette, the angelic host and the Magi by violins and bassoon, while pastoral recorders and bassoon accompany the shepherds. Brass instruments lend their authority to the words of the high priests (four basses underpinned by two trombones) and King Herod (two trumpets). The result is a splendid panoply of instrumental and vocal colours, further enlivened by the composer’s vivid word-setting.
Recorded in the church of Notre Dame, Gedinne in southern Belgium, the music is given plenty of bloom, and the loving attention of the Vox Luminis musicians adds a radiance and, yes, luminosity that suits the occasion to a tee. The tranquil wave after wave of sequences that characterises the angelic hosts’ ‘Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe’ is typical of the warm tenderness of this approach. Florian Sievers makes a benevolent and engaging Evangelist, Erka Tandiono a gently rapt angel. The recorders accompanying the shepherds are wonderfully pert, and all the vocal and instrumental solos are dispatched with marvellous stylishness. One could perhaps imagine a performance with greater edginess, but the rich lustre and blendedness of this account – never over-egged, but constantly drawing the listener in – is most persuasive.
The disc prefaces the Weihnachtshistorie with further seasonal-themed music from the same period. Schütz’s splendidly Venetian Magnificat, SWV468, for five ‘choirs’ is given a resplendent performance which, like the Christmas Story, seems to progress in great waves of sound. Vox Luminis’s urgently committed account places the work firmly as one of the greatest settings of this Marian canticle before Bach. Just as absorbing are the alternating solo and tutti sections of the hypnotically beautiful motet, O bone Jesu, SWV471. All the favoriti acquit themselves elegantly, while the tutti passages combine Venetian punchiness and tonal warmth.
Following their acclaimed 2020 disc of music by Schütz’s younger contemporary Andreas Hammerschmidt, it’s good to see them returning to this underrated figure with four seasonal items. The album opens with the grandiose Machet die Tore weit, followed by the more sombre Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe with effective brass doublings. Alleluia, freuet euch, ihr Christen alle is characterised by infectiously dancelike tutti passages which bring abundant festive cheer, while the outer sections of Freude, Freude, große Freude are coloured by richly burnished brass. A quietly contemplative account of Michael Praetorius’s Es ist ein Ros entsprungen with tasteful instrumental support completes this joyous yet typically thoughtful album. For those looking for something a little different yet deeply immersive this festive season, this disc is recommended with the greatest enthusiasm.
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