Baroque Christmas / Noël baroque Review
No other feast in the liturgical calendar has given rise since the Middle Ages to such intense devotion or to a richer musical yield than Christmas. Next to large-scale works left by composers such as Schütz, Charpentier, Bach, and Berlioz, history has retained--especially from the Baroque period--a myriad of works in many genres which display all the joyousness associated with this celebration. Whether it be of anonymous or celebrated authorship, this repertoire's mood is candid, and its melodies simple and easy to remember. Refraining from strict distinctions between the sacred and the secular, composers easily used as their starting point both popular tunes and plainsong associated since the Middle Ages with Christmastime. They put to music fitting devotional texts, like the Magnificat, or cantata librettos written especially "per il Santissimo Natale." Read more...
