#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalChristmas Week 2

This is the second year the #ClassicsaDay team went with a Classical Christmas theme. And that's fine. If you think about it, composers have been writing works for the season as long as there's been notation to preserve them.

For my contributions, I tried to avoid the obvious choices. In the process, I discovered some wonderful works that I'll be returning to again and again.

Here are my posts for the first week of #ClassicalChristmas

Heinrich Schutz - Rorate Caeli, SWV 322

A traditional Latin text, it was frequently used by the early Protestant churches during Advent.

Victor Hely-Hutchinson - Carol Symphony

Hely-Hutchinson completed the Carol Symphony in 1927. It's a set of four movements, each based on a different carol, and each imitating the style of a different composer.

Jean Mouton - Nesciens Mater Virgo Virum

The Latin text celebrates the Virgin Mary as a mother, nurturing the baby Jesus at her breast. Mouton's 1555 setting is a masterpiece of strict 8-part counterpoint.

John Rutter - Magnificat

This is the first of three settings of the Magnificat I'll be sharing. Rutter's 1990 work mixes contemporary classical and pop music idioms in a performer-friendly setting.

Arvo Pärt - Magnificat

Pärt's 1989 setting of the Magnificat is a model of his tintinnabulation technique. Equally important to the sounds is the silence between the sounds.