#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalChristmas Annotated List Week 2

I'm a regular contributor to the #ClassicsaDay Twitter feed. In December 2017, I focused on the music of the season that doesn't get a lot of exposure -- but should. Below is an annotated list of the works I featured in the feed with the supporting hashtag #ClassicalChristmas.

Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672) - Weihnachtshistorie, SWV 435

Heinrich Schütz was one of the most famous -- and influential -- German composers of the generation before Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach used Schütz's sacred choral works as models for his own. The Weihnachtshistorie (Christmas Story) premiered in Dresden in 1623. It's a very Lutheran treatment of the text, with clarity paramount. The work features a six-part choir, an orchestra, and soloists.

Franz Liszt (1811-1886) - Weihnachtsbaum

Franz Liszt composed his Weihnachtsbaum (Christmas Tree) suite for his first grandchild, Daniela von Bülow. He played it for her on Christmas Day, 1881, when she was 21. The work has twelve sections, divided into three books. Several German Christmas carols are quoted in the work, including "Adeste Fidelis" and "O Holy Night." Lizst also created a piano 4-hands version of the work.

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594) - Missa Hodie Christus natus est

Often called "the Prince of Music," Palestrina's style became the standard for sacred music in the Roman Catholic Church for generations. Palestrina wrote music for all aspects of worship. The "Hodie Christus natus est" is one of 105 masses Palestrina wrote. Based on a motet of the same name, it was designed for the Christmas Morning worship service.

Gerald Finzi (1901-1956) - In Terra Pax, Op. 39

English composer Gerald Finzi set poetry by Robert Bridges with selections from Luke. This work is a modern contemplation of the Christmas story. As Finzi relates it, the inspiration came from an event of his youth. Finzi had climbed up a church tower and heard the midnight bells echoing over the snow-swept hills of Gloucestershire welcoming Christmas Day.

Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) - Lauda per la Natività del Signore

Respighi drew the texts for Lauda per la Natività del Signore from two sources. He used a medieval hymn of praise and the writings of 13th C. cleric Jacophone da Todi. The work, written around 1930, focuses on the birth of Jesus and the Annunciation to the shepherds (and their visit). Respighi's scoring heavily relies on double reeds (oboes and bassoons) to evoke a pastoral feel.



#ClassicalChristmas Annotated List Week 1
#ClassicalChristmas Annotated List Week 3