Composer: Joseph Rheinberger
Performer: Dilec Gecer, Michael Junge, Universitatschor Dresden
Orchestra: Vogtland Philharmonie
Conductor: Stefan Fraas
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: ARS Produktion
Catalogue: ARS38327
Release: 2021
Size: 297 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Der Stern von Bethlehem, Op. 164
01. No. 1, Erwartung
02. No. 2, Die Hirten
03. No. 3, Erscheinung des Engels
04. No. 4, Bethlehem
05. No. 5, Die Hirten an der Krippe
06. No. 6, Der Stern
07. No. 7, Anbetung der Weisen
08. No. 8, Maria an der Krippe
09. No. 9, Erfüllung
Advent-Motetten, Op. 176
10. No. 3, Ad te levavi animam meam
11. No. 2, Universi, qui te expectant
12. No. 4, Ex Sion species decoris ejus
13. No. 5, Deus, tu conversus vivificabis nos
14. No. 6, Qui sedes, Domine
15. No. 7, Benedixisti, Domine
16. No. 1, Rorate, coeli
17. No. 8, Prope est Dominus omnibus
18. No. 9, Ave, Maria, gratia plena
Joseph Gabriel Rheinberger is one of those late Romantic composers who enjoyed extraordinary popularity during his lifetime, but whose works are largely forgotten today. In 1890 Rheinberger wrote one of his most personal and soulful works, the Christmas cantata Der Stern von Bethlehem for solos, choir and orchestra, for which his wife, the then-published poet Franziska von Hoffnaaß, had written the text. The cantata premiered on December 24, 1892, at the Kreuzkirche in Dresden and soon became one of Rheinberger’s best-known and most beautiful oratorical creations. His nine Advent Motets were written in 1893, composed as a contribution to the traditional cultivation of the chants of the church service, which changed according to the church year. These motets are assigned to the liturgy of the four Sundays of Advent and form a coherent cycle for the Advent season.