Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach, Arcangelo Corelli, Giovanni Battista Ferrandini, George Frideric Handel, Francesco Onofrio Manfredini, Johann Melchior Molter, Johann Pfeiffer, Johann Heinrich Schmelzer, Georg Philipp Telemann, Pavel Josef Vejvanovsky, Antonio Vivaldi, Giovanni Zamboni
Performer: Capricornus Consort Basel, Franco Pavan, Laboratorio ‘600, Harmonie Universelle, Jean-François Madeuf, Sigiswald Kuijken, La Petite Bande, Gunar Letzbor, Ars Antiqua Austria, Daniela Dolci, Musica Fiorita, Enrico Gatti, Leila Schayegh, Labyrinto, Batzdorfer Hofkapelle
Orchestra: Orchestra Nazionale Barocca dei Conservatori Italiani
Conductor: Paolo Perrone
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Christophorus
Catalogue: CHR77466
Release: 2022
Size: 373 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
01. Manfredini: Concerto grosso in C major, Op. 3 No. 12 ‘per il Santissimo Natale’: Pastorale
02. trad.: Pastorale calabrese
03. Ferrandini: Sinfonia Pastorale
Telemann: Concerto TWV 51:D7 in D major for trumpet, strings & b.c.
04. I. Adagio
05. II. Allegro
06. III. Grave
07. IV. Allegro
08. Vejvanovsky: Sonata Natalis in C major
09. Handel: Messiah: Pastoral Symphony ‘Pifa’
Bach: Christmas Oratorio, BWV248
10. Sinfonia
Schmelzer: Trio Sonatas, Pt. 2
11. No. 3 in G Major, Sonata à 3, S-Uu 8:12 “Pastorale”
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons: Winter, RV297
12.I. Allegro non molto
13. II. Largo
14. III. Allegro
Molter: Concerto pastorale in G major
15. Larghetto
16. I. Allegro e Larghetto
17. II. A tempo giusto
18. III. Lento
19. IV. Tempo di menuetto e larghetto
20. Zamboni: Pastorale
Pfeiffer: Overture in G major for two flutes, bassoon, strings and bc
21. II. Pastorale
Corelli: Concerto grosso Op. 6 No. 8 in G minor ‘fatto per la notte di Natale’
22. I. Vivace – Grave
23. II. Allegro
24. III. Adagio – Allegro – Adagio
25. IV. Vivace
26. V. Allegro – Largo. Pastorale ad libitum)
This new CD presents a selection of baroque instrumental music for Christmas, performed by ensembles including La Petite Bande, Musica Fiorita, Capricornus Consort Basel and Ars Antiqua Austria.
The Christmas music of Baroque period presented here is not the cosy charm of candles, the Christmas tree and “Silent Night” that emerged in the 19th century, but music which presents true festivity and joy. The feast of the Lord’s birth was to be duly celebrated, and it is the numerous Christmas oratorios and cantatas that express this.
Alongside festive pieces with trumpet, pastorals are without doubt the most common and popular form of baroque Christmas instrumental music. They depict the adoration of the shepherds, for which composers enthusiastically took inspiration from folk tunes or shepherds’ songs, either in the original form or freely to give their compositions a similar touch.
Writing in the late 18th century, the Italian violinist Nicol Pasquali said, in his homeland every family had a crib with the infant Jesus. At Christmas humble musicians and shepherds would go from house to house with their instruments, playing in front of it for a fee. A similar Christmas tradition can still be found in Rome, where shepherds and musicians from the surrounding countryside play outside homes, in front of shrines to the Virgin Mary.
On this recording we find music by Arcangelo Corelli (Concerto grosso in G minor, Op.6 No.8, “Fatto per la notte di natale”), Francesco Manfredini (Sinfonia da chiesa op.2 No.12 “per il santissimo Natale”), Georg Philipp Telemann (Trumpet Concerto in D major), Antonio Vivaldi (Concerto in F Minor, RV 297, L’Inverno, “Winter”) and more.