Baroque Christmas Concert with works by Bach, Handel and Mozart | Freiburg Baroque Orchestra

Experience the Christmas spirit and winter magic with music by Bach, Handel and Mozart in this baroque Christmas concert. Let yourself be enchanted by the Freiburg Cathedral Boys’ Choir, the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and the brass ensemble German Brass in a live recording from Freiburg Cathedral from 1999. Highlights of the concert include Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Air”, arranged for wind instruments, George Friedrich Handel’s aria “He Shall Feed His Flock” and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s aria “Et incarnatus est”.

(00:00) Ringing of bells
(00:13) Johann Sebastian Bach, Concerto in D-Major BWV 972, Allegro (Baroque Orchestra Freiburg)
(02:20) Johann Sebastian Bach Cantata “Unser Mund sei voll des Lachens” BWV 110, Aria“Wachet auf, ihr Adern und ihr Glieder”, (Matthias Goerne and Freiburg Baroque Orchestra)
(06:22) Johann Sebastian, Christmas Oratorio BWV 248, Chorus “Nun seid ihr wohl gerochen” (arranged for wind instruments, German Brass)
(09:34) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mass in C-minor KV 427, Aria “Et incarnatus est” (Barbara Bonney, Freiburg Baroque Orchestra)
(17:39) Johann Sebastian Bach, Christmas Oratorio BWV 248, Sinfonia (Freiburg Baroque Orchestra)
(23:29) Johann Sebastian Bach, Christmas Oratorio BWV 248, Chorus “Ehre sei dir, Gott gesungen” (arranged for wind instruments, German Brass)
(27:35) Johann Sebastian Bach, Christmas Oratorio BWV 248, Aria “Herr, dein Mitleid, dein Erbarmen” (Barbara Bonney, Matthias Goerne and Freiburg Baroque Orchestra)
(35:07) Je me suis levé (The Freiburg Cathedral Boys’ Choir and Spielleyt)
(37:54) In dulce Jubilo (The Freiburg Cathedral Boys’ Choir)
(42:34) Johann Sebastian Bach, Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248, Aria “Grosser Herr, o starker König” (Matthias Goerne and Freiburg Baroque Orchestra)
(47:27) George Frideric Handel, Messiah, Aria “He shall feed his flock” (Barbara Bonney and Freiburg Baroque Orchestra)
(53:54) Johann Sebastian Bach, Suite in D-Major, BWV 1068, “Air” (arranged for wind instruments, German Brass)

Barbara Bonney | SOPRANO
Matthias Goerne | BARITONE
German Brass
The Freiburg Cathedrals Boys’ Choir
Barockorchester Freiburg
Gottfried von der Goltz | CONCERTMASTER

With its ringing of bells and snowy landscapes, this concert will get you into the festive mood for the Christmas season. And what would Christmas be without Johann Sebastian Bach’s Christmas Oratorio? The Christmas Oratorio is without a doubt one of Bach’s most famous choral works. It tells the story of Jesus’ birth and adoration. You can hear some of the most beautiful arias, sung by baritone Matthias Goerne and soprano Barbara Bonney, as well as chorales played instrumentally by “German Brass”, an ensemble that has specialized in interpreting Bach’s music on brass instruments for 40 years.

Hearts soar when the Frankfurt Cathedral Singers perform the old French Christmas carol “Je me suis levé” and the 14th century hymn “In dulce Jubilo”, accompanied by the folk instruments and bagpipes of the ensemble “Spielleyt” (“minstrels”).

And how does Mozart’s aria “Et incarnatus est” from his “Great Mass” in C minor KV 427 fit into this concert? Mozart may not be a Baroque composer, but when he wrote this mass in 1782, and unfortunately left it unfinished, he was looking at works by Johann Sebastian Bach and George Friedrich Handel’s Messiah. Both Bach and Handel strongly influenced Mozart in writing his C minor Mass.

The American soprano Barbara Bonney sings the aria “Er weidet seine Herde” (He shall feed his flock) from Handel’s Messiah. The form of the aria is based on an old Italian dance, the “Siciliano”. It praises the Messiah, who was to bring peace to the earth.

© 1999 EuroArts

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