Sandro Botticelli, Mystic Nativity, National Gallery, London, 1501
Christ Church Cathedral Choir Notes
Christmas
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The organ voluntaries for the Christmas Day Choral
Eucharist are by Louis-Claude Daquin. Click to hear all 12 of Daquin's Noëls performed by Pierre Bardon at the eighteenth century Isnard organ of the Saint Mary Magdalene Basilica in Saint-Maximin-en-Provence.
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Adrian Foster
Adrian Foster, assistant organist of Christ Church Cathedral, will give a holiday organ recital in the spirit of Epiphany at the 1980 Wilhelm organ, on Saturday, December 28, at 4:30 pm. Admission free / donation accepted.
Programme:
Helmut Walcha (1907-1991), Chorale Preludes, Vol. 2: No. 6: Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern
Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992), Méditations sur le mystère de la Sainte Trinité:
II. La sainteté de Jésus Christ VI. Le fils, verbe et lumière
Charles Tournemire (1870-1939), L’Orgue mystique, cycle de Noël, Op. 55:
Epiphania Domini (L’Épiphanie)
I. Prélude à l'Introït II. Offertoire III. Élévation IV. Communion V. Fantaisie
Jean Langlais (1907-1991), Neuf Pièces:
III. Chant de paix V. Dans une douce joie
Ned Rorem (b. 1923), A Quaker Reader:
8. “…No darkness at all…” 11. Ocean of Light
By way of preparation listen to the concert online performed by a variety of artists. [Click here]
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California Boys' ChoirOne of Benjamin Britten's very popular accomplishments is his Ceremony of Carols.
Click to read about the Ceremony of Carols.
Click to hear the Ceremony of Carols performed by the California Boys’ Choir.
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Fra Filippo Lippi and Workshop, The Nativity, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., c. 1445
Online performances of Johann Sebastian Bach, Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248, with versions conducted by Georg Christoph Biller / Riccardo Chailly / Diego Fasolis / Phillip Ledger / Karl Münchinger)
Cantata I for the 1st Day of Christmas
Cantata II for the 2nd Day of Christmas
Cantata III for the 3rd Day of Christmas
Cantata IV for New Year's Day
Cantata V for the Sunday after New Year
Cantata VI for the Feast of Epiphany
Sir John Eliot Gardiner conducts the Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists in a video performance of Bach's Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248, to begin their year long Cantata Pilgrimage. Soprano: Claron McFadden; Alto: Bernarda Fink; Tenor: Christoph Genz; Bass: Dietrich Henschel. [YouTube]
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Vittore Carpaccio, Flight into Egypt, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1500
Click to go to an online performance of Hector Berlioz, L'Enfance du Christ, about the flight into Egypt, with Nicolai Gedda, Victoria de los Angeles, Ernest Blan, Roger Soyer, the René Duclos Choir, l'Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, André Cluytens conducting.
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Charles Tournemire, L'orgue mystique: Nativity Cycle, Op. 56: No.3
Performance by Georges Delvallée on the 1880 Cavaillé-Coll organ in the Cathedral of Saint-Croix, Orléans
Mass of the Feast of the Nativity of the Lord
Prelude for the Introit [YouTube]
Prelude for the Introit [YouTube]
Paraphrase [YouTube]
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Bach Cantatas for Christmas Day
Francesco di Giorgio Martini, Nativity, Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena, 1475
Click to go to Johann Sebastian Bach, Christen, ätzet diesen Tag / Christians, engrave this day, Cantata 63, with performances by Gardiner, Harnoncourt, Herreweghe, Koopman, Leonhardt, Leusink, Onofri, Pickett and Richter.
Click to go to Johann Sebastian Bach, Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ / Praised be you, Jesus Christ, Cantata 91, with performances by Gardiner, Leonhardt and Leusink.
Click to go to Johann Sebastian Bach, Unser Mund sei voll Lachens / May our mouth be filled with laughter, Cantata 110, with performances by Gardiner, Harnoncourt and Leusink.
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Click here to go to Heinrich Schütz, History of the Joyful and Merciful Birth of the Son of God and Mary, Jesus Christ, our only Mediator, Redeemer and Saviour (Die Weihnachtshistorien / The Christmas Story), performed by Franz-Josef Selig, Michael Volle, Peter Kooy, Thomas Herberich, Andrea Egeler, et al; Kammerchor Stuttgart, Musica Fiata Köln, Stuttgart Baroque Orchestra; Frieder Bernius conducting.
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Click on artist(s) for a wide selection of Christmas Carols:
American Boychoir (1996);
Bryn Terfel;
Britten: A Ceremony of Carols, etc. by King's College, Cambridge;
Clare College Singers and Orchestra, Cambridge (John Rutter) (1988);
Clare College Singers and Orchestra, Cambridge (John Rutter (2009)
Eileen Farrell;
Harrow Philharmonic Choir; Huddersfield Choral Society;
King's College, Cambridge (2003);
King's College, Cambridge (2004);
King's College, Cambridge (2007);
Taverner Consort (Andrew Parrott) (1999);
Taverner Consort (Andrew Parrott) (2007);
Trinity College, Cambridge (Richard Marlow);
Windsor Choir of St. George's Chapel.