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Praetorius - Christmas Vespers<br />
Toronto Consort with<br />
instrwnental ensemble & the<br />
Toronto Chamber Choir<br />
Marquis 81335<br />
Christm3$ in Darmstadt<br />
Les ldees Heureuses;<br />
Genevieve Soly<br />
Analekta 2 9115<br />
Charpentier - Messe de Minuit<br />
pour Noel<br />
Aradia Ensemble; Kevin Mallon<br />
Naxos 8.557229<br />
Jn du lei jubilo. Here it is performed<br />
as a stately offering of thanks,<br />
whereas its English counterpart is<br />
often sung at a fast gallop. Most of<br />
these solemn, thoughtful works<br />
deserve to be better known, especially<br />
several charming carols that<br />
have not found their way to prominence<br />
in the English-language choral<br />
repertoire. Among these is the<br />
tender, tuneful Joseph lieber,<br />
Joseph mein, in which the Virgin<br />
asks her earthly husband (surely the<br />
most overlooked character in the<br />
Nativity story) to help cradle the<br />
newborn Jesus.<br />
For those fatigued by endless renditions<br />
of th.e standard Christmas<br />
repertoire, these four discs offer<br />
rich musical accompaniment to the<br />
season from less familiar composers.<br />
"Puer Natus Est" presents 14<br />
hymns in honour of the Virgin Mary<br />
and the Nativity by Giovanni Gabrieli<br />
and his contemporaries: Claude<br />
Goudimel, Giovanni Picchi, Sebastian<br />
Aguilera de Heredia, Johann<br />
Hennann Schein, Juan de Esquivel<br />
Barahona, Giovanni Baptista Grillo<br />
and Pedro Rimante. Gabrieli, an<br />
organist at St. Mark's Basilica in<br />
Venice, is C-Onsidered to represent<br />
the height of Italian musical composition<br />
for his period (1550s-1612),<br />
and his works are imbued with the<br />
majestic and inspiring spirit of their<br />
subject matter.<br />
"Christmas in Darmstadt" continues<br />
Genevieve Soly's explorations,<br />
with her ensemble Les Id6es Heureuses,<br />
into the oeuvre of a later<br />
German Lutheran, Christophe<br />
Graupner ( 1683-1760). This recording<br />
assembles five major compositions,<br />
including complete Cantatas<br />
written for church services on<br />
the First Sunday of Advent, the<br />
First Sunday after Christmas and<br />
the Third Day of Christmas.<br />
Graupner was almost exactly contemporary<br />
with Handel, whose<br />
Messiah is such a seasonal staple,<br />
and his music offers the same Baroque<br />
purity of soaring voices and<br />
driving strings, ornamented in this<br />
case with particularly lovely recorder<br />
work from Natalie<br />
Michaud. The beauty of the German<br />
lyrics (handily translated in the<br />
liner notes) and the opulent simplicity<br />
of the musical arrangements<br />
evoke a spirit of faith, rectitude and<br />
confidence in the power of good<br />
over evil in this world and the next.<br />
C HARP :NTJ £R ...,,,.<br />
'1csst 4t n'"'u ,oo r<br />
Oturn<br />
... ,... . .. <br />
AVAILABLE AT ALL GOOD CLASSICAL RECORD STORES<br />
EMAIL lnfoOsrlcanada.com<br />
TO BE DIRECTED TO A STORE NEAR YOU<br />
Only a few decades divide the late<br />
Renaissance of Gabrieli and the<br />
early German Baroque, exemplified<br />
by Michael Praetorius (1571-<br />
1621). His music for the Lutheran<br />
church represents the largest e-01-<br />
lection of the period, and this selection<br />
includes a few recogniza- French composer Marc-Antoine<br />
ble airs. For example, the tune that Charpentier (c.1643-1704) was a<br />
has become Good Christian Men collaborator with Molire and con<br />
Rejoice originated as a hymn called temporary of Lully. The Aradia<br />
90<br />
WWW. THEWHOLENOTE.COM<br />
DECEMBER 1 <strong>2004</strong> - FEBRUARY 7 2005
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