Angels & Shepherds

NETHERLANDS BACH SOCIETY
CAPPELLA FIGURALIS

Awards

Cd of the Week

Physical CD		Price
Normal PCM CD (In stock)		$15.60

Details

Both in Italy and Germany, there was a strong musical tradition during the 16th and 17th centuries associated with Christmas; however, each country made use of completely different musical genres. Whereas composers in southern Europe frequently chose a theatrical setting (in Latin) of the already inherently dramatic Christmas story, the extensive repertoire of Christmas carols and songs were the best beloved in countries north of the Alps. Many of the traditional German-language Christmas carols first appeared in the 16th century, or at least were given a new form at that time. Theologists and poets like Martin Luther and Paul Gerhardt had a strong belief in the power of music in the context of personal spirituality and the church service, and produced numerous texts suitable for song settings. Older melodies of pre-Reformation origin were often used for these settings; some were as old as the Middle Ages, and sometimes new melodies were composed. Many of the carols which were created in this way, such as 'In dulci Jubilo', 'O Jesulein s', and 'Es ist ein Ros entsprungen' have become famous in the intervening centuries and have been frequently used as material by later composers.
The tradition of 'Kindelwiegen' (rocking the baby) was widespread in Germany. On the evening of Christmas Day (usually during the Vespers), songs were sung in church in honor of the birth of Christ. Composers including Michael Praetorius and J.S. Bach wrote music for this special occasion. From the 16th century onward there are also records of similar Christmas traditions, frequently with special local variations, in England and the Netherlands. For example, a small doll representing the child Jesus was laid upon the altar, around which the children danced and sang. Sometimes a crche was built to the accompaniment of carol-singing. Or the children rocked their own individual little cradles while singing cradle songs. A rich treasury of Medieval Netherlands Christmas carols has survived, which of course also gave ample treatment to the numerous legends and stories which surrounded the Christmas ceremonies. In the carols, the trembling Christ Child is swaddled in Joseph's stockings, Mary is filled with motherly concern and tenderness, Joseph cooks gruel, and the helpless little child lies in a house without windows and doors, naked on the ground. A 16th century description by Walich Syvaerts is charming: "For you know how on Christmas day they were accustomed to set a little cradle with a Doll inside representing a little child lying in swaddling bands, on the high altar: and that the Parents led their children into the church with a little cradle and a bell: and as the Priest, during the Mass, began to rock the little child upon the altar and sing 'Eia, eia, eia'....and so the children then began each to rock his own little child and sing 'eia', making thereby a great noise and ringing their bells so that the whole church was filled thereby: while the organ, playing in a special fashion, helped to ornament their play". Particularly during the first 30 years of the 17th century, several specific episodes from the Christmas story were especially popular with Italian composers. For example, the Annunciation, the appearance of the angels of the shepherds, and the visit of the Magi in Bethlehem were among their favorites. And almost without exception, the dialogue was their favorite genre. Just like an opera, a musical dialogue has a cast of characters, and there is sometimes a narrator.
More than 500 17th century dialogues have survived, most of them from Italy but also a respectable number from France, the Netherlands, Poland, Germany, and England. The texts which were used were generally not liturgical but could be inserted into the liturgy, for example as substitute texts for the Gradual or Offertory of the Mass, or one of the Vesper antiphons. Usually the dialogues were performed by small ensembles, varying from two to five singers and an equal number of instrumentalists. In addition to a few well- known names like Carissimi and Grandi, there are many otherwise unknown masters such as Fergusio, Grossi, and Cozzolani who composed dialogues. Strictly speaking, the scene of the apparition to the shepherds is a dialogue. After the angel's announcement of his joyful tidings and his departure, the shepherds speak with one another. Italian composers had no real trouble with this and treated the subject with considerable freedom. Characters and details were added or exchanged, the sequence of events was altered, and the characters showed their own emotions. These characteristics made the dialogues into very animated works, and explains the great popularity of the genre during the 17th century. Jos van Veldhoven Translation: David Shapero

Additional Information

Main artist

NETHERLANDS BACH SOCIETY
CAPPELLA FIGURALIS

Inlay

Angels & Shepherds a 17th Century Christmas
Wie schn leuchtet der morgenstern;
Es ist ein Ros entsprungen;
Gloria in excelsis Deo;
O Jesulein sss;
Angelus ad pastores ait;
Puer nobis nascitur/Ons is gheboren een kindekijn;
Hoe schoon lichtet de morghen ster ;
Gloria in altissimis Deo;
Frhlich soll mein Herze springen;
Gloria in altissimis Deo;
In dulci jubilo BuxWV 52;
Ehre sei Gott in der Hhe a.o.

Biography

The current Choir of the Netherlands Bach Society was founded in 1983 and consists of about twenty singers. Most of them have completed vocal studies at one of the Netherlands conservatories. They have all become specialists in the performance of vocal music of the 17th and 18th centuries. The CD of the St. Matthew Passion under the direction of Jos van Veldhoven, a live recording from 1997 in honor of the 75th anniversary of the Netherlands Bach Society, received extremely favorable reviews. The solo ensemble Cappella Figuralis was founded in 1989 by Jos van Veldhoven and performs under the auspices of The Netherlands Bach Society. As was usually the custom in the 17th and 18th centuries, the ensemble almost always performs in a one-on-a-part disposition, varying from a total of two to ten singers and an equal number of instrumentalists. Most of the musicians in Cappella Figuralis have also acquired considerable individual reputations outside of the ensemble.

During recent years, Cappella Figuralis have given regular performances of the music of famous Baroque composers such as Schtz, Monteverdi, Sweelinck, Buxtehude, and Bach. But the ensemble has acquired its greatest renown with adventurous programming with a particular emphasis on lesser known repertoire. Works by Netherlands composers of the Golden Century and Italian, French, German, and Netherlands dialogues of the 17th century were frequently on the program. Cappella Figuralis has produced literally dozens of contemporary premieres by composers, like Buns, Verrijt, Van Geertsom, Charpentier, Cozzolani, Piccinini, Cossoni, Grossi, Pfleger, Tunder, Hacquart, De Koninck and Kuhnau. The ensemble has made a number of recordings for radio and TV broadcast, and has recently edited its first CD recording: Saints & Sinners which got a very good press (Channel Classics Records). Jos van Veldhoven studied musicology at the Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht and choral and orchestral conducting at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague.
Since 1983 he has been artistic director of The Netherlands Bach Society. In this capacity he gives regular performances of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and his contemporaries both in the Netherlands and abroad. Since 1989 Jos van Veldhoven has also been the conductor of the solo ensemble Cappella Figuralis, which concentrates particularly on the music of the 17th century. In addition Van Veldhoven conducts the Utrechts Barok Consort he founded in 1976. Together with all of his ensembles, he has made a large number of recordings for radio, television, and CD both at home and abroad, and has appeared at festivals in the Netherlands and many other countries in Europe. In recent years, Jos van Veldhoven has frequently attracted attention with performances of new repertoire in the early music field. Particular interest has been drawn by performances including oratorios by Telemann and Graun, the Vespers of Gastoldi, Netherlands repertoire from the Golden Century, and numerous unknown 17th century dialogue pieces. Jos van Veldhoven also conducted many contemporary premiers of Baroque operas by composers including Mattheson, Keiser, Bononcini, Legrenzi, and Scarlatti. He also has made his own reconstructions of lost compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach such as the St. Mark Passion and the so-called Kthener Trauer-Music. Jos van Veldhoven also has a considerable reputation as a teacher. He is associated with the Amsterdam Conservatory and the Royal Conservatory in The Hague as a professor of choral conducting and ensemble technique. He is also the director of the yearly summer course for choral conductors, the Kurt Thomas Course in Utrecht.

Awards

Awards:
• De Telegraaf: CD of the Week

Quotes

Telegraaf: Cd van de Week (...) Een levendige mooi verzorgde opname goed voor de warmste kerstgevoelens. Telegraaf (...) Je moet van goede huize komen om iets nieuws en spannends toe te voegen aan de 17e eeuwse kerstmuziek. Jos van Veldhoven komt natuurlijk uit zo'n goed huis! De Nederlandse Bachvereniging. Samen met Cappella Figuralies maakten zij de hartverwarmende kerstcd 'Angels and Shepherds'. Zeer aanbevolen Dagblad De Limburger
(...) de cd is een 'plaatje' (...) Tijdschrift Oude Muziek
(...) een pracht-cd met bekende en onbekende kerstmuziek uit de 17e eeuw (...) (...) formidabel, van een indrukwekkende intimiteit, tot in de kleinste details doordacht maar daarom niet minder natuurlijk bewegend. (...) (...) Dat de componisten er hun vingers bij zouden hebben afgelikt, weet ik absoluut zeker. Utrechts Nieuwsblad
(...) juweeltjes uit de 17e eeuw (...) (...) het klinkt schitterend (...) (...) met als grootste gemene deler het fijnzinnige stijlgevoel van de dirigent Jos van Veldhoven en de absolute kwaliteit van vertolking en registratie. Gelders Dagblad
() Een staaltje koor- en solozang dat elke vergelijking met andere ensembles met glans kan doorstaan. () Beeld en Geluid () Het vocaal soortelijk gewicht is vederlicht, de klank transparatn en doortokken van een weldadige warmte () () Een interessante kerstcd van een hoog uitvoeringsniveau, die niet alleen uitblinkt in een avontuurlijke programmakeus en gevarieerde bezettingen, maar bovenal in natuurzuiver en uiterst expressief musicieren. Luister Deze cd weet de binnenkant van de kersttijd muzikaal uit te drukken () de manier waarop het koor deze, soms eenvoudige zettingen zingt, dwingt respect af. Overtuiging, integriteit en zorg zijn de kenmerken, ook voor het ensemble Cappella Figuralis. Fijnzinnig musiceren, wars van elke overdrijving, wat een weldaad. Een cd om van te houden!! Reformatorisch Dagblad
() Refreshing change from the usual Baroque Christmas compilation () () a Christmas program that cares more about musicality than marketability. Early Music America
() a joyful noise unto the Lord. Amazon.com. This disc can also be enjoyed as a program of short Baroque works (..) . Fanfare
() best mixed choirs of today () Gramophone

Format

Normal PCM CD

Running time

69:08:00

Year of release

1999

Number of cd's

Number of cd's:

Year of release:

1999

Running time:

69:08:00

Quotes:

Telegraaf: Cd van de Week (...) Een levendige mooi verzorgde opname goed voor de warmste kerstgevoelens. Telegraaf (...) Je moet van goede huize komen om iets nieuws en spannends toe te voegen aan de 17e eeuwse kerstmuziek. Jos van Veldhoven komt natuurlijk uit zo'n goed huis! De Nederlandse Bachvereniging. Samen met Cappella Figuralies maakten zij de hartverwarmende kerstcd 'Angels and Shepherds'. Zeer aanbevolen Dagblad De Limburger

(...) de cd is een 'plaatje' (...) Tijdschrift Oude Muziek

(...) een pracht-cd met bekende en onbekende kerstmuziek uit de 17e eeuw (...) (...) formidabel, van een indrukwekkende intimiteit, tot in de kleinste details doordacht maar daarom niet minder natuurlijk bewegend. (...) (...) Dat de componisten er hun vingers bij zouden hebben afgelikt, weet ik absoluut zeker. Utrechts Nieuwsblad

(...) juweeltjes uit de 17e eeuw (...) (...) het klinkt schitterend (...) (...) met als grootste gemene deler het fijnzinnige stijlgevoel van de dirigent Jos van Veldhoven en de absolute kwaliteit van vertolking en registratie. Gelders Dagblad

() Een staaltje koor- en solozang dat elke vergelijking met andere ensembles met glans kan doorstaan. () Beeld en Geluid () Het vocaal soortelijk gewicht is vederlicht, de klank transparatn en doortokken van een weldadige warmte () () Een interessante kerstcd van een hoog uitvoeringsniveau, die niet alleen uitblinkt in een avontuurlijke programmakeus en gevarieerde bezettingen, maar bovenal in natuurzuiver en uiterst expressief musicieren. Luister Deze cd weet de binnenkant van de kersttijd muzikaal uit te drukken () de manier waarop het koor deze, soms eenvoudige zettingen zingt, dwingt respect af. Overtuiging, integriteit en zorg zijn de kenmerken, ook voor het ensemble Cappella Figuralis. Fijnzinnig musiceren, wars van elke overdrijving, wat een weldaad. Een cd om van te houden!! Reformatorisch Dagblad

() Refreshing change from the usual Baroque Christmas compilation () () a Christmas program that cares more about musicality than marketability. Early Music America

() a joyful noise unto the Lord. Amazon.com. This disc can also be enjoyed as a program of short Baroque works (..) . Fanfare

() best mixed choirs of today () Gramophone