“Es begab sich zu der Zeit …”
Musical rarities from Rome and dresden

Program

G. G. Kapsperger: The Shepherds of Bethlehem (1629)

Anonymous: History of Christ's Birth (1686)

Fear not – be joyful

The angel’s timeless message for the shepherds is a pivotal moment in both of the rarely performed pieces on our upcoming program: G. G. Kapsperger’s Shepherds of Bethlehem and an anonymous Christmas Story from 1686 that only survives in a manuscript in the Saxon State Library in Dresden, Germany.

Kapsperger was mainly active in Rome in the first decades of the 17th century. First performed in 1629 in front of bishops, cardinals, and perhaps even the pope, his Shepherds of Bethlehem may be the first Christmas Oratorio in music history.

The libretto by Giulio Rospigliosi (the later pope Clement IX) focuses on the perspective of the shepherds in the Nativity. The opening scene depicts the shepherds in the field as they long for the coming of the Son of God. Suddenly, an angel appears with the proclamation of the Good News (hear this moment in the video above). The second part focuses on the scene at the manger, concluding with three angels singing the Christ Child to sleep with a sweet lullaby.

The anonymous German Christmas Story from 1686, which we are probably performing for the first time in the United States, follows a Lutheran tradition of composers such as Heinrich Schütz. There, the gospel text is recited by the evangelist, and he's only interrupted by other vocal soloists when the text features direct speech, such as the Three Wise Men, Herod or the shepherds. Fun fact: all of the above are basses.

Throughout the Christmas story we have inserted some of the most popular German Adent and Christmas songs such as Es ist ein Ros entsprungen, Vom Himmel hoch, and In dulci jubilo in German and English. Come, join us and sing along!