Christmas concert: "Fantasia on Christmas Carols"

Concert of Christmas Carols

Concert of Christmas Carols at the Warsaw Philharmonic, photo: DELUGA.art Although carols have become a fixture in the musical landscape of winter, we still know little about the origins of music-making over the Christmas period. Numerous internet sources give the oldest mention of carols as being a supposed directive issued by Telesphorus, bishop of Rome, in 129 AD specifying the performance of a ‘Hymn of the Angels’ during a festive mass. Some commentators have even gone so far as to mention the title of the carol which Pope Telesphorus had in mind, overlooking the fact that Christmas services have only been held in the Roman Church since the fourth century, while the song they cite is usually dated to the eighteenth (not the second) century. Although a final answer seems unlikely, the search for the oldest carol continues, attesting to the role which the subject of Christmas has played down the centuries – both in official liturgical songs and in music-making in the home. As every year, this will be evoked for listeners by the Warsaw Philharmonic Choir. During the traditional Christmas concerts, the choir – often accompanied by soloist and instrumentalists – will perform a programme comprising carols old and new, from home and abroad. The repertoire of the December concerts alters slightly each year and offers a unique glance at the wealth of music linked to one of the most important Christian feasts. Bartłomiej Gembicki

Concert of Christmas Carols

Concert of Christmas Carols at the Warsaw Philharmonic, photo: DELUGA.art Although carols have become a fixture in the musical landscape of winter, we still know little about the origins of music-making over the Christmas period. Numerous internet sources give the oldest mention of carols as being a supposed directive issued by Telesphorus, bishop of Rome, in 129 AD specifying the performance of a ‘Hymn of the Angels’ during a festive mass. Some commentators have even gone so far as to mention the title of the carol which Pope Telesphorus had in mind, overlooking the fact that Christmas services have only been held in the Roman Church since the fourth century, while the song they cite is usually dated to the eighteenth (not the second) century. Although a final answer seems unlikely, the search for the oldest carol continues, attesting to the role which the subject of Christmas has played down the centuries – both in official liturgical songs and in music-making in the home. As every year, this will be evoked for listeners by the Warsaw Philharmonic Choir. During the traditional Christmas concerts, the choir – often accompanied by soloist and instrumentalists – will perform a programme comprising carols old and new, from home and abroad. The repertoire of the December concerts alters slightly each year and offers a unique glance at the wealth of music linked to one of the most important Christian feasts. Bartłomiej Gembicki

Christmas Concert

Elsa Benoit, photo: James Bellorini Christmas motifs have been written into numerous pages of Western classical music, and not only on the occasion of the festivities that open the carnival season. In the second movement of George Frideric Handel’s Concerto a due cori, one can easily recognise an excerpt of the joyful, punctuated rhythm of the chorus Lift up your heads from the Messiah’s second movement, which tells the story of the life, death and resurrection of Christ. Johann Sebastian Bach, fulfilling the demands of the Protestant liturgical calendar by the sweat of his brow, wrote many works for the Christmas season. In so doing, he also drew inspiration from Italian musicians, including the composer of the famous ‘Christmas Eve’ Concerto Grosso in G minor, Arcangelo Corelli. Bach’s showstopping solo cantata Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen suited a variety of festive occasions due to its universal, laudatory text. Its virtuosic coloratura parts require soprano and trumpet soloists of the highest calibre. Christmas themes can also be found in the text of the Credo. One of the most beautiful passages in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Mass in C minor – not without reason referred to as the ‘Great’ – is the expansive, mellifluous aria ‘Et incarnatus est’ from the Credo. Mozart wrote it with his vocally gifted wife Constanze in mind, just as years before he had penned the showstopping motet ‘Exsultate, jubilate’ for the famous Italian soprano Venanzio Rauzzini.

Christmas Concert

Elsa Benoit, photo: James Bellorini Christmas motifs have been written into numerous pages of Western classical music, and not only on the occasion of the festivities that open the carnival season. In the second movement of George Frideric Handel’s Concerto a due cori, one can easily recognise an excerpt from the first part of The Messiah, devoted to the Old Testament announcements of Christ’s coming. Johann Sebastian Bach, fulfilling the demands of the Protestant liturgical calendar by the sweat of his brow, wrote many works for the Christmas season. In so doing, he also drew inspiration from Italian musicians, including the composer of the famous ‘Christmas Eve’ Concerto Grosso in G minor, Arcangelo Corelli. Bach’s showstopping solo cantata Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen suited a variety of festive occasions due to its universal, laudatory text. Its virtuosic coloratura parts require soprano and trumpet soloists of the highest calibre. Christmas themes can also be found in the text of the Credo. One of the most beautiful passages in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Mass in C minor – not without reason referred to as the ‘Great’ – is the expansive, mellifluous aria ‘Et incarnatus est’ from the Credo. Mozart wrote it with his vocally gifted wife Constanze in mind, just as years before he had penned the showstopping motet ‘Exsultate, jubilate’ for the famous Italian soprano Venanzio Rauzzini.

Candlelit Carols

A sublime concert of carols and seasonal classics, staged in an evocative candle-lit style setting.

Haddy Njie Trond Husebø Oslo Philharmonic Choir Christmas carols

Welcome to a pre-Christmas experience with well-known Christmas carols with a full symphony orchestra, choir and soloists, combined with the Christmas music from the classical repertoire. Trond Husebø is the conductor and Bror Magnus Tødenes is the soloist in this year’s edition of the concert, with Haddy Njie as the host.

Haddy Njie Trond Husebø Oslo Philharmonic Choir Christmas carols

Welcome to a pre-Christmas experience with well-known Christmas carols with a full symphony orchestra, choir and soloists, combined with the Christmas music from the classical repertoire. Trond Husebø is the conductor and Bror Magnus Tødenes is the soloist in this year’s edition of the concert, with Haddy Njie as the host.

Haddy Njie Trond Husebø Oslo Philharmonic Choir Christmas carols

Welcome to a pre-Christmas experience with well-known Christmas carols with a full symphony orchestra, choir and soloists, combined with the Christmas music from the classical repertoire. Trond Husebø is the conductor and Bror Magnus Tødenes is the soloist in this year’s edition of the concert, with Haddy Njie as the host.

Festive Christmas Concert

Four choirs come togeather in this festive Christmas concert with the HansePhilharmonie Hamburg. Under the baton of Mike Steurenthaler, they perform a programme that is as festive as it is contemplative in the Laeiszhalle Grand Hall.

Guest performance Christmas Concert