Schütz - Histoire de la Nativité

La Fenice, Mammel, Hans Jörg, Tubery, Jean

K 617158

On Christmas Day 1660, the congregation of the court church of the Saxon elector surprised the audience with music the like of which had never been heard before: a scenically composed version of the Christmas story of the Gospel of Luke. This first Christmas Oratorio immediately became a huge success, and soon many colleagues knocked on Schütz's door and asked for permission to perform the work in their own Christmas services. Schütz was careful to ensure that his compositions did not become unauthorized and spread in bad copies. Before the introduction of copyright law, a composer was still responsible for protecting himself against intellectual theft and false reprints, and the court kapellmeister of the Electorate of Saxony knew very well that he had a good reputation to lose, and moreover, as a businessman, he was not prepared to forego the earnings. In 1660, at the age of 75, Schütz was a very elderly man for his time, but his creative power was by no means extinguished, and in the following years, until the last performance during his lifetime in 1671, he made repeated changes to his Historia of the joyful and gracious birth of God and Mary's Son, Jesus Christ.

CD

8.11.2004

3383510001581