Canticum in nativitatem Domini

Marc-Antoine Charpentier not only originated the Eurovision Melody, rather he also made an important contribution to French sacred music from the baroque with his oratorios, motets and cantatas. The four cantatas for the season of Christmas [CV 21.019-21.022] are now published in first editions.

The Latin texts of these works for Christmas, the New Year, Epiphany, and the Purification are based on the accounts of the Gospels, which are paraphrased in the form of poetic texts. As in Charpentier’s extensive Histoires sacrées, the musical structure is oratorical, with a part for the evangelist and texts spoken directly by biblical personages and groups of people [angels, Herodes,shepherds, wise men].

In each work the vocal scoring includes two sopranos and a bass [those passages where a number of voices sing together can be performed either by soloists or by a choir]. With this uniform scoring it would be meaningful to perform these works as a cycle, in the manner of a small Christmas oratorio.