Continue the journey…
We suggest works to explore a er Berlioz’s L’enfance du Christ
Four years after the premiere of L’enfance du Christ, Camille Saint-saëns – 23 years old, but already a formidably accomplished composer – penned his ten-movement Christmas Oratorio in just under a fortnight. Scored for soloists, choir, strings, harp and organ, and with texts drawn from various books of the Bible, it offers a tranquil, reflective account of the Nativity. (Mainz Bach Choir and Orchestra/hellmann;
Profil PH05023)
Composed in his teens, Bizet’s Clovis et Clotilde is both lyrical and charming
Saint-saëns was positively ancient, mind, compared to Georges Bizet who was still in his teens when his cantata Clovis et Clotilde won him the Prix de Rome in 1857. The work is based on the true story of Clovis, a fifth-century Frankish king who was convinced by his wife, Clotilde, to convert to Christianity and was baptised on Christmas Day. As the Prix de Rome judges clearly agreed, it is both lyrical and really rather charming. (Orchestre National de Lille/casadesus; Naxos 8.572270)
While it’s tempting to think of César Franck spending every waking hour weaving his chromatic magic in a Parisian organ loft, he did, of course, venture into other musical territory. Completed in 1879, his oratorio Les Béatitudes is, at nearly two hours long, one of his most substantial works, and isn’t short on drama. As the title implies, the text is taken from Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount as told in St Matthew’s Gospel. (Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart/rilling; Hänssler HAEN98548)
The Beatitudes also make a fleeting appearance in ‘After Epiphany’, the central part of Christus, Franz Liszt’s large-scale oratorio that received its first performance in 1873. As Liszt’s narrative takes us from Christ’s birth to his death, Parts I and III – ‘Christmas Oratorio’ and ‘Passion and Resurrection’ – do pretty much what they say on the tin. (Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart/rilling; Hänssler HAEN98121)
Finally, for another work which devotes its attentions entirely to the events of the Nativity, try Der Stern von Bethlehem (‘The Star of Bethlehem’), an 1890 Christmas cantata by the German Josef Rheinberger. The muted opening on bassoon and strings sets the tone of the work nicely – though there are moments of ebullience, this is, like the Saint-saëns, largely placid, peaceful stuff. (Dietrich Fischerdieskau et al; Bavarian Radio Chorus/ Heger; Carus CARUS83111)