CD 14
Tyrolean Musical Treasures 12
Stephan Kessler, Nativity, about 1690 Fresco in the rotunda of Säben Benedictine Abbey
The 1999 Tyrolean Christmas Concert is an exclusive premiere performance of Christmas music from the famous 17th-century Innsbruck court ensemble of singers and instrumentalists in the days of Archduke Leopold V, Archduchess Claudia and Archduke Ferdinand Karl. Johann Stadlmayr, one of the most respected composers of his age, and his successor Ambrosius Reiner were the directors of court music in Innsbruck at the time. Both composers had their Christmas motets printed in the Odae sacrae... collection published by Johann Gäch in Innsbruck in 1638. Also published in Innsbruck were Stadlmayr’s glorious Christmas mass (1642) and another volume of Christmas motets entitled Moduli Symphoniaci... (1629). The program for our concert was selected from these Innsbruck editions. Nowadays the originals going back to this fascinating period in Tyrolean cultural history are scattered amongst the Royal Library in Brussels, the French National Library in Paris and the Bavarian State Library in Munich. We have obtained copies for the Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum and supplied modern musical notation for today’s performances. The splendid Baroque sound is produced by the orchestra’s violins, violas da gamba, cello, string basses, recorders, dulcian, cornets and trombones, with a substantial basso continuo featuring organ, harpsichord, theorbo, harp and dulcimer.
Track 16, 3:58
Quid vidistis pastores
from Odae Sacrae
Ambrosius Reiner
(1604-1672)