CD 3

Tyrolean Musical Treasures 3

This Tyrolean Christmas Concert is the story of Christmas in sound as told in 18th-century Tyrolean parish church music, most of it preserved in the music collection of the Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum in Innsbruck. The sheet music, handed down exclusively in hand-written form, was transcribed for modern use for the occasion. The concert program was arranged to create a dramatic sequence and festive atmosphere. The central work was a Christmas mass by Edmund Angerer (1740-1794) of Fiecht Monastery. The idea behind this Christmas concert is to interpret a Christmas mass the way it would have been done in a Tyrolean village church around 1800. Popular folk traditions appear too, as in the Holy Family’s search for accommodation at an inn, the Annunciation to the Shepherds, and the Christmas minuet played by a Stubenmusik (traditional Alpine folk ensemble) with a dulcimer, zither, harp, guitar and string bass. The classical part of the concert is performed by vocal soloists, the Ferdinandeum’s chamber orchestra playing on original instruments, and a chamber choir organized for the occasion. The Tyrolean Christmas Concert makes the special appeal and originality of Tyrolean Christmas music come alive for both local residents and distant fans of this Alpine region. It is a completely unique form of concert event – there is nothing like it even beyond national boundaries.

Track 7, 2:56
Verkündigung an die Hirten
anonym, about 1800

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