TEMPO DE NATAL

Orquestra Barroca Casa da MúsicaCoro Casa da Música Laurence Cummings harpsichord and musical direction

Georg Friedrich Händel Música para os Reais Fogos de Artifício, HWV 351Marc-Antoine Charpentier Musique pour les soupers du RoyJohann Sebastian Bach Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ, BWV 91; Gloria in excelsis Deo, BWV 191

Just four days before Christmas Eve, the Orquestra Barroca and the Coro draw us into the spirit of the season. Written for Christmas Day 1725, Johann Sebastian Bach's Cantata “Louvado sejas, Jesus Cristo” includes choruses of great vitality that still impress. From Händel, master of memorable melodies and orchestral exuberance, we hear the Música para os Reais Fogos de Artifício, a work commissioned for the celebrations marking the end of the War of the Austrian Succession in 1749. We also visit the majestic sonorities of the French Baroque with Charpentier, and close with the radiant Gloria by Bach. Merry Christmas!