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Christmas a cappella II
Short Programme Note from CD booklet
Click here for full Programme Notes
Click here for details of how to buy or order this recording
 Saint Martin, who became Bishop of Tours in about 371AD, was chiefly
remembered for his act of charity in cutting his cloak in half to clothe an
almost naked beggar whom he found shivering in a severe frost at Amiens.
Later on, the Saint’s cloak (Latin: cappa or diminutive cappella) as preserved in
a sanctuary which hence came to be the first church building to bear the name ‘Cappella’ or Chapel. Eventually the term was used to refer to church musicians,
like Monteverdi who was Maestro di Cappella in Venice, or JS Bach who was
Kapellmeister in Leipzig. Hence, by extension, the term a cappella has come to
mean music ‘in the church style’. (Incidentally, the word is often mis-spelled with
only one ‘p’: but the word capella means ‘she-goat’.) The usual application of the
term is to unaccompanied choral music, and it is thought that this usage may have
originated in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, where there has never been any
instrumental music.
It is in this tradition that Musica Sacra presents this programme of unaccompanied
choral music for Christmas, a sequel to our very successful 2001 release,
Christmas a cappella. We have chosen a variety of pieces: some well known Christmas
favourites which need no explanation; some familiar tunes in new arrangements;
and some pieces that have not been recorded before. The music comes from the
sixteenth century to the present day, with composers from America, Germany,
Austria, England, Ireland, France, Italy and New Zealand; we sing in English, Latin,
German, French and Maori. The programme includes a group of pieces (tracks 6-11)
devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and a smaller group (tracks 12 and 17-19) about
the Epiphany.
Several of the pieces on this recording are about the Annunciation, when the angel
Gabriel visits Mary. David Griffiths’
masterly setting of Donne’s metaphysical poem Annunciation (track 11) was written for
Musica Sacra and is recorded here for the first time. Shortly after Gabriel has left her,
Mary sings the Magnificat: the gloriously radiant and Brahmsian setting of this text
(track 8) by the Austrian conductor and Bach scholar Herzogenberg is an hitherto
undiscovered gem. Similarly, the elegantly expressive setting of the 1662 Collect for the
Feast of the Epiphany (track 19), by Mozart’s pupil Thomas Attwood, deserves to be
better known.
Click here for full Programme Notes
Click here for details of how to buy or order this recording
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