FRANÇOIS-JOSEPH GOSSEC (1734-1829): Christmas Oratorio La Nativité, Requiem, Motet Christe Redemptor.

Description: The 20-minute La Nativité of 1774 is Gossec’s most famous oratorio. It was premiered on Christmas Eve in 1774 and went on to be performed no fewer than nine times in the Concert Spirituel. The impact was immediate, and critics vied with each other to formulate poetic descriptions of the orchestral effects and the impressive parts sung by the Shepherdess, the Shepherd, and the Choirs of the Angels and the Shepherds. Truly odd is a shortened version of the massive Grand Messe des Morts found in the archives of the Ghent Conservatory which seems to have been made (by whom is not certain) for greater ease of performance. The oddity? Five segments of Haydn’s Stabat Mater, suitable modified, have found their way into the score. French-English texts. Vocal soloists, Ex Tempore Chorus, Les Agrémens (Requiem), Mannheimer Hofkapelle; Florian Herrick.