Heinrich von Herzogenberg: The Birth of Christ

The oratorio The Birth of Christ was composed in 1894 in collaboration with the theologian Friedrich Spitta, the brother of the much better-known musicologist Philipp Spitta. The speciality of this oratorio lies not only in the chamber music orchestral accompaniment, but also in its structure as a liturgical form. In addition to a variety of choral movements, Advent and Christmas carols and the use of a children’s choir, this musical nativity play integrates congregational singing with organ accompaniment into the artistic conception, which is linked to a pietistic attitude of faith and artistically fills the programme of the older liturgical movement in the 19th century with life, but also embeds the composition in a popular form.

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