Herrnhuter Weihnachten (Moravian Christmas)

Featuring

Peter Kopp
Christiane Wiese
Marie Bieber
Stephan Keucher
Clemens Heidrich
Sebastian Knebel

Dresdner Instrumental-Concert
Vocal Concert Dresden
Philharmonischer Kinderchor Dresden
John Gambold jr.
Johannes Renatus Verbeek
Peter Mortimer
Johann Gottfried Weber
Johann Ludwig Freydt
Christian Ludwig Brau
John Antes
David Moritz Michael
Christian Gregor

Did you know?

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Compositional Technique

The Moravian Church's music was often created by and for amateur musicians, leading to adaptations, revisions, and new arrangements of existing works, with few identical manuscript sources.

Composer Biography

John Antes, a Moravian composer born in Pennsylvania, was a missionary in Egypt where he was tortured by Ottoman rulers; he is also credited with making the first violin in America and composing North America's earliest chamber music.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Count Nikolaus Ludwig Graf von Zinzendorf, a key figure for the Moravian Church, believed that both words and music should 'come from the heart' and rejected the artificial music of his time as 'stiff and unnatural'.

Compositional Technique

Moravian Church services featured a rich array of arias, miniature cantatas, and instrumental music, with an increased use of brass instruments after 1731, often played outdoors.

Cultural Impact

The Moravian Church's emigration and missionary work to North America created a significant musical treasury, making them a bridge for European music to the New World.

Composition History

Christian Gregor's Christ-Nachts-Music is unusual because it uses keywords to refer to movements from other works and frequently references the Passion story, a typical feature of Moravian piety.