A fully convincing performance - which gives a lot of pleasure. With this recording Christmas is getting really cheerful! NDR
Un disque magnifique. ckrl 89,1 Canada
An enchanting CD to be laid under the christmas tree. BR

Christmas did not have the same importance in the official ecclesiastical calendar of the Catholic Church in previous centuries as it has today. Easter was considered the high point of the church year, and thus it is not surprising that church composers de voted particular attention to the passion and resurrection of Jesus. In lay piety outside the ecclesiastical liturgy, however, Christmas always played a central role. On the one hand, that had to do with the fact that the birth of Christ was celebrated during the dark, cold season of the year when there was great privation, and the notion of the light and warmth with which the Savior came into the world was particularly significant. Second, the idea that the Queen of Heaven had given birth to the Redeemer as a lowly maiden in a humble stable and that poor shepherds in the field were the first to receive the glad tidings appealed particularly to those who were not born with silver spoons in their mouths. Therefore, it was little wonder that for a long time Christmas expressed itself musically in popular and vernacular tunes rather than Latin liturgical music. Some of them are still popular to this day, such as the traditional Neapolitan carol "Quando nascette nino," which George Frideric Handel heard in Rome and later used in the Messiah (1742) in the aria "He shall feed his flock." At the same time, "Quando nascette nino" demonstrates the importance of instrumental music in the popular tradition – it was part of the repertoire of the "piffari", groups of shawm and bagpipe players.

Capella de la Torre with 8 musicians:

Cécile Kempenaers, soprano
José Pizarro Alonso, tenor
Shawms, sackbut, dulcian, recorder, guitar and percussion

Katharina Bäuml, direccion

listen here>>