The German label Carus
pays special attention to the oeuvre
of Gottfried August Homilius. So far
there have been one disc with motets,
recordings of two passion oratorios
and two discs with sacred cantatas.
This disc is the second with music for
Christmas. Previously Peter Kopp directed
the Körnerscher Sing-Verein Dresden
and the Dresdner Instrumental-Concert
in church cantatas for Advent and New
Year. This time it is an oratorio for
Christmas, called here 'Weihnachtsoratorium'
(Christmas Oratorio), but that is not
the title Homilius gave this work. It
was called 'Die Freude der Hirten über
die Geburt Jesu' - the joy of the shepherds
about the birth of Jesus. This gives
a clear indication of the subject matter
and character of this oratorio.
Gottfried August Homilius
was born in Rosenthal in Saxony, and
studied law at Leipzig University. There
he became a pupil of Johann Sebastian
Bach and also of Johann Schneider, organist
at the Nikolaikirche in Leipzig. In
1742 he was appointed organist at the
Frauenkirche in Dresden. In 1755 he
succeeded Theodor Christlieb Reinhold
as Kantor of the Kreuzschule, connected
to the Kreuzkirche. After this church
was destroyed by Prussian troops during
the siege of Dresden in 1760, the services
were mainly held in the Frauenkirche.
As a composer of church music - which
includes about two hundred cantatas
for all feast days - he was famous all
over Germany. His compositions have
been found in many places.
At the same Frauenkirche
the 'Christmas Oratorio' was performed
and recorded in December 2007. It is
the second work - after the Passion
Oratorio 'Ein Lämmlein geht und
trägt die Schuld' to have been
published during Homilius' lifetime.
Like the Passion oratorio the text was
written by Ernst August Buschmann (1715
- 1775) whose last position was that
of pastor in Delitzsch, near Leipzig.
The subject of the
shepherds who are told that Jesus has
been born and who go to adore him is
one of the most popular in music history.
But in Buschmann's text there is more
depth than usual. In the opening chorus
we meet the shepherds who sing to God:
"God, our songs praise you in the nighttime,
joyfully we thank you again when day
breaks". They also pray for protection
during the night. Then follows a recitative
of soprano, alto and tenor who prepare
the shepherds for the arrival of the
angel: "Behold, how the heavens are
aflame, how fearful, the Lord appears,
surely he will not wish to slay us?"
Then the angel says:
"Fear not, behold, I make known to you
great joy to all peoples". Interestingly
the announcement of the angel - the
only quotation from the Bible in this
oratorio - is not set in the form of
a recitative, but as an aria. And the
angel is not a soprano, as so often
in music about this episode in the Christmas
story, but a bass. This reflects the
majesty of God and the strength of the
heavenly armies. This could be a reflection
of the ideal of 'naturalness' which
was a feature of this era in music history.
There is no chorus of angels to be heard
here; their singing is just reported
by the tenor in his aria: "The angels
rejoice, immortal songs they sing from
heaven down to earth". He then acts
as one of the shepherds, encouraging
his colleagues to "approach the crib"
to "play a tune on our flutes". Then
follows a lullaby - set, as so often
in pastoral music, in 12/8 time - which
is sung by the choir. In the next recitative
the soprano casts a shadow over the
happiness around the crib: "You no longer
smile! (...) Are you weeping over me?"
In the following aria the soprano asks
for forgiveness: "give me your grace".
In the next recitative the tenor sets
out Jesus' grace: "the child forgives,
with love". The oratorio ends with a
chorus singing the praise of the Messiah
and calling on the angelic choirs "to
honour our deliverer".
The 12/8 time of the
lullaby isn't the only typical pastoral
element. The opening chorus, for instance,
clearly relates to the popular pastoral
music of the time, with the woodwind
imitating the instruments usually associated
with shepherds (shawms and bagpipes)
and simple harmony. There is a general
lightness of tone, which makes it a
typical product of its time, and quite
different from music during the era
of Homilius' teacher, Bach. The scoring
is for four voices - soli and tutti
- and a rather large orchestra of two
flutes, two oboes, two bassoons, three
'corni da caccia', three trumpets, timpani,
strings and bc. This is effectively
used, for instance in the aria of the
angel, where the trumpets underline
the power of God’s angelic armies.
The Virtuosi Saxoniae
play on modern instruments, but in their
many recordings have shown willingness
to incorporate as many aspects of the
historical performance practice as possible.
In the light of this I am rather disappointed
about the performance of this 'Christmas
Oratorio'. I have sincere doubts about
the size of the performing apparatus.
I am not sure how many singers and players
Homilius had at his disposal, but I
very much doubt that he had a choir
of 25 singers (7/6/6/6) and an orchestra
with 16 strings. The number of strings
seems to me too large, having a negative
impact on the balance with the woodwind
instruments. The latter play a prominent
role in the opening chorus, but that
is not brought out very well. This is
one of the consequences of using modern
instruments: the strings are louder
and the woodwind less penetrating. In
addition the strings use a bit more
vibrato than they should, and the articulation
is often unsatisfying: either too much
legato or, just the opposite, too much
staccato. Another result of the use
of modern instruments is the standard
pitch - and sometimes the soloists have
problems with that on their top notes.
I am not that impressed
by the soloists. They use too much vibrato,
and in the recitatives there is not
enough rhythmic freedom. Also the diction,
now and then, leaves something to be
desired. Some of these problems could
have been corrected in a studio recording.
In addition to the
oratorio by Homilius a solo cantata
is performed. Its composer, Christian
August Jacobi, had studied philosophy
and theology at the University of Leipzig,
and acted as organist in Wittenberg.
In between he was director of the chapel
of Forst in Lower Lusatia, where apparently
this cantata has been written. It is
scored for tenor with orchestra and
consists of a sequence of arias and
recitatives. The third section uses
the melody of the popular Christmas
hymn 'Vom Himmel hoch'. It is a nice
work which is performed reasonably well
by Marcus Ullmann, but, again, it would
have been better if this had been a
studio recording. I have to say, though,
that - as on other occasions - I am
not very enthusiastic about the tenor's
voice and way of singing.
For all those who have
a special interest in German sacred
music of the 18th century this disc
is something to look out for. I don't
expect these two works to be recorded
again - and better - in the near future.
It also adds to the repertoire for Christmas,
and if you like to hear something different,
here is your chance. But from a strictly
musical point of view I hesitate to
recommend this disc, as it has too many
shortcomings to satisfy the critical
listener.
Johan van Veen
Christiane Kohl (soprano), Annette Markert
(contralto), Marcus Ullmann (tenor), Tobias
Berndt (bass) 
