Carus' release Marc-Antoine Charpentier: Noël -- Christmas Cantatas includes not only cantatas, but a generous assortment of the composer's instrumental carols. Organist, composer, and conductor Kay Johannsen leads the vocal group solistenensemble stimmkunst and the instrumental Ensemble 94, both of which he founded, in elegant, lively performances of Charpentier's music for the Christmas season. While none of this repertoire is recognizably "Christmas-y" by modern standards, these are gorgeously expressive middle Baroque ...
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Carus' release Marc-Antoine Charpentier: Noël -- Christmas Cantatas includes not only cantatas, but a generous assortment of the composer's instrumental carols. Organist, composer, and conductor Kay Johannsen leads the vocal group solistenensemble stimmkunst and the instrumental Ensemble 94, both of which he founded, in elegant, lively performances of Charpentier's music for the Christmas season. While none of this repertoire is recognizably "Christmas-y" by modern standards, these are gorgeously expressive middle Baroque pieces that should be of interest to anyone with a genuine interest in Christmas music beyond the traditional standards. The cantatas are brief, usually 10 minutes or shorter, scored for soloists, chorus, and instrumental ensemble. They are broken into many small sections of contrasting character, with a varied mix of voices and instruments in each. The noëls, or carols, are delightful instrumental miniatures scored for a variety of small ensembles. The performances of the soloists,...
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