Christmas Story/Historia von der Geburt Jesu Christi [antikvár]

PREFACE INTRODUCTION Schütz composed The Christmas Story towards the end of a long and full life. It was probably first performed on Christmas Day 1660 at the Elector of Saxony's Court Chapel in Dresden, since the court diaries for that year refer to the Christmas music in 1660 as 'the Birth of Christ in recitative style". In his preface to the Evangelist's part (1664), Schütz claimed that the Christmas Story introduced die Italian secco recitative to northern Germany, and so the reference is most likely to be to this work, where the composer states: ' the author will gladly let understanding musicians judge how far he succeeded or failed in this new style, never, so far as he knows, presented in Germany before; - a stilo recitativo for the Evangelist, new both as regards melody and time.' In this 1664 pubUcation the remaining sections of the work, the eight Intermedia and opening and closing choruses, were advertised as being available for hire. Not all the music of the Christmas Story has survived. The urtext for what has is an amalgam of several sources; Schütz had not intended to publish the work in its entirety. He believed that it was unlikely to achieve its proper effect unless the resources and expertise of'well established princely chapels' were available for its performance. Schütz also hoped to profit financially profit by only making these movements available through his appointed intermediaries Sebastien Knüpfer, kantor in Leipzig, and Alexander Hering, organist of the Kreuzkirche in Dresden. Schütz did suggest an alternative to hiring his material by allowing performers the option of interpolating other motets of their choice: ' moreover, he leaves those who may wish to use his music for the Evangelist to adapt these ten concerted pieces (of which the texts are included in these printed copies) to their pleasure and the musical forces at their disposal: or even to have them composed by someone else.' The stages by which the Christmas Story was gradually pieced together over the last century are outlined below: 1885 The pubhcation of the 1664 edition of the Evangelist's role ('der Chor des Evangelisten') in the first volume of H. Schütz: Sämtliche Werke edited by Philipp Spitta. This 1664 edition, printed in Dresden by Wolgang Seyffert, comprises three printed part books, containing the voice part, the organ part and the continuo string bass part ('für die Bass-Geige oder violon'). 1908 The discovery, by Arnold Schering, at Uppsala (in the Düben collection) of manuscript part books of a nearly complete version dating from 1660 when the work was first performed. It contains a more primitive version of the Evangelist's part, together with all the Intermedia and the final chorus. 1909 Publication of the material found in Uppsala, edited by Schering, as volume seventeen of H. Schütz: Sämtliche Werke. Both versions of the Evangelist's part are shown. 1933 The discovery, by Max Schneider, in the Library of the Berlin Singakademie, of a further incomplete version in part books, now known as the Berliner Fassung^. This set of parts is particularly valuable because it shows some of the revisions and improvements which Schütz made to his work in 1671, the year before his death. It also supplies the first fifteen bars of the missing second trombone part to Intermedium 5. Since the work has been assembled it has formed the basis of the following editions; Fritz Stein (1935), Arthur Mendel (1949), Friedrich Schöneich (1955) and, most recently, the edition edited by Günter Graulich for the Stuttgarter Schütz-Ausgabe (1998). The Uppsala parts are full inconsistencies and mistakes: it has been suggested that they were compiled for a particular performance', and therefore do not necessarily represent Schütz's acmal part-writing. There are six instrumental lines plus continuo in the closing chorus, while the original caption indicates 'cum 4 instruments', and the list published in the original Evangelist's part mentions '5 Instrumental Stimmen'. Mendel ^ suggests that these extant parts reveal an anonymous Capellmeister taking up Schütz's invitation to suit the orchestra to the occasion, and making rather a hash of the two trombone parts in the process. The only surviving music for the opening chorus is the figured bass part (that also shows in which bar the voices enter). In this edition I have been fortunate to be able to include the reconstruction made by Andrew Parrott'. Unlike other reconstructions of this portion of the work, Parrott's is more economically scored for two violins, one viola and bass instruments (including one bassoon), making it more consistent with the Uppsala parts. In the present edition, 1 prefer the 1664 version of the Evangelist's part since it is more melodically interesting, and rhythmically more fluent, as well as containing Schütz's revised continuo interludes. I have reconstructed the conclusion of the second trombone part in Intermedium 5. EDITORIAL PROCEDURE All editorial markings are shown in square brackets.The existing parts of the concerted numbers contain very few tempo indications. The terms 'Presto' and 'Adagio', occurring in the three Intermedia for the Angel (1, 7