Eternity in (three-quarters of) an hour

The Christmas Story (Weihnachtshistorie), SWV 435, is a musical setting of the Nativity in German by Heinrich Schütz, probably first performed in 1660 in Dresden. It was published as Historia der Geburt Jesu Christi (Historia of the birth of Jesus Christ).

After the grand edifices of 'Messiah' and 'Christmas Oratorio' let us turn to something shorter but no less moving. In this work of about 45 minutes, Schutz distills his material into something quite wonderful. This is a late work, and Schutz demonstrates the mastery and range of a composer who has experienced much (living through the Thirty Years War amongst other things).This is also a work of considerable variety and I don't think it too fanciful to describe 'The Christmas Story' as a mini opera. There is a lead tenor - not that the likes of Pavarotti have recorded the Evangelist - although what an experience that would have been (!) - who tells the Christmas story with reserved eloquence, and the other characters, the Angel, Herod, the Shepherds and so on, contribute vivid cameos, either as soloists, or in trios and quartets.

The Evangelist is a tricky role. I've said he has reserved eloquence, at least this is what any tenor given this gift of an assignment should project. What he is saying is, of course, of the most monumental importance, but anything that smacks of portentousness is completely out of place. This is a wonderful story: just speak the words plainly, an occasional light stress on particularly important words is permitted: Mary, Joseph, Herod, Bethlehem and so on, with beautiful tone ( if you are so blessed) and with a total lack of egotism (I know you are a tenor, but you have it in you...). For me, the ideal Evangelist is the honey- voiced Ian Partridge, singing with the Schutz Choir conducted by Roger Norrington, but this now a rather elderly recording (from 1970) with a distictly matronly Angel in Felicity Palmer. To balance this, there is a proper bass Herod (the very little recorded Eric Stannard) and some charmingly pointed accompaniment details (shepherds' pipes (one played by David Munrow) positively skipping in their trio as they make haste to Bethlehem). John Mark Ainsley is excellent for Robert King and the King's Concert but some of the other solo work is less distinguished. Paul Agnew does a notably fine job for Jeremy Summerley and the Oxford Camerata.The overall performance is pretty much ideal: the High Priests, for example, sounding wonderfully pompous in their sackbut accompanied quartet explaining where the Christchild can be found, but also discovering some awestruck reverence towards the end, as the great wonder they describe begins to puncture their self-importance.

Herod’s relatively short aria makes a disproportionately strong effect. The increasingly florid writing  illustrates his deviousness, and the difficulty of articulating the oft repeated und forschet fleissig (and search diligently) further undermines his credibility. Listen to all the recordings – it’s never entirely cleanly done! This gentleman protests too much methinks; this is a miniature masterpiece of psychological analysis on Schutz part. Eric Stannard deserves further recognition here, adding a touch of pantomime villain to chilling effect - Norrington's recording is worth hearing for Stannard and Partridge

The emotional heart of the piece begins with Herod’s inhuman and vile crime, the slaughter of the innocents, which is described by the Evangelist in a heart-breaking chromatic vocal setting 'Auf dem Gebirge hat man ein Geschrei gehoret, viel Klagens, Weinenes und Heulens Rahel beweinte ihre Kinder und wollte sich nicht trosten lassen, denn es war aus mit ihnen.' (In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping and great mourning. Rachel wept for her children, and would not be comforted because they were not.) and then there is heightened warmth and quiet joy in the superb quasi arioso  treatment of the triumph of God the Father over those who sought to destroy his son: ‘Und das Kind wuchs und ward stark im Geist voller Weisheit, und Gottes Gnade war bei ihm' '(And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon him.') Paul Agnew and Ian Partridge again impress here, deeply empathetic but never vulgar or sentimental.

So there we have it: the Christmas Story distilled into considerably less than an hour of sublime music. This is a relatively short piece so you can investigate several (or many) of the fine performances available.

To end, a couple of personal reminiscences. In 1980, I was booked to sing in a performance of 'The Christmas Story' with Peter Pears as the Evangelist. Sadly, the day before the performance he suffered the stroke that ended his singing career, and I lost the opportunity to perform with one of my musical heroes.

I sang another performance in 1986 while a member of the original cast of the musical 'Chess'. We were a versatile bunch and under the baton of the 'Chess' Music Director John Owen Edwards gave a very creditable account - Philip Griffiths as the Evangelist and Garrick Forbes as Herod deserving special mention. I used to have a recording, but that has been lost, along with many other things...

https://open.spotify.com/album/1P3CcEjT4dfX0tVHPAsiXa?si=Iici5oiASB6_D3gOR071dg

Next up: Vaughan Williams' 'Hodie'