Deux Noëls allemands

These two German Catholic Christmas carols by Michael Praetorius (1571-1621) have remained famous to this day, to the point that they are still sung particularly in Alsace and in German-speaking countries. Their simple, homophonic harmonization contributes to this success as well as a strophic form with many verses. No less than 23 of them are needed in Es ist ein ros entsprungen to retrace the episode of the nativity from the announcement of the angel Gabriel to the arrival of the Magi... In dulci jubilo has the same musical and narrative profile as the previous one. However, it is distinguished by its macaronic text, alternating German and Latin, and a light and lively ternary rhythm. One can thus vary the performance in a choir by alternating half choir singing the German text and the other half singing Latin, taking care to differentiate them by their sound color.

Content:

• Es ist ein ros entsprungen
• In dulci jubilo