Great Joy: Renaissance and Baroque Christmas Music for Brass

Read About This Recording

The Schweriner Blechblaser-Collegium got its start in 1975 with just nine musicians from orchestras in Schwerin, Germany. Following the country's reunification, musicians from the city of Lubeck also joined the ensemble and the collegium was born. The group, which comprises brass instrumentalists, is well versed in brass music from nearly every musical era and century, as listeners will soon discover from this disc.

Great Joy Volume 1 features music from the Renaissance and Baroque periods and, with the exception of a few tracks, the music is all meant to be performed during the Advent and Christmas seasons.

But what is so pleasantly surprising about this disc is that, despite the tendency to hear these pieces during the holiday season, there is no reason not to keep this disc in your CD player all year round. The artists are a talented lot and perform as a united ensemble, joined on several tracks by organist Jan Ernst.

This Great Joy CD certainly delivers the goods and promises a festive listening experience throughout the year.

-Elaine Sutcliffe

Contents

Handel: Tochter Zion, freue dich; Praetorius: Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland a 8; Den die Hirten lobeten sehre (Quem pastores laudavere); Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen; Gabrieli: Canzon 27 a 8; Zachow: Choralpartita Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland; Vejvanovsky: Sonata Natalis in C Major; Kuhlo: Kommet, ihr Hirten; Widmann: Cantzon Auff den Schafferstantz a 5; Cruger: Vom Himmel hoch da komm ich her; Jauchzt Gott mit Herzensfreud (In dulci jubilo); Im finstern Stall o Wunder gro