Hamburger Camerata / Albrecht Menzel

Four composers, four good tidings. What does Christmas actually sound like? For the Baroque composers, one thing was clear: pastoral music for shepherds was a must. Giuseppe Torelli wonderfully captured the scene in the stable in Bethlehem in his »Concerto in the Form of a Pastoral for the Most Holy Night«. Shepherds also cavort in Antonio Vivaldi’s »Four Seasons«. Alongside them, you can hear a dog barking, ice crunching, leaves rustling and birds chirping. Vivaldi’s virtuoso panorama of the seasons is great cinema for the ears. His compatriot Nino Rota even won an Oscar for his film music for the classic film »The Godfather«. But at its core, the grand master of film music was also always concerned with a happy message: composing makes him happy, Rota once said. And making others happy with his music was »the centrepiece« of his work. After all, Bach’s music would be inconceivable without the good news of Christianity. He concluded each of his scores with a pious »Soli Deo gloria« (Glory to God alone), and his music – such as the concerto for three violins – sparkles with vitality.