SATB vocal soli, SATB choir and orchestra SKU: CA.9700700
Christmas Oratorio in Two Parts. Composed by Joseph Leopold Eybler. Edited by Karl Michael Waltl. Arranged by Paul Horn. Sacred vocal music, Oratorios, Christmas. Full score. 248 pages. Duration 80 minutes. Carus Verlag #CV 97.007/00. Published by Carus Verlag (CA.9700700). ISBN 9790007164713. Text language: German.
Joseph Leopold Eybler had frequent contacts with the great composers of his day: both Joseph Haydn and Albrechtsberger were his teachers and friends, and he had a close friendship with Mozart and Johann Michael Haydn. His major Christmas oratorio Die Hirten bei der Krippe zu Bethlehem (1794) was composed four years before Haydn's Die Schopfung (The Creation). The almost operatic work displays a wealth of different facets: from the virtuoso aria, through the tranquil depiction of nature in music, to the portrayal of the most heartfelt emotions. As a true jewel of Viennese classicism, Die Hirten (The Shepherds) is a worthwhile addition to the Christmas repertoire.
