Join us as we explore Christmas traditions from as many diverse European cultures as we can within one concert. (You might think you need a passport, but you don’t!) We will create a musical postcard of Christmas joy to delight your hearts and ears as TEMP puts its unique stamp on beautiful and joyful carols, motets, dances, and traditional songs with innovative arrangements for solo voices, small chorus, harp, violin, flute, mandolin, and more.

Many of the musical traditions we hold dear at Christmas time originated in Italy, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Germany, and the British Isles, and TEMP will perform selections from these countries and others. We will trace the evolution of popular tunes like “In dulci jubilo” in which we’ll present arrangements for 2, 3, 4, & 8 voices by Praetorius and Buxtehude. There will also be versions of the popular Christmas song “In natali Domini” from Medieval Prague, Renaissance Germany, and Baroque Hungary.

The first half of the concert will feature motets and carols about the shepherds and the wondrous and terrifying experiences they had with the Angel Gabriel, gathering around the manger, and adoring the Christ-Child. Works in this section will come from Medieval England, Renaissance Italy and Flanders, Baroque England and France, and will include some popular carols still in use today. There will also be a few rousing instrumentals with Christmas dances from Ireland, Italy, and Czechoslovakia, including a lively instrumental by the 17^th century Irish harpist Turlough O’Carolan, (“The O’Rourkes Christmas”) and also an Irish traditional song, “The seven rejoices of Mary” for solo voices and instruments.

The concert will include a couple of favorites from the TEMP Stella splendens CD (“Il est né, le divin Enfant!,” “The old yeare now away is fled,” and “Noël nouvelet”) but there will be many “new to us” works as well as many newly arranged songs and dances. (See the Program below.) Visit the Stella splendens CD page to listen to additional audio samples and for purchasing information.