Christmas is icumen in, lhude sing St. Nick!
Danny Johnson
I almost feel like we are a big-box store, focusing on our Christmas concert now when there is so much that happens before that: the Texas Toot workshop this weekend, then Thanksgiving, then the St. Cecilia Baroque Festival, and then our four days of rehearsals, and then our concerts. I can’t wait! And then…well, there’s much more. At any rate, we aren’t having Black Friday Sales, so I’m relieved to remember that we aren’t a big-box store! More soon!
Danny
An Early Christmas in Europe
Friday, December 12, 2014, 8:00PM
Saturday, December 13, 2014, 8:00PM
First English Lutheran Church, 3001 Whitis Ave., Austin, TX
Sunday, December 14, 2014, 3:00PM
First Presbyterian Church, 8001 Mesa Drive, Austin, TX
Last chance to get discounted Partial Season Subscriptions for the remaining 4 concerts of the season!
Partial Subscriptions for 4 concerts are $108 general, or $90 for seniors.
Click on the "Buy Partial Season Tickets" button below.
Single tickets can be purchased by clicking on the button below
and are also available at the door, payable with cash, check, or credit card:
$30 general, $25 senior (age 60+).
Discount prices for students with student ID are available for purchase
at the concert door for $5.
It’s already time for another Early Christmas! Join us as we explore the mystery and intangible essence of Christmas as TEMP puts its unique stamp on joyful carols and traditional songs from Western Europe and the British Isles, where many of the musical traditions we hold dear at Christmastime originated. TEMP will perform joyful and beautiful selections from these countries and others with innovative arrangements for solo voices, small chorus, harp, violin, flute, mandolin, viols, and lute.
The familiar theme of the Nativity from the shepherds’ perspective—their wondrous and terrifying experience with the angelic host and their subsequent gathering around the manger to adore the Christ-Child—figures prominently in most early music Christmas repertoire, as do the themes of the Mother and Child and the New Year. We will present two iconic 12th–century works from France illustrating this theme: “Orientis partibus” and excerpts from the Play of Herod.
Lively works from an anonymous Spanish composer (“Falalanlera”) and an exciting double-choir work by Giovanni Bassano illustrates the importance and the beauty of Advent and Christmas in Renaissance Spain and Italy. Not to be outdone, however, are the works of composers in the Lowlands, whose diverse, virtuosic compositions for Christmas celebrations remain unparalleled in sheer beauty. The little-known Flemish composer, Guilielmus Messaus, created mini-masterpieces in this genre, and TEMP is happy to bring these to light for our audience. We are also glad to announce the return of our favorite Dutch carol: We haven’t performed “Herders hy is geboren” in several years, and its return is long overdue.
Our Christmas concerts are never complete without a little Celtic and English influence! Our versions of the “Christ-Child Lullaby” and “Drive the cold winter away” are in the program this year, as well as other favorites from the Celtic traditions. We are proud to feature nationally-acclaimed historical harpist Therese Honey, who will play the popular 18th–century Welsh “Nos galan,” which is very similar to one of the present day’s most ubiquitous Christmas carols. Which one? Come find out!
Our featured soloists include Jenifer Thyssen, Stephanie Prewitt, Meredith Ruduski, Jenny Houghton, Cayla Cardiff, Jeffrey Jones-Ragona, David Lopez, Brian Pettey, Thann Scoggin, and Daniel Johnson. Our instrumental soloists include Bruce Colson (violin), John Walters and Jane Leggiero (viols), Marcus McGuff (flute), Susan Richter (recorders), and Scott Horton (lutes).
Join Texas Early Music Project for a splendid evening of music. Encompassing eight hundred years of festive creativity and beauty, this music is sure to delight your ears and warm your heart.
