H+H Resident Conductor Scott Allen Jarrett leads the period instrument orchestra and chorus in this year’s holiday performances
at NEC’s Jordan Hall, Dec 18 + 21
BOSTON | Make the season bright with the brilliance of Baroque music performed by the Handel and Haydn Society Orchestra and Chorus in the beautiful and intimate setting of NEC’s Jordan Hall on Thursday, Dec 18 and Sunday, Dec 21. H+H Resident Conductor Scott Allen Jarrett leads the period instrument orchestra and chorus in this year’s ‘Baroque Christmas’ concerts featuring music to reflect the joy and exuberance of the season.
The H+H Youth Choruses Concert Choir will open the performances with Vivaldi’s Gloria and a South African hymn. The program includes three H+H premieres: Christoph Graupner’s Magnificat in C major, and Johann Sebastian Bach’s Sanctus and Cantata 63, with its impressive four trumpet fanfare intricately interwoven with woodwinds and strings. The charm and intimacy of the manger scene is on full display in the Christmas cantata, Uns ist en Kind geboren, a motet for double choir by Johann Ludwig Bach, the older cousin and contemporary of Johann Sebastian.
A hallmark of H+H is its dedication to historically informed performance to give audiences the opportunity to hear the music as it was composed and experienced by its original listeners. The wind instruments played in ‘Baroque Christmas’ are made from wood and string instruments have gut strings instead of steel. Baroque or natural trumpets do not have valves; musicians change pitch by controlling the air flow through the instrument. Bach’s scoring of four trumpets–along with three oboes, timpani, bassoon, and strings–was unusually grand and fitting for the celebratory season for which Cantata 63 was composed.
Scott Allen Jarrett is recognized as one of our nation’s leading teachers and interpreters of choral music, and especially, the vocal works of Johann Sebastian Bach. In addition to his work with the Handel and Haydn Society, Jarrett is Director of Music, the Arts, and Cultural Engagement at Boston University’s Marsh Chapel. He established The Bach Experience at Marsh Chapel in 2007, presenting four cantatas in their original liturgical context throughout the academic year. He has also enjoyed a long and fruitful collaboration with the Oregon Bach Festival.
“The music in this year’s Baroque Christmas program brims with the season’s hustle and bustle and the unbridled joy and hope in the message of the angel chorus: Peace on earth, goodwill to all people,” said Scott Allen Jarrett. “It’s as if all the creative energy bottled up from the quiet weeks of Advent erupts in the festive fanfares of Cantata 63, launching Bach and his musicians into the New Year, full of confidence and good cheer. I’m thrilled to bring these magnificent works to Jordan Hall with my H+H family to lift all of our spirits this holiday season.”
Meet the Music
All concert goers are invited to attend Musically Speaking hosted by H+H’s Christopher Hogwood Historically Informed Performance Fellow Teresa Neff, Ph.D., forty-five minutes prior to each performance in Williams Hall. This lively talk provides context about the music and composers on the program, as well as a Baroque instrument demonstration.
Concert Information
The Handel and Haydn Society presents Baroque Christmas at NEC’s Jordan Hall (30 Gainsborough St, Boston) on Thursday, December 18 at 7:30pm and Sunday, December 21 at 3:00pm. Individual tickets and subscription packages are available for purchase by calling 617.262.1815 or visiting handelandhaydn.org.
About the Handel and Haydn Society
Boston’s Grammy-winning Handel and Haydn Society performs Baroque and Classical music with a freshness, a vitality, and a creativity that inspires all ages. Called “one of the most exciting ensembles of historically informed performances in the world” (OperaWire), H+H has been captivating audiences for 211 consecutive seasons (the most of any performing arts organization in the United States), speaking to its singular success at welcoming new audiences to this extraordinary music, generation after generation.
H+H performed the “Hallelujah” chorus from Handel’s Messiah in its first concert in 1815, gave the American premiere in 1818, and ever since has been both a musical and a civic leader in the Boston community. During the Civil War, H+H gave numerous concerts in support of the Union Army (H+H member Julia Ward Howe wrote “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”) and on January 1, 1863, H+H performed at the Grand Jubilee Concert celebrating the enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation. Two years later, H+H performed at the memorial service for Abraham Lincoln.
H+H’s Orchestra and Chorus delight more than 76,000 listeners annually through concerts at Symphony Hall and other leading venues as well as radio broadcasts. Through the Karen S. and George D. Levy Learning and Education Program, H+H supports seven youth choirs of singers in grades 2–12 and provides thousands of complimentary tickets to students and communities throughout Boston, ensuring the joy of music is accessible to all. H+H provides deeply discounted tickets and hosts special events for undergraduate students and concertgoers under 40 through the H+H Masterpass and H² membership programs. H+H has released 16 CDs on the CORO label and has toured nationally and internationally. In all these ways, H+H fulfills its mission to inspire the intellect, touch the heart, elevate the soul, and connect all of us with our shared humanity through transformative experiences with Baroque and Classical music.