A European Christmas: Five Centuries of European Choral Music

Featuring music by:

Briegel: Das Wort ward Fleisch
Calvisius: Freut euch und jubiliert
Cornelius: The Three Kings
Costeley: Allons, gay bergeres
Distler: Weinachtsgeschichte
Guerrero: Los Reyes
Jansons: Ai, nama māmiņa sing
Kodaly: People draw near
Leontavich: Carol of the Bells
Perosi: Ave Maria
Morales: O magnum
Nordquist: Jul, Jul, Strålande Jul
Rachmaninoff: Bogoroditse Dyevo
Pärt: Salve Regina
Zamacois: Con trompetas y tambores

With Heinrich Christensen, organ.

About Musica Sacra:
From a choral repertoire spanning five centuries, Musica Sacra performs works both familiar and rare, with a crisp passion that awakens the listener to yearnings and joys, sorrows and delights—all that defines and inspires the best in human lives.
Since 1959, Musica Sacra has been performing choral music with the highest standards of musical excellence and a sound that has been called “gifted,” “breathtaking,” and “uncommonly fresh and direct.” Mary Beekman, Director since 1979, continues to thrill Musica Sacra’s singers and audiences with a varied and engaging repertoire.

The group has performed at the invitation of institutions such as the Boston Early Music Festival; WGBH Radio; The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; and the Fogg Art Museum of Harvard University. In 2003, Musica Sacra released their much-anticipated studio recording, Love, Lust, and Laudations: Flemish Choral Music of the High Renaissance. In 2004, Musica Sacra premièred Boston composer Daniel Pinkham’s Magnificat for chorus, soprano and wind quintet—a new work written especially for Mary Beekman and Musica Sacra.

Firmly committed to reaching under-served audiences, Musica Sacra has performed for various charities and charitable events in the Boston area. The group’s “Four-Part Harmony” fundraiser for the homeless has raised over fifty thousand dollars since 1998. Other efforts have included performances at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center, Youville Hospital and at the annual AIDS Walk in Boston.

Musica Sacra is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization funded by the generous donations of its supporters and in part by grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and by the Inavale Foundation.