Frohlocke nun

During the 18th and early 19th centuries in Berlin, as elsewhere, the festival of Christmas was celebrated lavishly in music. What Christmas music was especially popular can be seen from a glance at the archive of the Berlin Sing-Akademie, long believed to be lost after World War II but returned from Kiev in 2001. This priceless source of information on Berlin’s 18th century musical history includes cantatas by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Carl Heinrich Graun and Johann Friedrich Agricola which have now been issued in world premiere recordings. Other titles indicate church music tendencies of that period: from Reichardt’s rustic idylle in the style of folk music to Zelter’sreturn to the tradition of Palestrina. This recording with the Staats- and Domchor Berlin brings to light little-known musical treasures, and it also demonstrates the development of church music between the baroque and romantic periods in the musical life of Berlin.