Christmas fantasy

Performers: Kaunas city symphony orchestra Principal Conductor Constantine Orbelian (USA), Manager Algimantas Treikauskas Kaunas state choir Artistic Director and Principal Conductor Robertas Šervenikas Kaunas boys and youth choir "varpelis" Artistic Director Christian Frattima Soloists: GINTARĖ RAMANAUSKAITĖ (soprano) VILIJA MIKŠTAITĖ (mezzo-soprano) JURGITA ŠALČIŪTĖ (mezzo-soprano) VYGANTAS BEMOVAS (tenor) ILJA PLOTNIKOV (baritone) GIEDRIUS PRUNSKUS (baritone) Conductor ROBERTAS ŠERVENIKAS

Program: Part I ARTHUR HONEGGER – "Christmas Cantata" for baritone, children's choir, mixed choir, and orchestra RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS – "Fantasia on Christmas Carols" for baritone, choir, and orchestra Part II CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS – "Christmas Oratorio" for soprano, two mezzo-sopranos, tenor, baritone, mixed choir, harp, organ, and chamber orchestra

Kaunas State Philharmonic invites everyone eagerly awaiting the most beautiful holidays of the year to listen to three large-scale works that create a festive mood and encourage welcoming Christmas with a pure heart and elevated spirituality.

Swiss composer Arthur Honegger's "Christmas Cantata" is the final work created by this composer in 1953. Here, in three parts, the biblical story of Christmas is told. The first part tells of the world's turmoil before the coming of the Messiah; the second part is a combination of well-known Christmas carol melodies such as "Silent Night," "Es ist ein Ros entsprungen," and "Il est né, le divin Enfant." The third part is a solemn chorus, "Praise the Lord," transitioning into an orchestral finale that echoes the thematic material of the first part. The texts in the cantata are sung in Latin, German, and French.

English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams' "Fantasia on Christmas Carols," which has not been performed in Lithuania until now, is a one-part work created in 1912. It is composed of the English folk carols "The Truth Sent from Above," "Come All You Worthy Gentlemen," and "On Christmas Night All Christians Sing," which the composer and his friend Cecil Sharp collected and recorded in Southern England a few years before the Fantasia was born. The motifs of the carols intertwine with short orchestral quotes from other Christmas songs, such as "The First Noel."

Camille Saint-Saëns' "Christmas Oratorio," a French work that has not lost its popularity for nearly 150 years, was unveiled to the world in 1858, created by the 23-year-old author and dedicated to his composition student Clémence de Grandval. As a devout Catholic, C. Saint-Saëns selected texts from the Bible for the ten-part oratorio, translated into Latin according to the Vulgate version (the Bible translation performed by St. Jerome in 1450). Some of the texts belong to the proprium of the Christmas "Missa in nocte" (Midnight Mass). Following the announcement of Christ's birth in the Gospel of Luke, there are psalm texts, lines from the books of the prophets, and the Gospel of John. With few exceptions, the composition is dominated by a lyrically contemplative mood, as the author focused more on religious aspects and their reflection than on the human drama in the biblical texts. The transparent and sincere music of the work never leaves anyone indifferent and sends the listener out of the concert hall with a purified heart.