The Weihnachts-Historie SWV 435 by Heinrich Schütz is in the tradition of historia settings which, unlike the later oratorios, were largely based on biblical accounts. Amongst the Christmas Histories, found from the early 17th century onwards, the mature Schütz’s composition is rightly regarded as the most important. Both the impressive setting of the Gospel account and the Intermedia, characterized by various different scorings and instrumentation, lend the historia a dramatic pull, and allow the 40-minute composition to become an exceptionally varied experience for the listener.

Schütz was well aware of the high demand the Intermedia placed on the instrumental forces, and allowed only the Evangelist’s account to be printed in 1664, as the Intermedia should only be performed “by outstanding ensembles” in a “fitting manner”. These only survived in manuscript; as a result, the Introduction and the 5th Intermedium survive incomplete and were added by Paul Horn in the style of Schütz’s time for our edition.

Language: German/English
Duration: 35 min
Difficulty level: 1 2 3 4 5
Key: F major
Biblical text: Lk 2,1-21.40; Mt 2,1-23