Oratorium Nativitatis by Damijan Močnik

Host Stan Schmidt invites you to hear the U.S. broadcast premiere of Oratorium Nativitatis by Slovenian composer Damijan Močnik. This Going Beyond Words premiere is heard now on ACDA Radio and ChoralNet.   Four years ago this talented composer allowed Going Beyond Words to premiere his Passion according to St. John. There are three important CDs to be heard on this broadcast. All contain the music of Damijan Močnik. The S.t Jacobs Kammerkör, guided by Gary Graden, will perform “Acclamatio” for SSAATTBB and “Geburts Nacht” (sung in German), also for SSAATTBB. Gary Graden returns for the third piece, “Christus est natus,” the most familiar as he conducts the World Youth Choir from a 1999 recordings.

The main feature of this program is Oratorium Nativitatis, an oratorio on the birth of Christ.   It is scored for organ, soprano and tenor soloists, chorus and orchestra. The work is about forty minutes in length and features the Slovenian Philharmonic Chorus and Orchestra, conducted by Borut Smrekar.   The Oratorium has ten movements sung in Latin and has a structure like many of the cantatas composed by J. S. Bach (i.e., movements one and ten, two and nine, and three and eight reflect each other, and so on.  The ten sections are Prseludium for Organ;  Fear Not;  I Waited Patiently for the Lord; Today Christ is Born; O Admirabile Commericum; Why Do the Heeathen rage?; Sing Praise; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Arise; and Bring an Offering. Because of the importance of this composition, it is being presented on ACDA Radio so choral directors worldwide can experience this meaningful music. Oratorium Nativitatis will also be repeated on ACDA Radio December 6, 2017, during Advent.

For a look at the CDs used and a complete list of the music heard, go to the blog of www.goingbeyondwords.com website and click on show 2345R, where you can visualize the structure of the piece.