Christmas exhibition and mp3 Advent Calendar 2009

Due to a great response last year, the Norwegian Institute of Recorded sound presents a new musical advent calendar with more old Christmas music recordings. Each day before Christmas, we present one or several recordings from the "good old times", in which legendary singers and performers from the first half of the 20th Century give their interpretation of Christmas Music.

Text and choice of recordings: Dag Trygve Henriksen

Published: 01.12.2009-24.12.2009

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December 24.

CHRISTMAS EVE – We celebrate Christmas Eve by presenting a large choir work published over 5 double sided shellac records. It is a Mass to the Holy Virgin, Messe de Beata Virgine by Antoine Brumel (ca. 1460- ca. 1520).

Antoine Brumel was one of the leading composers of his generation. He was born near Chartres in France, but is closely connected to the musical style called the Flamish school. He was mostly employed in France, e.g in Notre Dame de Paris where he was responsible for the choir boy’s musical education. A restless temper made him loose his posision here, and he was later employed in Genova, Chambéry and probably in Rome. About 1505, he succeeded Josequin des Prez and Obrecht as choir master at the court of Alfonso d’Este I in Ferrara. He has written a large number of vocal works, and is most known for his Messe de Beata Virgine presented here, and the older Missa et ecce terræ motus (Earth quake mass). A requiem from his hand has also survived, the only older requiem found is by Obrecht. He has like many other renaissance composers also written a Missa L’Homme Armé.

Musically he represents the style changes that between the 15th. and the 16th. Century. He starts by composing cantus firmus works, using an older gregorian melody as a base, composing new parts over this melody, but this was recognised old fashioned by the end of the 15th. Century. His polyphony becomes more flowing, the different voice parts are composed simultaneously i large blocks. Thus he abandoned the pratice of composing new voice parts to old well known melodies, in this way, he lay the ground for further development of music in the renaissance period.

The mass presented here is written for the Holy Virgin, Mary, and is buildt up by the usual six sections of the ordinario, Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus and Agnus Dei. On the records, this sections is divided between several sides, and on some records, one section ends, and another begins. We have chosen to segment this, so each new movement can be listened to separatly from the beginning, even though this destroys parts of the autenticity of the records themselves.

The performance is by Ensemble Vocal Couraud, singing under their conductor Marcel Couraud (1912-1986). He was born near Limoges in France and studied organ with Marchal in Paris. Here he also studied composition with Nadia Boulanger and conductiong under Charles Munch. He founded his own choir, Ensemble Vocal Couraud in 1945, conducting this choir until 1954 when he moved to Stuttgart.From 1967, he was artistic director of the ORTF choirs in Paris, and in 1976 he founded a new choir, Groupe Vocal de France whom he conducted until 1978.

The recording was made in Paris by Les Discophiles Francais and published in 1948 with catalogue number Disques 51-55 Album A 11. The content on the different record sides are given below together with the matrix numbers.

With these sound files, The Norwegian Institute of Recorded Sound wish every listener a HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

Listen to Kyrie (debut) (mp3) | Large picture of side 1 Matrix number PARTX 2527-1 MO 101000

Listen to Kyrie (fin) (mp3) | Matrix number PARTX 2528-1

Listen to Gloria(debut) (mp3) | Matrix number PARTX 2528-1

Listen to Gloria (suite) (mp3) | Matrix number PARTX 2529-1

Listen to Gloria (fin) (mp3) | Matrix number PARTX 2530-1

Listen to Credo (debut) (mp3) | Matrix number PARTX 2536-1

Listen to Credo (suite) (mp3) | Matrix number PARTX 2537-1

Listen to Credo (mp3) | Matrix number PARTX 2538-1

Listen to Sanctus (debut) (mp3) | Matrix number PARTX 2538-1

Listen to Sanctus (suite) (mp3) | Matrix number PARTX 2543-1

Listen to Sanctus (fin) (mp3) | Matrix number PARTX 2544-1

Listen to Agnus Dei (debut) (mp3) | Matrix number PARTX 2544-1

Listen to Agnus Dei (fin) (mp3) | Matrix number PARTX 2545-1

About the Christmas exhibition - on site and online!

It is not a recent phenomena only that great artists have promoted themselves with Christmas records, these records have sold well ever since the beginning of recording. This year's Christmas exhibition at the Norwegian Institute of Recorded Sound presents a broad scope of Christmas records from the era of the 78 records. We have digitized some of them as well, and will present them on this webpage in the Advent period. All these records can of course be found at the Institute's premises in Stavanger.

Together with the Christmas 78's, the Norwegian Institute of Recorded Sound also exhibits many of its Christmas LP's. Among these, one can find several Norwegian amateur choir recordings as interesting documentation of Norwegian music history. The records have great documentary value on how amateur singing bloomed in different regions and towns throughout the country. Once can, of course, find many church choirs, but also choirs with a close relationship to special conductors, such as Valen's Soloist Choir in Sandefjord conducted by Sverre Valen, and Torstein Grythe's Silver Boys Choir of Norway, related to the Norwegian Broadcasting, the NRK.

The great oratorios at the Institute are also worth mentioning. Among the recordings of the Christmas Oratorio by J.S. Bach, there is an LP-version with the Choir of the Thomas Cathedral in Leipzig conducted by Günther Ramin who was cantor there from 1940 to his death in 1956. Listening closely to this historic sound document, one finds a fundamentally different approach to the interpretation of this piece than one would find in today's performances. Baroque music is one of the styles that has gone through the greatest change in performance according to recent music science research on authentic performance practice. Whether anything has been lost during this development can be discussed. Even if the older recordings do not have the sparkling freshness that modern performances have, the modern versions may be found to lack some of the older versions sublimity and individual phrasing. For the record listener, great pleasure can be found in comparing such differences.

All this and more is possible to explore more closely at the Norwegian Institute of Recorded Sound. To our followers on the internet, we want to wish you everybody a happy Christmas, and hope you will find pleasure in the historic recordings presented here. Some Records will be of the same work - so there will be opportunities to compare different recordings as well.

The records were professionally cleaned and digitized by MemNor AS. However, the sound has not been enhanced or cleaned after digitization - all the crack, pops and sssshhhhh are original sound artefacts that we consider inherent to the original recording, with historical value, and thus left as is. The Institute keeps an original wav-file in 96 kHz / 48 bits for preservation and research and presents here the mp3 "reduction" of the preservation file.

We are grateful to George Brock-Nannestad in Denmark who kindly double-checked and provided some of the recording date and venue information.

On the Copyright in these recordings

All recordings used in this Advent Calendar are more than 50 years old, thus not longer covered by Norwegian and European Copyright Legislation. The original shellac records are owned by the Norwegian Institute of Recorded Sound, as are the rights to the digitized version of the recording presented here. This calendar is intended for personal listening only, permission for any other use has to be sought at the Norwegian Institute of Recorded Sound.

December 1

A whirling start of this year's Advent Calender: Waltz of the Flowers and Trepak from Tchaikowsky's ballet The Nutcracker. The work is a returning event on opera and ballet scenes worldwide in the advent period, and lot of children has been amused by the history of little Clara in the Drosselmeyr family. The famous Waltz of the Flowers is from the second act.

The performance is by the Tivoli Symphony Orchestra conducted by Thomas Jensen. The orchestra was and is still performing in the Tivoli Concert Hall in Copenhagen in the summer season, but in the winter season, it performs as the Copenhagen Philharmonic or Sjellands Symphony Orchestra. Thomas Jensen (1898-1963) was a Danish conductor and cellist. He worked as cellist in the Tivoli Symphony Orchestra, which he also conducted in the period 1936-1947 together with Svend Chr. Felumb. He was one of the founders of the Århus Orchestra in 1935, and was chief conductor there until he went to the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra in 1957.

The Danish discographer Jens Hansen dates this recording to 1947. The recording sessions took place in Odd Fællov-Paleet in Copenhagen on August 19, 20 and 22. This fine concert venue was since, sadly, destroyed in a fire.

The record is published by Musica with number DE 25060 and matrixes 2860 B [parallelogram] NDS. K. and 2859 A R [parallelogram] B NDS. K.

Listen to Waltz of the Flowers (beginning)(mp3)
Listen to Waltz of the Flowers (end)(mp3)
Listen to Trepak(mp3)

Large picture of side 1
Large picture of side 2

December 2.

Today’s recording is a collection of christmas carols by the German composer Peter Cornelius (1824-1874). Cornelius is not much known today, but he wrote several operas and lieder in the so called new german style of which Richard Wagner was the first and foremost exponent of during the second half of the 19th. Century. Cornelius was born in Mainz and studied composition with Heinrich Esser. In the period 1844-1852, he lived in Berlin where he met well known cultural personalities such as theGrimm brothers, Alexander von Humboldt, Friedrich Rückert and Felix Mendelssohn. The following years, he resided in Weimar, and from 1858 in Vienna. Here, he met Richard Wagner, and moved to Munich on his recommendation in 1864. Cornelius’ most performed opera is Le Cid. An opera based on the Norse Eddea poems was left unfinished at his death.

Gerhard Hüsch (1901-1984) who performs the songs on this recording was one of Germany’s greatest baritones at the middle of the 20th. Century. He sang at many of the great European opera houses, but stayed mainly in Berlin from 1930. Among his star roles, Papageno in Mozart’s The Magic Flute is is worth mentioning. At the same time, he was a great lieder singer, and the first who recorded complete versions of Franz Schubert’s two great song cycles, Die Winterreise and Die Schöne Müllerin.

The Records are published about 1930-1936 by His Master’s Voice. The Number is HMV E.H. 944 with matrix numbers 2RA 830 IV square 1 G og 2RA 831 III square 1 G

Listen to Christbaum-Die Hirten-Simeon (mp3)
Listen to Christus, der Kinderfreund – Christkind – Die Konige (mp3)

Large picture of side 1 | Large picture of side 2

December 3.

December is the month of large outdoor Christmas markets, and is there anything more natural than a wind band playing Christmas songs at such an event? This record is a potpourri of different carols, and the performance is by The Band of H.M. Grenadier Guards. The conductor is Lieut. George Miller. The orchestra is part of the British Army and has made many recordings for Columbia.

The record was published by Columbia in 1926 with the number 9146 and matrix numbers AX 2027 6738 (W in ring) and AX 2028 6739 (W in ring)

Listen to Christmas Waits part 1 (mp3)
Listen to Christmas Waits part 2 (mp3)

Large picture of side 1
Large picture of side 2

December 4.

Today we present one of the most frequently performed Christmas songs, Stephen Adams’ Jerusalem or The Holy City as it is also called. We presented some recordings of this song in the Advent calendar of 2008, and here is another version. The performer is the Dutch baritone Thomas Denijs (1877-1935), accompanied by an unknown pianist. Denijs specialized as oratorio and lieder singer, and participated in the performance of Bach’s St. Matthews Passion under Wilhelm Mengelberg.

The recording session took place in The Hague on August 29 1929, and the recording was published by his Master’s Voice with the number HMV C 4831 and matrix numbers 2-092018 1 R ck1578II and 2-092019 1 G ck1584II.

Listen to Jerusalem side 1 (mp3)

Large picture of side 1

December 5.

A Child is Born in Bethlehem is one of the lovliest scandinavian Christmas hymns. The Danish hymn poet N.F.S. Grundtvig wrote the text in 1820 to an old German melody from around 1600. The European roots are thus strong, and as a Christmas hymn in the Lutheran Church, it has a central role in the hymn repertoire. This recording from 1924 is a paraphrase on the hymn. Before 1900, it vas very common for composers to write paraphrases on well known melodies for piano, but this time, the composer Gebauer has arranged his paraphrase for orchestra and church bells.

The recording session took place in Copenhagen on May 12th. 1924, and it is fascinating to dwell on the season when Christmas records are made. One can play with the thought of how much Christmas feeling there was among the participants in the studio on this particular day in May 1924.

The record is published by His Master’s Voice with the number HMV X 2108 and matrix numbers 7-280948 1628 I 1 R

Listen to A Child is born in Bethlehem (mp3) | Large picture of the label

December 6.

For the Second Sunday in Advent, one of the dearest and mostly sung Christmas songs, Deilig er jorden (Lovely is the Earth). This hymn is not intended for Christmas, and with its message of Peace on Earth, it can be used at many different occations. Every Norwegian Choir performs this hymn at Christmas, thus it must be included here as well. The text is by Bernhard Severin Ingemann.

In our 2008 Advent calender, the song was represented by a tradional choir recording, but this time we present an orchestral one. Taken from the reverse side of the same record as yesterday, the performance is by an unknown Danish orchestra with church bells.

Recording venue is still Copenhagen København, the date is May 12th. 1924. The record was published by His Master’s Voice under the number HMV X 2108. Matrix number is 7-280950 BT 629 II 1 R

Lytt til Deilig er jorden (Lovely is the Earth) (mp3) | Large picture of the label

December 7.

Händel’s oratorio Messiah is well represented when looking at the newspaper concert advertisements. Even if only a part of Messiah contains the Christmas story and the birth of Christ, performing the work around Christmas is so common that a little selection has to be included in this calendar.

Louise Homer who performs the contralto solos together with an unknown orchestra was born in Shadyside by Pittsburg in 1871. She studied at the New England Conservatory in Boston, then with Fidele König and Paul Lhérie i Paris. Her debut was as Leonore in Donizetti’s La Favorite at the Vischy Opera in 1898. Later, she sang great roles at Covent Garden in London, in Bruxelles, Paris and in San Francisco. In the periods 1900-1919 and 1927-1929, she was a part of the ensemble at the New York Metropolitan Opera where she participated in numerous American premiers. Among first performances, she sang the part of the Witch in Humperdinck’s opera Königskinder in 1910.

Louise Homer made all her records for the Victor Company, and this particular record was published by His Master’s Voice in 1924. The catalogue number is DB 301 and matrix numbers 03681 03686 22 og A18041 03687 2- S/8 5.

Listen to He Shall Feed His Flock (mp3)

Listen to He was Despised and Rejected (mp3)

Large picture of side 1
Large picture of side 2

December 8.

We continue with a selection from Händel’s oratorio Messiah. The tradition of Boy’s Choirs in the large cathedrals is a long and strong tradition, and even in the largest cities in Norway, there is a boy’s choir. Some boys distinguish themselves as soloists at an early age, as on the record we present here.

Master Ernest Lough (1911-2000) was a boy soprano in the Choir of Temple Church in London and in the 1920’s he participated in some famous recordings with the choir. On this solo record, he performs I Know that my Redeemer Liveth, accompanied on the organ by Sir George Thalben-Ball (1896-1987), organist and director of the choirs in Temple Church. Ernest Lough continued to sing as a baritone in the choir after his voice broke, but his records are documents of his soprano voice. Thalben-Ball was organist and director of the choirs in Temple Church from 1923 to his retirement in 1981.

The recording was made in London on December 22nd, 1927 by His Master’s Voice. The cataloge number is B2656 og matrix numbers 2-4800 BR1162V(triangle) and 2-4801 BR1136V(triangle).

Listen to I Know that my Redeemer Liveth (side 1) (mp3)

Listen to I Know that my Redeemer Liveth (side 2) (mp3)

Large picture of side 1
Large picture of side 2

December 9.

Today a recording from Germany; Weinachten in der Fremde – Grosses tongemälde für Gesang, Rezitation, Orgel und Glocken. The actor Karl Zander (1881-1950) presents different Christmas songs which are sung in German by the tenor Richard Tauber (1891-1948).

Richard Tauber was one of the great tenors in between the World Wars. He was born in Linz by Donau and studied at the Conservatory in Frankfurt, planning to go for a conductor’s career, but subsequently altered his plans and studied song under Karl Beines in Freiburg. His debut was in the role of Tamino in Mozart’s The Magic Flute at the Stadttheater Chemnitz, Germany in 1913. Later on, he had engagements at the operas of Dresden, Berlin, Vienna and Salzburg. As a Jew, he had to flee Germany in 1933 and Austria in 1938. He then settled in London, employed by the Covent Garden opera. As an operetta singer he was of an astonishing caliber, and performed the role of Prinz Chou Song in Lehar’s operetta The Land of Smiles more than 700 times on stage.

Karl Zander was actor and administrative leader at Theater des Volkes in Berlin as well as directing film, among them the UFA short film Postlagernd XYZ in 1935.

This recording was made by Odeon in 1929. The catalogue numbers is O-4932a and O4932b (side 1 and 2). The matrix numbers is Be 8353 A (£) and Be 8354 A (£).

Listen to Weinachten in der Fremde (side 1) (mp3)

Listen to Weinachten in der Fremde (side 2) (mp3)

Large picture of side 1
Large picture of side 2

December 10.

Today's contribution is not exactly Christmas music, but since the Pastorale, as a general expression, is so associated with the Christmas story and the Christmas Oratorios (e.g. the Pastoral Symphony in Händel’s Messiah), we include this Pastorale by the French composer Georges Bizet. The song was written as a choral piece to the play L’Arlesienne (The Girl from Arles), later arranged for soprano and piano. It is also found in Arlesienne Suite no. 2 for orchestra. L’Arlesienne is a plain love history where one of the characters, a shepard is named Balthazar – but there is no further connection to the Christmas story.

The English soprano Maggie Teyte (1888-1976), educated in piano from Royal College of Music in London, studied song from 1906 under Jean de Reszke in Paris. She made her debut on the opera stage in Monte Carlo as Zerlina in Mozart’s Don Giovanni in 1907. Her career took her to the most famous opera houses, and she was raised to the peerage by Queen Elizabeth II in 1958. Teyte has made many recordings on the Edison Diamond, Columbia, Victor and His Master’s Voice labels.

She is accompanied by Gerald Moore (1899-1987), one of the finest accompanists in his time, a man who has made numerous recordings with the most famous soloists, including Kirsten Flagstad.

The record was published in 1944 by His Master’s Voice with catalogue number D.A. 1840 and matrix number OEA 10176 1 square 1 0.

Listen to Pastorale (mp3) | Large picture of the label

December 11.

Today’s recording is more than 100 years old! It is a recording of the Danish Hymn Julen har bragt velsignet bud (Christmas has brought a Blessed Greeting), a text written by B. S. Ingemann in 1839 and set to music by C.E.F. Weyse in 1841.

The song is performed by the Danish baritone Helge Nissen (1871-1926). He was born near Holstebro, Denmark, studied under L. Rosenfeldt in Copenhagen, and made his debut at the Royal Danish Opera in 1897 as Mephisto in the opera Faust by Gounod. In 1906, he sang at the premiere performance of Carl Nielsen’s opera Mascarade. Later, he made guest appearances in Stockholm, London and North America. As opera singer, he was most known for the great bass-baritone roles in the Wagner operas, such as Hans Sachs in Der Meistersinger Guernemanz in Parsifal and last but not least, as Der Wanderer in Der Ring des Nibelungen.

The recording was first published by the Scandinavian division of The Gramophone Company in 1907, probably on a single sided record. Later (1915?), it was republished on a double sided record, Concert Record Gramophone X 1691 with matrix number 3351r 1 2-282563 G .

Listen to Christmas has brought a blessed Greeting (mp3) | Large picture of the label

December 12.

We continue with side 2 from the record of yesterday, thus Helge Nissen is more focused on. Here he performs the well known O Holy Night or Cantique de Noël as the song is called in the original language. It was the French composer Adoplphe Adam who wrote the music in 1847. He was a prolific opera composer of his time who wrote 39 operas, but today, he is mostly known for this single song and the ballet Giselle.

This recording is made with the traditional orchestral forces at a recording studio, mostly wind instruments. The reason for this is that stringed instruments were not recorded so well by the recording equipment of the time, thus one had to arrange music for the best suited combination of instruments. E.g. celli and double basses were changed to bassoons, trombones and tuba.

The recording was made in 1913, and published as Concert Record Gramophone X 1691 with matrix number 5617ab 2-282562 (reversed l) G.

Listen to O Holy Night (mp3) | Large picture of the label

December 13.

At December 13th, one has to present Santa Lucia. Last years contribution was with the Norwegian tenor Bjørn Talén (listen to it here). This year a recording with the world famous Italian tenor, Benjamino Gigli, who probably to the highest degree continued the heritage from Enrico Caruso of performing Neapolitan songs, such as Santa Lucia.

Gigli was born in Rome and studied there at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia. He made his debut in 1914, and was closely associated to the La Scala Opera in Milano, but performed as well at all the important opera stages in Europe and South / North America. He made numerous recordings, and is remembered for his glorious voice, his splendid voice control, his phrasing and colorful shades of execution.

The record is published by His Master’s Voice in 1951 with catalogue number D.A 1963 and matrix number OEA 14262-1A 1A.

Listen to Santa Lucia (mp3) | Large picture of the label

December 14.

Christmas is here soon, so nothing is more suitable then than than one of the dearest Christmas Carols, Silent Night, Holy Night. The melody was written by Franz Xaver Gruber in 1818 to a poem by Joseph Mohr, it ws first performed at Christmas Eve that year. There are many fascinating stories about how this song came to light, e.g. mice that had eaten the bellows of the organ so the only instrument they could use was a guitar. True or not, the song was in fact first performed by soloist, choir and guitar. Since then, the song has travelled world wide in arrangements for almost any instruments.

This recording is by the soprano Marjorie Lawrence, accompanied by the organ, a traditional scoring used in churches everywhere. Listen to the soloist’s use of vibrato and her phrasing. It is very different from what we are accustomed to today. The practice of lifting the voice into the tone rather than go straight to it is common for singers trained before the 1950’s, but this disappeared as recording technique and studies in performance practice cleaned out old fashioned singing styles.

Marjorie Lawrence was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1909, but studied song in Paris from 1928. She made her debut on the Mote Carlo Opera as Elisabeth in Wagner’s opera Tannhäuser, and listening to this Christmas recording, it is understandable that her voice is suited for the grandiose parts. She performed world wide, specially known for her Wagner interpretations which are available on gramophone recordings, thus it is possible to listen to her from her heydays in the 1940’s and 50’s.

This record was made by the Decca Company in 1946, published with the catalogue number K.1558 and matrix number AR 10419-2 ST B.

Listen to Silent Night, Holy Night (mp3) | Large picture of the label

December 15.

Today’s contribution is the flip side of yesterday’s record where Marjorie Lawrence sings accompanied by the organ. This time it is Felix Mendelssohn’s (1809-1847) Hark! The Herald Angels sing, a piece he wrote in 1840 as second part in a cantata to commemorate Johan Gutenberg and the invention of printing. The text is written by Charles Wesley (1708-1788), brother of John who founded the Methodist Church, and it was only in 1855 that Dr. William Cummings put words and music together. Despite the fact that Mendelssohn wrote his music for a secular occasion, one can defend using it as a sacred piece just like Bach reused secular works by setting sacred texts to them. In this form, the piece has become part of the beloved Christmas repertoire for almost every choir.

Decca is still the record company, 1946 the publishing year, the catalogue number is K.1558 but the matrix number is AR 10421-2 ST B.

Listen to Hark! The Herald Angels sing (mp3) | Large picture of the label

December 16.

Today’s contribution is another version of Silent Night Holy Night, so those who want to compare different performances have an opportunity now.

Marguerite d’Alvarez (1886-1953) was an English contralto of Peruvian heritage, born in Liverpool. She studied in Brussels and made her debut as Dellah in Rouen in 1907 or1908. Her carrier carried her to Manhattan Opera, Boston Opera and the Chicago Opera as well as the first opera houses in Europe, among them Covent Garden in London and La Scala in Milan. From 1918, she mostly gave recitals. Her last recital was in London in 1939, but she acted in a film, Pandora and the Flying Dutchman as late as 1951. She was mostly known for her roles in the French opera repertoire, but her version of Amneris in Verdi’s Aida in London in 1914 received praising from the critics and the audience. The few recordings that exists of her documents a controlled, rich and well produced voice. On this record, she is accompanied by an unknown studio orchestra.

To give you more of her capacity, we include the flip side of the record as well, Mendelssohn’s O Rest in the Lord from the oratorio Elias, first performed in Birmingham in 1846. This recording bears some authenticity of how it might have been performed back then, thinking of her English and Belgian training from late in the 1890’s and onwards.

Listen to Silent Night Holy Night (mp3)

Listen to O Rest in the Lord (mp3)

Large picture of the label - Silent Night Holy Night

Large picture of the label - O Rest in the Lord

December 17.

Today’s Christmas music is composed by the French composer Charles Gounod (1818-1893). Is is most famous for his opera Faust and a lot of other works in the large vocal forms, but here is a single song Noël (Christmas) in an arrangement for tenor, piano and violin. The text is written by Jules Barbier, and Gounod composed it around 1870.

The performance is by the Swedish tenor Torsten Lennartsson (1881-1933), taken from a recording probably made in Stockholm in 1919, at least the record is published at that year. He was born in Malmö, Sweden, started as a pharmacy student before embarking on his music studies under the well known Gillis Bratt in Stockholm, the man who also would become the song instructor of Kirsten Flagstad. In the period 1908-1924, Lennartsson was part of the staff at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm where he performed parts for lyrical tenor, especially Mozart ad belcanto roles. He sang at the first performance of Bizet’s opera The Pearl Fishers in 1913. He also received fine critics for his buffo and operetta roles, as well as being praised as a concert and lieder singer. From 1924, he taught song at the Royal Swedish Music Conservatory. He made more than 120 gramophone recordings, all in the acoustical period before 1925 when the microphone and electrical recording was invented.

The record is published in 1919 as Concert Record Gramophone V 26 with matrix number 3890 ah 7-82022 2 GD

Listen to Noël (Christmas) (mp3) | Large picture of the label - Noël

December 18.

Today, we move over 100 years back in time with this recording of The Holy City. The song is composed by Stephen Adams, a pseudonym for Michael Maybrick, an English composer and singer from Liverpool who started his carrier as a star choir boy. After his voice broke, he studied in Lepzig and Milan, and developed a rich baritone voice. He sang operettas, but is mostly known for his ballad concerts in Great Britain and the USA. As a singer he retained his true name, but as composer, he called himself Stephen Adams. Together with lyricist Frederick E. Weatherly, he wrote many popular songs, The Holy City written in 1892 is the last fruit from this cooperation.

The song is performed by a singer contemporary to Adams, Edward Lloyd (1845-1927) son of a chorister in Westminster Abbey, Richard Lloyd (1813-1853). Edward as well started as a choir boy, advanced fast, and in 1866, he was chorister in The Trinity College Cambridge. He had his solo debut in 1871, and performances at the Norwich Festival in 1872 gave him reputation as one of England’s finest concert singers. He sang at many world premier performances of oratorios in the English choir tradition, among them St. Ludmilla by Dvorak, Judith by Parry and last but not least Caractacus and The Dream of Gerontius by Elgar. At the premier performance of The Dream of Gerontius in Birmingham in 1900, he gave the tenor parts, this is recognised as the peak of his carrier. In the period 1904-1907, he recorded several gramophone records for The Gramophone & Typewriter Company and in 1908 for His Master’s Voice.

This single sided record record is published in 1908 as Gramophone Monarch Record 02157 with matrix number 2413f 02157.

Listen to The Holy City (mp3) | Large picture of the label - The Holy City

December 19.

We continue with another version of The Holy City, this time a recording with Josef Locke (1917-1999), an Irish tenor of great success. Once again a pseudonym, his real name was Joseph McLaughlin.

Joseph McLaughlin was born in Northern Ireland as a butcher’s son. He sang in local churches in Boside as a boy, and after his military sevice, he was employed by the Royal Ulster Constabulary. He became known as the singing bobby, and toured UK in the 1940’s and 50’s with a popular variety repertoire. It was the Irish tenor John McCormack who guided him into light music and operetta, music that gave him a large audience. He made numerous recordings, most of them on EP’s but here we can present one of his very first 78 rpm recordings on the Columbia label. The Orchestra is conducted by Eric Robinson.

The record is published by Columbia in 1947 with catalogue number DX 1437 and matrix number CAX 10048-1 1 G

Listen to The Holy City (mp3) | Large picture of the label - The Holy City

December 20.

We present one more recording by Josef Locke. For the Fourth Sunday in Advent, we have chosen Star of Bethlehem by Stephen Adams and Frederick E. Weatherly, the musical cooperators who has been the focus the last few days. The accompanying studio orchestra is conducted by Eric Robinson.

The record is published by Columbia in 1947 with catalogue number DX 1437 and matrix number CAX 10049-1 1 G.

Listen to Star of Bethlehem (mp3) | Large picture of the label - Star of Bethlehem

December 21.

Once more, we turn to Stephen Adam’s The Holy City. Today in a Danish version, which is the last one we present of this popular song this year. With four different versions, everything is ready for comparing performances.

The singer of this recording from late 1940’s is Frans Andersson (1911-1988). He was a Danish bass-baritone born in Copenhagen. He was first employed in a bank, but studied music under Vilhelm Herold and Waldemar Lincke from 1934 before further studies in Milan. In 1943, he made his Debut as Crown in Porgy and Bess. In the period 1943-52, he sang at the Royal Danish Opera, and in 1955-61 at Berliner Staatsoper. He made a guest appearance as Alberich in Bayreuth in 1958, and as Kurwenal in 1959. His carrier has brought him to the largest opera houses in Europe, in Milan, Florenze, London, Lisboa, Vienna, München, and Trieste. Later, he settled in Fuglsø by Århus in Denmark where he ran a little hotel. He has made many recordings for different companies, and his Bayreuth performance in 1958 is published on LP’s by Meolodram.

This record is from the Danish company Felix, and is recorded in Copenhagen in the late 1940’s. This is near the very end of the 78 rpm era, one notice that the sound quality is much better than the earlier recordings. Listen also for differences in performance practice, Anderssons style of singing is very different from Edward Lloyd. The arrangement of the music is rich, with better recording technique it was now possible to make a balanced sound picture with a larger ensemble including special instruments. It is Arne Bertelsen who conducts Copenhagen Chamber Choir, harp, strings and organ in this recording together with the soloist, opera singer Frans Andersson. The record bears cataloge number Felix P9 with matrix numbers FX 117 2 * MADE IN DENMARK J and FX 118 2 * MADE IN DENMARK J.

Listen to The Holy City (side 1) (mp3) | Large picture of side 1

Listen to The Holy City (side 2) (mp3) | Large picture of side 2

December 22.

Today a really old choir recording, probably recorded in Berlin in 1907. The music is the Christmas Hymn Vom Himmel Hoch. Chor der Königlichen Hofoper sings accompanied by harmonium and church bells. The conductor is unknown in this performance.

The text is written by Martin Luther in 1535, and the hymn has become one of the dearest Christmas carols ever, especially in Germany. The story goes that on Christmas Eve 1870 during the French – Preussian War, and on Christmas Eve 1914 during World War One, the shooting stopped, the enemies came out of the trenches and sang Adam’s Cantique de Noël and this hymn, Vom Himmel Hoch.

The record is a single sided pre dog record, published as Gramophone Concert Record G.C.-44646 with matrix number 3261r 44646 VI.

Listen to Vom Himmel Hoch (mp3) | Large picture of the label

December 23.

The Italian Composer Archangelo Corelli (1653-1713) wrote his Concerto Grosso in g minor op. 6 no. 8 on a commission from Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, probably around 1690. The Concerto was given the under title Fatto per la Notte di Natale (Made for Christmas Night), and it was first printed in 1714, after the death of Corelli. The concerto is an expanded Concerto da Chiesa, a Church Concerto, expanded from the traditional four movements to six, the last movement being a lovely pastorale.

The Concerto has these movements:
1. Vivace-Grave. Arcate sostenuto e come stà
2. Allegro
3. Adagio - Allegro - Adagio
4. Vivace
5. Allegro
6. Largo. Pastorale ad libitum

The work is performed by London Chamber Orchestra under their conductor Anthony Bernard (1891-1963). Bernard was born in London, and studied composition under Granville Bantock, Borwock, John Ireland and Joseph Holbrooke. From the start of his professional career, he worked as an organist, accompanist and choir conductor before embarking on an orchestral conductor’s career. He also worked as composer and arranger, and has e.g. made a special version of The Beggars Opera for BBC. The English composer Robert Simpson dedicated his 2. Symphony to Bernard, who conducted the premier performance with London Chamber Orchestra in 1956. Bernard was the founder of this orchestra, an orchestra he conducted for more than 30 years. The ensemble is known for performing new and unknown music, and can show an astonishing list of premierer performances of works by well known composers such as Ralph Vaughan Williams, de Falla, Stravinsky, Fauré, Janacek and Ravel.

This recording was made in London in 1928, and published by English Brunswick on two double sided shellac records with catalogue numbers 10265 and 10266. The content of the single record sides and matrix numbers are given at each record below.

Listen to Vivace-Grave-Allegro (mp3) | Large picture of side 1 Matrix number BR 112 1/0265 A

Listen to Adagio-Allegro-Adagio (mp3) | Large picture of side 2 Matrix number BR 113 2/0265 B

Listen to Vivace Allegro (mp3) | Large picture of side 3 Matrix number BB 114 3 /0266A

Listen to Pastorale (mp3) | Large picture of side 4 Matrix number BR 115 2 /0266B