Das Kind in Dir

We tend to think of Johann Mattheson (1681–1764) as a theorist first and foremost, and as a composer almost as an afterthought. To be sure, he competed in a world in Hamburg that at one time or another featured Reinhard Keiser, Georg Philipp Telemann, and George Frederick Handel; indeed, all of these were friends, sometimes rivals, and in one case, he and Handel even fought a duel over an opera, Cleopatra (Mattheson would have won, but a metal coat button deflected his sword, fortunately both for posterity and Handel). As a singer, he was well regarded, but by 1705 he had traded his performance chops for a real job as private secretary to the English ambassador.

It has been so easy over the last century-and-a-half-plus to severely underestimate the creativity of Robert Schumann as a composer because he was so often thought of as a miniaturist, and because he was often plagued by self-doubts and, much more tragically, severe mental illness that caused him to end his life in 1856 at the age of 46, leaving behind a grieving widow in his wife Clara. This was, after all, a composer who wrote four very solid symphonies, a hugely popular piano concerto, an equally popular cello concerto, and various other orchestral works. Schumann also wrote choral works, notably a very inspired C Minor setting of the Latin Mass.

Johann Heinrich Rolle (1716-1785), who worked for more than 30 years as "Director musices" and Cantor at the Altstädtische Gymnasium in Magdeburg, enjoyed great popularity in his day and won. a. important as the founder of the first public concert series in Magdeburg. According to advertisements in the Magdeburger Zeitung, the oratorio was heard in December 1769 and 1771 within this »Rolleschen concert series«, and it has not yet been clarified whether the work was even used as regular church music. The text, of which the poet is unknown, does not describe the events in the field near Bethlehem as usual, but is devoted to religious considerations.
The chamber choir Michaelstein and the Telemann chamber orchestra Michaelstein under the experienced direction of Ludger Remy present this forgotten masterpiece of Central German music.