"Sweet Was the Song" Brings a Fresh Sound to Christmas Music

What does Christmas sound like when we step back for a moment into a time long past? The starting point for this program is the old English Christmas carol “Sweet Was the Song.” It tells the story of Mary, holding her newborn child in her arms and singing him a lullaby. A tender scene full of warmth. From this moment on, a musical journey through the Renaissance and Baroque periods unfolds at the Bergson.

During this period, music was, in the truest sense of the word, constantly in motion: musicians carried it from one place to the next, sheet music and melodies circulated across borders, and musical ideas were adopted, altered, and developed further. A vocal melody could become a virtuoso instrumental fantasia; a sacred motif might reappear in a dance; and a traditional melody might take on a completely different character in a new composition. Throughout it all, the human voice remained an important point of reference: even when no one is singing, instruments seem to breathe, speak, and sing, while vocal melodies take on a life of their own in instrumental music.

With “Sweet was the song,” Ensemble Interchange invites you to experience these musical transformations firsthand: Look forward to a concert that blends a contemplative Christmas atmosphere with the joy of discovery!

Matija Chlupacek: Recorders & Vocals

Friederike Vollert: Recorders & Vocals

Azzurra Raneri: Baroque cello

Neo Gundermann: Lute-family instruments

Adrienn Illes: Harpsichord