Schutz, Historia der Geburt Jesus, SWV 435

[steltz]

Trying to tag this, there are three versions. Unfortunately, none of the versions listed in Grove correspond to what has been uploaded. For a start, none of them seem to simply be for SATB chorus, then there is the issue of 2 recorders listed in all three Grove instrumentations and there are no recorders in the IMSLP instrumentation (though this is less important, since it would just be tagged "orch bc". Still, the instrumentation field should carry the original instrumentation.

And just to confuse things, it also goes under the name of Weihnachtshistorie.

Any of our Baroque experts care to do some delving into what the original voicing and original orchestra would be?

[pml]

The instrumentation which is listed on the work page is very much the “if you don’t have any of the fancy instruments” version. Schütz specially asks for recorders (flutes), cornettos (or clarini, i.e. trumpets), violettas (alto violins of the gamba family), and if you didn’t happen to have those, then you’d make do with the more common violins and violas which are used in the opening and closing choruses. This gives rise to there apparently being several different versions, when it is simply the relative elaboration of the music depending on what obbligato instruments you have to hand.

Each of the intermediums uses a different voicing of both chorus/solo voices and instruments, so rather than having eight or nine separate tags these should be aggregated, probably to the principal solo voices (sop ten bass) and chorus and orchestra with continuo (ch orch bc). I’ll edit this post in a short while to add as a postscript all of the separate tags you’d need if you were going to fully describe each of the “featured instruments” that occur from movement to movement – they would be substantial.

Cheers, Philip

PS I’m not expecting anyone to use these tags – especially as I’m giving the chorus voicings as well, which are almost sui generis! In short, as only the first and last choruses, as well as three of the intermediums use scorings in common, one would need 9 tags for a precise breakdown of the work.

Exordium: ch sop alt ten bass bsn 2trb 2vn 2va vlne org
Recitatives (between each subsequent movement): ten bc
Intermedium 1: sop 2vdg bc
Intermedium 2: 2ch 2sop alt 2ten bass bsn 2vn 2va vlne org
Intermedium 3: ch 3alt 2fl bsn bc ; ch 2alt ten 2fl bsn bc (3rd alto may be sung by tenors)
Intermedium 4: ch 3ten bsn 2vl bc
Intermedium 5: ch 4bass 2trb bc
Intermedium 6: bass 2tpt bc (and we don't have a tag for cornettos, which are not cornets!)
Intermedium 7, 8: sop 2vdg bc
Beschluß: ch sop alt ten bass bsn 2trb 2vn 2va vlne org

[steltz]

Thanks, Philip -- I've tagged it as a sacred oratorio, and if you don't mind, I've added your full instrumentation and comments, and removed the truncated orchestration.