The Orquesta Barroca de Tenerife is giving at 7:30 pm on 12 December the concert Baroque Christmas Music (Barocke Weihnachtsmusik) at Auditorio de Tenerife’s Sala de Cámara. The ensemble resident at the Auditorio de Tenerife brings a programme of German Baroque music with Zaragoza-born Alfonso Sebastián as harpsichord and guest conductor plus the voice of British soprano Dame Emma Kirkby, (DBE).

The Barroca is performing works of the vocal catalogue of the so-called German Baroque music. The best biblical, religious or spiritual texts were used to create the corpus of cantatas and oratorios exalting the Joyful episodes, extoling the Glorious and acclaiming the Painful.  They are each a case of high creative sharpness as you will listen for yourself in this selection.

In addition to Kirkby and Sebastián, the orchestra also includes Adrián Linares, Baroque violin and leader of the orchestra; Lorena Padrón and Laura Díaz, violins I; Sergio Suárez, Leo Rossi and Giovanni Déniz, violins II; Iván Sáez and Melchor García, violas; Fernando Santiago, Baroque cello; Juan Carlos Baeza, violone; Juan Carlos de Mulder, theorbo; and Hugo Rodríguez, bassoon.

Tickets can be bought through Auditorio de Tenerife’s usual sale channels: at the box office from 10:00 am to 7:30 pm, Monday to Saturday except holidays; via www.auditoriodetenerife.com  or calling 902 317 327.

At 11:00 am that morning, Auditorio de Tenerife’s Educational Area will give a concert with  400 schoolchildren from the third to the fifth year of Primary school and Aula Enclave for students with special educational needs. This is a special music session of this Orquesta Barroca’s programme that will be attended by children from five different schools in Arona, Güímar, La Laguna and La Orotava.

The Cantata is one of the best representatives of the sound laboratory of the Baroque. As opposed to the Sonata, whose instrumental flow is full of tonal arguments and skilful discourse -especially in the violin scales- the Cantata developed, in all the possible vocal tessituras and with the help of colourist accompaniment, a new way of understanding texts and poetry, which was unheard of in the History of Music.

At the same time as Opera and Oratorio, from its very beginnings in the 17th century, it gradually enriched the repertoire across Europe, until it reached its height in the early 18th century, reaching the late Baroque with the beautiful and bold compositions of D. Buxthuede, G. P. Telemann and Bach. The artistic director of the ensemble, Conrado Álvarez, revealed that “the Orquesta Barroca de Tenerife has programmed examples of these skills to celebrate Christmas”. In addition to vocal skills, this programme also includes instrumental practice of Rosenmüller’s, Muffat’s and Fischer’s workshop.

As part of the Festival de Música Antigua de Tenerife (Fimante) [Tenerife Early Music Festival] this same programme will be played in two further concerts: on Saturday, the 14th at 7:00 pm in Iglesia Nuestra Señora de la Merced in El Médano (Granadilla de Abona); and on Sunday, the 15th at 5:00 pm in the Iglesia Nuestra Señora de los Remedios, in Buenavista del Norte.