Hector Berlioz is often stereotyped as a composer who wrote for enormous orchestras in enormous halls, but he had his quiet and meditative side, as is seen best in his gentle oratorio L’Enfance du Christ (“The Childhood of Christ”). Since the events depicted in the oratorio come after the birth of Jesus, maybe this isn’t properly a Christmas selection, but that’s how I tend to view it. Here is the most famous part of the work, the chorus “The Shepherds’ Farewell”.
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Actually, in the Christian calendar, we are now in Advent. Christmastide is the period between the birth and Epiphany, when the wise guys show up. So it is QUITE appropriate.
Anyway, love that piece. especially because the the end of the third phrase, and the beginning of the fourth phrase, the sopranos stay on the same note, but it's the other parts that move; great writing.