OLD CZECH ORGAN CHRISTMAS

A small offering for the second day of Christmas (known as Boxing Day in the US). I'd like to tie these works in with some output by others for more context.

First, Agnus_Dei (David) just released a Czech Christmas piece (see here: https://www.contrebombarde.com/concerthall/music/63467), which these two very modest works fit very well with. The idea of the shepherd pipes happens here, as well, for instance.

Also, istwann (Istvan Nagy) who does a lot for Augustine's Virtual Organs, has several of the selections from the book I found these works in recorded on YouTube this past week. So I kindly direct you his way to get a sense of others: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29Or0GnMPt0

For this humble upload, I included two more selections that fit Nagy's theme.

(0:00) Fuga C dur De tempore Natalis

The first selection in this modest recording is by Josef Ferdinand Norbert Seger (1716-1782), the most prolific 18th century Czech organ composer. His Fugue in C Major de Tempore Natalis expands on the folk-like intonation of the shepherd's horn sounds.

(2:13) Pastorela C dur

Jakub Valerian Paus (ca. 1705-1750) was a teacher in Dobrovice near Mlada Boleslav. His church vocal-instrumental compositions and cycles of suite-like compositions for solo harpsichord have survived. His Partita in C major, conceived in the spirit of an educational composition, has dance movements that include a delightfully folk-like Pastorela. In those days, no great distinction was made in music for keyboard instruments, so one can assume that this little composition was played at Christmas time on the organ as well.

(Notes taken from the introductory material, written by editor Jaroslav Smolka, to the collection of Altboehmische Weichnachten in der Orgelmusik, published in 1991 by Editio Supraphon in Praha.)