Under the direction of Jörg Breiding, the Knabenchor Hannover (Hanover Boys Choir) performs well-known songs for Advent and Christmas set to music in a contemporary style by the Hanoverian composer Siegfried Strohbach (*1929). Accompanied by festive texts – read by the actor Sky du Mont – and organ interludes played by Ulfert Smidt, organist at the Marktkirche Hannover, this work is a unified whole that prepares listeners for the Christmas season in a both meditative and festive spirit.

Siegfried Strohbach compiled his Yuletide choral cycle Gloria in excelsis Deo especially for the Knabenchor Hannover’s Advent concerts. In addition to new compositions, he recurs to earlier works from all periods of his rich choral oeuvre. Strohbach is highly susceptible to the ensemble’s specific timbres and technical possibilities, both of which he demonstrates skilfully. He explores the choir’s various sound facets in diverse voice combinations. In this, he refrains from almost all virtuoso ornamentation and focusses on the essential: the annunciation of the Christian message of Christmas.