The Choir of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine recently came to the Medieval Sculpture Hall at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a program that spans hundreds of years and describes the story of the nativity. Kent Tritle, a WQXR host, conducts.

The program includes settings of the "O Magnum Mysterium" text by T. L. da Victoria, Morton Lauridsen, and Francis Poulenc; works by Byrd, Biebl, and Hassler; as well as music by Eric Whitacre, Francis Poulenc, William Byrd and Morten Lauridsen. Nimet Habachy hosts.

Program:

Choir of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Kent Tritle, director

Gregorian Chant: Veni, veni Emanuel

Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548-1611): Motet O Magnum Mysterium                        

Tomás Luis de Victoria: Missa O Magnum Mysterium                      

Hans Leo Hassler (1564-1612): Verbum caro factum est                                

Franz Biebl (1906-2001): Ave Maria                                                      

Peter Philips (c. 1560-1628): O Beatum et sacrosanctum diem                 

Eric Whitacre (c. 1970): Lux aurumque (2000)                                    

Francis Poulenc (1899-1963): Four Motets for the Christmas Season         

        I. O magnum mysterium                         

        II. Quem vidistis pastores dicite   

        III. Videntes stellam                      

        IV. Hodie Christus natus est        

William Byrd (1674-1744): Senex puerum portabat [4 voice]                  

Morten Lauridsen (b. 1943): O magnum mysterium                                  

Gregorian Chant: Conditor alme siderum