Christmas Carols and Their Stories
Puzzle 61 · Great Composers of Christmas · Page 87 in print
Berlioz and the Shepherds
Berlioz built L’Enfance du Christ in stages: The Flight to Egypt in 1850, The Arrival in Sais in 1853 and Herod’s Dream in 1854. He wrote the whole libretto himself.
Jump to a word
The words
Berlioz
Hector Berlioz, composer of L’Enfance du Christ.
Centurion
The Roman officer who challenges the patrol.
The Hector Berlioz Website (opens a new tab) · The Hector Berlioz Website (2) (opens a new tab)
Flutes
The two flutes of the trio in Part III.
Holy Family
Those the shepherds bid farewell in Berlioz’s chorus.
Narrator
The tenor récitant who tells the story.
The Hector Berlioz Website (opens a new tab) · The Hector Berlioz Website (2) (opens a new tab)
Overture
The small instrumental piece that opens Part II.
Paris
City of the 1850 hoax and the 1854 premiere.
Pierre Ducre
The imaginary 17th-century composer Berlioz invented.
Polydorus
The Roman officer who commands the night patrol.
The Hector Berlioz Website (opens a new tab) · The Hector Berlioz Website (2) (opens a new tab)
Roman Soldiers
The patrol heard in the Nocturnal March.
Sacred Trilogy
Berlioz’s own name for the three-part work.
Sais
Town of Part III, L’Arrivée à Saïs.
Salle Herz
Paris concert hall of the first complete performance.
Shepherds
Singers of the farewell chorus to the Holy Family.
Soothsayers
The seers Herod consults in Part I.