The tune I’ve arranged here was first published in Hamburg in 1740, in a pamphlet by Johann Mattheson: Etwas Neues Unter Der Sonnen! Das Unterirrdische Klippen-Concert in Norwegen.
It related the testimony of a certain General Bertuch, who claimed that on Christmas Eve, 1695, he and a small group of musicians were led by a local farmer to a mountain near Bergen. There they heard a concert that seemed to come from within the mountain: organ, voices, bassoons, violins, and other instruments. The tune was notated by state musician Henrich Meyer.
My arrangement is for three voices, and could be played by any combination of voices, instruments, and keyboard.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Jan Bell // Dec 24, 2012 at 4:15 pm
Hi Doug, How can i listen to an exerpt of this? x
2 Doug // Dec 24, 2012 at 7:41 pm
Hi, Jan — Well, I’ve performed it, but haven’t recorded it. I can always hum a bit for you the next time I see you…