Deutsch-Französischer Chor Dresden
Reinhart Gröschel, director
There was a "French church" in my town, as I've mentioned before, in New England there oftenwere a French-Canadian Catholic parish and an "Irish" parish, except my town was too small to support two parishes. My family were in a distinct minority as most of the people in the parish were French-Candians. Whatever Irish Christmas traditions my great-great grandparents remembered from Ireland, they didn't survive in my family tradition. So any childhood ethnic associations (other than the ubiquitous German tree) I have with the holiday are French, through Acadia and Quebec.
I never heard any of Charpentier's music in church, though I know I heard Joseph Est Bien Marié, which is used as a contrafacta basis for the Kyrie I suspect along with other "Noëls" which I don't recognize readily.
The French tradition of Christmas music is quite special, especially the great organ Noëls on folk carols and hymns. Probably the most well know of those is the tenth one by Daquin on Quand Jesus Naquit à Noël. Here's another setting of it by Claude Balbastre, clearly influnced by Daquin's.
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