Album DescriptionCelestial Christmas is a richly textured musical tapestry that gracefully weaves together selections of sacred choral and instrumental music from the High Renaissance and Baroque eras. The recording journeys through moods of tenderness, solemnity, and joy, as expressed by Johann Sebastian Bach in the numerous choral selections from his Christmas oratorios and cantatas, including the beloved 'Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring' and 'Sleepers, Awake!' as well as the prayer for peace from the glorious 'Mass in B Minor'. Bach is also the featured composer in the many joyful instrumental pieces for harpsichord, flute, and organ. Also included in the program are many exceptionally beautiful pieces, both choral and instrumental, by Claudio Monteverdi, Orlande de Lassus, Henry Purcell, William Lawes, Carlo Farina, Johann Pachelbel, and Georg Friedrich Händel.