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Your support makes all the difference.Despite being born into the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the 18th-century composer Jakub Jan Ryba insisted on using his native tongue in his pieces, rather than the state's official German – hence the subsequent adoption of his Christmas Mass as an annual signifier of Czech nationalism.
Boasting a directness and harmonic simplicity in which can be glimpsed echoes of Haydn and Mozart, it is delivered here by Magdalena Kozená and her three fellow singers with a folksy approach. Accompanied by the early-music ensemble Capella Regia Musicalis, the result is an engaging Mass of considerable charm.
Download this Czech Christmas Mass
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