Saint-Saëns, Christmas Oratorio, Tecum Principium

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) wrote his Christmas Oratorio (Oratorio de Noël, Op. 12) early in his career when the composer was only 23 years old. It premiered on Christmas in 1858 at the Church of Saint-Marie-Madeleine (known commonly as “La Madeleine”). It was Saint-Saëns’s first year as organist at the church, the official church of the French Empire situated on the Rue Royale just off the Place de la Concorde.

This oratorio in many ways more closely resembles a sacred cantata. It is relatively short: a full performance requires about 35 – 40 minutes. And it was intended to be performed within a church service rather than in some extra-liturgical setting.

The work consists of ten movements, beginning with an instrumental prelude and concluding with a chorale (much as Bach might have structured one of his cantatas). On the whole, the work generally lacks the dramatic power of, say, Handel’s Messiah or Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, but it excels in peaceful, pastoral settings and lyrical melodies. The work is scored for five soloists, choir, organ, harp, and strings. The organ, as one might expect of Saint-Saëns, plays a significant role.

Tecum Principium is the seventh movement. The Latin text can be translated as:

Sovereign strength is yours on the day of your great might. Amidst the splendors of the heavenly sanctuary, from the womb, before the morning star, I have begotten you.