Program: Music for Advent and Christmas by Bach, Buxtehude, and Praetorius. German-speaking Europe in the 18th century was replete with small duchies and kingdoms, each of which maintained resident musical ensembles with great pride and fostered outstanding composers. The National Gallery's resident vocal ensemble and chamber players present music that would have been heard around Christmastime in the baroque era in Leipzig, Lueneburg, and Wolfenbuettel, Germany—the homes, respectively, of Johann Sebastian Bach, Dietrich Buxtehude, and Michael Praetorius.