At the recommendation of Hungary, the oratorio Christus is the emblematic work internationally for the 2011 bicentenary: on Liszt's birthday, 22 October, as part of 'World Liszt Day' the work will be performed in many concert halls of the world, from Budapest to Bayreuth, from Madrid to Beijing, from Seoul to Paris. The Liszt Ferenc Memorial Museum and Research Centre, operating as part of the Liszt Ferenc University of Music (Academy of Music), desires to contribute to the noble aim of bringing this masterpiece by Liszt to the centre of attention. In a new impressive series of publications launched for this jubilee year, the first to be issued presents the most important documents from the museum's collection related to the oratorio Christus: music manuscripts and letters, printed music, books and photographs. Of special interest among this valuable material is Liszt's own piano transcription for four hands of one of the movements: the 'Song of the Shepherds at the Manger' ('Hirtengesang an der Krippe'), which we are making available to the public in a complete facsimile edition of the original manuscript.
