These Christmas songs from the Alps dispense with stylization encountered in the ‘high’ art. The Latin-German language mix dominating in the midnight Christmas liturgy, with alternate voices of priests and laymen, was replaced by the familiar local dialect. Texts and melodies were passed down by word of mouth and underwent many different changes during their wanderings through Alpine valleys.
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/9666012--christmas-in-the-austrian-alps
