All performances are subject to change, depending on UK government COVID-19 regulations. Bach: Christmas Oratorio Recorded live in Grieghallen on 19 December 2018. This first cantata begins with an explosion of joy: "Jauchzet, frohlocket" sings the chorus to a blaze of trumpets. The Christmas Oratorio is a piece like no other. The concert series can be purchased as part of LIVE From London – Christmas Extra, or on its own right as a series to enjoy with your family over the holidays – it’s ‘all you want for Christmas’. Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248: XXXVIII. One of the festive season's most established classics, Bach's Christmas Oratorio describes the nativity, the adoration of the shepherds and, slightly less festively, the circumcision and naming of Jesus. The basis for this publication are Bach’s autograph score and the original parts. The Christmas Oratorio is exuberant music, brimming with joy and hope. Cantata BWV 248/1 - Shout for joy, exult, rise up, glorify the day. Jauchzet, frohlocket, auf, preiset die Tage. In its first performances since lockdown, the world-renowned Gabrieli Consort & Players under founder and director Paul McCreesh, present some of today’s finest exponents of Bach in the composer’s beloved Christmas Oratorio BWV 248. Riccardo … Each concert will feature a chorale sung by the young students of Gabrieli Roar and will be preceded by an introduction from Paul McCreesh and his musicians. Written for the Christmas of 1734, Bach's Wiehnachts-Oratorium is made up of a sequence of six cantatas, one to be performed per day. ‘There is no more life-giving, joy-enhancing experience in Bach’s music than a great performance of the Christmas Oratorio,’ writes the composer’s biographer Nicholas Kenyon. Along with the Mass in b and the Passions, the Christmas Oratorio deserves to be one of Bach's best works. Here is Klaus Mertens with Ton Koopman: The final cantata brings the three trumpets back in no uncertain fashion. While you may find one way of listening more suitable than the other, try both! The Christmas Oratorio presents itself as a cycle of similarly structured individual works whose continuity rests on the Christmas narrative according to the Gospels of Luke and Matthew as well as on the recurrence of certain types of settings and the dramaturgy typical of Bach’s cantata oeuvre. Gabrieli’s acclaimed Bach interpretations, presented “…with flair, a pristine sense of style and infectious energy…” (The Times), are further illuminated by carols and chorales woven around each of the cantatas; in the spirit of the season, these will be sung by Gabrieli Roar’s young singers from the ensemble’s ‘Bach to School’ project. →. I. Christmas and music seem to belong together. Alia Vox: AVSA9940. The scoring includes the gentle sound of two oboes d'amore; indeed, there is a gentleness to this cantata overall, and, in the bass aria "Erleucht auch meine finstre Sinnen the singer is joined by an oboe d'amore obbligato for a florid outpouring. In the absence of videos for the currrent performance, here's a veruy special one, Ton Koopman with his Amsterdam Baroque Choir and Orchestra: Try contrasting this with the gentle G-major Sinfonia of the second (no brass in this cantata at all; it is of an altogether different ilk): While the first cantata is about the birth of Jesus and the second the annunication to the  shepherds, the third returns to celebratory the D major of the first. TICKETS AND ONLINE VIEWING ARE NO LONGER AVAILABLE FOR THIS FESTIVAL, Plus Young Performer spotlight: Gabrieli Roar. Buy 2 SACDs online. well sung in Stuttgart by Dominic Große. Written for the Christmas of 1734, Bach's Wiehnachts-Oratorium is made up of a sequence of six cantatas, one to be performed per day. The text for the original chorus called upon drums, trumpets and strings to fill the air. The Fourth features horn, not trumpets; difficult, high parts given with utter confidence in the Stuttgart performance, featuring Gregor Daszko. Cantata II Und es waren Hirten in derselben Gegend. Bach - Christmas Oratorio. The series features three renowned cantatas, Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140, Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, Herr, zu dir, BWV 131, and Nun komm der Heiden Heiland, BWV 61, followed by all six parts of Bach’s beloved Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248. Recitative (Bass): "Immanuel, o süßes Wort" Arioso (Chorus, Soprano, Bass): "Jesu, du mein liebstes Leben" - "Komm ich will dich mit Lust umfassen". DONATE. For the Christmas Oratorio, Bach cleverly used music he had already composed, adapting it for a new purpose. The Christmas Oratorio, or Weihnachts-Oratorium, is actually a set of six sacred cantatas, each depicting a different scene from Christ's birth. Cantata BWV 248/1. In the historic Weimar Herder Church Sir John Eliot Gardiner finds the perfect setting for his recording of the Bach Christmas Oratorio. Register now to continue reading Thank you for visiting Gramophone and making use of our archive of more than 50,000 expert reviews, features, awards and blog articles. The Christmas Oratorio is a piece like no other. Cantata I Jauchzet, frohlocket! Share this Post. Bach’s celebrated Christmas Oratorio is here brought to life in a thrilling Hybrid SACD set which also includes a book that gives a fascinating incite into the background of this great masterpiece. This is the Adoration of the Magi, and how light Elisabeth Wimmer sounds in Stuttgart in her aria "Nur ein Wink von seinen Händen";the tenor aria "Nun mögt ihr stolzen Feinde" courtesy of Andreas Post in Stuttgart is magnificently light, with wonderous woodwind contributions. 20 images. Sinfonia 2 (11). 2 min read, A warm glow and a warm hug for these uncertain times, An Oratorio for Christmas: Bach's Weihnachts-Oratorium, Bassoon Cantatas: the revelations of Christoph Graupner, See all 14 posts The series features three renowned cantatas, Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140, Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, Herr, zu dir, BWV 131, and Nun komm der Heiden Heiland, BWV 61, followed by all six parts of Bach’s beloved Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248. The choruses are jubilant and often feature brilliant and festive orchestration. Jonathan Freeman-Attwood Wednesday, December 10, 2014 Jonathan Freeman-Attwood listens to 65 years’ worth of recordings. Bach’s celebrated Christmas Oratorio forges a link between birth and deliverance: the birth of Christ is not only the birth of light, of innocence; this joyful event is equally characterized by suffering. Cantata IV Fallt mit Danken, fallt mit Loben JS Bach: Christmas Oratorio. Anna Dennis / Carolyn Sampson sopranos Helen Charlston / Tim Mead mezzosoprano / countertenor Jeremy Budd / Hugo Hymas tenors Ashley Riches / Roderick Williams bass-baritones, Cantata II Und es waren Hirten in derselben Gegend, Cantata III Herrscher des Himmels, erhöre das Lallen, Cantata IV Fallt mit Danken, fallt mit Loben, Cantata VI Herr, wenn die stolzen Feinde schnauben. At the Manger: 27 December 2020. Corelli’s Christmas Concerto, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, and the Christmas sections from Handel’s Messiah are an integral part of the public and private soundscapes between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve. Stream. The opening chorus, “Celebrate, rejoice, rise up and… glorify what the Highest has done today,” was completely original. 2 min read, 16 Dec 2020 – Bach Christmas Oratorio BWV248 The Birth of Jesus: 25 December 2020 . Scholars debate as to whether it should be performed on the various Feast days or as one; certainly the key structure works perfectly in one evening. Bach: Christmas Oratorio – La Capella Reial de Catalunya, Le Concert des Nations, Jordi Savall. It was incorporated within services of the two most important churches in Leipzig, St. Thomas' and St. Nicholas'. Parts Complete It included at least three feast days that called for festive music during religious services: apart from Christmas (Nativity of Christ) and Epiphany (Visit of the Magi) the period also included New Year's Day (1 January), in Bach's time still often referred to as the Feast of t… (T) Evangelist And there were shepherds in that very region in the field nearby their sheepfolds, who kept their watch by night over their flocks. Bach – Christmas Oratorio The Netherlands Bach Society. Nicholas Kenyon recommends recordings of Bach's Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248 The sequence begins on Christmas Day, followed by Boxing Day; ; the third is December 27, then New Year's Day, the  first Sunday after New Year and finally the sixth on Epiphany. Bachs Christmas Oratorio Johann Sebastian Bachs Oratorium Tempore Nativitatis Christi, a cycle of six cantatas for the Christmas season, had its collective premiere from Christmas Day 1734 through Epiphany Sunday 1735 in Leipzig. Recit. Bach For Christmas - Gabrieli Consort & Players, Festive Treats - Intrada, Carols for the City, ECO Messiah & Carols from St Barts. The Christmas Oratorio is by far the longest - lasting nearly three hours - and the most complex of the works. Christmas Oratorio II 1 (10). “Wachner led … The opening chorus of the Christmas Oratorio is a paraphrase, taken from the secular birthday cantata for Maria Josepha, Queen of Poland and Electress, BWV 214, from which Bach subsequently parodied a number of movements for the oratorio. Guest conductor Julian Wachner, along with concertmaster Olivier Brault, leads Parts 1, 2, 5 & 6 of the oratorio. [Part 1] Johann Sebastian Bach. The 64th movement and final chorus of the Oratorio only, in full score. Bach’s festive Christmas Oratorio is a feast of orchestral colors, with trumpets, timpani, flutes, oboes, bassoon, and strings. It is an unconventional oratorio for rather than following the pattern of Italian oratorios, as he did for In that year they first performed Johann Sebastian Bach’s Weinachts-Oratorium (Christmas Oratorio). before the trumpet-encrusted chorale "Nun sid ihr wohl gerochen" rounds off the performance in a blaze of light. By the end of May 1723, Johann Sebastian Bach had finally been appointed cantor of the four churches in the historic center of Leipzig. Christmas Oratorio I. A series of six streamed programmes for Christmas and New Year, filmed in ultra high definition in conjunction with LIVE from London - Christmas. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, one of the composer’s most lavish musical achievements, comprises six cantatas that were written to be performed on consecutive feast-day mornings from the Nativity through Epiphany. The Carmel Bach Festival will present Bach’s Christmas Oratorio as the composer intended, performed in multiple concerts on different days, rather than in a single performance. It was preceded by Advent, and followed by the period of the Sundays after Epiphany. While they are played as a complete set today, in Bach's time, each was intended to be played on a different holy day from Christmas day until the Epiphany (January 6). Bach wrote for a boys' choir accompanied by a comparatively small orchestra of Baroque instruments. See the full gallery: The 20 best pieces of classical Christmas music. According to Gramophone, Nikolaus Harnoncourt's recording of 1972 was the first to be historically informed. ... Facebook Twitter. (Weihnachts-Oratorium I) English Translation in Interlinear Format. Cantata III Herrscher des Himmels, erhöre das Lallen. Weihnachtsoratorium (Christmas Oratorio), in six parts, BWV 248 (BC D7) 1. Find release reviews and credits for Bach: Christmas Oratorio - John Eliot Gardiner, English Baroque Soloists, Monteverdi Choir on AllMusic - In the liturgical calendar of the German reformation era in Saxony, the Christmas season started on 25 December (Christmas Day) and ended on 6 January (Epiphany). 20 Dec 2020 – Bach's Christmas Oratorio – which recording is best? Against the backdrop of the dramatic altar and Lucas Granach paintings, the Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists … December 23, 2020, 9:00 am. Purchase: Javascript is required for this feature. Performer. Katja Stuber, Raffaele Pe, Martin Platz, Thomas Stimmel, Le Concert des Nations, La Capella Reial de Catalunya, Jordi Savall The Naming of Jesus: 1 January 2021. It demonstrates to me how intelligent he was musically in putting a piece (any piece of any genre) together, using particular instruments to add sensitivity and … 3 min read, 22 Nov 2020 – Time. A new recording on Dabrighaus und Grimm from Stuttgart ticks many boxes: the treble voices of the Stuttgarter Hymnus-Chorknaben, and perhaps most of all the Trompetensemble Thomas Bauer, on tope form for the first cantata. Although each cantata stands alone effortlessly, in the aggregate they constitute, by evident design, a magnificently cohesive whole. By Johann Sebastian BachNancy Argenta, John Eliot Gardiner, English Baroque Soloists, Olaf Bär. In this respect the Christmas Oratorio is akin to the St. Matthew Passion and the St. John Passion. Program Notes – Christmas Oratorio The Christmas of 1734-35 must have been a very busy one for the musicians of Leipzig. The sequence begins on Christmas Day, followed by Boxing Day; ; the third is December 27, then New Year's Day, the … Here's a performance from Munich by the Akademie für Alte Music, Berlin (listen out for the obbligato oboe in the soprano aria, "Flößt, mein Heiland, flößt dein Namen": The fifth cantata concerns the Journey of the Magi and is in A major (the dominant fo D major, the key of the final cantata). Shepherds and Angels: 26 December 2020. They belong to the feast like roasted chestnuts and peppermint sticks. In the Christmas Oratorio, Bach took virtually every solo from sacred music he had composed earlier and combined them with other choruses and instrumentals that were both new and old. Bach’s six Christmas cantatas are often performed but rarely as he originally envisaged, one cantata on each of the six most important feast days of Christmas. DONATE. Each broadcast concert lasts 60 minutes. 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