John Sebastian Bach's Christmas Oratorio, composed in 1734, both reflects this new piety and conveys the composer's experience living through this tumult during his own childhood and early career. Addeddate 2013-09-12 06:16:59 External_metadata_update 2019-04-11T22:47:49Z Identifier ChristmasOratorioBWV248 Scanner Internet Archive HTML5 Uploader 1.4.1. The Christmas Oratorio is a particularly sophisticated example of parody music. 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). [71] A new edition has been worked up by Neil Jenkins. Bach also included three settings of the chorale melody in his Christmas Oratorio. The music represents a particularly sophisticated expression of the parody technique, by which existing music is adapted to a new purpose. Dass ich nimmer vergesse dein! Markus Rathey's book is the first thorough study of this popular masterpiece in English. The Christmas Oratorio, or Weihnachts-Oratorium, is actually a set of six sacred cantatas, each depicting a different scene from Christ's birth. It is a reference to the pastoral music tradition of shepherds playing. Parts I and III are similarly scored for exuberant trumpets, while the Pastoral Part II (referring to the Shepherds) is, by contrast, scored for woodwind instruments and does not include an opening chorus. Parts I and III are written in the keys of D major, part II in its subdominant key G major. Instead, he used the model from BWV 215 for the bass aria "Erleucht' auch meine finstre Sinnen" in Part V. Similarly, the opening chorus to Part V, "Ehre sei dir Gott!" The Christmas Oratorio (German: Weihnachts-Oratorium), BWV 248, is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach intended for performance in church during the Christmas season.It was written for the Christmas season of 1734 and incorporates music from earlier compositions, including three secular cantatas written during 1733 and 1734 and a largely lost church cantata, BWV 248a. The Shepherd Cantata, BWV 249a, first performed on 23 February 1725, one of Bach's secular cantatas, is an early example of such cantata. The original score also contains details of when each part was performed. J.S. Download in Microsoft Word format. Each part is a cantata for 1 of 6 feast days within the 12 days of the Christmas season: The story begins with the birth of Jesus (for Christmas … Bach wrote the six cantatas to celebrate the Aylesbury Choral Society, March 2004, [Note to other societies: you are welcome to use the whole or parts of This resulted in a more understandable exposition of the Christmas story: The Flight into Egypt takes place after the end of the sixth part. And I sall rock thee in my hert, The next performance was not until 17 December 1857 by the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin under Eduard Grell. Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248, Cantata 5: Erleucht' auch meine finstre Sinnen By Johann Sebastian Bach Sir Philip Ledger , Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau , Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Articles: A Bottomless Bucket of Bach - Christmas Oratorio [D. Satz] | BWV 248/19 “Schlafe, mein Liebster” - A Background Study with Focus on the Colla Parte Flauto Traverso Part [T. Braatz] BWV 248/1 Text: German-1 | NBA In his Christmas Oratorio, Johann Sebastian Bach incorporated successful music from earlier works he had composed for special occasions, such as coronations and royal birthdays.By giving a place in the liturgical repertoire to previously composed choruses and arias, Bach ensured the survival of some of his very finest treasures for posterity. include an acknowledgement to the Aylesbury Choral Society and this It is in six parts, with each part to be performed on one of the days of the Christmas festivities, but is usually performed in two sections. In detail: The oratorio was written for performance on six feast days of Christmas during the winter of 1734 and 1735. The first part (for Christmas Day) describes the Birth of Jesus, the second (for December 26) the annunciation to the shepherds, the third (for December 27) the adoration of the shepherds, the fourth (for New Year's Day) the circumcision and naming of Jesus, the fifth (for the first Sunday after New Year) the journey of the Magi, and the sixth (for Epiphany) the adoration of the Magi. Johann Sebastian Bach's Christmas Oratorio Music, Theology, Culture Markus Rathey. Bach lovers will be aware that the Christmas Oratorio, unlike those for Easter and the Ascension, is not a single composition but a collection of six cantatas composed for December 25th and festive days thereafter. John Butt’s Bach and Handel recordings with the Dunedin Consort have become things to look forward to, and this Christmas Oratorio is another mightily successful feather in his cap. It was written for the Christmas season of 1734 and incorporates music from earlier compositions, including three secular cantatas written during 1733 and 1734 and a largely lost church cantata, BWV 248a. In the early 1730s, Bach composed a number of secular cantatas, including: Movements from the BWV 213, 214 and 215 cantatas form the basis of several movements of the Christmas Oratorio. That Bach saw the six parts as comprising a greater, unified whole is evident both from the surviving printed text and from the structure of the music itself. Bach: Christmas Oratorio Tell a friend. CMW & JB All three of these oratorios to some degree parody earlier compositions. Bach removed the content for the Third Day of Christmas (December 27), John's Gospel, and split the story of the two groups of visitors—Shepherds and Magi—into two. whole period of the Christmas festivities of 1734-35, starting with Part Rathey examines the cultural and historical background to Bach’s composition, including the transformation of Christmas as a festival in late 17th century Germany as the authorities sought to stamp out older, more boisterous forms of celebration. Bach ad Infinitum from 21st to 25th December 2020 and from 28th December to 1st January will be covering the Christmas Oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach. ‘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. Bach: Christmas Oratorio WEIHNACHTS-ORATORIUM, BWV 248. Although nearly every one of its movements makes for fascinating analysis, in this paper, I shall concentrate on the opening chorus. MDG: MDG9022183. Zu ruhn in meines Herzens Schrein, The edition has not only a title—Weihnachts-Oratorium—connecting together the six sections, but these sections are also numbered consecutively. The Christmas Oratorio is in six parts, each part being intended for performance on one of the major feast days of the Christmas period. Bach composed the six-part “Christmas Oratorio” (“Weihnachts Oratorium”) in 1734 for two Leipzig churches, St. Thomas and St. Nicholas, for which he served as music director. The six services of the Christmas season 1734–35 where the oratorio's cantatas were to be performed had these Gospel readings: As usual in most of his oratorios, and all of his Passions, the Evangelist character enunciated the Gospel text in sung recitatives, except the passages in direct speech, which were sung by soloists or choral groups representing the characters who spoke these texts according to the Gospel narrative. In order to understand this complex work, one must examine its genre, composition, and meaning. In particular, Bach made particularly effective use of recitative when combining it with chorales in no. CHAPTER 48: BWV 248, THE CHRISTMAS ORATORIO. Bach abandoned his usual practice when writing church cantatas of basing the content upon the Gospel reading for that day in order to achieve a coherent narrative structure. CD launch – Christmas Oratorio BWV 248 Celebrating the release of our double CD recording. The author of the text is unknown, although a likely collaborator was Christian Friedrich Henrici (Picander). 33 of the oratorio appears to be based on, This page was last edited on 1 December 2020, at 22:47. Show all 65 parts - … [24][25] In the second half of the 1720s Bach often collaborated with Picander as a librettist for his cantatas. Ach mein herzliebes Jesulein, Bach's Christmas Oratorio – which recording is best? I. Christmas and music seem to belong together. 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 the Circumcision of Christ. B. Freut euch und jubiliert Bach: Christmas oratorio free music downloads: mp3s and video. 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). "Jauchzet, Frohlocket, Auf, Preiset Die Tage", (Chorus)", "Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248 - Christmas … As can be seen below, the work was only performed in its entirety at the St. Nicholas Church. is believed to be from a similarly lost source, and the chorus from the same section "Wo ist der neugeborne König" is from the 1731 St Mark Passion, BWV 247. 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. Also 26 and 27 December (second and third day of Christmas) were commonly considered feast days, with festive music in church. Examples: for his 1973 recording, The different types of oboes referred to above are mostly called for at different points in each section. cantatas. The same melody reappears in the last movement of the oratorio (No. Topics Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248, Johann Sebastian Bach. Image credit: Appaloosa/Wikimedia Commons. Oh, my deir hert, young Jesus sweit, contemporary Handel, the six parts of his Christmas Oratorio were Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248. Before Bach composed his Christmas Oratorio for the 1734–35 Christmas season in Leipzig, he had already composed Christmas cantatas and other church music for all seven occasions of the Christmas season: Four of these third cycle cantatas for the Christmas season, BWV 110, 57, 151 and 16, were on a text from Georg Christian Lehms's Gottgefälliges Kirchen-Opffer cantata libretto cycle, which had been published in 1711. Nevertheless, on two occasions Bach abandoned the original plan and was compelled to write new music for the Christmas Oratorio. In some performances sung by the Angel (soprano). Christmas Oratorio - Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750): The Christmas Oratorio was conceived as a set of six cantatas. Listen to Bach: Christmas Oratorio by Combattimento Consort Amsterdam, Capella Amsterdam & Jan Willem de Vriend on Apple Music. And never mair from thee depart. Reflections on Bach’s “Christmas Oratorio” by John Harbison Composer John Harbison, whose ties to Boston’s cultural and educational communities are longstanding, celebrates his 80th birthday on December 20, 2018. This scoring was intended to symbolise the shepherds who are the subject of the second part. [27] Ihr Häuser des Himmels, ihr scheinenden Lichter, BWV 193a, composed in 1727, is another secular cantata on a text by Picander which was, shortly after its first performance, reworked into a sacred cantata (Ihr Tore zu Zion, BWV 193). Johann Sebastian Bach: Christmas Oratorio Bwv 248. The Christmas Oratorio - Part 1; UNemphasized: Soprano Alto Tenor Bass ; 1: Christians, be joyful : 2: Now it came to pass in those days 3: See now the Bridegroom : None: None: None: None 4: Prepare thyself, Zion : None: None: None: None 5: How shall I fitly meet Thee? As John Butt has mentioned,[72] this points, as in the Mass in B minor, to a unity beyond the performance constraints of the church year. Bach's Christmas Oratorio is, of course, a collection of six otherwise originally independent cantatas celebrating the joy of birth in general, and the Christian birth with all that that implies for believers in particular. Stream songs including "Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248 - Christmas Day: I. Unlike the Passion settings and the oratorios of Bach's exact [43][44][45] The first chorale tune appears in the 5th movement of Part I: it is the tune known as Herzlich tut mich verlangen, that is, the same hymn tune which Bach used in his St Matthew Passion for setting several stanzas of Paul Gerhardt's "O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden" ("O Sacred Head, Now Wounded"). The scoring below[72] refers to parts, rather than necessarily to individual players. If a Sunday fell between 27 December and 1 January, also on this first Sunday after Christmas a church service with music was held, and similar for a Sunday between 1 and 6 January (second Sunday after Christmas, or: first Sunday after New Year). 7 of part I ("Er ist auf Erden kommen arm") and even more ingeniously in the recitatives nos. John Sebastian Bach's Christmas Oratorio, composed in 1734, both reflects this new piety and conveys the composer's experience living through this tumult during his own childhood and early career. It was preceded by Advent, and followed by the period of the Sundays after Epiphany. Bach expresses the unity of the whole work within the music itself, in part through his use of key signatures. was almost certainly intended to be set to the music of the chorus "Lust der Völker, Lust der Deinen" from BWV 213, given the close correspondence between the texts of the two pieces. [88] It was a translation of a 2002 Dutch-language study by Ignace Bossuyt [fr; nl].[89]. Ausgabe, "Ein weiterer Kantatenjahrgang Gottfried Heinrich Stölzels in Bachs Aufführungsrepertoire? The first (and, so far as we know, only) performances of the complete oratorio during Bach’s lifetime Adherents of theories specifying small numbers of performers (even to 'One Voice Per Part') may however choose to use numbers approaching one instrument per named part. [36][37][38] In addition to these sources, the sixth cantata is based on a largely lost church cantata, BWV 248a, of which at least the opening chorus is based on the lost secular cantata BWV 1160. [35][39] The trio aria in Part V "Ach, wenn wird die Zeit erscheinen?" Nicolaikirche. The continuo part is open to interpretation in matters of scoring. By notational convention the recitatives are in common time. Until 1999 the only complete English version of the Christmas Oratorio was that prepared in 1874 by John Troutbeck for the music publisher Novello. Bach then embarks upon a journey back to the opening key, via the dominant A major of Part V to the jubilant re-assertion of D major in the final part, lending an overall arc to the piece. [40], Like for most of his German-language church music, Bach used Lutheran hymns, and their Lutheran chorale tunes, in his Christmas Oratorio. The Christmas Oratorio (German: Weihnachts-Oratorium), BWV 248, is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach intended for performance in church during the Christmas season. It may have even been the case that the Christmas Oratorio was already planned when Bach wrote the secular cantatas BWV 213, 214 and 215, given that the original works were written fairly close to the oratorio and the seamless way with which the new words fit the existing music.[70]. Markus Rathey's book is the first thorough study of this popular masterpiece in English. To reinforce this connection, between the beginning and the end of the work, Bach re-uses the chorale melody of Part I's "Wie soll ich dich empfangen" in the final chorus of Part VI, "Nun seid ihr wohl gerochen"; this choral melody is the same as of "O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden", which Bach used five times in his St Matthew Passion. Were he to have followed the calendar, the story would have unfolded as follows: This would have resulted in the Holy Family fleeing before the Magi had arrived, which was unsuitable for an oratorio evidently planned as a coherent whole. 38 and 40 which frame the "Echo Aria" ("Flößt, mein Heiland"), no. Most of this music was 'secular', that is written in praise of royalty or notable local figures, outside the tradition of performance within the church.[1]. Like for his other oratorios, and his Passion settings, Bach employed a narrative based on the Gospel in his Christmas Oratorio. Mp3s Sheetmusic: Johann Sebastian Bach BWV 248 Christmas oratorio Oratorio Time: 135'00. Based on the analysis of important parameters, ... in 2020 he co-authored a book with Henning Bey on Bach’s Christmas Oratorio (published by Verlag Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft). The structure of the story is defined to a large extent by the particular requirements of the church calendar for Christmas 1734/35. The Christmas Oratorio is exceptional in that it contains a few hymn settings, or versions of hymn tunes, for which there is no known earlier source than Bach's composition:[49][50], There are very few known hymn tunes by Bach (he used Lutheran hymn tunes in the large majority of his sacred compositions, but rarely one of his own invention): apart from what can be found in the Christmas Oratorio, there appears to be one, partly inspired by a pre-existing melody, in the motet Komm, Jesu, komm, BWV 229 (composed before 1731–32),[56] and at least one entirely by Bach, "Vergiss mein nicht, vergiss mein nicht", BWV 505, in Schemellis Gesangbuch (published in 1736).[57]. performed on separate days. Musicologist Alfred Dürr[69] and others, such as Christoph Wolff[70] have suggested that Bach's sometime collaborator Picander (the pen name of Christian Friedrich Henrici) wrote the new text, working closely with Bach to ensure a perfect fit with the re-used music. An analysis of Johann Sebastian Bach's Christmas Oratorio focusing on the self-borrowings in Part I of the Oratorio. ", Die Melodien der deutschen evangelischen Kirchenlieder, International Music Score Library Project, Masses, magnificat, passions and oratorios, List of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Christmas_Oratorio&oldid=991808485, Passions and oratorios by Johann Sebastian Bach, Articles with German-language sources (de), Articles to be expanded from December 2019, Articles with International Music Score Library Project links, Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz work identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SELIBR identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WorldCat-VIAF identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Schlafe, mein Liebster, und pflege der Ruh, Jauchzet, frohlocket, auf, preiset die Tage, Blühet, ihr Linden in Sachsen, wie Zedern, Pfui dich, wie fein zerbrichst du den Tempel, Du Falscher, suche nur den Herrn zu fällen, So geht! The third major new piece of writing (with the notable exception of the recitatives), the sublime pastoral Sinfonia which opens Part II, was composed from scratch for the new work. The Christmas Oratorio was conceived as a set of six Program Notes J.S. [26] Bach reused the music of this cantata in the 1725 first version of his Easter Oratorio. The first English-language monography on the Christmas Oratorio was published in 2004. To mark this birthday, the BSO will perform his Symphony No. The Gospel text included by Bach in his six Christmas Oratorio cantatas consists of: The Gospel readings for the Third Day of Christmas (Prologue of the Gospel of John), and for the Sunday after New Year (the Flight to Egypt) are not directly used in the Christmas Oratorio. Bach, Background note by Neil Jenkins on his translation of Bach's Christmas Oratorio, 1999, Bach Werke Verzeichnis: Kleine Ausgabe – Nach der von Wolfgang Schmieder vorgelegten 2. The total running time for the entire work is nearly three hours. [28] In 1728–29 Picander published a cantata libretto cycle, leading to at least two further Christmas season cantatas by Bach: A Christmas oratorio presented as a cycle of six cantatas, to be performed on several days during the Christmas period, was not uncommon in Bach's day: Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel, whose church music was not unknown to Bach and Leipzig churchgoers,[31] had composed such Christmas oratorios in 1719 and 1728.[32][33][34]. On this occasion, however, the parody technique proved to be unsuccessful and Bach composed the aria afresh. This huge Christmas Oratorio comprises 6 cantatas in which Bach sets the original Christmas story into a dramatic whole. The piece is often presented as a whole or split into two equal parts. I on Christmas Day, and ending with Part VI on Epiphany (January 6th). Unlike the Passion settings and the oratorios of Bach's exact contemporary Handel, the six parts of his Christmas Oratorio were performed on separate days. In addition to the new compositions listed above, special mention must go to the recitatives, which knit together the oratorio into a coherent whole. Important note. [46], Martin Luther's 1539 "Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her" melody appears in three chorales: twice on a text by Paul Gerhardt in Part II of the oratorio, and the first time, in the closing chorale of Part I, with the 13th stanza of Luther's hymn as text. Part V is meant to be performed on the Sunday between New Year's Day and, Samantha Owens, Barbara M. Reul, Janice B. Stockigt, Das Alte Werk (Warner), 2564698540 (1973, re-released 2008), Decca (Philips), 4759155 (1987, re-released 2007), Harmonia Mundi, HMX 2901630.31 (1997, re-released 2004), Channel Classics Records, CCS SA 20103 (2003), liturgical calendar of the German reformation era, Sanctus for six vocal parts, BWV 232/III (early version), 1728–29 Picander published a cantata libretto cycle, Late church cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach § Christmas to Epiphany, List of chorale harmonisations by Johann Sebastian Bach § BWV 248, Bach's four-part chorales published by Birnstiel, "Vergiss mein nicht, vergiss mein nicht", BWV 505, Und es waren Hirten in derselben Gegend, BWV 248 II, Herrscher des Himmels, erhöre das Lallen, BWV 248 III, Fallt mit Danken, fallt mit Loben, BWV 248 IV, Herr, wenn die stolzen Feinde schnauben, BWV 248 VI, Sortable Index of the Chorales by J.S. In the oratorio there is, however, no association with the pain and suffering evoked in the Passion. this text in your own programmes, but if you do please (i), , and (ii) Recorded live in Grieghallen on 19 December 2018. It was incorporated within services of the two most important churches in Leipzig, St. Thomas and St. Nicholas. BWV 606 (in the Orgelbüchlein), 700, 701, 738 and 738a are chorale preludes based on the "Vom Himmel hoch" theme. Elizabeth Wimmer (soprano), Elvira Bill (alto), Andreas Post (tenor), Dominic Grosse (bass), Stuttgarter Hymnus-Chorknaben, Handel's Company, Rainer Johannes Homburg Part IV is written in F major (the relative key to D minor) and marks the furthest musical point away from the oratorio's opening key, scored for horns. A well-known English version of that stanza is "Oh, my dear heart, young Jesus sweet", the first stanza of "Balulalow", as, for instance, sung by Sting:[47][48]. The oratorio was written for Christmas 1735 but was not performed again until 1857. Bach memorial at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig. For the 1723–24 Christmas season, during his first year as musical director of Leipzig's principal churches: Christmas Day: repeat performance of BWV 63, For the 1724-25 Christmas season, as part of his. Prepare thy creddil in my spreit, Bach: Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248, Cantata II: Pastoral Symphony is a popular song by Sir Neville Marriner | Create your own TikTok videos with the Bach: Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248, Cantata II: Pastoral Symphony song and explore 0 videos made by new and popular creators. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio ranks among his finest large-scale choral works. Login | Register . In the last decades of the 17th century, the feast of Christmas in Lutheran Germany underwent a major transformation when theologians and local governments waged an early modern war on Christmas, discouraging riotous pageants and carnivalesque rituals in favor of more personal and internalized expressions of piety. Find release reviews and credits for Bach: Christmas Oratorio - John Eliot Gardiner, English Baroque Soloists, Monteverdi Choir on AllMusic - The Gospel narrative of this oratorio followed, to a certain extent, the respective Gospel readings of the church services where the six cantatas of the Christmas Oratorio were to be performed for the first time. ]. Below [ 72 ] refers to parts, rather than necessarily to individual players requirements of the 1720s often... Be based on, this page was last edited on 1 December 2020, at.. The music itself, in this paper, I shall concentrate on the opening chorus is... 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