Christmas Time! with Bach’s Christmas Oratorio
a brief on important classical music
Photo by Blue Ox Studio: https://www.pexels.com/photo/people-standing-inside-church-730588/
JANUARY 2ND, 2023
Christmas time has passed and a New Year is upon us, and what better way to celebrate than with the timeless beauty of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Christmas Oratorio!
During this time of year, we heard a lot of Handel’s Messiah and Pachelbel’s Canon in D, Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker and Anderson’s Sleigh Ride, Comet and Cupid, and Donner and Blitzen. But why don’t we hear more of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio.
Throughout his illustrious career as a composer, Bach created numerous works that continue to captivate audiences today. This holiday season, we will explore Bach’s Christmas Oratorio like never before! We will give this beautiful masterwork it’s time to shine during this year’s holidays.
Johann Sebastian Bach managed to combine his genius for classical composition with his Christian faith in creating this powerful work that evokes spiritual emotion as it takes you through Advent, Christmas Day, and Epiphany celebrations. From chorales about Mary’s pregnancy to arias about Jesus' birth in the stable, you'll truly experience the spirit of Christmas with Bach's timeless tales told through Baroque-era instrumentals – from trumpets announcing his entrance into Jerusalem to woodwind songs praising our heavenly savior – you won't want to miss out on this post exploring this timeless work.
Topics
What is Bach's Christmas Oratorio and why was it composed?
How does the work reflect the composer's religious beliefs and personal life experiences?
What are some of the most famous movements in the oratorio, and what do they depict or symbolize?
What is Bach's Christmas Oratorio and why was it composed?
Bach's Christmas Oratorio is a large choral work composed by Bach in 1734. Written for the festive season, it includes six cantatas based around the nativity story.
In Bach's Christmas Oratorio, you can expect to enjoy lush arias full of baroque-style counterpoint, delightful chorale pieces, and vibrant recitatives, all of which come together to create a grand musical tapestry that still manages to fill listeners with wonder today. It captures the heigh of baroque choral music.
As one of the best German Protestant composers of his day, and during the 1700s, churches in Germany would often commission pieces to honor specific services during holidays. Bach composed the work for the holiday season in Leipzig. Being a masterful composer, he managed to complete the work in only three weeks, an incredible feat.
Bach hoped that this musical offering would join the other baroque Christmas festivities and be appreciated for its skillful composition. As such, Bach wrote some of his most beloved works in this oratorio, including his versatile choruses supported by lively orchestrations. Not only did Bach's majestic oratorio seek to entertain listeners with its ingenious harmonization but also amplify the spirit of hope and joy during the season by presenting deep biblical stories in an awe-inspiring manner.
Musicians around the world have been drawn to Bach's Christmas Oratorio since its first performance, taking pleasure in its glorious mix of festive joy, spiritual reverence, and awe-inspiring harmony. This beloved masterpiece brings together Bach's boldness as a composer, as well as his tender love for Christmas to celebrate each holiday season!
How does the work reflect the composer's religious beliefs and personal life experiences?
Bach himself was an incredibly devout Lutheran, and this shines through in the work’s music - its sweeping choruses, intricately woven pieces of polyphony, shared melodic ideas from Bach’s Lutheran chorales, as well as its subject matter based on Christian texts from both the Old and New Testaments. Bach’s main source of inspiration for this oratorio was the Gospel according to St. Luke--which Bach identifies as a major force in his life, allowing him to move forward in creative endeavors on the path to goodness.
Bach interpreted the story of Jesus Christ’s birth with passion, skillfully augmenting his music with Lutheran themes such as repentance, the acceptance of grace, the holy assembly, and joyous hymns celebrating Jesus’s arrival. Bach also infused personal feelings into his work; for example, he alluded to his own family life and tragedies in pieces like “He Shall Feed His Flock Like a Shepherd” and “Break Forth O Beauteous Heavenly Light.”
Bach’s Christmas Oratorio serves as an exquisite testimony to Bach’s affinity for grandeur that only comes from one’s inner faith and resolve. His profound faith permeates the entire score of the oratorio, enveloping listeners in a beautiful melody of religious devotion.
What are some of the most famous movements in the oratorio, and what do they depict or symbolize?
The six cantatas of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio evoke in listeners a sense of deep emotion and reverence for the holiday spirit. It’s always difficult to choose which parts are the most famous, but there are movements that standout in this monumental work. Disclaimer: a few of these are of personal opinion!
'Gloria in excelsis Deo’ calls to mind Bach's skillful handling of complex sonic elements to create transcendent music. The text is based off an angelic hymn, conveying resounding joy through Bach's animated interplay between orchestral and vocal parts. Exhilarating fanfares accompany thrilling choruses to depict scenes long-beloved from the Gospel stories.
‘Jauchzet, frohlocket!’, the opening chorus, is a beautiful and captivating movement that has inspired many to find joy and solace during the holiday season. The atmosphere created by Bach infuses whimsy and fun into any gathering; making it an iconic chorus that is beloved by many Bach enthusiasts across the world.
‘Ach, mein herzliebes Jesulein’ is a beloved chorale aria. This beautiful song with shining fanfare trumpets has been performed by countless musicians around the world and has a special charm that continuously inspires listeners to this day. This lovely and peaceful composition colors Bach's entire oratorio and moves the audience with its poignant character.
‘Herr, dein Mitleid’ is a timeless movement in the Christmas Oratorio. It is a breathtaking duet. It showcases Bach's incredible compositional style, with two clearly distinct voices which dance around one another in harmony and at times in canon. The different voices shine through in glorious colors and tones, illuminating our hearts and souls.
'Flößt, mein Heiland’ is an awe-inpsiring breathtaking movement. This baroque masterpiece is Bach at his best, painting nuance and emotion within a single composition. It starts with a soul-stirring vocal call that builds to a beautiful peak with call and responses between two voices (one off stage) and a trumpet.
‘Nun seid ihr wohl gerochen’ is beautiful finale, truly fit for Bach’s masterpiece Christmas Oratorio. Bach creates a captivating atmosphere of joy and celebration; the fast-paced rhythms surge with energy, while the melodic motives remain light and vibrant. Bach moves between four-part harmonies and characterful solos, creating a journey towards resolution with every passing verse. Bach's mastery shines through in each note, revealing his compositional genius to its fullest extent.
As you might see, we have a proclivity for trumpet, so we picked a quite a few movements that feature trumpets prominently. Sorry … not sorry!
How has the work been received by critics and audiences over the years, and what are some of the most recent interpretations of it?
Bach's Christmas Oratorio has been warmly welcomed by critical audiences for centuries, and its beloved chorales, motets, and cantatas continue to be performed widely during the festive period.
Throughout the years, critics have variously praised it for Bach's polyphony and its spirit of joy as well as questioning if Bach could be considered genuinely Protestant given the works' undeniably Catholic elements. In modern times, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio continues to strike a chord with music fans, with different interpretations emerging that bridge Bach’s Baroque style with a more contemporary approach. Different soloists and groups bring fresh life to Bach’s works, adding arrangements from different musical eras to create modern renditions of Bach classics; this also includes interpretations featuring classical instruments alongside jazz and gospel music have also flourished.
In recent years we have seen Bach's oratorio taken up by world-renowned choirs such as the Bach Choir and Bach Collegium San Diego who have provided a dramatic interpretation full of rich harmonies. Bach continues to inspire musicians of all genres throughout centuries due to his signature sound blended with canons from earlier composers. It is sure to captivate the imagination for many Christmases to come!
Our favorite recording and why is it our favorite?
There isn’t a vast collection of recordings for Bach Christmas Oratorio, but you can always find one from the Bach specialist John Eliot Gardiner. He stands out with his approach to Bach performance.
Gardiner transcends the temporal bounds with his passion to bring Bach's music to life. Gardiner brings a unique perspective to Bach’s work - one of wisdom, insight and skill that is on full display in the performances of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. All who have attended are never without words of admiration; Gardiner truly knows how to make Bach come alive again.
Here’s an excerpt of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio conducted by John Eliot Gardiner
Final Note
We hope you've enjoyed learning about Bach's Christmas Oratorio and why it remains such a popular work today. If you're interested in learning more about classical music, please subscribe to our YouTube channel, follow us on Instagram, and sign up for our mailing list below. And if you have any questions or insights of your own, feel free to reach out to us! We would love to hear from you.
