“Each of the six… has its own story… and its own sound” How well do you know this classical Christmas masterpiece?.The story begins with the birth of Jesus (for Christmas Day). The second and third parts feature the shepherds (for December 26 and 27). The fourth part describes the naming and circumcision of Jesus (for New Year’s Day). The fifth and sixth parts describe the Three Kings, or Magi (for the first Sunday after New Year and for Epiphany).īach used the parody technique to integrate his music from previous cantatas. Nicholas, for which he served as music director.Įach part is a cantata for 1 of 6 feast days within the 12 days of the Christmas season: How should we embrace this 18th century German masterpiece: as six separate cantatas or as a single-setting whole?įirst, listen to each cantata individually, as it was originally performed.īach composed the six-part “Christmas Oratorio” (“Weihnachts Oratorium”) in 1734 for two Leipzig churches, St. Listening to Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Christmas Oratorio” is a holiday experience like no other.Ĭonsider this text from part one (written in reverence to a new religious or secular prince) instead referencing the work itself:
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