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 was written for the Christmas season of 1734 incorporating music from earlier compositions, including three secular cantatas written during 1733 and 1734 and a now lost church cantata, BWV 248a. The date is confirmed in Bach's autograph manuscript. The next performance was not until 17 December 1857 by the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin under Eduard Grell. The Christmas Oratorio is a particularly sophisticated example of parody music. The author of the text is unknown, although a likely collaborator was Christian Friedrich Henrici (Picander).

The work belongs to a group of three oratorios written towards the end of Bach's career in 1734 and 1735 for major feasts, the others being the Ascension Oratorio (BWV 11) and the Easter Oratorio (BWV 249). All parody earlier compositions, although the Christmas Oratorio is by far the longest and most complex work.

The oratorio is in six parts, each part being intended for performance on one of the major feast days of the Christmas period. The piece is often presented as a whole or split into two equal parts. The total running time for the entire work is nearly three hours.

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.

Contents

Narrative structure

The structure of the story is defined to a large extent by the particular requirements of the church calendar for Christmas 1734/35. 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. Were he to have followed the calendar, the story would have unfolded as follows:

  1. Birth and Annunciation to the Shepherds
  2. The Adoration of the Shepherds
  3. Prologue to the Gospel of John
  4. Circumcision and Naming of Jesus
  5. The Flight into Egypt
  6. The Coming and Adoration of the Magi

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. 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. This resulted in a more understandable exposition of the Christmas story:

  1. The Birth
  2. The Annunciation to the Shepherds
  3. The Adoration of the Shepherds
  4. The Circumcision and Naming of Jesus
  5. The Journey of the Magi
  6. The Adoration of the Magi

The Flight into Egypt takes place after the end of the sixth part.

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. The edition has not only a title—Weihnachtsoratorium—connecting together the six sections, but these sections are also numbered consecutively. As John Butt has mentioned,[1] this points, as in the Mass in B minor, to a unity beyond the performance constraints of the church year.

Performance

The oratorio was written for performance on six feast days of Christmas during the winter of 1734 and 1735. The original score also contains details of when each part was performed. It was incorporated within services of the two most important churches in Leipzig, St. Thomas and St. Nicholas. As can be seen below, the work was only performed in its entirety at the St. Nicholas Church.

First performances:

Music

Bach expresses the unity of the whole work within the music itself, in part through his use of key signatures. Parts I and III are written in the keys of D major, part II in its subdominant key G major. 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. 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. 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. 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.

The music represents a particularly sophisticated expression of the parody technique, by which existing music is adapted to a new purpose. Bach took the majority of the choruses and arias from works which had been written some time earlier. 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.

These secular cantatas which provide the basis for the Christmas Oratorio, are:

In addition to these sources, the sixth cantata is thought to have been taken almost entirely from a now-lost church cantata, BWV 248a. The trio aria in Part V Ach, wenn wird die Zeit erscheinen? 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).[2]

Instrumentation

The scoring below[1] refers to parts, rather than necessarily to individual players. 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.

Part I
3 trumpets, timpani, 2 transverse flutes, 2 oboes, 2 oboes d'amore, 2 violins, viola, continuo group[I 1][I 2]
Part II
2 flutes, 2 oboes d'amore, 2 oboes da caccia, 2 violins, viola, continuo
Part III
3 trumpets, timpani, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 oboes d'amore, 2 violins, viola, continuo
Part IV
2 horns, 2 oboes, 2 violins, viola, continuo
Part V
2 oboes d'amore, 2 violins, viola, continuo
Part VI
3 trumpets, timpani, 2 oboes, 2 oboes d'amore, 2 violins, viola, continuo
Notes
  1. ^ The continuo part is open to interpretation in matters of scoring. Examples: for his 1973 recording, Nikolaus Harnoncourt employed bassoon, violoncello, violone (double bass) and organ[3]; Peter Schreier (1987) used violoncello, double bass, bassoon, organ and harpsichord[4]; René Jacobs in 1997 chose violoncello, double bass, lute, bassoon, organ and harpsichord[5]; and Jos van Veldhoven in 2003 opted for violoncello, double bass, bassoon, organ, harpsichord and theorbo.[6]
  2. ^ The different types of oboes referred to above are mostly called for at different points in each section. However, numbers 10, 12, 14, 17, 18, 19 and 21 in Part II call for 2 oboes d'amore and 2 oboes da caccia. This scoring was intended to symbolise the shepherds who are the subject of the second part. It is a reference to the pastoral music tradition of shepherds playing shawm-like instruments at Christmas. Similarly, the pastoral sinfony in Handel's Messiah (1741) is known as the 'Pifa' after the Italian piffero or piffaro, similar to the shawm and an ancestor of the oboe.

Text

The ease with which the new text fits the existing music is one of the indications of how successful a parody the Christmas Oratorio is of its sources. Musicologist Alfred Dürr[7] and others, such as Christoph Wolff[8] 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. 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.[8]

Nevertheless, on two occasions Bach abandoned the original plan and was compelled to write new music for the Christmas Oratorio. The alto aria in Part III, Schließe, mein Herze was originally to have been set to the music for the aria Durch die von Eifer entflammten Waffen from BWV 215. On this occasion, however, the parody technique proved to be unsuccessful and Bach composed the aria afresh. Instead, he used the model from BWV 215 for the bass aria Erleucht' auch meine finstre Sinnnen in Part V. Similarly, the opening chorus to Part V, Ehre sei dir Gott! 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. 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.

In addition to the new compositions listed above, special mention must go to the recitatives, which knit together the oratorio into a coherent whole. In particular, Bach made particularly effective use of recitative when combining it with chorales in no. 7 of part I (Er ist auf Erden kommen arm) and even more ingeniously in the recitatives nos. 38 and 40 which frame the "Echo Aria" (Flößt, mein Heiland), no. 39 in part IV.

Parts and numbers

Each section combines choruses (a pastoral Sinfonia opens Part II instead of a chorus), chorales and from the soloists recitatives, ariosos and arias.

The tables below do not show a key signature or a time signature for recitatives because they are all (nominally) in the key of that part and in common time. The exceptions are No. 18 which starts in C major and then modulates to G major, and No. 27 which continues in the A major of the previous movement. In any case, a key and time signatures for a recitative are merely musical notation.

Part I

Part I: For the First Day of Christmas
No.   Key Time First line Scoring Source
1 Chorus D major 3/8 Jauchzet, frohlocket, auf, preiset die Tage 3 trumpets, timpani, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, strings (violin I, II, viola) and continuo (cello, violone, organ and bassoon) BWV 214: Chorus, Tönet, ihr Pauken!
2 Recitative (Evangelist, tenor) Es begab sich aber zu der Zeit Continuo Luke 2:1-6
3 Recitative (alto) Nun wird mein liebster Bräutigam 2 oboe d'amore, continuo  
4 Aria (alto) A min/C maj 3/8 Bereite dich, Zion, mit zärtlichen Trieben Oboe d'amore I, violin I, continuo BWV 213: Aria, Ich will dich nicht hören
5 Chorale A minor Common Wie soll ich dich empfangen 2 flutes, 2 oboes, strings and continuo Words: Paul Gerhardt (1607–1676)
6 Recitative (Evangelist, tenor) Und sie gebar ihren ersten Sohn Continuo Luke 2:7
7 Chorale (sopranos)
Recitative (bass)		 D major 3/4
Common		 Er ist auf Erden kommen arm
Wer will die Liebe recht erhöhn		 2 oboe d'amore, continuo Words (Chorale): Martin Luther, 1524
8 Aria (bass) D major 2/4 Großer Herr und starker König Trumpet I, flute I, strings, continuo BWV 214: Aria, Kron und Preis gekrönter Damen
9 Chorale D major Common Ach mein herzliebes Jesulein! 3 trumpets, timpani, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, strings and continuo (cello, violone, organ and bassoon) Words: Martin Luther, 1535

Part II

Part II: For the Second Day of Christmas
No.   Key Time First line Scoring Source
10 Sinfonia G major 12/8 — 2 flutes, 2 oboe d'amore, 2 oboe da caccia, strings, continuo  
11 Recitative (Evangelist, tenor) Und es waren Hirten in derselben Gegend Continuo Luke 2:8-9
12 Chorale G major Common Brich an, o schönes Morgenlicht 2 flutes, 2 oboe d'amore, 2 oboe da caccia, strings, continuo Words: Johann von Rist, 1641
13 Recitative (Evangelist, tenor; Angel, soprano) Und der Engel sprach zu ihnen
Fürchtet euch nicht		 Strings, continuo Luke 2:10-11
14 Recitative (bass) Was Gott dem Abraham verheißen 2 oboe d'amore, 2 oboe da caccia, strings, continuo  
15 Aria (tenor) G major 3/8 Frohe Hirten, eilt, ach eilet Flute I, continuo BWV 214: Aria, Fromme Musen! meine Glieder
16 Recitative (Evangelist, tenor)[II 1] Und das habt zum Zeichen Continuo Luke 2:12
17 Chorale C major Common Schaut hin! dort liegt im finstern Stall 2 flutes, 2 oboe d'amore, 2 oboe da caccia, strings, continuo Words: Paul Gerhardt, 1667
18 Recitative (bass) C maj/G maj   So geht denn hin! 2 oboe d'amore, 2 oboe da caccia, strings, continuo  
19 Aria (alto) G maj/E min 2/4 Schlafe, mein Liebster, genieße der Ruh' Flute I (colla parte an octave above the alto soloist throughout), 2 oboe d'amore, 2 oboe da caccia, strings, continuo BWV 213: Aria, Schlafe, mein Liebster, und pflege der Ruh
20 Recitative (Evangelist, tenor) Und alsobald war da bei dem Engel Continuo Luke 2:13
21 Chorus G major Split Common (2/2) Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe 2 flutes, 2 oboe d'amore, 2 oboe da caccia, strings, continuo Luke 2:14
22 Recitative (bass) So recht, ihr Engel, jauchzt und singet Continuo  
23 Chorale G major 12/8 Wir singen dir in deinem Heer 2 flutes, 2 oboe d'amore, 2 oboe da caccia, strings, continuo Words: Paul Gerhardt, 1656
  1. ^ In some performances sung by the Angel (soprano).

Part III

Part III: For the Third Day of Christmas
No.   Key Time First line Scoring Source
24 Chorus D major 3/8 Herrscher des Himmels, erhöre das Lallen Trumpet I, II, III, timpani, flute I, II, oboe I, II, strings, continuo BWV 214: Chorus, Blühet, ihr Linden in Sachsen, wie Zedern
25 Recitative (Evangelist, tenor) Und da die Engel von ihnen gen Himmel fuhren Continuo Luke 2:15
26 Chorus A major 3/4 Lasset uns nun gehen gen Bethlehem Flute I, II, oboe d'amore I, II, strings, continuo  
27 Recitative (bass) A major   Er hat sein Volk getröst't Flute I, II, continuo  
28 Chorale D major Common Dies hat er alles uns getan Flute I, II, oboe I, II, strings, continuo Chorale: Martin Luther, 1524
29 Duet (soprano, bass) A major 3/8 Herr, dein Mitleid, dein Erbarmen Oboe d'amore I, II, continuo BWV 213: Aria, Ich bin deine, du bist meine
30 Recitative (Evangelist, tenor) Und sie kamen eilend Continuo Luke 2:16-19
31 Aria (alto) D maj/B min 2/4 Schließe, mein Herze, dies selige Wunder Violin solo, continuo  
32 Recitative (alto) Ja, ja! mein Herz soll es bewahren Flute I, II, continuo  
33 Chorale G major Common Ich will dich mit Fleiß bewahren Flute I, II, oboe I, II, strings, continuo Words: Paul Gerhardt, 1653
34 Recitative (Evangelist, tenor) Und die Hirten kehren wieder um Continuo Luke 2:20
35 Chorale F♯ minor Common Seid froh, dieweil Flute I, II, oboe I, II, strings, continuo Words: Christoph Runge, 1653
24 Chorus da capo D major 3/8 Herrscher des Himmels, erhöre das Lallen Trumpet I, II, III, timpani, flute I, II, oboe I, II, strings, continuo BWV 214: Chorus, Blühet, ihr Linden in Sachsen, wie Zedern

Part IV

Part IV: For New Year's Day (Feast of the Circumcision)
No.   Key Time First line Scoring Source
36 Chorus F major 3/8 Fallt mit Danken, fallt mit Loben Horns I, II, oboe I, II, strings, continuo BWV 213: Chorus, Lasst uns sorgen, lasst uns wachen
37 Recitative (Evangelist, tenor) Und da acht Tage um waren Continuo Luke 2:21
38 Recitative (bass)
Arioso (sopr./bass)		 Immanuel, o süßes Wort
Jesu, du mein liebstes Leben		 Strings, continuo  
39 Aria (soprano & 'Echo' soprano) C major 6/8 Flößt, mein Heiland, flößt dein Namen Oboe I solo, continuo BWV 213: Aria, Treues Echo dieser Orten
40 Recitative (bass)
Arioso (soprano)		 Wohlan! dein Name soll allein
Jesu, meine Freud' und Wonne		 Strings, continuo  
41 Aria (tenor) D minor Common Ich will nur dir zu Ehren leben Violin I, II, continuo BWV 213: Aria, Auf meinen Flügeln sollst du schweben
42 Chorale F major 3/4 Jesus richte mein Beginnen Horns I, II, oboe I, II, strings, continuo Words: Johann von Rist, 1642

Part V

Part V: For the First Sunday in the New Year[V 1]
No.   Key Time First line Scoring Source
43 Chorus A maj/F♯ min 3/4 Ehre sei dir, Gott, gesungen Oboe d'amore I, II, strings, continuo  
44 Recitative (Evangelist, tenor) Da Jesus geboren war zu Bethlehem Continuo Matthew 2:1
45 Chorus
Recitative (alto)
Chorus		 D major Common Wo ist der neugeborne König der Juden[V 2]
Sucht ihn in meiner Brust
Wir haben seinen Stern gesehen		 Oboe d'amore I, II, strings, continuo BWV 247: St Mark Passion, Chorus,
Pfui dich, wie fein zerbrichst du den Tempel[2]
46 Chorale A major Common Dein Glanz all' Finsternis verzehrt Oboe d'amore I, II, strings, continuo Words: Georg Weissel, 1642
47 Aria (bass) F♯ minor 2/4 Erleucht' auch meine finstre Sinnen Oboe d'amore I solo, organ senza continuo BWV 215: Aria, Durch die von Eifer entflammeten Waffen
48 Recitative (Evangelist, tenor) Da das der König Herodes hörte Continuo Matthew 2:3
49 Recitative (alto) Warum wollt ihr erschrecken Strings, continuo  
50 Recitative (Evangelist, tenor) Und ließ versammeln alle Hohenpriester Continuo Matthew 2:4-6
51 Trio (sopr., alto, ten.) D major 2/4 Ach! wann wird die Zeit erscheinen? Violin I solo, continuo unknown
52 Recitative (alto) Mein Liebster herrschet schon Continuo  
53 Chorale A major Common Zwar ist solche Herzensstube Oboe d'amore I, II, strings, continuo Words: Johann Franck, 1655
  1. ^ Part V is meant to be performed on the first Sunday in the New Year, but before the feast of Epiphany on 6 January. In some years, there is no such day, e.g in 2007/2008.
  2. ^ Matthew 2:2

Part VI

Part VI: For the Feast of Epiphany
No.   Key Time First line Scoring Source
54 Chorus D major 3/8 Herr, wenn die stolzen Feinde schnauben Trumpet I, II, III, timpani, oboe I, II, strings, continuo BWV 248a (lost church cantata)
55 Recitative (Evangelist, tenor; Herod, bass) Da berief Herodes die Weisen heimlich

Ziehet hin und forschet fleißig		 Continuo Matthew 2:7-8
56 Recitative (soprano) Du Falscher, suchet nur den Herrn zu fällen Strings, continuo BWV 248a (lost church cantata)
57 Aria (soprano) A maj/F♯ min/A maj 3/4 Nur ein Wink von seinen Händen Oboe d'amore I, strings, continuo BWV 248a (lost church cantata)
58 Recitative (Evangelist, tenor) Als sie nun den König gehöret hatten Continuo Matthew 2:9-11
59 Chorale G major Common Ich steh an deiner Krippen hier Oboe I, II, strings, continuo Words: Paul Gerhardt, 1656
60 Recitative (Evangelist, tenor) Und Gott befahl ihnen im Traum' Continuo Matthew 2:12
61 Recitative (tenor) So geht! Genug, mein Schatz geht nicht von hier Oboe d'amore I, II, continuo BWV 248a (lost church cantata)
62 Aria (tenor) B minor 2/4 Nun mögt ihr stolzen Feinde schrecken Oboe d'amore I, II, continuo BWV 248a (lost church cantata)
63 Recitative (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) Was will der Höllen Schrecken nun Continuo BWV 248a (lost church cantata)
64 Chorale D major Common Nun seid ihr wohl gerochen Trumpet I, II, III, timpani, oboe I, II, strings, continuo BWV 248a (lost church cantata); Words: Georg Werner, 1648

S. D. Gl.

Recordings

References

  1. ^ a b Sleeve notes to Philip Pickett's recording of the Christmas Oratorio (Decca, 458 838, 1997)
  2. ^ a b Werner Breig, sleeve notes to John Eliot Gardiner's recording of the Christmas Oratorio (Deutsche Grammophon Archiv, 4232322, 1987)
  3. ^ Das Alte Werk (Warner), 2564698540 (1973, re-released 2008)
  4. ^ Decca (Philips), 4759155 (1987, re-released 2007)
  5. ^ Harmonia Mundi, HMX 2901630.31 (1997, re-released 2004)
  6. ^ Channel Classics Records, CCS SA 20103 (2003)
  7. ^ Alfred Dürr, sleeve notes to Nikolaus Harnoncourt's first recording of the Christmas Oratorio (Warner Das Alte Werk, 2564698540, 1972, p. 10) and repeated in the notes to Harnoncourt's 2nd recording of the work (Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, 88697112252, 2007, p. 22)
  8. ^ a b Christoph Wolff, sleeve notes to Ton Koopman's recording of the Christmas Oratorio (Warner Erato, 0630-14635-2, 1997)
  9. ^ Juloratoriet (1996) at the Internet Movie Database
  10. ^ Christmas Oratorio (Rilling, 2000) review

External links