An oratorio for the Christmas season

J.S. Bach (1685-1750) wrote the work at the height of his career. He had just turned fifty and served as musician, cantor and teacher at the St Thomas and the St Nicholas churches in Leipzig. There, he composed weekly cantatas for the church services, special celebrations and holidays. And so he wrote the Christmas Oratorio for the liturgical services in the Christmas period of 1734-35. The audiences at the time did not listen to the full oratorio in one setting, but the cantatas were performed over six days – one each from the first day of Christmas to Epiphany.

The Weihnachtsoratorium BWV 248 consists of a series of six successive cantatas to which Bach gave the title ‘Oratorium Tempore Nativitatis Christi’ (Oratorio in the time of the Nativity of Christ). In the Christmas period, cantatas were an important part of the Sunday services in the two main churches in Leipzig. Their content was aligned with the Bible readings and provided a welcome interlude to often lengthy sermons. When Bach began writing the Christmas Oratorio, he had already been providing cantatas for the church services and other festive occasions, and had also written his two passions – the St Matthew Passion and the St John Passion.

The libretto for the Weihnachtsoratorium was probably the work of Christian Friedrich Henrici, alias Picander, who had also provided the text for Bach’s St Matthew Passion. The narrative outlines the circumstances of the birth of Christ, using a succession of texts from the Gospels of Luke and Matthew, Lutheran chorales and newly composed meditative poetry. The Christmas period begins with the journey of Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem and the birth of Jesus. In the second cantata, we hear the angel’s announcing the joyful news to the shepherds. This is followed by the shepherds’ visit to the manger, the circumcision and naming of Jesus and the arrival of the Magi from the East. The oratorio ends with the adoration of the infant Jesus by the Magi.

Like Bach’s passions, this oratorio is made up of three layers: first, the evangelist – sung by a tenor – tells the Biblical story in the form of recitatives. The other soloists in the quartet each sing the lovely, non-Biblical poetry as a meditative reflection on the events. The rich sound of the chorales, for their part, represent the people. They comprise melodies and hymns that were well known to churchgoers. But unlike in the St John or St Matthew passions, the emotional aspect, the amazement at Jesus’ birth, play the main role here.

More than a series of successive cantatas

Although the cantatas were originally performed separately – in Bach’s day, they were never heard as a whole work – some of the elements indicate that Bach did conceive of them as a single, large-scale work. Thus, the oratorio begins and ends in D Major, and the first and last cantata include the same chorale, and all the opening choruses, written in ¾ time allude to the Holy Trinity. As for the structure of the different cantatas: five begin with a chorus, one with an instrumental introduction, and the end of each is also quite varied. Each of them has the typical series of diverse elements such as arias, recitatives choruses and instrumental sinfonias.

It is worth noting that in the Christmas Oratorio, Bach recycled several cantatas that he had written on commission for princes or aristocrats. The opening chorus, for example is a parody of the cantata he had written for the birthday of Maria Josepha, the Queen of Poland. The original text, "Tönet ihr Pauken, erschallet Trompeten", was rewritten as "Jauchzet, frohlocket, auf preiset die Tage", which still fits perfectly with the resounding trumpet blast. The musical material in the cantata Laßt uns sorgen, laßt uns wachen BWV213, written for the occasion of the eleventh birthday of Prince Friedrich Christian, was reworked by Bach for this new context. By incorporating these secular cantatas, which had often been performed only once, into a liturgical context, Bach ensured the survival of these works.

The first cantata has a triumphant opening: timpani roll, whirling strings and woodwinds and a trumpet blast announce the festive event. Then the evangelist begins telling the Christmas story. The first choral in this movement is based on the melody of the well-known O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden (passion chorale) from the St Matthew Passion, serving as a bit of a gloss on the celebratory mood. The bass aria and the closing churale – a verse of the Lutheran Christmas hymn Von Himmel hoch – are a brilliant and solemn ode to the royal child. The second cantata opens not with the choir but with an instrumental introduction. The trumpets and timpani are replaced by four oboes: they play the role of the shepherds, whilst the strings and flutes represent the choir of angels. The soft sounds of the woodwinds and the calm tempo are perfectly suited to the pastoral setting. The climax of this movement is the lullaby aria for alto voice, solo flute and strings: Schlafe, mein liebster, after which we once again hear a verse from the Christmas chorale Von Himmel hoch.

In the next cantata, the opening chorus continues the joyful tone of the beginning. The shepherds hurry to the manger to adore the Christ child, propelled by an energetic bass line and quick runs in the music. This is followed by a quiet passage; the choir and a duet for bass and soprano sing of God’s great deeds, and an intimate and expressive aria for alto and violin expresses Mary’s feelings about the marvellous event. The oratorio closes exuberantly with the feast of the Epiphany (or ‘three kings’). In expressive recitatives and arias, the actions of Herod are defeated and the power of God glorified. The latter finds expression in unexpected musical turns and changes in mood, alternating between passion and venom. The Weihnachtsoratorium ends symbolically with the same passion chorale with which the first cantata ended, but this time on a triumphant tone.

Commentary by Aurélie Walschaert