Johann Sebastian Bach: Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248 (excerpts)
Since the Lutheran congregations commemorated the events of the Saviour’s birth at six festive religious services in the period between Christmas and Epiphany, Bach prepared a cantata for each occasion in 1734. Bach borrowed a significant part of the music for this series from his earlier secular cantatas, and used almost all of the movements from his BWV 213 ‘Herkules am Scheidewege’ (BWV 213) and ‘Dramma per Musica: Tönet, ihr Pauken’ (BWV 214), for example. He incorporated the excerpts very carefully and through a conceptual approach into the new work, and adapted not only the text but also – where he found it necessary – the key, instrumentation and internal details of the pieces to the Christmas occasion, while retaining the expressive power and defining effects of the original works. The text of the new composition was probably edited by himself and his loyal librettist Christian Friedrich Henrici (working under the pen name Picander), although this cannot be known for certain. The cantatas of the Oratorio follow a unified storyline: birth, annunciation to the shepherds, adoration by the shepherds, naming, and adoration by the Magi. The six cantatas of the series are:
1. Jauchzet, frohlocket, auf, preiset die Tage
2. Und es weren Hirten in derselben Gegend
3. Herrscher des Himmels, erhöre das Lassen
4. Fallt mir danken, fallt mir Loben
5. Ehre sei dir, Gott, gesungen
6. Herr, wenn die stolzen Feinde schnauben
The bright keynote of the first cantata conveys the sounds of joy. In one of his studies, Hungarian music historian László Somfai wrote that the opening chorus is “the ideal musical expression of what the text says: Jubilation and rejoicing in anticipation of the celebration of Jesus’ birth, the praise of the great day, and the exaltation of the Lord.”
The cantata, written for the second day of Christmas, begins with an orchestral introduction, whose pastoral mood perfectly matches the idyllic starry night of Jesus’ birth, and then the evangelist announces: “In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock… An angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord flashed and shone around them.” Afterwards the shepherds set off to reach Bethlehem as soon as possible to greet the newborn. The central event of the third part is the arrival of the shepherds in Bethlehem, where they find Mary, Joseph and the infant Jesus lying in the manger.
The fourth part (meant for New Year’s Day) quotes from the Gospel of Luke: “And when eight days were fulfilled for circumcising him, his name was called Jesus, which was so called by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.”
The fifth cantata of the Oratorio (respecting the dramaturgical unity of the narrative) does not refer to the usual Gospel narrative prescribed for the first Sunday after New Year’s Day (the Flight into Egypt); its function is purely to foreshadow the festivity of the Epiphany. The central theme of the cantata is that a star has been born, whose light shines even on the pagans, and consumes all darkness. The final piece of the cantata cycle recalls the bright orchestration of the earlier parts, and the music this time faithfully reflects the arrival of the Magi (the Three Kings) from the East.
At this concert, the details of Bach’s grand work are presented in the form of a stage play. In the performance, the main characters of Mary, Joseph, the Three Wise Men, the Evangelist and the angels all come to life.