Johann Sebastian Bach, Christmas Oratorio (BWV 248)

Johann Sebastian Bach, Christmas Oratorio (BWV 248)
Author: Ignace Bossuyt
Publisher: Leuven University Press
Total Pages: 194
Release: 2004
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9789058674210

This book is intended to provide the inquisitive listener with a guide to exploring the many layers of meaning found in Bach's Christmas Oratorio. The first section offers a general sketch of the specific context in which this composition was created at the end of 1734, shedding light on the work's liturgical function and taking a closer look at the biblical and broader religious themes. This first section will also focus on the contemporary textual and musical components of the oratorio genre, of which Bach's composition is a prime example. The second section is a detailed discussion of the 64 movements making up the work, with a focus on three aspects: the text, the music and the relation between the two. The nature of the musical setting and its structure depends on the nature of the text, be it prose (the Bible story) or poetry (the chorales and the inserted commentary), narrative or dramatic (indirect or direct speech). Moreover, the music was governed by the particular musical canons of the day, which largely determined and regulated the structure of each section and the coherence between successive sections or those at a greater remove from one another. In order to get to the essence of Bach's oeuvre, the reader-listener must be prepared to become immersed in the literary and musical idiom, the specific terminology and "grammar" of the day.

The Christmas Oratorio

The Christmas Oratorio
Author: Johann Sebastian Bach
Publisher: Legare Street Press
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2023-07-18
Genre:
ISBN: 9781019579725

This classic Christmas oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach has been delighting audiences for centuries. Featuring beautiful vocal solos and intricate choral arrangements, this piece is perfect for anyone looking to celebrate the holiday season in a truly memorable way. With clear notation and helpful performance notes, this edition will be a valuable addition to any musician's library. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Johann Sebastian Bach's Christmas Oratorio

Johann Sebastian Bach's Christmas Oratorio
Author: Markus Rathey
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 433
Release: 2016
Genre: Music
ISBN: 0190275251

In the last decades of the 17th century, the feast of Christmas in Lutheran Germany underwent a major transformation when theologians and local governments waged an early modern "war on Christmas," discouraging riotous pageants and carnivalesque rituals in favor of more personal and internalized expressions of piety. Christmas rituals, such as the "Heilig Christ" plays and the rocking of the child (Kindelwiegen) were abolished, and Christian devotion focused increasingly on the metaphor of a birth of Christ in the human heart. John Sebastian Bach's Christmas Oratorio, composed in 1734, both reflects this new piety and conveys the composer's experience living through this tumult during his own childhood and early career. Markus Rathey's book is the first thorough study of this popular masterpiece in English. While giving a comprehensive overview of the Christmas Oratorio as a whole, the book focuses on two themes in particular: the cultural and theological understanding of Christmas in Bach's time and the compositional process that led Bach from the earliest concepts to the completed piece. The cultural and religious context of the oratorio provides the backdrop for Rathey's detailed analysis of the composition, in which he explores Bach's compositional practices, for example, his reuse and parodies of movements that had originally been composed for secular cantatas. The book analyzes Bach's original score and sheds new light on the way Bach wrote the piece, how he shaped musical themes, and how he revised his initial ideas into the final composition.

Christmas Oratorio Bwv 248 (Vocal Score)

Christmas Oratorio Bwv 248 (Vocal Score)
Author: Johannes Muntschick
Publisher: Alfred Music
Total Pages: 171
Release: 2022-07-10
Genre:
ISBN:

Johann Sebastian Bach's 'Christmas Oratorio' has been a firm fixture of the Festive season since its six component cantatas were performed in the two great churches of St Thomas's and St Nicholas's in Leipzig on the Holy Days of Christmas in 1734. This Edition Peters Urtext edition, edited by Johannes Muntschick, is the perfect choice for any choral singer, conductor, repetiteur or Bach enthusiast. Beautifully bound and printed on cream paper with weight, opacity and grain direction optimal for music publications, it is the practical choice for any performer. Contains bar numbers, and matches the Edition Peters orchestral score and orchestral parts.

Christmas Oratorio (BWV 248)

Christmas Oratorio (BWV 248)
Author: Johann Sebastian Bach
Publisher: Alfred Music
Total Pages: 167
Release: 1999-11-23
Genre: Music
ISBN: 1457480271

A choral worship cantata for SATB with SATB Soli composed by Johann Sebastian Bach.

Chorus in D Major from Christmas Oratorio by J. S. Bach

Chorus in D Major from Christmas Oratorio by J. S. Bach
Author: Alessandro Macrì
Publisher: Music Macrì Editions
Total Pages: 43
Release: 2020-06-29
Genre: Music
ISBN:

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 and incorporates music from earlier compositions, including three secular cantatas written during 1733 and 1734 and a largely 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 in 1734 and 1735 for major feasts, the other two works being the Ascension Oratorio (BWV 11) and the Easter Oratorio (BWV 249). All three of these oratorios to some degree parody earlier compositions. The Christmas Oratorio is by far the longest and most complex work of the three. The Christmas 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.

Das Weichnachtsoratorium-The Christmas Oratorio. Con 4 CD Audio

Das Weichnachtsoratorium-The Christmas Oratorio. Con 4 CD Audio
Author: J. Sebastian Bach
Publisher: Earbooks
Total Pages: 116
Release: 2004
Genre: Art
ISBN: 9783937406022

Johann Sebastian Bach's Christmas Oratorio is one of the most popular works by this extraordinary composer. It has fascinated people year by year during the Christmas season. This unique book tells the biblical Christmas story in pictures and music in an impressive collection of Baroque and Renaissance paintings and motifs, as well as excerpts from the original, handwritten score. Music CDs: An exquisite recording of the Christmas Oratorio, sung by Arleen Aug?r, Peter Schreier, Theo Adamm and the Dresdner Kreuzchor conducted by Martin Fl?mig, as well as Christmas Cantatas by J. S. Bach.