Classical Music Discoveries

The Christmas Oratorio, 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 now lost church cantata, BWV 248a. The Christmas Oratorio is a particularly sophisticated example of parody music. The author of the text is unknown. 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 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. This performance by the CMD German Opera Orchestra of Berlin and the Berlin Community Choirs is conducted by Joana Filipa Martinez. This recording is available in our online CD store - ClassicalRecordings.co