Christmas Oratorio

Johann Sebastian Bach’s Christmas Oratorio is one of the best-known and most popular masterpieces of Baroque music, and with its festive Christmas atmosphere, for many it is simply part of Christmas. Composed in Leipzig in 1734/35, it comprises six cantatas, of which the first three, composed for the three days of Christmas, are performed here.

Bach drew extensively on existing secular compositions of his own for the oratorio. With great sensitivity, he transformed this representative music into resounding Christmas joy. Today, the Christmas Oratorio inspires audiences precisely because of this mixture of festive choruses with trumpets and timpani, lyrical arias, and lively recitatives. The concert unfolds a colorful world of sound that alternates between solemn joy and tender contemplation. Anyone who experiences it live will understand why this work has been one of the highlights of the Christmas season for almost 300 years – and why it captivates listeners year after year.

The three cantatas from the Christmas Oratorio are preceded in this concert by the cantata »Süßer Trost, mein Jesus kömmt«. Bach wrote it about 10 years earlier, also for a Christmas service. The cantata conveys the Christmas theme of consolation in delicate sounds: the arrival of Christ as a quiet, inner joy. The opening soprano aria is particularly moving with its gentle melody and delicate instrumentation featuring flute and strings—a musical invitation to quiet reflection.

PERFORMERS

Symphonischer Chor Hamburg choir

Elbipolis Barockorchester Hamburg orchestra

Hanna Zumsande soprano

Geneviève Tschumi alto

Stefan Sbonnik tenor

Jóhann Kristinsson bass

Matthias Janz director

PROGRAM

Johann Sebastian Bach
Süßer Trost, mein Jesus kömmt

Johann Sebastian Bach
Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248