# Christmas cantata

A Christmas cantata or Nativity cantata is a cantata, music for voice or voices in several movements, for Christmas. The importance of the feast inspired many composers to write cantatas for the occasion, some designed to be performed in church services, others for concert or secular celebration. The Christmas story, telling of music of the angels and suggesting music of the shepherds and cradle song, invited musical treatment. The term is called Weihnachtskantate in German, and Cantate de Noël in French. Christmas cantatas have been written on texts in several other languages, such as Czech, Italian, Romanian, and Spanish.
Christmas cantata can also mean the performance of the music. Many choirs have a tradition of an annual Christmas cantata.

## Theme

Different from Christmas oratorios, which present the Christmas story, Christmas cantatas deal with aspects of it. Bach's Christmas Oratorio, written for performance in Leipzig in 1734/1735 touches many of these themes. It consists of six parts, each part is a complete work and composed for the church service of a specific feast day. Bach structured the report from the Gospels which connects the parts to a whole, as told by the Evangelist, in six topics. In Parts I to IV he followed the Gospel of Luke (Luke 2:3–21), in Parts V and VI the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 2:1–12). In some instances he deviated from the prescribed readings, rather continuing the tradition of older works by Heinrich Schütz and others.
* Part I, Jauchzet, frohlocket!, for Christmas Day (25 December): Nativity of Jesus
* Part II, Und es waren Hirten in derselben Gegend, for the Second Day of Christmas (26 December): Annunciation to the shepherds, Glory to God, peace on earth
* Part III for the Third Day of Christmas (27 December): Adoration of the shepherds
* Part IV, Fallt mit Danken, fallt mit Loben, for New Year's Day (1 January): Naming of Jesus
* Part V for the first Sunday after New Year's Day: Biblical Magi
* Part VI for Epiphany (6 January): Adoration of the Magi
These themes appear also in cantatas of later composers.

## History

Many Christmas cantatas – as cantatas in general – were written in the Baroque era for church services, related to the prescribed readings of the liturgical year. Cantata texts frequently incorporated Bible quotations and chorale. Chorale cantatas rely on the text of one chorale only. Later composers also set free text, poems and carols.

### Italian baroque

The cantata form originated in Italy, alongside the oratorio. Carissimi's pupil Marc-Antoine Charpentier brought the small-scale Latin Christmas oratorio to Paris (In nativitatem Domini canticum), while the vernacular Italian Christmas cantata was developed by composers such as Alessandro Stradella (Si apra al riso ogni labro 1675), Francesco Provenzale (Per la nascita del Verbo 1683) and Alessandro Scarlatti in Naples, Antonio Caldara in Vienna (Vaticini di pace 1713).

### German baroque
#### Bach

The best known Christmas cantatas today are those of Johann Sebastian Bach, who composed several cantatas for the three days of Christmas in his three annual cantata cycles (1723 to 1725), also before and afterwards:
* First Day
** Christen, ätzet diesen Tag, BWV 63, 1713? 1716?
** Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ, BWV 91, 25 December 1724, on Luther's hymn
** Unser Mund sei voll Lachens, BWV 110, 25 December 1725
** Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe, BWV 197a, 25 December ?1728 (partly lost)
** Gloria in excelsis Deo, BWV 191, 25 December 1745
* Second Day
** Darzu ist erschienen der Sohn Gottes, BWV 40, 26 December 1723
** Christum wir sollen loben schon, BWV 121, 26 December 1724, on Luther's hymn
** Selig ist der Mann, BWV 57, 26 December 1725
* Third Day
** Sehet, welch eine Liebe hat uns der Vater erzeiget, BWV 64, 27 December 1723
** Ich freue mich in dir, BWV 133, 27 December 1724, on a hymn by Caspar Ziegler
** Süßer Trost, mein Jesus kömmt, BWV 151, 27 December 1725
In the works of Bach's second cycle of chorale cantatas (1724), the text of the chorale is kept for the outer stanzas, but rephrased in poetry for arias and recitatives in the other stanzas. His late cantata Gloria in excelsis Deo is derived from the Gloria in his Missa in B minor, which he had composed for the court of Dresden in 1733 and would later incorporate in his Mass in B minor. Therefore, the cantata is for five parts and in Latin. The text of the liturgical Gloria begins with the angels' song, as a link to the Christmas story.

#### Other German Baroque composers

Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel composed for the season 1736/1737 a structure of six cantatas for six feast days around Christmas, similar to Bach's Christmas Oratorio, including Kündlich groß ist das gottselige Geheimnis. More of his Christmas cantatas were published in 2007 by Hofmeister. Christmas cantatas were also composed by Georg Gebel, Christoph Graupner, Andreas Hammerschmidt, Arnold Brunckhorst, Johann Samuel Beyer, Philipp Buchner, David Pohle, Johann Hermann Schein and Thomas Selle, among others.

### Classical period

During the Age of Enlightenment, church music was less prominent. In 1796 Jakub Jan Ryba wrote Česká mše vánoční, which tells within the frame of a Mass a Christmas story in Czech, set in pastoral Bohemia.

### Romantic period

During the romantic era, Felix Mendelssohn composed the chorale cantata Vom Himmel hoch based on Luther's hymn "Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her", and Josef Rheinberger wrote Der Stern von Bethlehem [de] (The star of Bethlehem) on a text by his wife Franziska von Hoffnaaß. Christmas cantatas were also composed by Gerard von Brucken Fock (1900), Charles H. Gabriel and Friedrich Theodor Fröhlich among others.

### 20th century

In the 20th century, Benjamin Britten set in 1942 a sequence of carols as A Ceremony of Carols. His cantata Saint Nicolas, written in 1948, after World War II, has also been termed a Christmas cantata. Rudolf Mauersberger composed for the Dresdner Kreuzchor which he conducted, Eine kleine Weihnachtskantate (A little Christmas cantata). Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote Hodie, and Arthur Honegger composed as his last work Une cantate de Noël for the Basler Kammerchor and their founder Paul Sacher. He began his work with a setting of Psalm 130 and continued with carols. Christmas cantatas were also composed by Geoffrey Bush, Steve Dobrogosz, Geoffrey Grey, Iain Hamilton, Julius Harrison, Hans Uwe Hielscher, Mathilde Kralik, Ivana Loudová, Daniel Pinkham (1957), Ned Rorem, K. Lee Scott, Otto Albert Tichý and Arnold van Wyk, among others. A Christmas cantata outside the classical music tradition was the 1986 project The Animals' Christmas by Jimmy Webb and Art Garfunkel.
In 1995, Bruckner's Fest-Kantate Preiset den Herrn, WAB 16, has undergone an adaptation as Festkantate zur Weihnacht (festive Christmas cantata) for mixed choir with Herbert Vogg’s text "Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe".

### 21st century

In the 21st century, new Christmas cantatas have been written among others by Toshio Hosokawa and Graham Waterhouse.

## Scoring

All Christmas cantatas consist of several movements, most movements include solo and choral singing. The scoring can be chamber music to be performed by single singers and instruments, choir a cappella, and works for soloists, choir and orchestra. Several composers specifically asked for a children's choir. Trumpets feature prominently in many Baroque cantatas as the Royal instruments.

## Cantatas

The table uses abbreviations: S = soprano, MS = mezzo-soprano, A = alto, T = tenor, Bar = baritone, B = bass, childr = children's choir, Str = strings, Instr = instruments, Tr = tromba (trumpet), Co = horn, Cn = cornett, Tb = trombone, Ti = timpani, Fl = recorder, Ft = flauto traverso, Ob = oboe, Oa = Oboe d'amore, Oc = Oboe da caccia, Vn = violin, Va = viola, Vc = cello, Fg = bassoon, Org = organ, Bc = basso continuo
| Composer | born | Cantata title | No. | Text | composed | Scoring | Premiere | Notes |
| Francesco Provenzale | 1624 | Sui palchi delle stelle | | | 1689 | S 2Vl Bc | | |
| Cristoforo Caresana | 1640? | L'Adoratione de' Maggi | | | 1676 | 6 voices | | |
| (unknown) | | Uns ist ein Kind geboren | BWV 142 | Erdmann Neumeister | 1711–56 | A T B SATB 2Fl 2Ob 2Vl Va Bc | | first attributed to Bach |
| Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow | 1663 | Uns ist ein Kind geboren | | | | S A T B SATB Ob Fg 2Vl 2Va Bc | | and others |
| Arnold Matthias Brunckhorst | 1670? | Nun zeiget der Himmel die schönsten Gebärden / In festo nativitate Christi | | | | S A T B SATB 6 Instr Bc | | |
| Georg Philipp Telemann | 1681 | Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe In festo nativitatis | TWV 1:412 | | | S A T B SATB 3Tr Ti Str Bc | | |
| Georg Philipp Telemann | 1681 | Uns ist ein Kind geboren | TWV 1:1451 | Erdmann Neumeister | | S A T B SATB 3Tr Ti 2Ft 2Ob Str Bc | | |
| Johann Sebastian Bach | 1685 | Christen, ätzet diesen Tag | BWV 63 | Johann Michael Heineccius? | 1713? | S A T B SATB 4Tr Ti 3Ob Fg 2Vl Va Bc | | First Day |
| Johann Sebastian Bach | 1685 | Sehet, welch eine Liebe hat uns der Vater erzeiget | BWV 64 | | 1723 | S A B SATB Cn 3Tb Oa 2Vl Va Bc | 27 Dec 1723 Leipzig | Third Day |
| Johann Sebastian Bach | 1685 | Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ | BWV 91 | "Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ" | 1724 | S A T B SATB 2Co Ti 3Ob 2Vl Va Bc | 25 Dec 1724 Leipzig | chorale |
| Johann Sebastian Bach | 1685 | Christum wir sollen loben schon | BWV 121 | "Christum wir sollen loben schon" | 1724 | S A T B SATB Cn 3Tr Oa 2Vl Va Bc | 26 Dec 1724 Leipzig | Second Day, chorale |
| Johann Sebastian Bach | 1685 | Ich freue mich in dir | BWV 133 | hymn by Caspar Ziegler | 1724 | S A T B SATB Cn 2Oa 2Vl Va Bc | 27 Dec 1724 Leipzig | Third Day, chorale |
| Johann Sebastian Bach | 1685 | Unser Mund sei voll Lachens | BWV 110 | Georg Christian Lehms | 1725 | S B SATB 3Tr Ti 2Ft 3Ob Oa Oc Fg 2Vl Va Bc | 25 Dec 1725 Leipzig | First Day |
| Johann Sebastian Bach | 1685 | Selig ist der Mann | BWV 57 | Georg Christian Lehms | 1725 | S B SATB 2Ob 2Vl Va Bc | 26 Dec 1725 Leipzig | Second Day |
| Johann Sebastian Bach | 1685 | Gloria in excelsis Deo | BWV 191 | Gloria, Doxology | 1745 | S T SSATB 3Tr Ti 2Ft 2Ob 2Vl Va Bc | 25 Dec 1745 | First Day |
| Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel | 1690 | Kündlich groß ist das gottselige Geheimnis | | | 1736 | S A SATB Ob 2Vl Va Bc | 27 Dec 1736 | Third Day |
| Christian Heinrich Rinck | 1777 | Weihnachtskantate | op. 73 | | | | | |
| Felix Mendelssohn | 1809 | Vom Himmel hoch | MWV A 10 | "Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her" | 1831 | S Bar SSATB orchestra | | chorale |
| Josef Rheinberger | 1839 | Der Stern von Bethlehem | | Franziska von Hoffnaaß | 1891 | soli choir orchestra | | |
| John Henry Maunder | 1858 | Bethlehem | | Catharine Morgan | 1939? | | | in the manner of the medieval miracle play |
| William Reed | 1859 | The Message of the Angels | | | 1910 | | | |
| Felix Woyrsch | 1860 | Die Geburt Jesu | op. 18 | Bible | 1910 | soli choir orchestra | | |
| Ralph Vaughan Williams | 1872 | Hodie | | Ursula Vaughan Williams | 1953–54 | S T Bar choir orchestra | | |
| Ottorino Respighi | 1879 | Lauda per la Natività del Signore | | Jacopone da Todi? | 1930 | S MS T SSAATTBB woodwinds, piano 4 hands | | |
| Walter Braunfels | 1882 | Der gläserne Berg, Weihnachtsmärchen | op. 39 | | 1928 | | | |
| Walter Braunfels | 1882 | Weihnachtskantate | op. 52 | | 1934–37 | S Bar choir orchestra | | |
| Rudolf Mauersberger | 1889 | Weihnachtszyklus der Kruzianer [de] | | | 1944–46 | soli choir SATB SATB a cappella (piano) | | |
| Rudolf Mauersberger | 1889 | Eine kleine Weihnachtskantate | | | 1948 | | | |
| Frank Martin | 1890 | Cantate pour le temps de Noel | | | 1929–30 | | | |
| Gerald Finzi | 1893 | Dies natalis | | Thomas Traherne | 1939 | S (T) Str | | |
| Arthur Honegger | 1893 | Une cantate de Noël | | Ps. 130, Lieder | 1952–53 | Bar choir childr Org orchestra | 18 Dec 1953 Basel | |
| Kurt Hessenberg | 1908 | Weihnachtskantate | op. 27 | Matthias Claudius | 1950–51 | S A SSATBB orchestra | | published by Schott |
| Benjamin Britten | 1913 | A Ceremony of Carols | op. 28 | | 1942 | boys' choir harp | | |
| William Lloyd Webber | 1913 | Born a King | | | | soli choir Org | | |
| Lee Hoiby | 1926 | A Hymn of the Nativity | | Richard Crashaw | | | | |
| Gilbert Bécaud | 1927 | L'enfant à L'étoile | | | 1960 | | | |
| Ariel Ramírez | 1927 | Navidad Nuestra [de] | | Félix Luna | 1963 | S T choir South American instr | | |
| Malcolm Williamson | 1931 | Adoremus | | | 1959 | A T SATB Org | | |
| Nils Lindberg | 1933 | A Christmas Cantata | | | 2002 | S Bar chamber choir big band | | St Matthew and carols, recorded |
| Gerhard Track | 1934 | Festkantate zur Weihnacht | | Herbert Vogg | 1995 | SATB choir Wind Instr, Org | 29 April 1996, Vienna | Adaptation Bruckner's Fest-Kantate |
| Thomas Oboe Lee | 1945 | Christmas Cantata | | | 2001 | MS SATB 2Tr 2Tb Ti Org | | |
| Peter Skellern | 1947 | The Nativity Cantata | | | 2004 | | 2004 | |
| Otomar Kvěch | 1950 | Vánoční chvalozpěv | | | 1973 | soli choir orchestra | | |
| Mark Carlson | 1952 | A Wreath of Anthems | | various American poets | 1990 | SATB orchestra | | |
| Toshio Hosokawa | 1955 | Weihnachtskantate | | anon. | 2002 | S A choir orchestra | 20 Dec 2002 München | published by Schott |
| Maria Newman | 1962 | A Little Book of Southern Carols | | | 2008 | SSA (treble or boy's choir) treble vocal soli piano, handbells (or chimes), percussion, and violin (or flute/recorder), and viola | 2008 | published by Montgomery Arts House Press |
| Graham Waterhouse | 1962 | Der Anfang einer neuen Zeit | | Hans Krieger | 2011 | S Bar choir childr Str (Org) | 3/4 Dec 2011 Essen | |
| Frederik Magle | 1977 | A newborn child, before eternity, God! | | | 1996 | soli choir brass band, Org, percussion | | |

## Literature

* Alfred Dürr: Johann Sebastian Bach: Die Kantaten. Bärenreiter, Kassel 1999, ISBN 3-7618-1476-3
* Werner Neumann: Handbuch der Kantaten J.S.Bachs, 1947, 1984, ISBN 3-7651-0054-4
* Hans-Joachim Schulze: Die Bach-Kantaten: Einführungen zu sämtlichen Kantaten Johann Sebastian Bachs. Leipzig: Evangelische Verlags-Anstalt; Stuttgart: Carus-Verlag 2006 (Edition Bach-Archiv Leipzig) ISBN 3-374-02390-8 (Evang. Verl.-Anst.), ISBN 3-89948-073-2 (Carus-Verlag)
* Christoph Wolff/Ton Koopman: Die Welt der Bach-Kantaten Verlag J.B. Metzler, Stuttgart, Weimar 2006 ISBN 978-3-476-02127-4