Title: Christmas oratorio, BWV 248 = Weihnachtsoratorium, BWV 248 /
Authors: Bach, Johann Sebastian, 1685-1750; Gardiner, John Eliot,; McFadden, Claron; Fink, Bernarda,; Genz, Christoph,; Henschel, Dietrich, 1967-; BBC Wales.; English Baroque Soloists.; Monteverdi Choir.; EuroArts Music International GmbH
Year: 2014
Subjects: Oratorios.; Cantatas, Sacred.; Christmas music
Abstract: "Bach's Christmas Oratorio is among his most joyous music. Although not actually an oratorio - it is really a series of six cantatas - it was written for the 1734-1735 Christmas celebration in Leipzig. Curiously, to illustrate this, the most sacred of Christian celebrations, Bach chose to "parody" many movements from secular cantatas ... . This recording uses about a dozen musicians and a choir of about twenty, giving the music a very intimate feeling - this is light years away from the heavier performances of this work where a large choir drowns out the musicians"--Musicweb.
Contents: Christmas oratorio, BWV 248, cantatas I-VI -- J.S. Bach: Jauchzet, frohlocket! an introduction to the Christmas oratorio & Bach revisited (documentary, 26 min.) ; J.E. Gardiner in Saxony and Thuringia (documentary, 26 min.) / TV director, Bob Coles ; producer, Claus Wischmann ; director Manfred Waffender.