Bach's Christmas Cantatas
...oruses. The Cantatas relied upon the Bible and Lutheran Hymns for the libretto, and generally were not just a biblical story, but a dramatic display of a Christian’s relationship with God. The most famous composer of Cantatas was J.S. Bach. Over two hundred Bach Cantatas have survived, each containing several movements. Bach was the general director of music in Leipzig, where he not only had to compose and perform but organize the music for all the churches in the town. Every week, he would compose, copy, rehearse and perform a different cantata. Many of these were religious works for choir and orchestra with soloists containing many movements and lasting anywhere forms 15-30 minutes in duration. Bach’s Weinachts-Oratorium was first performed on the respective days that each cantata was written to represent December 25, 26,26, 1734, and January 1, 2, and 6 1734. The first cantata in Bach’s Christmas Oratorium depicts the birth of Jesus where the chorus opens up by “exhorting” the Christian’s to be joyful and ends with a gentle and subtle lullaby. The next Can...