Weihnachts-Oratorium

No matter how lovely they are, none of Bach’s other Christmas cantatas can hope to compete with the popularity of the Christmas Oratorio written in 1734-35. The reason is obvious: its six cantatas make the oratorio an exceedingly strong musical and conceptual unity. Bach skilfully and pragmatically reworked some of his earlier secular choruses and arias, written for birthday cantatas for the Saxon royal family, creating music in honour of the birth of Christ. In this way he not only saved time, he also gave these splendid compositions a new lease on life.