How long is Bach Christmas Oratorio?
three hours
The Christmas Oratorio is in six parts, each part being intended for performance on one of the major feast days of the Christmas period. The piece is often presented as a whole or split into two equal parts. The total running time for the entire work is nearly three hours.
How many masses did JS Bach write?
Bach had composed five such Kyrie–Gloria Masses before he completed his Mass in B minor: the Kyrie–Gloria Masses, BWV 233–236, in the late 1730s, and the Mass for the Dresden court, which would become Part I of his only Missa tota, in 1733.
What instruments are in Christmas Oratorio?
The instruments used in the Christmas Oratorio include the ubiquitous four part string orchestra, with a keyboard continuo part for organ, the bass line doubled by cello and bassoon.
How many Christmas oratorios Bach wrote?
Bach composed the six-part “Christmas Oratorio” (“Weihnachts Oratorium”) in 1734 for two Leipzig churches, St. Thomas and St. Nicholas, for which he served as music director.
Who composed Kyrie?
Richard Page
Steve George
Kyrie/Composers
When was Bach’s Christmas Oratorio written?
1734
Christmas Oratorio/Composed
The Christmas Oratorio was written in 1723 and 1724 and first performed in its entirety in the Christmas season of 1734-1735. At this time, Bach was in Leipzig. The Christmas Oratorio makes great and frequent use of chorales. In fact, of the 64 movements across the six cantatas, 14 are chorales.
Who wrote Christmas Oratorio?
Johann Sebastian Bach
Christmas Oratorio/Composers
Bach composed the six-part “Christmas Oratorio” (“Weihnachts Oratorium”) in 1734 for two Leipzig churches, St. Thomas and St. Nicholas, for which he served as music director.
When does Bach’s Christmas Oratorio take place?
First two pages of the libretto of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, as printed in 1734. In the liturgical calendar of the German reformation era in Saxony, the Christmas season started on 25 December ( Christmas Day) and ended on 6 January ( Epiphany ).
When did Bach write his first Christmas cantata?
It was written for the Christmas season of 1734 and incorporates music from earlier compositions, including three secular cantatas written during 1733 and 1734 and a now lost church cantata, BWV 248a. The date is confirmed in Bach’s autograph manuscript.
What kind of music is in the Weihnachtsoratorium?
The musical content of the oratorio is, for the most part, drawn from three secular cantatas: Herkules auf dem Scheidewege, BWV 213; Tonet, ihr Pauken! Erschallet, Trompeten!, BWV 214; and Preisse dein Glücke, gesegnetes Sachsen, BWV 215.
How does the Weihnachtsoratorium tell the Christmas Story?
Furthermore, each part of the work is designed to function as an independent musical unit; each part (except the second, which starts with a “Pastoral Symphony”) begins and ends with choruses in the tonic key, and each part tells a separate part of the Christmas story.
