Who composed the Christmas Oratorio in 1734?
Christmas Oratorio Christmas Oratorio The Christmas Oratorio (), , is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach intended for performance in church during the Christmas season. 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. The next performance was not until 17 December 1857 by the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin under Eduard Grell. The "Christmas Oratorio" is a particularly sophisticated example of parody music. The author of the text is unknown, although a
Christmas Oratorio likely collaborator was Christian Friedrich Henrici (Picander). The work belongs to a group of three oratorios written in 1734 and 1735 for major feasts, the other two works being the "Ascension Oratorio" (BWV 11) and the "Easter Oratorio" (BWV 249). All three of these oratorios to some degree parody earlier compositions. The "Christmas Oratorio" is by far the longest and most complex work of the three. 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