Please note: This concert was originally announced for Thursday 10 December. The concert date has now been changed to Friday 11 December.

The first three cantatas were written for the feast days of 25, 26 and 27 December, while the final three are based on texts associated with the New Year period through to Epiphany. Several of the chorales and arias originate from secular works that Bach had already composed, meaning that only part of the music was newly written for the oratorio. The six cantatas form a unified whole while each retains its own distinctive musical character. The text combines passages from the Bible and hymns, telling the stories of Christ’s birth, the shepherds in the fields, the naming of Jesus and the Three Wise Men.

Part One, Jauchzet, frohlocket, opens with festive music and a jubilant chorus in the regal key of D major. The Evangelist relates how Mary and Joseph must obey Emperor Augustus’s decree and leave Galilee to register in the census in Joseph’s birthplace, Bethlehem. The alto aria Bereite dich, Zion offers a first glimpse of the greatness to come, and the congregation responds with the chorale Wie soll ich dich empfangen. In the bass aria Großer Herr, the soloist sings of the child in the manger, accompanied by a solo trumpet as a symbol of royalty, and the cantata concludes with a prayer that one’s own heart may become a manger.

Part Two opens with a pastoral movement in which four oboes play a central role, evoking the music of the shepherds. During the night, an angel appears to the shepherds and proclaims the birth of Christ, telling them that they will find him in a manger. Dawn is depicted in the chorale Bricht an, du schönes Morgenlicht, and the shepherds are urged to travel to the stable and sing a lullaby to the child. Mary sings the lullaby Schlafe, mein Liebster, and the heavenly host rejoices in a grand fugue with long melismas, praying for peace on earth.

The second cantata ends with the shepherds praising what has taken place. Part Three concludes the story of Christmas night with a prayer from the shepherds in the stable as they make their way to Bethlehem, spreading the news as they go. The shepherds praise the newborn King, and the chorales celebrate the great love shown in God’s gift. The third cantata concludes with a reprise of the opening chorus in radiant D major.