Six cantatas for the ‘holy days’ between Christmas 1734 and Epiphany 1735
Every year Bach wrote cantatas for all Christmas celebrations in Leipzig, i.e. six cantatas: three for the ‘three Christmas days’, and then three for New Year, the first Sunday after New Year, and Epiphany. Of course, they were performed on those days during one or more services between December, 25th and January 6th: Same procedure as every year. However, one difference: Bach called the ‘ensemble’ of the six cantatas an ‘oratorium’ (it is written on the score (first cantata – post factum) and printed on the title page of the textbook (see below, also post factum?). For Bach, the term ‘oratorium’ did not imply that he envisaged a concertante performance in one session. That is our backward projection from how we define (perceive) the term ‘oratorio’.
Also questionable is, whether the six cantatas form a musical unit. Many musicologists claim this, including Alfred Dürr, whom I highly esteem, proof of how tough surviving representations (fiction) can be. I’d say: Just look at the scripts (booklets and partitions) listen to the music, and I think you know what I mean. The first three cantatas could be said to form a unit (= 25, 26, 27 December – the three Christmas days), but then it stops. There is no overarching emotional movement that holds all six cantatas together. So, when Bach does call them ‘oratorio’ (in six partes), I think he refers to the concept of the libretto: the gospel story (bible text) is an integral part of the text put to music (embedded in arias, accompagnatos and chorals). Spreading the (Christmas) story over a series of days is a performance practice also used by Buxtehude in his ‘Abendmusiken’.1 Also important: People actually experienced the Christmas period as one festive event, spread over almost two weeks. So, what distinguishes Bach’s Christmas cantatas of 1734/5 from ordinary Christmas cantatas is that he included the text of the Gospel in the cantata as a recitative. Normally, the Gospel is read before the Cantata. In these cantatas the entire Christmas Gospel is presented in chronological order, using the third cantata to also integrate the beginning of the Gospel of John. The order: Lecture – theological meditation – personal reflection / prayer – choral. For example, in the first cantata, the Gospel text (no. 2) is a secco recitative followed by a meditative theological text accompagnato (no. 3,) then follows an aria (Bereite dich Zion, no. 4), concluded by a Choral (Wie soll ich dich empfangen, no. 5). Integration of several aspects in one piece of music is also an option: Same cantata. The second verse from Scripture (the ‘birth of Christ’) is followed by a meditative dialogue with a chorale (no. 7) followed by aria (no. 8) and a choral (no. 10).
Parodied parts
In 1734-5 Bach hardly writes any new cantatas. He is in ‘repeat’-mode, or recycling (compilation and revalorisation) of already existing compositions. NB: this is without negative connotation. Revisiting and cleverly adapting already existing music to new texts/occasions (“par-odia”) was an honourable thing to do. Intriguing: The Ascension Oratorio (1735) is also based on older material. So was the Easter Oratorio (1725 ‘Oster-Kantate’, recycling the Shepherds Cantata, revisited again … in 1735 and only then termed ‘Oratorio’. Once more reworked in the 1740s). Apparently, for Bach this was a way of giving more ambitus and durability (and a larger audience) to his ‘occasional compositions’.
Scheme (from Meinrad Walter’s excellent book about the Oratorium 2). All choruses and arias from The Oratorio in the middle column. All but two (31,43) are parody’s. If one takes into account that the two exceptions have a metrical form which is identical to two not parodied items (an aria and a chorus) of BWV 213, 215, then the intention of Bach might have been 100%. In the scheme below these two are indicated with ‘dashed lines’. Click to enlarge.

Klaus Hofmann, editor of the Carus-edition (2005) reaches the same conclusion: “Only one of the arias in the Weihnachtsoratorium was newly composed: “Schließe, mein Herze, dies selige Wunder” (No. 31), and of the opening choruses also only one was original: “Ehre sei dir, Gott, gesungen” (No. 43).”
I add: also new are the recitatives, accompagnatos, and choral-settings, and the instrumental Pastorale (Sinfonia, nr. II). And: some of the aria’s and choruses were ‘adapted’ (an arrangement) to fit the new content.
Overview (date and location) of the Christmas oratorio
If one looks at the location of the performances of the six parts, then only the visitors of the St. Nikolai Church could have heard all six cantates. (Click to enlarge).


Interesting: In the last cantata (6 January 1735), Bach’s autograph score ends with Fine (the end, or ‘finished’) followed by SDG (Soli Deo Gloria) and the year number… 1734.

Bach really worked ‘in advance’, using the Advent period (no cantatas, with the exception of the 1st Advent) to prepare the music for all Christmas services, including the ones to be performed in 1735.

text booklet (libretto) – published with anticipation
The ‘text booklet’ (libretto) for the six cantatas Bach performed during the Christmas season of 1734-1735 has been preserved. Such booklets Bach had printed (and sold) for all his cantatas (generally a month – six weeks in one booklet), available in the Church. What is striking about this booklet is that it looks like a standard textbook as Bach published in advance for his cantatas (so you could follow along in the mass), the title, however, speaks of the performance in the past tense:
‘Oratorium, welches… zu Leipzig… musiciret wurde…. Anno 1734.’
(Oratorium, which … was performed … in Leipzig… Anno 1734).
BTW: the cantatas IV-V-VI were performed in 1735, but that’s no problem: Christmas 1734 began on 24 December (vesper) and continued until 6 January 1735 (Epiphany). But why the past tense? That is really odd. This can not be the booklet sold during Advent 1734. It has all the characteristics of a post-factum publication. Perhaps: “Due to great success a reprint of the texts was issued” (Picander did similar things with his librettos), simultaneously allowing Bach to introduce the unifying term ‘oratorium’ retrospectively? Just thinking out loud.

The layout and announcement style are quite similar to the other textbooks we know.
The Christmas season began with the performance of the first cantata during the main mass on Christmas ‘frühe zu St. Nicolai’ (i.e. at 7:00 in the morning!) and the repeat (second performance) in the afternoon ‘zu St. Thomae’. Not only among preachers the Christmas season is sometimes called a ten-day campaign. From Christmas Eve (24 December – midnight mass) to the feast of Epiphany on 6 January, almost two weeks of full-on service.
Bachs Parodieverfahren (reuse of secular cantatas from 1733/1734, in particular, BWV 213 & 214)
Compare both scores: The first image is page 1 of the cantata for Christmas Day, Jauchzet, frohlocket, the famous opening chorus of the Weihnachtsoratorium. The word ‘Oratorium’ was added later. In the top left corner, if you look closely, you will see JJ . Jesu Juva (Jesus, help me!). The title is: Feria 1 Nativitatis Xti (=Christi) à 4 voci etc…. (The first feast day of Christmas). The word “Oratorium” is added later.

The second image is the beginning of the Congratulatory Cantata for the birthday of Elector Queen Maria Josepha on 8 December 1733: Tönet ihr Pauken, erschallet Trompeten (BWV 214). It is the same music. The oratorio parts 1, 8 (Pars I) and 15, 24 (Pars II, III) are from this work which sounded at Café Zimmermann on 8 December 1733, performed by Bach with his Collegium Musicum. Also there on the top left: JJ (Jesu, Juva)]…. Bach calls this work a Drama p(er) Musica à 4 voci etc….

Below, the page where we can see how Bach transformed this already festive opening chorus from 1733 into the great Christmas overture (the Weihnachtsoratorium.) With timpani and trumpets (like the original). In the new score, he even writes the same phrase below the notes as in BWV 214 (Thönet ihr Paucken, erschallet Trompeten). Mistake? Or did he first intend the cantata to open with this phrase too? We don’t know. He deletes (crosses out) the old text and writes the new text above the soprano line and below the bass line. That’s it.

Drama per musica (BWV 214) – the original
By the way, textbooks of this kind of festive music were often printed as well. Below is the title page of the already mentioned BWV 214, the Congratulatory Cantata for the Elector-Queen Maria Josepha (Queen of Poland etc.). Here the title page and the first page: Thönet ihr Paucken, erschallet Trompeten with in the B section a triple “Long Live the Queen!” NB: so this is the primal text of the opening chorus of the Weihnachtsoratorium. This imo has implications for the word-tone relationship (see below)


Further parodied items include:
– the cantata: Laßt uns sorgen, laßt uns wachen. Herkules auf dem Scheidewege (BWV 213), a congratulatory cantata for the 11th birthday of the Elector Prince Friedrich Christian (5 September 1733). It’s a ‘drama per music’ in which Wollust (Lust) and Tugend (Virtue) both try to win over Hercules to ‘follow their path’. The music of the opening choir and all aria’s are integrated in the oratorio (there: movements 4, 19, 29, 36, 39, 41)
– The cantata Preise dein Glücke, gesegnetes Sachsen (BWV 215), from which the oratorio part 47 was taken.
– The remaining recycled elements are taken from a lost spiritual cantata (BWV 248a) for an unknown destination (from it the oratorio parts 54, 56, 57, 61-64). And elements from another lost cantata and the 1731 Markus Passion (also not extant).
Is that a lot? Yes, that is almost all ‘elaborated’ music (see above for a schematic overview).
Albeit he had to ‘retouch’ a number of arias because of a very different intended ‘Affekt’. If we take a closer look at some of Bach’s ‘arrangements’ it soon becomes clear that ‘Affekte’ in fact are quite flexible…
Implications for word-text correspondence and expression
Schlafe mein Liebster (BWV 213: temptation, BWV 248: pious lullaby
Some curious things happen. So is the ‘enchanting aria’ of ‘Wollust’ (meant to tempt Hercules to take the path of ‘Wolllust’) Schlafe mein Liebster… schmecke die Lust… (nr. 3) without much ado transformed into a lullaby (BWV 248 II/19.), in which we are invited to ‘quench our spiritual thirst’ while savouring the image of the sleeping infant, who will wake to save us all (“aller Gedeihen”).
BWV 213 (3)
Schlafe, mein Liebster, und pflege der Ruh,
Sleep, my darling, and tend your rest,
Folge der Lockung entbrannter Gedanken.
follow the enticement of inflamed thoughts.
Schmecke die Lust
Taste the passion
Der lüsternen Brust
of the lust filled breast
Und erkenne keine Schranken.
And know no restraint.
BWV 248/II (19)
Schlafe, mein Liebster, genieße der Ruh,
Sleep, my dearest, enjoy your rest.
Wache nach diesem vor aller Gedeihen!
Wake afterwards, so that all may thrive!
Labe die Brust,
Quench (the thirst that’s in your) breast
Empfinde die Lust,
Sense the passion
Wo wir unser Herz erfreuen!
wherein our hearts delight!
Excellent analysis (including music examples!) of the transformation of this aria is given by Shunske Sato in the background video accompanying the recording of BWV 248 for All of Bach.
The lovers’ duet “Ich bin dein, küsse..” (BWV 213) becomes “Herr, dein Mitleid” (BWV 248)
A little further in the same video Shunske Sato analysis another example of ‘recycling’ (upcycling he calls it – nice) of an aria from the same secular cantata, BWV 213 for use in the Christmas oratorio (BWV 248/III). It’s the duet “Herr, dein Mitleid, dein Erbarmen tröstet uns und macht uns frei” (Lord, your compassion, your mercy comforts us and makes us free), for which Bach adapted an already existing piece of music, the duet “Ich bin deine/ du bist meine, küsse mich / ich küsse dich” (I am yours / You are mine), in which Hercules and Virtue seal and celebrate their union, their bond (they compare it to a ‘betrothal’). Sato shows how Bach basically only changes two things: the singing voices and the accompanying instruments: Bass and soprano (iso altus and tenor), two oboes d’amore (iso two violins). The notes are the same, the atmosphere is completely different.
I cut it from the video, and shortened it a bit: 3:31, with examples of both (performed)
Ich will dich nicht hören (BWV213 ) versus: Bereite dich Zion (BWV 248)
The same music should express ‘welcoming’ and ‘rejection’. I illustrate this by comparing Bereite dich Zion (Weihnachtsoratorium) lyrics with Ich will dich nicht hören (secular ‘Vorlage’). Quite challenging: from Hercules to Saviour. Is that a bad thing? No, but it does mean that the textual expressiveness of certain parts (especially the choruses and the arias) in the Weihnachtsoratorium are in danger of getting compromised when the original and parody text do not match. Such is the case in the lovely aria Bereite dich Zion, mit zärtlichen Trieben (4): a call to tenderly welcome the Christ child.
The original aria, however, contains a decided rejection of the temptation of ‘Wollust’ (Lust, sensual desire) Ich will dich nicht hören, ich will dich nicht Wissen! – paraphrased: ‘Shut up, get out!’). Hercules is convinced by the preceding sermon of ‘Virtue’. More about this allegory (the two roads: virtue-vice (if you like: broad-narrow), click on the image. [In the video below, Virtue has just ended his speech and leaves the scene to Hercules, who has to decide which way to take. He chooses ‘Virtue’ and vehemently rejects ‘Wollust’, the addressee of this aria.]
This vice and its temptation is illustrated by means of word-painting: A snake is ‘zermalmet, zerrissen‘ (crushed, torn) in the final line. The original cantata is BWV 213, a congratulatory cantata, evoking the story of Herkules am Scheidewege : There ‘Lust’ competes with ‘Virtue’ for Hercules’ attention. The hero does not succumb and ‘Lust’ has to decline. This strong rejection (‘Ich will dich nicht hören’, with the repeated ich will nicht, ich mag nicht… ) is part A of the aria. Hercules doesn’t succumb to the temptation, referring to an earlier attack on his life (snakes) when he was an infant. Just as he had given short shrift to those writhing serpents then as a baby/hero, so too now to the serpent of the seductively writhing ‘Lust’. This is part B of the aria. All in all, a substantial contrast with the Oratorio’s call to sweetly welcome Christ (Bereite dich Zion (Be ready, Sion, to welcome your loved one).
BWV 213 (nr. 9)
Ich will dich nicht hören, ich will dich nicht wissen,
Verworfene Wollust, ich kenne dich nicht.
Denn die Schlangen,
So mich wollten wiegend fangen,
Hab ich schon lange zermalmet, zerrissen.
BWV 248 (nr. 4)
Bereite dich, Zion, mit zärtlichen Trieben,
Den Schönsten, den Liebsten bald bei dir zu sehn!
Deine Wangen
Müssen heut viel schöner prangen,
Eile, den Bräutigam sehnlichst zu lieben!

If you watch and listen to the music, you will hear the fierce rejection at the beginning of the aria. In the B movement, the bass line at ‘Denn die Schlangen’ begins to meander more and more fiercely as the text progresses, only to make short work of the snake after the long-held word ‘lange’ at the words ‘zermalmet, zerrissen’.

At the ‘imagery’of the ‘Snake’, the Alto in the Oratorio has to meander on the word ‘Wangen’ (= Cheeks). The long note on ‘lange’ is now for ‘sehn’ (from sehnlichst (passionate)). And when at the end the music suggests that Hercules crushed the snake, she has to sing that she sehnlichst liebt the groom. Bach softened the articulation, took out the staccatos, replaced the violins with oboes, and on ‘zermalmet, zerrissen’ removed the leaps (made the melodic line flowing). [The yellow notes from both music examples cover each other]

It is enough to get away with, but the transformation of a belligerent rejection into a yearning declaration of love does not convince me (but, feel free to think/feel otherwise). Here the original again (same aria as above, but other perfomer: René Jacobs as conductor). Afterwards, put on the Weihnachtsoratorium again and listen to aria 4.
And in case you are surprised by the original Echo aria (No 39), know that this aria too comes from the same mythological cantata, where ‘Echo’ is a real person (persona) in the ‘drama per musica’ as Bach himself called these concertante theatrical pieces, a very popular genre, especially in Dresden (where the court was located…)
Thönet ihr Pauken vs. Jauchzet frohlocket, (BWV 214 – BWV 248)
Finally, an example of how facile (quickly satisfied) Bach can be in terms of text placement, i.e. putting into perspective the view that Bach is always a ‘Servant of the Word’ first. Recall the music of the opening chorus Jauchzet, frohlocket. Then you will know that the second part of this phrase sounds a bit strange:
– Auf preiset die Tage
It seems like you have to sing auf and preiset together, so much so that non-German singers just do it, as if the verb ‘aufpreisen‘ would really exist. Yet the textbook (see above), very clearly states a caesura. Four exclamation marks: Jauchzet! Frohlocket! Auf! Preiset die Tage! Which means as much as Get up! Praise the days!
However, the music does not allow that exclamation mark. Quite logical, since the original reads: Thönet ihr Pauken ! Erschallet Trompeten. By the way, you immediately understand why the overture begins with a timpani motif, answered by a trumpet cascade….
BWV 214
ARIA (à4 : Irene, Bellona, Pallas and Fama)
Tönet, ihr Pauken! Erschallet, Trompeten!
Klingende Saiten, erfüllet die Luft!
Singet itzt Lieder, ihr muntren Poeten,
Königin lebe! wird fröhlich geruft.
Königin lebe! dies wünschet der Sachse,
Königin lebe und blühe und wachse!
BWV 248:
TUTTI
Jauchzet, frohlocket! auf ! Preiset die Tage,
Rühmet, was heute der Höchste getan!
Lasset das Zagen, verbannet die Klage,
Stimmet voll Jauchzen und Fröhlichkeit an!
Dienet dem Höchsten mit herrlichen Chören,
Lasst uns den Namen des Herrschers verehren!
Here is a performance of the beginning of the secular cantata. The atmosphere, the music and the text (‘Tönet ihr Pauken) are all right, the instruments are mentioned in the text. Here the opening sequence with some introductory drumrolls…
the final chorus of BWV 214 (opening and closing chorus of Christmas oratorio BWV248/III)

In the final piece (also not chorus!) of the congratulatory cantata BWV 214 (s.b.), the four protagonists (mythical persons: Irene, Bellona, Pallas and Fama) join their voices again for a final toast (A festive wish) for the birthday queen. Irene (the tenor, peaceful) begins: May the Linden trees (Lipa > Lipsiensis > Leipzig) bloom like cedars. Bellona (soprano, goddess of war) replies: May the guns sound, chariots with their wheels thunder over the roads (yes, warfare still was …). Pallas (alto, patroness of art and science) calls on all the muses once more to sing with loud chanting, to which finally Fama (bass, the fame) wishes much mirth and joy to the birthday queen: And then finally all together one more time: Long live the queen. Long may she live!
Text of this Aria
Irene (Tenor): Blühet, ihr Linden in Sachsen, wie Zedern!
Bellona (Sopraan): Schallet mit Waffen und Wagen und Rädern!
Pallas (Alt): Singet, ihr Musen, mit völligem Klang!
Fama (Bas) + tutti : Fröhliche Stunden, ihr freudigen Zeiten!
Gönnt uns noch öfters die güldenen Freuden:
Königin, lebe, ja lebe noch lang!
This is the material of which the opening chorus of the third Christmas cantata, BWV 248/III is made of: Herrscher des Himmels, erhöre das Lallen.
Herrscher des Himmels, erhöre das Lallen,
Laß dir die matten Gesänge gefallen,
Wenn dich dein Zion mit Psalmen erhöht!
Höre der Herzen frohlockendes Preisen,
Wenn wir dir itzo die Ehrfurcht erweisen,
Weil unsre Wohlfahrt befestiget steht!
And, if you look at the music form, you see the rhythmic scheme of an old dance in three-quarter time, 6 sections of 16 bars each: a Passepied. Sing and Dance away!
As in this performance of All of Bach … Well done!
Dick Wursten (fair use)