Product Overview
Weihnachtsoratorium BWV 248 Christmas Oratio
Johann Sebastian Bach, Christine Schäfer, Bernarda Fink, Werner Güra, Gerald Finley, Christian Gerhaher, Arnold Schoenberg Chor, Concentus Musicus Wien, Nikolaus Harnoncourt
AUDIO 2 CD 2007
UPC 886971122527
CONDITION OF THIS AMAZING CD SET is USED LIKE NEW!!!
Label: Deutsche Harmonia Mundi – 88697-11225-2
Format: 2 × SACD, Hybrid, Multichannel, Stereo, Album
Country: Europe
Released: 05 Nov 2007
Genre: Classical
Style: Baroque
Tracklist:
| 1-1 | Coro: Jauchzet, Frohlocket | 7:58 |
| 1-2 | Recitativo: Es begab sich aber zu der Zeit | 1:20 |
| 1-3 | Arioso: Nun wird mein liebster Bräutigam | 0:47 |
| 1-4 | Aria: Bereite dich, Zion | 5:39 |
| 1-5 | Choral: Wie soll ich dich empfangen? | 1:10 |
| 1-6 | Recitativo: Und sie gebar ihren ersten Sohn | 0:26 |
| 1-7 | Choral: Er ist auf Erden kommen arm | 3:00 |
| 1-8 | Aria: Großer Herr, o starker König | 5:07 |
| 1-9 | Choral: Ach mein herzliebes Jesulein | 1:07 |
| 1-10 | Sinfonia | 5:17 |
| 1-11 | Recitativo: Und es waren Hirten in derselben Gegend | 0:36 |
| 1-12 | Choral: Brich an, o schönes Morgenlicht | 1:14 |
| 1-13 | Recitativo: Und der Engel sprach zu ihnen | 0:44 |
| 1-14 | Recitativo: Was Gott dem Abraham verheißen | 0:42 |
| 1-15 | Aria: Frohe Hirten, eilt, ach eilet | 3:40 |
| 1-16 | Recitativo: Und das habt zum Zeichen | 0:19 |
| 1-17 | Choral: Schaut hin, da liegt im finstern Stall | 0:38 |
| 1-18 | Recitativo e Arioso: So geht denn hin, ihr Hirten, geht | 0:55 |
| 1-19 | Aria: Schlafe, mein Liebster, genieße die Ruh | 9:02 |
| 1-20 | Recitativo: Und alsbald war da bei dem Engel | 0:13 |
| 1-21 | Coro: Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe | 2:59 |
| 1-22 | Recitativo: So recht, ihr Engel, jauchzt und singt | 0:20 |
| 1-23 | Choral: Wir singen dir in Deinem Heer | 1:23 |
| 1-24 | Coro: Herrscher des Himmels, erhöre das Lallen | 1:58 |
| 1-25 | Recitativo: Und da die Engel | 0:08 |
| 1-26 | Coro: Lasset uns nun gehen | 0:49 |
| 1-27 | Recitativo: Er hat sein Volk getröst | 0:42 |
| 1-28 | Choral: Dies hat er alles uns getan | 0:45 |
| 1-29 | Aria Duetto: Herr, dein Mitleid, dein Erbarmen | 7:03 |
| 1-30 | Recitativo: Und sie kamen eilend | 1:10 |
| 1-31 | Aria: Schließe mein Herze, dies selige Wunder | 4:55 |
| 1-32 | Rezitativo: Ja, ja, mein Herz soll es bewahren | 0:25 |
| 1-33 | Choral: Ich will dich mit Fleiß bewahren | 0:55 |
| 1-34 | Recitativo: Und die Hirten kehrten wieder um | 0:20 |
| 1-35 | Choral: Seid froh dieweil | 0:54 |
| 1-36 | Coro: Herrscher des Himmels, erhöre das Lallen. | 2:11 |
| 2-1 | Coro: Fallt Mit Danken | 6:07 |
| 2-2 | Recitativo: Und da acht Tage um waren | 0:25 |
| 2-3 | Recitativo: Immanuel, o süßes Wort! | 2:29 |
| 2-4 | Aria: Flößt, mein Heiland, flößt dein Namen | 6:00 |
| 2-5 | Recitativo e Choral: Wohlan, dein Name soll allein | 1:28 |
| 2-6 | Aria: Ich will nur dir zu Ehren leben | 4:52 |
| 2-7 | Choral: Jesus richte mein Beginnen | 2:03 |
| 2-8 | Coro: Ehre sei dir, Gott, gesungen | 7:29 |
| 2-9 | Recitativo: Da Jesus geboren war zu Bethlehem | 0:22 |
| 2-10 | Coro: Wo ist der neugeborne König der Jüden? | 1:43 |
| 2-11 | Choral: Dein Glanz all Finsternis verzehrt | 0:56 |
| 2-12 | Aria: Erleucht auch meine finstre Sinnen | 4:23 |
| 2-13 | Recitativo: Da das der König Herodes hörte | 0:11 |
| 2-14 | Recitativo: Warum wollt ihr erschrecken? | 0:32 |
| 2-15 | Recitativo: Und ließ versammlen alle Hohepriester | 1:14 |
| 2-16 | Aria, Terzetto: Ach, wenn wird die Zeit erscheinen? | 5:26 |
| 2-17 | Recitativo: Mein Liebster herrschet schon | 0:25 |
| 2-18 | Choral: Zwar ist solche Herzensstube | 1:07 |
| 2-19 | Coro: Herr, wenn die stolzen Feinde schnauben | 5:23 |
| 2-20 | Recitativo: Da berief Herodes die Weisen heimlich | 0:40 |
| 2-21 | Recitativo: Du Falscher, suche nur den Herrn zu fällen | 0:52 |
| 2-22 | Aria: Nur ein Wink von seinen Händen | 4:31 |
| 2-23 | Recitativo: Als sie nun den König gehöret hatten | 1:09 |
| 2-24 | Choral: Ich steh an deiner Krippen hier | 1:10 |
| 2-25 | Recitativo: Und Gott befahl ihnen im Traum | 0:20 |
| 2-26 | Recitativo: So Geht! Genug, mein Schatz geht nicht von hier | 1:52 |
| 2-27 | Aria: Nun mögt ihr stolzen Feinde schrecken | 4:41 |
| 2-28 | Recitativo: Was will der Höllen Schrecken nun | 0:34 |
| 2-29 | Choral: Nun seid ihr wohl gerochen | 3:23 |
- Alto Vocals – Bernarda Fink
- Bass Vocals – Christian Gerhaher, Gerald Finley
- Chorus – Arnold Schoenberg Chor
- Composed By – Johann Sebastian Bach
- Conductor – Nikolaus Harnoncourt
- Orchestra – Concentus Musicus Wien
- Soprano Vocals – Christine Schäfer
- Tenor Vocals – Werner Güra
Notes
Recorded 2006.12 - 2007.01 in Musikverein (Vienna, Austria)
European hybrid SACD, with multi-channel and stereo audio.
European hybrid SACD, with multi-channel and stereo audio.
- Barcode: 886971122527
- Other (SPARS Code): DDD
The Christmas Oratorio (German: Weihnachts-Oratorium), BWV 248, 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 cantataswritten 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 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 into two equal parts. The total running time for the entire work is nearly three hours.
The first part (for Christmas Day) describes the Birth of Jesus, the second (for December 26) the annunciation to the shepherds, the third (for December 27) the adoration of the shepherds, the fourth (for New Year's Day) the circumcision and naming of Jesus, the fifth (for the first Sunday after New Year) the journey of the Magi, and the sixth (for Epiphany) the adoration of the Magi.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Real Name: Johann Sebastian Bach
Profile: Johann Sebastian Bach was born on March 21, 1685. A prolific German composer and organist, his sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra and solo instruments drew together the strands of the baroque genre and brought it to its ultimate maturity. Although he introduced no new forms, he enriched the prevailing German style with a robust contrapuntal technique, a control of harmonic and motivic organisation from the smallest to the largest scales, and the adaptation of rhythms and textures from abroad, particularly Italy and France. Many people consider him to be the greatest Baroque composer, and one of the greatest composers of all time.
Revered for their intellectual depth, technical command and artistic beauty, JS Bach's works include the Brandenburg concertos, the keyboard suites and partitas, the Mass in B Minor, the St. Matthew Passion, The Musical Offering, The Art of Fugue and a large number of cantatas, of which about 220 survive. He died on July 28, 1750.
Some of his sons also became composers - Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Johann Christian Bach, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach and Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach.
Christine Schäfer
Profile: German soprano, born May 3, 1965, Frankfurt
Bernarda Fink
Real Name: Bernarda Fink
Profile: Slovenian classical mezzo-soprano vocalist, born 29 August 1955 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Werner Güra
Profile: German classical tenor vocalist, born 1964 in Munich, Germany.
Gerald Finley
Profile: Canadian classical bass-baritone vocalist, born 30 January 1960 in Montreal.
He began singing as a chorister in Ottawa, Canada, and, encouraged by his uncle and former organist / Director of Music at Westminster Abbey, Sir William McKie, he auditioned for David Willcocks in 1978 and arrived in England the next year to complete his musical studies at the Royal College of Music, King’s College, Cambridge, and the National Opera Studio. He made his operatic debut in 1984.
He was awarded the 2012 Grammy for Best Opera Recording (John Adams’s Dr Atomic with the Metropolitan Opera) and won an unprecedented three Classic FM Gramophone Awards for Best Solo Vocal Recording (<a href="/release/3106636">Britten's Songs & Proverbs Of William Blake</a> in 2011, Schumann's Dichterliebe & Other Heine Settings in 2009 and Songs by Samuel Barber in 2008).
He was awarded the 2012 Grammy for Best Opera Recording (John Adams’s Dr Atomic with the Metropolitan Opera) and won an unprecedented three Classic FM Gramophone Awards for Best Solo Vocal Recording (<a href="/release/3106636">Britten's Songs & Proverbs Of William Blake</a> in 2011, Schumann's Dichterliebe & Other Heine Settings in 2009 and Songs by Samuel Barber in 2008).
Christian Gerhaher
Profile: German baritone vocalist, born in 1969 in Straubing, Germany.
Arnold Schoenberg Chor
Profile: Austrian choir founded in 1972 by Erwin Ortner.
Concentus Musicus Wien
Profile: Ensemble founded in 1953 by Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Alice Harnoncourt, largely responsible for launching the authentic instrument movement.
Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Real Name: Johann Nikolaus, Graf de La Fontaine und d'Harnoncourt-Unverzagt
Profile: Austrian conductor, cello and viol player, born in Berlin, Germany, December 6th, 1929, died in St. Georgen im Attergau, Austria, March 5th, 2016.
In 1953 he founded with his wife Alice Harnoncourt the Concentus Musicus Wien as a specialist ensemble for the performance on authentic instruments of baroque and classical music.
From 1971 to 1990 he recorded, together with Gustav Leonhardt, all Bach's sacred cantatas.
Since 1970 he has worked as conductor with most of the great European orchestras and many renowned soloists, both in the opera house and the concert hall.
His recording activities include the operas, the oratorios and the symphonic works of the 18th and 19th century (such as Beethoven's, Schumann's and Schubert's complete symphonies).
From 1971 to 1990 he recorded, together with Gustav Leonhardt, all Bach's sacred cantatas.
Since 1970 he has worked as conductor with most of the great European orchestras and many renowned soloists, both in the opera house and the concert hall.
His recording activities include the operas, the oratorios and the symphonic works of the 18th and 19th century (such as Beethoven's, Schumann's and Schubert's complete symphonies).
