Amid a sea of Nutcrackers, Messiahs, and TV specials, one of the best Christmas pieces gets lost in the mix. Bach‘s Christmas Oratorio is a piece which, while not ignored, does not get the recognition it deserves. It is overshadowed even by Bach’s own Advent & Christmas music (namely, Wachet Auf and the Magnificat.)

The Oratorio is actually six different cantatas strung together into one longer work. The six cantatas were not originally performed all at once; instead, they were spread apart and performed as part of six separate church services marking the important feast days of the Christmas season. Nowadays, they are almost exclusively heard as one large concert work.

Here is the opening chorus, “Jauchzet, frohlocket!” Merry Christmas!

 

For some stores, the December Holiday season began before Halloween was over. For most people, “the Holidays” begins at Thanksgiving and ends at New Year’s Day. Whenever it officially began, we can agree that we’re pretty much in holiday mode now.

It’s this month that Christians celebrate Advent – which is far more than “getting ready for Christmas” – it is about preparing for the second, not the first, coming of Christ. For Johann Sebastian Bach, the hope for Christ’s second coming was deeply heartfelt. Baroque piety and emotion drip from his motet, “Komm, Jesu, Komm.” It is ornate and full of short motifs, woven into intricate patterns that are amazing and beautiful; the double-choir dialogue at 3:00 is simply gorgeous. Like many of his sacred compositions, it ends with a chorale (that’s just the German word for “hymn”) at 6:45.