Gardiner, John Eliot / Bach, Johann Sebastian : Weihnachtsoratorium

A reissue of CC 72394, originally released in 2014. A new Christmas oratorio by La Petite Bande, one of the leading baroque music ensembles. A narrative that reflects the latest information and research on playing period instruments. A completely uniform standard for both vocals and instruments. With this release, Sigiswald Kuijken has recorded all of Bach's major oratorios.

The Christmas Oratorio is a series of six separate cantatas that together tell the story from Christmas to Epiphany. Bach composed the work in Leipzig in 1734 and 1735 for Christmas Day (I), Boxing Day (II), the third day of Christmas (III), New Year's Day (IV), the Sunday after New Year's Day (V), and Epiphany (VI). As with the Passions, the texts come from three sources: (1) evangelical texts (mainly from the Gospels of Luke and Matthew) intoned as recitatives by the evangelist (tenor), (2) Lutheran choral traditions, and (3) free texts written by the poet Picander for arias and some choral sections. This performance is perhaps as close as possible to what we imagine Bach had in mind when he composed the work in Leipzig.