Bach's Christmas Oratorio - A Dream for the Days After Christmas
article
A
Anders Krøger2 min read|28. December 2025
Bach's Christmas Oratorio is a well-known and much-loved Christmas classic for many. In this work, written for orchestra and choir, we hear the story of the birth of Jesus as told in the Christmas Gospel. Johann Sebastian Bach's music has found its way into many hearts, even though it is now performed in a slightly different way than originally intended.
Musical storytelling
It is almost crazy to think about. In 9 years Johann Sebastian Bach's Christmas Oratorio will be 300 years old(!). The music was written before the Industrial Revolution. Almost everything that surrounds us, and the whole concept of the big city, did not exist when Bach put ink to paper. That says something about the magic of musical notation, which can communicate across centuries.
The Christmas Oratorio was written for a Christmas celebration. Johann Sebastian Bach worked as cantor at the Tomaskirken in Leipzig and wanted to write music that honoured the festive season. He had a big idea.
He composed a work in six parts, and each part was to be performed on different days. Each part told of different aspects of the birth of Jesus and his first days. Part one was to be performed on 25 December, and the next two on 26 and 27 of the same month. After this the audience had to wait until New Year's Eve (the same day as the circumcision and naming of Jesus) to hear the next part. The fifth part was to be performed on the first Sunday after New Year (provided that it falls before 6 December), and the sixth and final part was to be performed on Epiphany on 6 December.
Missing the original idea In
1734 and 1735 the music was performed in exactly this way. And the orchestra had a hectic concert calendar. The work was to be played not only in the Tomaskirken, but also in the city's other major church, the Nikolaskirken. The musicians therefore had to perform the music twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. Our thoughts go to the production team who had to move instruments back and forth between the churches.
Despite Bach's relatively clear wish, the work is no longer performed this way. When I, a substitute editor at LiveKlassisk, attended a performance of Bach's Christmas Oratorio in the work's own birthplace, Leipzig, a couple of years ago, the whole work was performed in one and the same evening.
Of course few would shy away from 2-3 hours of Bach in one evening. And there are surely many financial and practical reasons for performing all the music in one concert. But it would still be magical to experience the music performed the way the composer himself wished: spread out over several evenings.