Christmas cantata

Last updated

A Christmas cantata or Nativity cantata is a cantata, music for voice or voices in several movements, for Christmas. The importance of the feast inspired many composers to write cantatas for the occasion, some designed to be performed in church services, others for concert or secular celebration. The Christmas story, telling of music of the angels and suggesting music of the shepherds and cradle song, invited musical treatment. The term is called Weihnachtskantate in German, and Cantate de Noël in French. Christmas cantatas have been written on texts in several other languages, such as Czech, Italian, Romanian, and Spanish.

Contents

Christmas cantata can also mean the performance of the music. Many choirs have a tradition of an annual Christmas cantata.

Theme

Different from Christmas oratorios, which present the Christmas story, Christmas cantatas deal with aspects of it. Bach's Christmas Oratorio , written for performance in Leipzig in 1734/1735 touches many of these themes. It consists of six parts, each part is a complete work and composed for the church service of a specific feast day. Bach structured the report from the Gospels which connects the parts to a whole, as told by the Evangelist, in six topics. In Parts I to IV he followed the Gospel of Luke (Luke2:3–21), in Parts V and VI the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew2:1–12). In some instances he deviated from the prescribed readings, rather continuing the tradition of older works by Heinrich Schütz and others. [1]

These themes appear also in cantatas of later composers.

History

Many Christmas cantatas – as cantatas in general – were written in the Baroque era for church services, related to the prescribed readings of the liturgical year. Cantata texts frequently incorporated Bible quotations and chorale. Chorale cantatas rely on the text of one chorale only. Later composers also set free text, poems and carols.

Italian baroque

The cantata form originated in Italy, alongside the oratorio. Carissimi's pupil Marc-Antoine Charpentier brought the small-scale Latin Christmas oratorio to Paris (In nativitatem Domini canticum), while the vernacular Italian Christmas cantata was developed by composers such as Alessandro Stradella (Si apra al riso ogni labro 1675), Francesco Provenzale [2] (Per la nascita del Verbo 1683) and Alessandro Scarlatti in Naples, Antonio Caldara in Vienna (Vaticini di pace 1713).

German baroque

Bach

The best known Christmas cantatas today are those of Johann Sebastian Bach, who composed several cantatas for the three days of Christmas in his three annual cantata cycles (1723 to 1725), also before and afterwards:

In the works of Bach's second cycle of chorale cantatas (1724), the text of the chorale is kept for the outer stanzas, but rephrased in poetry for arias and recitatives in the other stanzas. His late cantata Gloria in excelsis Deo is derived from the Gloria in his Missa in B minor, which he had composed for the court of Dresden in 1733 and would later incorporate in his Mass in B minor . Therefore, the cantata is for five parts and in Latin. The text of the liturgical Gloria begins with the angels' song, as a link to the Christmas story.

Other German Baroque composers

Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel composed for the season 1736/1737 a structure of six cantatas for six feast days around Christmas, similar to Bach's Christmas Oratorio, including Kündlich groß ist das gottselige Geheimnis . [3] More of his Christmas cantatas were published in 2007 by Hofmeister. [4] Christmas cantatas were also composed by Georg Gebel, Christoph Graupner, Andreas Hammerschmidt, Arnold Brunckhorst, Johann Samuel Beyer, Philipp Buchner, David Pohle, Johann Hermann Schein and Thomas Selle, among others.

Classical period

During the Age of Enlightenment, church music was less prominent. In 1796 Jakub Jan Ryba wrote Česká mše vánoční, which tells within the frame of a Mass a Christmas story in Czech, set in pastoral Bohemia.

Romantic period

During the romantic era, Felix Mendelssohn composed the chorale cantata Vom Himmel hoch based on Luther's hymn " Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her ", and Josef Rheinberger wrote Der Stern von Bethlehem  [ de ] (The star of Bethlehem) on a text by his wife Franziska von Hoffnaaß. Christmas cantatas were also composed by Gerard von Brucken Fock (1900) and Charles H. Gabriel, among others.

20th century

In the 20th century, Benjamin Britten set in 1942 a sequence of carols as A Ceremony of Carols . His cantata Saint Nicolas , written in 1948, after World War II, has also been termed a Christmas cantata. Rudolf Mauersberger composed for the Dresdner Kreuzchor which he conducted, Eine kleine Weihnachtskantate (A little Christmas cantata). Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote Hodie, and Arthur Honegger composed as his last work Une cantate de Noël for the Basler Kammerchor and their founder Paul Sacher. [5] He began his work with a setting of Psalm 130 and continued with carols. [6] Christmas cantatas were also composed by Geoffrey Bush, Steve Dobrogosz, Geoffrey Grey, Iain Hamilton, Julius Harrison, Hans Uwe Hielscher, Mathilde Kralik, Ivana Loudová, Daniel Pinkham (1957), [7] Ned Rorem, K. Lee Scott, Otto Albert Tichý and Arnold van Wyk, among others. A Christmas cantata outside the classical music tradition was the 1986 project The Animals' Christmas by Jimmy Webb and Art Garfunkel.

In 1995, Bruckner's Fest-Kantate Preiset den Herrn, WAB 16, has undergone an adaptation as Festkantate zur Weihnacht (festive Christmas cantata) for mixed choir with Herbert Vogg’s text "Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe". [8] [9]

21st century

In the 21st century, new Christmas cantatas have been written among others by Toshio Hosokawa [10] and Graham Waterhouse. [11]

Scoring

All Christmas cantatas consist of several movements, most movements include solo and choral singing. The scoring can be chamber music to be performed by single singers and instruments, choir a cappella, and works for soloists, choir and orchestra. Several composers specifically asked for a children's choir. Trumpets feature prominently in many Baroque cantatas as the Royal instruments.

Cantatas

The table uses abbreviations: S = soprano, MS = mezzo-soprano, A = alto, T = tenor, Bar = baritone, B = bass, childr = children's choir, Str = strings, Instr = instruments, Tr = tromba (trumpet), Co = horn, Cn = cornett, Tb = trombone, Ti = timpani, Fl = recorder, Ft = flauto traverso, Ob = oboe, Oa = Oboe d'amore, Oc = Oboe da caccia, Vn = violin, Va = viola, Vc = cello, Fg = bassoon, Org = organ, Bc = basso continuo

ComposerbornCantata titleNo.TextcomposedScoringPremiereNotes
1624Sui palchi delle stelle1689S
2Vl Bc		 [12]
1640?L'Adoratione de' Maggi16766 voices [13]
Uns ist ein Kind geboren BWV 142Erdmann Neumeister1711–56A T B SATB
2Fl 2Ob 2Vl Va Bc		first attributed to Bach
1663Uns ist ein Kind geborenS A T B SATB
Ob Fg 2Vl 2Va Bc		 [14] and others
1670?Nun zeiget der Himmel die schönsten Gebärden / In festo nativitate ChristiS A T B SATB
6 Instr Bc
1681Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe [15]
In festo nativitatis		TWV 1:412S A T B SATB
3Tr Ti Str Bc
1681 Uns ist ein Kind geboren [16] [17] TWV 1:1451Erdmann NeumeisterS A T B SATB
3Tr Ti 2Ft 2Ob Str Bc
1685 Christen, ätzet diesen Tag BWV 63 Johann Michael Heineccius?1713?S A T B SATB
4Tr Ti 3Ob Fg 2Vl Va Bc		First Day
1685 Sehet, welch eine Liebe hat uns der Vater erzeiget BWV 641723S A B SATB
Cn 3Tb Oa 2Vl Va Bc		Third Day
1685 Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ BWV 91"Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ"1724S A T B SATB
2Co Ti 3Ob 2Vl Va Bc		chorale
1685 Christum wir sollen loben schon BWV 121" Christum wir sollen loben schon "1724S A T B SATB
Cn 3Tr Oa 2Vl Va Bc		Second Day, chorale
1685 Ich freue mich in dir BWV 133hymn by Caspar Ziegler 1724S A T B SATB
Cn 2Oa 2Vl Va Bc		Third Day, chorale
1685 Unser Mund sei voll Lachens BWV 110 Georg Christian Lehms 1725S B SATB
3Tr Ti 2Ft 3Ob Oa Oc Fg 2Vl Va Bc		First Day
1685 Selig ist der Mann BWV 57 Georg Christian Lehms 1725S B SATB
2Ob 2Vl Va Bc		Second Day
1685 Gloria in excelsis Deo BWV 191 Gloria, Doxology 1745S T SSATB
3Tr Ti 2Ft 2Ob 2Vl Va Bc		First Day
1690 Kündlich groß ist das gottselige Geheimnis 1736S A SATB
Ob 2Vl Va Bc		Third Day
1777Weihnachtskantateop. 73 [18]
1809 Vom Himmel hoch MWV A 10" Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her "1831S Bar SSATB
orchestra		chorale
1839Der Stern von BethlehemFranziska von Hoffnaaß1891soli choir
orchestra
1858BethlehemCatharine Morgan1939?in the manner of the medieval miracle play
1859The Message of the Angels1910
1860Die Geburt Jesuop. 18Bible1910soli choir
orchestra
1872 Hodie Ursula Vaughan Williams [19] 1953–54S T Bar choir
orchestra		 [5]
1879Lauda per la Natività del Signore Jacopone da Todi?1930S MS T SSAATTBB
woodwinds, piano 4 hands		 [5]
1882Der gläserne Berg, Weihnachtsmärchenop. 391928
1882Weihnachtskantateop. 521934–37S Bar
choir
orchestra
1889 Weihnachtszyklus der Kruzianer  [ de ]1944–46soli choir SATB SATB a cappella (piano)
1889Eine kleine Weihnachtskantate1948
1890Cantate pour le temps de Noel1929–30
1893 Dies natalis Thomas Traherne 1939S (T)
Str
1893 Une cantate de Noël Ps. 130, Lieder1952–53Bar choir childr
Org orchestra		 [5]
1908Weihnachtskantateop. 27 Matthias Claudius 1950–51S A SSATBB
orchestra		published by Schott [20]
1913 A Ceremony of Carols op. 281942boys' choir
harp		 [5]
1913Born a Kingsoli choir
Org
1926A Hymn of the Nativity Richard Crashaw
1927L'enfant à L'étoile1960
1927 Navidad Nuestra  [ de ] Félix Luna 1963S T choir
South American instr
1931Adoremus1959A T SATB
Org
1933A Christmas Cantata2002S Bar chamber choir
big band		St Matthew and carols, recorded [21]
1934Festkantate zur WeihnachtHerbert Vogg1995SATB choir
Wind Instr, Org		29 April 1996, ViennaAdaptation Bruckner's Fest-Kantate
1945Christmas Cantata2001MS SATB
2Tr 2Tb Ti Org
1947The Nativity Cantata2004
1950Vánoční chvalozpěv1973soli choir
orchestra
1952A Wreath of Anthemsvarious American poets1990SATB
orchestra
1955Weihnachtskantateanon.2002S A choir
orchestra		published by Schott [10]
1962A Little Book of Southern Carols2008SSA (treble or boy's choir) treble vocal soli
piano, handbells (or chimes), percussion, and violin (or flute/recorder), and viola		2008published by Montgomery Arts House Press
1962Der Anfang einer neuen Zeit Hans Krieger 2011S Bar choir childr
Str (Org)		 [11]
1977A newborn child, before eternity, God!1996soli choir
brass band, Org, percussion

Literature

Related Research Articles

Throughout his life as a musician, Johann Sebastian Bach composed cantatas for both secular and sacred use. His church cantatas are cantatas which he composed for use in the Lutheran church, mainly intended for the occasions of the liturgical year.

<i>Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen</i>, BWV 11 Oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach (1729)

Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen, BWV 11, known as the Ascension Oratorio, is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach, marked by him as Oratorium In Festo Ascensionis Xsti, composed for the service for Ascension and probably first performed on 15 May 1738.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bach cantata</span> Cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach

The cantatas composed by Johann Sebastian Bach, known as Bach cantatas, are a body of work consisting of over 200 surviving independent works, and at least several dozen that are considered lost. As far as known, Bach's earliest cantatas date from 1707, the year he moved to Mühlhausen, although he may have begun composing them at his previous post in Arnstadt. Most of Bach's church cantatas date from his first years as Thomaskantor and director of church music in Leipzig, a position which he took up in 1723.

<i>Wer da gläubet und getauft wird</i>, BWV 37

Wer da gläubet und getauft wird, BWV 37, is a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach, a church cantata for the feast of the Ascension of Jesus. Bach composed it in Leipzig and first performed it on 18 May 1724.

<i>Darzu ist erschienen der Sohn Gottes</i>, BWV 40 Church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach

Darzu ist erschienen der Sohn Gottes, BWV 40, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in 1723, his first year in Leipzig, for the Second Day of Christmas, and first performed it on 26 December that year in both main churches, Thomaskirche and Nikolaikirche. It was the first Christmas cantata Bach composed for Leipzig. The title of the cantata also appears in more modern German as Dazu ist erschienen der Sohn Gottes.

O ewiges Feuer, o Ursprung der Liebe, BWV 34.2 is an incomplete wedding cantata composed by Johann Sebastian Bach, of which only the complete libretto and some parts have survived.

<i>Entfliehet, verschwindet, entweichet, ihr Sorgen</i>, BWV 249a

Entfliehet, verschwindet, entweichet, ihr Sorgen, BWV 249a, is a secular cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. First performed in 1725, the work is also known as "Shepherd Cantata" or "Shepherds' Cantata". Bach reworked the music in his Easter Oratorio.

<i>Selig ist der Mann</i>, BWV 57 Church cantata by Bach

Selig ist der Mann, BWV 57, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He wrote the Christmas cantata in Leipzig in 1725 for the Second Day of Christmas, which was celebrated that year as St. Stephen's Day, and first performed it on 26 December 1725.

<i>Du Hirte Israel, höre</i>, BWV 104 Church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach

Du Hirte Israel, höre, BWV 104, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it for the second Sunday after Easter in Leipzig and first performed it on 23 April 1724.

<i>Gelobet sei der Herr, mein Gott</i>, BWV 129

Gelobet sei der Herr, mein Gott, BWV 129, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. It is a chorale cantata performed on Trinity Sunday 8 June 1727 in Leipzig. Rediscovery of the printed libretto of the cantata in the first decade of the 21st century led to a re-appraisal of prior assumptions regarding the early performance chronology of a few cantatas, including this one.

<i>Liebster Immanuel, Herzog der Frommen</i>, BWV 123 Chorale cantata by JS Bach for Epiphany

Liebster Immanuel, Herzog der Frommen, BWV 123, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed the chorale cantata in Leipzig for Epiphany and first performed it on 6 January 1725. It is based on the hymn by Ahasverus Fritsch (1679).

<i>Meinen Jesum laß ich nicht</i>, BWV 124

Meinen Jesum laß ich nicht, BWV 124, is a church cantata written by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed the chorale cantata in Leipzig for the first Sunday after the Epiphany and first performed it on 7 January 1725. It is based on the hymn "Meinen Jesum laß ich nicht" by Christian Keymann.

There are 52 chorale cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach surviving in at least one complete version. Around 40 of these were composed during his second year as Thomaskantor in Leipzig, which started after Trinity Sunday 4 June 1724, and form the backbone of his chorale cantata cycle. The eldest known cantata by Bach, an early version of Christ lag in Todes Banden, BWV 4, presumably written in 1707, was a chorale cantata. The last chorale cantata he wrote in his second year in Leipzig was Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, BWV 1, first performed on Palm Sunday, 25 March 1725. In the ten years after that he wrote at least a dozen further chorale cantatas and other cantatas that were added to his chorale cantata cycle.

<i>Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt</i>, BWV 68

Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt, BWV 68, is a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach, a church cantata for the second day of Pentecost. Bach composed the cantata in Leipzig and first performed it on 21 May 1725. It is one of nine cantatas on texts by Christiana Mariana von Ziegler, which Bach composed at the end of his second annual cycle of cantatas in Leipzig. In a unique structure among Bach's church cantatas, it begins with a chorale and ends with a complex choral movement on a quotation from the Gospel of John. Bach derived the two arias from his Hunting Cantata.

<i>Wohl dem, der sich auf seinen Gott</i>, BWV 139

Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata Wohl dem, der sich auf seinen Gott, BWV 139, in Leipzig for the 23rd Sunday after Trinity and first performed it on 12 November 1724. The chorale cantata is based on the hymn by Johann Christoph Rube (1692).

Das neugeborne Kindelein, BWV 122, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach composed the chorale cantata in six movements in Leipzig for the Sunday after Christmas and first performed it on 31 December 1724.

Johann Sebastian Bach's chorale cantata cycle is the year-cycle of church cantatas he started composing in Leipzig from the first Sunday after Trinity in 1724. It followed the cantata cycle he had composed from his appointment as Thomaskantor after Trinity in 1723.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church cantatas of Bach's third to fifth year in Leipzig</span>

On Trinity Sunday 27 May 1725 Johann Sebastian Bach had presented the last cantata of his second cantata cycle, the cycle which coincided with his second year in Leipzig. As director musices of the principal churches in Leipzig he presented a variety of cantatas over the next three years. New cantatas for occasions of the liturgical year composed in this period, except for a few in the chorale cantata format, are known as Bach's third cantata cycle. His next cycle of church cantatas, the Picander cycle, did not start before St. John's Day 24 June 1728.

Late church cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach refers to sacred cantatas he composed after his fourth cycle of 1728–29. Whether Bach still composed a full cantata cycle in the last 20 years of his life is not known, but the extant cantatas of this period written for occasions of the liturgical year are sometimes referred to as his fifth cycle, as, according to his obituary, he would have written five such cycles – inasmuch as such cantatas were not late additions to earlier cycles, or were adopted in his oratorios.

References

  1. ↑ Walter Blankenburg: Das Weihnachtsoratorium von Johann Sebastian Bach. 2003, pp. 34–35.
  2. ↑ Dinko Fabris Francesco Provenzale 2007
  3. ↑ David Vernier (2005). "Stölzel: Christmas Oratorio – Epistle Cantatas" (in German). ArkivMusik. Archived from the original on 10 December 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
  4. ↑ "Edition Denkmäler Mitteldeutscher Barockmusik" (in German). mitteldeutsche-barockmusik.de. 2011. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Benjamin G. Cohrs (2 December 2002). "Weihnachtskantaten – einmal anders" (in German). klassik-heute.com. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
  6. ↑ "Une Cantate de Noël". Hyperion Records. 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
  7. ↑ "Daniel Pinkham, Christmas Cantata", choralnet.org
  8. ↑ Cornelis van Zwol, Anton Bruckner - Leven en Werken , Thot, Bussum (Netherlands), 2012, p. 713-714
  9. ↑ Uwe Harten, Anton Bruckner. Ein Handbuch. Residenz Verlag  [ de ], Salzburg, 1996, p. 152-153
  10. 1 2 "Weihnachtskantate Komponist: Toshio Hosokawa". Schott . Retrieved 8 December 2011.
  11. 1 2 "Der Anfang einer neuen Zeit". Graham Waterhouse . Retrieved 7 December 2011.
  12. ↑ Dinko Fabris (2007). Music in seventeenth-century Naples: Francesco Provenzale (1624–1704). Ashgate Publishing. ISBN   9780754637219 . Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  13. ↑ "L'Adoratione de' Maggi". arkivmusic.com. 2010. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  14. ↑ "Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow: Uns ist ein Kind geboren". Carus-Verlag. 2011. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
  15. ↑ "Fête de Noël" section at Georg Philipp Telemann, Catalogue TWV 01: Cantates d'église, Temps de Noël ( www.musiqueorguequebec.ca )
  16. ↑ Spitta's Johann Sebastian Bach: Vol. I, pp. 487–491 (English version)
  17. ↑ RISM   454600660; RISM   450004696; RISM   230001286; RISM   250005337
  18. ↑ "Christian Heinrich Rinck (1770–1846)". musicweb-international.com. 2008. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  19. ↑ "Ursula Vaughan Williams (obituary)". The Times . 25 October 2007.
  20. ↑ "Weihnachtskantate Komponist: Kurt Hessenberg". Schott. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
  21. ↑ John France (2004). "Nils LINDBERG (b. 1933) / A Christmas Cantata (2002)". musicweb-international.com. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.