Description
Bach: Jauchzet, frohlocket! - Christmas Oratorio, Arias & Choruses - John Eliot Gardiner / Archiv Produktion Audio CD / 00289 479 1758
UPC 028947917588
Jauchzet, frohlocket! Auf, preiset die Tage (Shout for joy, exult, rise up, praise the day), BWV 248I (also written as BWV 248 I), is a 1734 Christmas cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach that serves as the first part of his Christmas Oratorio. Bach was then Thomaskantor, responsible for church music at four churches in Leipzig, a position he had assumed in 1723. For the oratorio, the libretto by an unknown author followed the nativity of Jesus from the Gospel of Luke, interspersed with reflecting texts for recitatives and arias, and stanzas from Lutheran hymns.
The cantata is structured in nine movements. An extended choral introduction is followed by two scenes, each a sequence of four movements. Both scenes are composed of a quotation from the Gospel of Luke, a recitative reflecting the narration, an aria-like prayer or meditation, and a chorale setting a stanza from a Lutheran hymn. Bach scored the cantata for three vocal soloists, a four-part choir and a festive Baroque orchestra with trumpets, timpani, flutes, oboes and strings. A tenor soloist narrates the Biblical story in secco recitative, as the Evangelist. There are two chorales: a four-part setting of Paul Gerhardt's "Wie soll ich dich empfangen" and a closing score with an independent orchestra set to text for a stanza from Martin Luther's "Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her".
The opening movement and the two arias rely on secular cantatas composed for members of the Dresden court. The opening and one aria are based on Tönet, ihr Pauken! Erschallet, Trompeten! (Resound, ye drums! Ring out, ye trumpets!), BWV 214, which he had composed for the birthday of Maria Josepha of Saxony on 8 December 1733. The other aria is based on Laßt uns sorgen, laßt uns wachen, BWV 213, written for the 11th birthday of Crown Prince Friedrich Christian the same year.
Bach led the first performances with the Thomanerchor at the two main churches of Leipzig on 25 December 1734 during morning and vespers services.
| Label: | Archiv Produktion – 00289 479 1758 |
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| Format: |
CD, Album
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| Country: | Europe |
| Released: |
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| Genre: | Classical |
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Christmas Oratorio; Arias & Choruses BWV 248
- Soprano - Nancy Argenta
- Soprano (echo) - Katie Pringle
- Mezzo-soprano - Anne Sofie von Otter
- Tenor - Hans Peter Blochwitz
- Bass - Olaf Bar
