"Luke Passion"", René Clemencic's ""Kabbala"", and Osvaldo Golijov's ""La Pasión según San Marcos"". Mauricio Kagel composed ""Sankt-Bach-Passion"", an oratorio about Bach's life, for the tercenary of his birth in 1985. Oratorios by popular musicians include Léo Ferré's ""La Chanson du mal-aimé"" (1954 and 1972), based on Guillaume Apollinaire's poem of the same name, and ""Paul McCartney's Liverpool Oratorio"" (1991). When Dudley Buck composed his oratorio ""The Light of Asia"" in 1886, it became the first in the history of the genre to be based on the life of Buddha. Several late 20th and early 21st-century oratorios have since been based"
"likely collaborator was Christian Friedrich Henrici (Picander). The work belongs to a group of three oratorios written in 1734 and 1735 for major feasts, the other two works being the ""Ascension Oratorio"" (BWV 11) and the ""Easter Oratorio"" (BWV 249). All three of these oratorios to some degree parody earlier compositions. The ""Christmas Oratorio"" is by far the longest and most complex work of the three. The ""Christmas Oratorio"" is in six parts, each part being intended for performance on one of the major feast days of the Christmas period. The piece is often presented as a whole or split"
"Christmas carol A Christmas carol (also called a noël, from the French word meaning ""Christmas"") is a carol (song or hymn) whose lyrics are on the theme of Christmas, and which is traditionally sung on Christmas itself or during the surrounding holiday season. Christmas carols may be regarded as a subset of the broader category of Christmas music. The first known Christmas hymns may be traced to 4th-century Rome. Latin hymns such as ""Veni redemptor gentium"", written by Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan, were austere statements of the theological doctrine of the Incarnation in opposition to Arianism. ""Corde natus ex Parentis"""
"attempted by Bernhard Todt (1904), Walther Reinhart (1948), Olivier Alain (1971), Diethard Hellmann (1995), Ton Koopman and Levente Gyöngyösi. In his ""Christmas Oratorio"" of 1734, Bach dedicated the complete Part IV for New Year's Day to the naming of Jesus, told in the one verse from the Gospel of Luke, first performed on 1 January 1735. The cantata in seven movements is festively scored for alto, tenor and bass soloists, a four-part choir, three trumpets, timpani, three oboes, oboe d'amore, two violins, viola, and basso continuo including bassoon. The instrumentation is known from the extant closing chorale, although most parts"
"""Christmas Oratorio"". Bach held the position of ""Thomaskantor"" (director of church music) in Leipzig from 1723. During his first year, beginning with the first Sunday after Trinity, he had written a first cycle of cantatas for the occasions of the liturgical year. In his second year he composed a second annual cycle of cantatas, which was planned to consist exclusively of chorale cantatas, each based on one Lutheran chorale. As Easter was early in 1725, there was no fourth Sunday after Epiphany that year. In 1735, shortly after the first performance of his ""Christmas Oratorio"", Bach seems to have desired"
"Oratorio de Noël The Oratorio de Noël, Op. 12, by Camille Saint-Saëns, also known as his Christmas Oratorio, is a cantata-like work scored for soloists, chorus, strings and harp. While an organist at La Madeleine, Saint-Saëns wrote the oratorio in less than a fortnight, completing it ten days before its premiere on Christmas 1858. The vocal score of this oratorio was prepared later by the composer and organist Eugene Gigout, a colleague of Saint-Saëns. The work is scored for five soloists (soprano, mezzo-soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone), SATB mixed chorus, organ, harp, and strings in the standard five sections. The"
"Christmas Lullaby Christmas Lullaby is a popular sacred choral composition by John Rutter, a lullaby for Christmas. He wrote his own text, beginning ""Clear in the darkness"", three stanzas with the refrain ""Ave Maria"". Rutter scored the piece for four vocal parts (SATB) and piano, adding other versions. He composed it on a 1989 commission from The Bach Choir for the celebration of the 70th birthday of their conductor David Willcocks. It was first performed at the choir's Christmas concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London, an event that Rutter knew from being a member of the audience as"
"are often reenacted outdoors in the streets. The earliest extant specifically Christmas hymns appear in fourth-century Rome. Latin hymns such as ""Veni redemptor gentium"", written by Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan, were austere statements of the theological doctrine of the Incarnation in opposition to Arianism. ""Corde natus ex Parentis"" (""Of the Father's love begotten"") by the Spanish poet Prudentius (d. 413) is still sung in some churches today. In the 9th and 10th centuries, the Christmas ""Sequence"" or ""Prose"" was introduced in North European monasteries, developing under Bernard of Clairvaux into a sequence of rhymed stanzas. In the 12th century the"
"hymn as a motet a cappella for three parts, and Michael Praetorius composed various settings. Johann Hermann Schein wrote a cantata for three parts in 1618, Johann Crüger set it for four voices, two obbligato instruments (violins) and continuo. Johann Sebastian Bach's used single stanzas for Christmas music, he inserted stanza 7 in his cantata """", written for the Third Day of Christmas 1723, and included in his ""Christmas Oratorio"" both stanza 6 in movement 7 in combination with recitative and stanza 7 in movement 28. Bach used the complete chorale as the base for his chorale cantata , composed"
"a four-part choir and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of two horns, two recorders, two oboes da caccia, strings and basso continuo. All recitatives are secco, but the full orchestra plays for the opening chorus, the last aria and the closing chorale. Bach wrote the cantata in 1724, in his first year as ""Thomaskantor"" (director of church music) in Leipzig, to conclude his first Christmas season on the Feast of Epiphany. For the celebrations on three days of Christmas, New Year's Day and the following Sunday, he had performed five cantatas, four of them new compositions, the Magnificat and a new"
"While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks ""While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks"" is a Christmas carol describing the Annunciation to the Shepherds, with words attributed to Irish hymnist, lyricist and England's Poet Laureate Nahum Tate. The exact date of Tate's composition is not known, but the words appeared in Tate and Nicholas Brady's 1700 supplement to their ""New Version of the Psalms of David"" of 1696. It was the only Christmas hymn authorised to be sung by the Anglican Church; before 1700 only the Psalms of David were permitted to be sung. It is written in common metre and based on the"
"and 4 to movement 3, an aria, stanza 5 to a recitative, and stanza 6 again to an aria. Bach performed the cantata again four more times on 25 December, in 1731, in 1732 or 1733, and twice in the 1740s, even after his ""Christmas Oratorio"" had been first performed in 1734, which also uses two stanzas of Luther's chorale. The cantata in six movements is festively scored for soprano, alto, tenor, and bass, a four-part choir, two horns, timpani, three oboes, two violins, viola and basso continuo. He would later use the pair of horns in Part IV of"
"is a psalm that is prescribed for Christmas Day and also to be read at morning prayer on the fourth day of the month. In 1679, he wrote songs for John Playford's ""Choice Ayres, Songs and Dialogues"" and an anthem, the name of which is unknown, for the Chapel Royal. From an extant letter written by Thomas Purcell we learn that this anthem was composed for the exceptionally fine voice of the Rev. John Gostling, then at Canterbury, but afterwards a gentleman of His Majesty's Chapel. Purcell wrote several anthems at different times for Gostling's extraordinary basso profondo voice, which"
"Christmas Concerto (Corelli) Concerto grosso in G minor, Op. 6, No. 8 by Arcangelo Corelli, known commonly as the Christmas Concerto, was commissioned by Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni and published posthumously in 1714 as part of Corelli's ""Twelve concerti grossi, Op. 6"". The concerto bears the inscription """" (made for the night of Christmas). Its composition date is uncertain, but there is a record of Corelli having performed a Christmas concerto in 1690 for the enjoyment of his new patron. The concerto is scored for an ensemble consisting of two concertino violins and cello, ripieno strings and continuo. The work is"
"York, 1961). Phillips Brooks Phillips Brooks (December 13, 1835January 23, 1893) was an American Episcopal clergyman and author, long the Rector of Boston's Trinity Church and briefly Bishop of Massachusetts, and particularly remembered as lyricist of the Christmas hymn, ""O Little Town of Bethlehem"". In the Episcopal liturgical calendar he is remembered on January23. Born in Boston, Brooks was descended through his father, William Gray Brooks, from the Rev. John Cotton; through his mother, Mary Ann Phillips, he was a great-grandson of Samuel Phillips, Jr., founder of Phillips Academy (Andover, Massachusetts). Three of Brooks' five brothersFrederic, Arthur and John Cottonwere"
"messages. Christus (Liszt) Christus (S.3, composed 1862-1866) is an oratorio by the Hungarian composer and pianist Franz Liszt. The oratorio takes the traditional plot of Jesus Christ's life from his birth to his passion and resurrection, using Bible texts, and is thus somewhat reminiscent of another famous religious work, ""Messiah"" by George Frideric Handel. When Liszt, after his prolific Weimar years, moved to Rome in 1861, the majority of his works for the next ten years would be religious music for choir. The composition of his most famous oratorio, ""Christus"", occupied Liszt from 1862 to 1866, with shorter or longer"
"Veni redemptor gentium ""Veni redemptor gentium"" (Come, Redeemer of the nations) is a Latin Advent or Christmas hymn by Ambrose in 88 88 iambic dimeter. The hymn is assigned to the Office of Readings for Advent, from December 17 through December 24, in the Liturgy of the Hours. The later hymn ""Veni Creator Spiritus"" borrows two lines from the hymn (""Infirma nostri corporis — Virtute firmans perpeti""). ""Veni redemptor gentium"" was particularly popular in Germany where Martin Luther translated it into German as ""Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland,"" which then he, or possibly Johann Walter, set as a chorale, based"
"L'enfance du Christ L'enfance du Christ (""The Childhood of Christ""), Opus 25, is an oratorio by the French composer Hector Berlioz, based on the Holy Family's flight into Egypt (see Gospel of Matthew 2:13). Berlioz wrote his own words for the piece. Most of it was composed in 1853 and 1854, but it also incorporates an earlier work ""La fuite en Egypte"" (1850). It was first performed at the Salle Herz, Paris on 10 December 1854, with Berlioz conducting and soloists from the Opéra-Comique: Jourdan (Récitant), Depassio (Hérode), the couple Meillet (Marie and Joseph) and Bataille (Le père de famille)."
"Christus (Liszt) Christus (S.3, composed 1862-1866) is an oratorio by the Hungarian composer and pianist Franz Liszt. The oratorio takes the traditional plot of Jesus Christ's life from his birth to his passion and resurrection, using Bible texts, and is thus somewhat reminiscent of another famous religious work, ""Messiah"" by George Frideric Handel. When Liszt, after his prolific Weimar years, moved to Rome in 1861, the majority of his works for the next ten years would be religious music for choir. The composition of his most famous oratorio, ""Christus"", occupied Liszt from 1862 to 1866, with shorter or longer pauses."
"Phillips Brooks Phillips Brooks (December 13, 1835January 23, 1893) was an American Episcopal clergyman and author, long the Rector of Boston's Trinity Church and briefly Bishop of Massachusetts, and particularly remembered as lyricist of the Christmas hymn, ""O Little Town of Bethlehem"". In the Episcopal liturgical calendar he is remembered on January23. Born in Boston, Brooks was descended through his father, William Gray Brooks, from the Rev. John Cotton; through his mother, Mary Ann Phillips, he was a great-grandson of Samuel Phillips, Jr., founder of Phillips Academy (Andover, Massachusetts). Three of Brooks' five brothersFrederic, Arthur and John Cottonwere eventually ordained"
"Conditor alme siderum Conditor alme siderum is a seventh-century Latin hymn used during the Christian liturgical season of Advent. It was formerly ascribed to Saint Ambrose, but there is no contemporaneous evidence to support the attribution. The hymn has been mainly used in the Divine Office at Vespers An English translation by J.M. Neale is the well-known Advent hymn Creator of the Stars of Night. The hymn was rewritten by Pope Urban VIII in 1632, changing it so extensively that only the second line of the original hymn remained unchanged. The revision, which begins Creator alme siderum, in effect makes"
"1738 ""Missa in F major"", BWV 233. For the festive occasion, the cantata is scored for three vocal soloists—alto, tenor and bass—a four-part choir, two horns (corno da caccia), two oboes, two violins, viola and basso continuo. Bach later used a similar scoring in Part IV of his ""Christmas Oratorio"", to be performed on New Year's Day. The cantata consists of eight movements: According to musicologist Julian Mincham, the cantata has three sections, each concluded by a chorale: Bach used material from the chorales in his own composition, for example deriving the first horn motif from the beginning of the"
"his ""Christmas Oratorio"". In this cantata, the first insertion is from a hymn that Bach would later use at the end of Part III of his Christmas Oratorio, sung to the earlier melody (1589) by an anonymous composer. The second insertion is not from a Christmas hymn, but its addressing the ""alte Schlange"" (old serpent) matches the context. It is sung to a melody possibly composed by Friedrich Funcke. The closing chorale is sung to a melody by Andreas Hammerschmidt, published in his collection (Fourth part of musical meditations) in Freiberg, Saxony (1646). The cantata was the first Christmas cantata"
"1746. The oratorio's most famous chorus is ""See, the conqu'ring hero comes"". The tune of this chorus was later adopted as a Christian Easter hymn tune ""Thine Be The Glory, Risen Conquering Son"". A Hebrew translation of Handel's ""Judas Maccabaeus"" was prepared for the 1932 Maccabiah Games and is now popular in Israel with the motif of ""conqu'ring hero"" becoming a Hanukkah song. Beethoven composed a set of theme and variations 12 Variations on 'See the conqu'ring hero comes' for Cello and Piano, WoO 45. Tom Lehrer refers to Judas Maccabeus in his song ""Hanukkah in Santa Monica"". Mirah refers"
"it in the score of the Sanctus, which he also composed for Christmas in 1724 and later made part of his Mass in B minor. The cornetto plays the cantus firmus with the soprano, the oboes play with violin II and viola, whereas violin 1 ""shines above the rest"". The lower voices are set mostly in homophony, with the exception of expressing """" (the great son of God). John Eliot Gardiner summarizes: ""I find it hard to imagine music that conveys more persuasively the essence, the exuberance and the sheer exhilaration of Christmas than the opening chorus of BWV 133""."
"in the manger. In the third stanza, all are called to revere ""with hearts full of love."" The ""Ave Maria"" returns, this last time with some counterpoint for a climax, but ending in the same soft homophony as before. Christmas Lullaby Christmas Lullaby is a popular sacred choral composition by John Rutter, a lullaby for Christmas. He wrote his own text, beginning ""Clear in the darkness"", three stanzas with the refrain ""Ave Maria"". Rutter scored the piece for four vocal parts (SATB) and piano, adding other versions. He composed it on a 1989 commission from The Bach Choir for the"
"O Holy Night ""O Holy Night"" () is a well-known Christmas carol composed by Adolphe Adam in 1847 to the French poem ""Minuit, chrétiens"" (Midnight, Christians) written by wine merchant and poet Placide Cappeau (1808–1877). In both the French original and the English version of the carol, as well as in many other languages, the text reflects on the birth of Jesus and on humanity's redemption. In Roquemaure at the end of 1843, the church organ had recently been renovated. To celebrate the event, the parish priest asked wine merchant and poet Placide Cappeau, a native of the town, to"
"cantata for his first Christmas as because ""an inspired piece that commenced and concluded with impressive choruses, was exactly the right work for the occasion and nothing new was likely to eclipse it."" It demanded the largest group of performers since Bach had begun his post half a year before, asking for four trumpets, timpani and three oboes in addition to the regular four voice parts and strings. Bach performed the cantata in Leipzig at least one more time, possibly in 1729. The cantata in seven movements is festively scored for four vocal soloists (soprano, alto, tenor, and bass), a"
"already in 1725. The composition for Ascension appeared thus in the same liturgical year as the ""Christmas Oratorio"". The text for the ""Ascension Oratorio"", a compilation of several biblical sources, free poetry and chorales, was presumably written by Picander who had written the libretti for the ""St Matthew Passion"" and the ""Christmas Oratorio"", among others. It follows the story of the Ascension as told in Luke, Mark and the Acts of the Apostles. The bible narration is compiled from multiple sources: the first recitative of the Evangelist (movement 2) is from , the second (5) from and , the third"
"We Three Kings ""We Three Kings"", original title ""Three Kings of Orient"", also known as ""We Three Kings of Orient Are"" or ""The Quest of the Magi"", is a Christmas carol that was written by John Henry Hopkins Jr. in 1857. At the time of composing the carol, Hopkins served as the rector of Christ Episcopal Church in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and he wrote the carol for a Christmas pageant in New York City. Many versions of this song have been composed and it remains a popular Christmas carol. [as printed in Hopkins, ""Carols, Hymns and Songs""] John Henry Hopkins Jr."
"for Christmas songs. ""We Three Kings"" was also included in the ""Oxford Book of Carols"" published in 1928, which praised the song as ""one of the most successful of modern composed carols."" We Three Kings ""We Three Kings"", original title ""Three Kings of Orient"", also known as ""We Three Kings of Orient Are"" or ""The Quest of the Magi"", is a Christmas carol that was written by John Henry Hopkins Jr. in 1857. At the time of composing the carol, Hopkins served as the rector of Christ Episcopal Church in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and he wrote the carol for a Christmas"
"three days. The prescribed readings for the feast day were from the ""Epistle of Titus"", ""God's mercy appeared"" () or from ""Isaiah"", ""Unto us a child is born"" (), and from the ""Gospel of Luke"", the Nativity, Annunciation to the shepherds and the angels' song (). In 1723, his first year in Leipzig, Bach had composed no new cantata for Christmas Day, but revived ""Christen, ätzet diesen Tag"", BWV 63, on a text of free poetry without any biblical or chorale content. That year, he composed new works for the second and third feast day. In 1724, his second year,"
"Dinner Party"". The famous 40-voice motet ""Spem in alium"" by English composer Thomas Tallis, is a setting of a text from the Book of Judith. The story also inspired oratorios by Antonio Vivaldi, W. A. Mozart and Hubert Parry, and an operetta by Jacob Pavlovitch Adler. Alessandro Scarlatti wrote an oratorio in 1693, ""La Giuditta"", as did the Portuguese composer Francisco António de Almeida in 1726; ""Juditha triumphans"" was written in 1716 by Antonio Vivaldi; Mozart composed in 1771 ""La Betulia Liberata"" (KV 118), to a libretto by Pietro Metastasio. Arthur Honegger composed an oratorio, ""Judith"", in 1925 to a"