Orchestre de chambre de Bâle

Back in Dijon with one of Europe's finest children's choirs, the Basel Chamber Orchestra opens the doors to one of Thomaskantor's masterpieces, his Christmas Oratorio.

Written in Leipzig between 1734 and 1735, the Christmas Oratorio is, like the Passions, one of Bach's most impressive liturgical creations. The drama alternates between recitatives on the text of the Gospels, choruses and arias in free verse probably written by Picander (and Bach himself!), and the great chorales characteristic of the Lutheran tradition. The elation that seizes the world at the coming of the Saviour, the sweetness of the Adoration of the Shepherds and the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple make up the first sections of this sublime liturgical action, in which the brilliance of the trumpets often gives way to the sweetness of the flute. Reusing earlier works, Bach has assembled an eternal Christmas poem for the parishioners of St Thomas's Church and for posterity.