Christmas Cantatas 2025. Conductor benjamin bayl has chosen a jubilant collection of bach’s masterwork for this. The narration explores god’s light contrasted with the world’s darkness, and how.
Originally conceived for leipzig’s christmas celebrations in 1734, bach’s christmas oratorio retains all its joy and colour nearly three centuries later, in vivid musical depictions of the nativity and the shepherds’ adoration. The cantata choruses are often homophonic and songlike, polyphonic sections rather rare.