For many music lovers, Christmas without the Christmas Oratorio is unthinkable. At the Cologne Philharmonic Hall, it is on the programme twice: once as »the original« with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment conducted by Masaaki Suzuki on 1 December, and once as »urban house music« on 8 December. The Hamburg ensemble Resonanz has arranged thirty arias, recitatives, choruses and chorales from Bach's masterpiece without a large choir and with a small ensemble featuring electric guitar, Hammond organ and just one trumpet.
In the latest podcast episode, Christoph Vratz explains what an oratorio is as a genre, why Johann Sebastian Bach only worked with this musical form for two years (1734/35) and was able to produce three oratorios during this time (keyword: recycling), and where the music and lyrics of the six-part Christmas Oratorio come from.