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On-line Book ReviewYO TOMITA |
| FRONT COVER | OVERVIEW | ||||||||||||||||||
Dimension: 23.3 x 17.6 x 1.4 cm |
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ach’s Christmas Oratoriois gaining popularity in recent years. It was one of the mysteries in my mind for a long time why we did not hear it more often in concerts particularly at the Christmas season. The first part (‘Jauchzet, frohlocket’), in particular, is an excellent choice for any celebratory occasions: its pompous, joyous opening lifts up the listeners’ spirit almost instantly. |
Anyhow, this lack of public interest in the past perhaps explains why there aren’t much that have been written about this work, particularly in English. As far as I know, this is the first published monograph on this work in English. Originally published in Dutch in 2002, and this English edition is set to fill this curious vacuum in Bach literature. (For your information, the next substantial commentary on this work in English is by Charles Sanford Terry who published a series of four articles in the Musical Times in 1930.)
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Contents
Author’s note for the English translation To the reader Introduction
The setting: Leipzig, 1734/1735 The Christmas Oratorio: an oratorio? The liturgical function of the Christmas Oratorio The themes and the ‘libretto’: Lutheran orthodoxy and Pietism The overall structure The parody ‘problem’
The Gospel text: the story The Gospel text: direct speech The chorale The poetic interpolations Chorus Recitativo accompagnato Aria The instrumentation
I. Jauchzet, frohlocket, auf, preiset die Tage II. Sinfonia – Und es waren Hirten in derselben Gegend III. Herrscher des Himmels IV. Fallt mit Danken, fallt mit Loben V. Ehre sei dir, Gott, gesungen VI. H err, wenn die stolzen Feinde schnauben
Bibliography Indices Index of names Index of works SUPPLEMENT Musical examples |
The book takes the style of a textbook in which the author carefully addresses a variety of issues starting with the historical setting of the work, and goes into explaining some key concepts that one needs to know when studying Bach’s compositional approaches, such as ‘parody’ techniques, the use of chorales, and other conventions of his time. To my liking, the author’s thorough and systematic approach to explaining the subject is sometimes too detailed and laboured, but for those students who are not yet familiar with Bach’s works in general, his methodical approach will be perceived assuring. |
The more entertaining part of the book for me is the examination of each movement from page 57 onwards where the author attempts to explain Bach’s main aims in each movements. The author’s observations are all sensible and often very illuminating. His discussions are well organised, and I find his analysis very easy to follow. The English translation is excellent, too. I am sure that this book can also serve as a convenient reference book of the work.
The book is accompanied by a booklet containing music examples. One thing that is lacking from this book is the facsimile reproduction of Bach’s autograph manuscript: the readers may benefit from acquiring a facsimile edition of Bach’s autograph, which is available from both Kassel: Bärenreiter (1960) and Leipzig: VEB Deutscher Verlag für Musik (1984).
