Bach Christmas Oratorio. "Christmas Oratorio"

In 1733, Bach, who was then cantor of the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, came up with a plan great work dedicated to the events of the Nativity of Christ. In the Christmas Oratorio, there are no specific characters and events, there are only lyrical reflections on them, interconnected by the recitatives of the Evangelist. The composer combined six cantatas composed at different times for Christmas. He created a future composition, seeking the title of Saxon-Polish court composer (King Leopold of Saxony had become the King of Poland by that time), which would greatly increase his social status. The large opening choruses and almost all the large solo numbers of the Christmas Oratorio are borrowed from previously written compositions, but this does not mean that its music is less united and significant than other compositions of Bach. The plot, borrowed from the Gospels of Luke and partly from Matthew, apparently was arranged by the composer himself. It tells how Mary, carrying the Divine Infant in her womb, and the betrothed Joseph went from Galilee to Bethlehem, the homeland of their ancestors, where they were supposed to participate in the census. In overcrowded Bethlehem, not finding a place in a hotel, they were forced to spend the night in a barn, where Christ was born. The good news of His birth is proclaimed by the angels to the shepherds, who hasten to greet the Savior. At the behest of an angel, the Child is named Jesus. Having learned about His birth, the eastern kings - the Magi go to bow Divine Child. Stopping at King Herod of Judea, the Magi tell him about what happened, and the cruel tyrant, fearing for his throne, asks the Magi to inform him about the Baby when they find Him. The star leads the Magi to Bethlehem, where they worship the Child, bring him precious gifts and, taught by the angels, leave for their homeland in a different way, bypassing Herod.

The author of the lyrics is unknown. Researchers suggest that he was Bach's permanent collaborator in Leipzig, Pikander (real name Christian Friedrich Henritz, 1700-1764). The composer wrote the music of the cantata in 1734, and the first performance took place on the Christmas holidays - from December 25, 1734 to January 6 (the feast of the Epiphany), 1735. Subsequently, also separately, parts of the Christmas Oratorio were performed repeatedly on Christmas holidays until the turn of 1745/46.

Music

The Christmas Oratorio is a collection of six cantatas, each 30 minutes long, imbued with the same mood and united by a consistent development of the plot. The story of the birth of the Child is divided into six parts of the oratorio as follows: 1. The birth of the Child; 2. Good news; 3. Shepherds at the nursery of the Child; 4. The baby is named Jesus; 5. Magi at King Herod; 6. Adoration of the Magi. The oratorio consists of choral episodes, recitatives of the Evangelist, full of beauty and cordiality, as well as numerous touching chorales with orchestral accompaniment and less significant solo numbers.

The oratorio opens with a solemn and joyful chorus of "Rejoice, triumph", as if by a grandiose portal that introduces the story. After the expressive story of the Evangelist, the viola aria "Get Ready, Zion" (No. 4), borrowed from the cantata "Hercules at the Crossroads", enters. Further, the chorales alternate with the recitative of the Evangelist and the bass aria "Great God and strong king, beloved Savior" (No. 8), borrowed from the "Musical Drama in Honor of the Queen." the 2nd movement includes numbers from 10 to 23, among which the sinfonia in Sicilian rhythm stands out, opening the movement with an almost impressionistic sound picture, conveying the mystery of the night; the gentle lullaby “Sleep, my beloved” (No. 19, viola) and the joyfully lively choir “Glory to God in the Highest” (No. 21). In the 3rd part (No. 24-35), the choir “Let's go to Bethlehem and see” (No. 26) is distinguished by amazing beauty. The viola aria “Conclude, my heart, this is a holy miracle” (No. 31) is full of calm nobility. The 4th movement (No. 36-42) contains, among others, two beautiful numbers - the soprano aria “My Savior, Your name” (No. 39) with an echo effect (second soprano and solo oboe), and a very technically complex tenor aria “Repay You, My Savior” (No. 41), in which the voice and two solo violins form a three-part fugue. In the 5th part (No. 43-53), the choir with a solo viola “Where is the King of the Jews born” (No. 45) stands out with its peculiar strict beauty. The 6th movement (No. 54-64) returns to the jubilant images of the opening choir "with trumpets and timpani". It especially draws attention to the variety of genres - fugue (initial choir), dance (soprano aria, No. 57), concert aria (tenor, No. 62), and, finally, the chorale that ends the oratorio with a detailed orchestral conclusion in a light solemn sound.

In 1733, Bach, who was then the cantor of the Church of St. Thomas in Leipzig, came up with a plan for a large work dedicated to the events of the Nativity of Christ. In the Christmas Oratorio, there are no specific characters and events, there are only lyrical reflections on them, interconnected by the recitatives of the Evangelist. The composer combined six cantatas composed in different time by Christmas. He created a future composition, seeking the title of Saxon-Polish court composer (King Leopold of Saxony had become the King of Poland by that time), which would greatly increase his social status. The large opening choruses and almost all the large solo numbers of the Christmas Oratorio are borrowed from previously written compositions, but this does not mean that its music is less united and significant than other compositions of Bach. The plot, borrowed from the Gospels of Luke and partly from Matthew, apparently was arranged by the composer himself. It tells how Mary, carrying the Divine Child in her womb, and the betrothed Joseph went from Galilee to Bethlehem, the homeland of their ancestors, where they were supposed to participate in the census. In overcrowded Bethlehem, not finding a place in a hotel, they were forced to spend the night in a barn, where Christ was born. The good news of His birth is proclaimed by the angels to the shepherds, who hasten to greet the Savior. At the behest of an angel, the Child is named Jesus. Having learned about His birth, the eastern kings - the magi go to bow to the Divine Infant. Stopping at King Herod of Judea, the Magi tell him about what happened, and the cruel tyrant, fearing for his throne, asks the Magi to inform him about the Baby when they find Him. The star leads the Magi to Bethlehem, where they worship the Child, bring him precious gifts and, taught by the angels, leave for their homeland in a different way, bypassing Herod.
The author of the lyrics is unknown. Researchers suggest that he was Bach's permanent collaborator in Leipzig, Pikander (real name Christian Friedrich Henritz, 1700-1764). The composer wrote the music of the cantata in 1734, and the first performance took place on the Christmas holidays - from December 25, 1734 to January 6 (the feast of the Epiphany), 1735. Subsequently, also separately, parts of the Christmas Oratorio were performed repeatedly on Christmas holidays until the turn of 1745/46.

J.S. Bach
Weihnachtsoratorium BWV248
Christmas oratorio

1: Coro: 0:06 2: Recitativo: 8:54 3: Recitativo: 10:02 4: Aria: 10:57 5: Choral: 16:40 6: Recitativo: 17:58 7: Arioso: 18:18 8 : Aria: 21:29 9: Choral: 26:37

10: Sinfonia: 27:52 11: Recitativo: 33:03 12: Choral: 33:37 13: Recitativo: 34:51 14: Recitativo: 35:39 15: Aria: 36:29 16: Recitativo: 40:29 17 : Choral: 40:50 18: Recitativo: 41:29 19: Aria: 42:30 20: Recitativo: 51:51 21: Coro: 52:06 22: Recitativo: 55:20 23: Choral: 55:47

24: Coro: 57:02 25: Recitativo: 59:29 26: Coro: 59:39 27: Recitativo: 1:00:26 28: Choral: 1:01:11 29: Aria Duetto: 1:02:03 30 : Recitativo: 1:10:17 31: Aria: 1:11:20 32: Recitativo: 1:16:04 33: Choral: 1:16:32 34: Recitativo: 1:17:33 35: Choral: 1: 17:56

36. Nummer 24 herhaald. Coro: 1:18:57 37: Chor: 1:21:22 38: Recitativo: 1:27:27 39: Recitativo con Chorale: 1:27:59 40: Aria: 1:30:43 41: Recitativo con Chorale : 1:36:26 42: Aria: 1:38:12

43: Chorale: 1:44:07 44: Coro: 1:46:22 45: Recitativo: 1:54:04 46: Chor: 1:54:27 47: Choral: 1:56:23 48: Aria: 1 :57:25 49: Recitativo: 2:01:58 50: Accompagnato: 2:02:13 51: Recitativo: 2:02:50 52: Aria Terzetto: 2:04:07 53: Recitativo: 2:09:43

54: Choral: 2:10:18 55: Chorus: 2:11:25 56: Recitativo: 2:16: 57 57: Recitativo: 2:17:53 58: Aria: 2:18:59 59: Recitativo: 2 :23:01 60: Choral: 2:24:02 61: Recitativo: 2:25:07 62: Recitativo: 2:25:30 63: Aria: 2:27:29 64: Recitativo á 4: 2:32: 1665: Chor: 2:33:04

The oratorio opens with a solemn and joyful choir“Rejoice, triumph”, as if by a grandiose portal introducing into the story. After the expressive story of the Evangelist, the viola aria "Get Ready, Zion" (No. 4), borrowed from the cantata "Hercules at the Crossroads", enters. Further, the chorales alternate with the recitative of the Evangelist and the bass aria "Great God and strong king, beloved Savior" (No. 8), borrowed from the "Musical Drama in Honor of the Queen."

2nd part includes numbers 10 to 23, among which stand out the sinfonia in the rhythm of the Sicilian, which opens the movement with an almost impressionistic sound picture, conveying the mystery of the night; the gentle lullaby “Sleep, my beloved” (No. 19, viola) and the joyfully lively choir “Glory to God in the Highest” (No. 21).

In the 3rd part (No. 24-35) the choir “Let's go to Bethlehem and see” (No. 26) is distinguished by amazing beauty. The viola aria “Conclude, my heart, this is a holy miracle” (No. 31) is full of calm nobility.

4th part (No. 36-42) contains, among others, two beautiful numbers - the soprano aria "My Savior, Your Name" (No. 39) with an echo effect (second soprano and oboe solo), and the technically very complex tenor aria "Repay You, My Savior" (No. 41), in which the voice and two solo violins form a three-voice fugue.

In the 5th part (No. 43-53) stands out for its peculiar austere beauty and the choir with the solo viola “Where is the King of the Jews born” (No. 45).

6th part (№54—64) returns to the jubilant images of the opening choir "with trumpets and timpani". It especially draws attention to the variety of genres - fugue (initial chorus), dance (soprano aria, No. 57), concert aria (tenor, No. 62), and, finally, the chorale that ends the oratorio with a detailed orchestral conclusion in a light solemn sound.
L. Mikheeva

Helmut Rilling at a concert in the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall. Photo - MGAF

No matter how busy the Philharmonic season is interesting music And eminent names, participation in it of Helmut Rilling always becomes the brightest event.

The current season is no exception. As part of it, on December 7, 2016 in the Concert Hall. Tchaikovsky G. Rilling conducted J. S. Bach's "Christmas Oratorio" BWV 248.

It was performed by: Bach Ensemble Helmuth Rilling (Germany), Academic big choir"Masters of Choral Singing" of the Russian State Musical Television and Radio Center (artistic director Lev Kontorovich), soloists: Julia Sophia Wagner (soprano), Lydia Viñes Curtis (mezzo-soprano), Martin Lattke (tenor), Tobias Berndt (bass).

For the first time I got acquainted with the performance of Bach's music by Helmut Rilling when I came to the rehearsal of J. S. Bach's Passion according to John on the day of the concert on March 4, 2011 in Moscow international home music.

On that visit, he brought the orchestra of the International Bach Academy from Stuttgart. Then, and for all subsequent performances in Russia, Rilling chose the "Masters of Choral Singing".

For development German language in Moscow, German tutors sent by Rilling studied with the choir for more than a month. The biggest difficulty was that the texts of J. S. Bach's oratorios were not written modern language, but old German.

A press conference took place between the rehearsal and the concert. It was on it that Rilling uttered the phrase quoted in the booklet for the concert under review:

“I find the chorus fantastic. The musicians perform the German text in such a way that I get lost and forget that this is not a German choir.”

In 2011, Rilling created the youth Bach Ensemble Helmuth Rilling on the basis of the Stuttgart Festival Ensemble. In February 2013, with this ensemble, Rilling performed Joseph Haydn's oratorio The Creation of the World in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

In the same choir and ensemble composition, Rilling at the KZCh conducted in Moscow on November 25, 2014 the St. Matthew Passion and on November 10, 2015 Missa h-moll by J.S. Bach.

Of his extensive cantata-oratorio heritage, Bach called only three works oratorios. This is the Oratorio for the Ascension of Christ” BWV 11; Christmas Oratorio BWV 248 and Easter Oratorio BWV 249.

The most famous of them and most often performed - "Christmas Oratorio" - consisted of six parts (called cantatas in the booklet) written on the basis of previously composed in different years church cantatas on the occasion of the Nativity of Christ.

These parts were to be performed one a day in the churches of St. Thomas and St. Nicholas during the Christmas holidays: from December 25 (Christmas) to January 6 (the feast of the Epiphany; in Russia it is often called Epiphany).

All six parts are permeated with the same mood and are united by the cross-cutting plot of the Sacred History set forth in the Gospels (from Luke and Matthew).

When composing church cantatas, Bach carefully followed the correspondence readable texts their interpretation in musical numbers. In the oratorios, since they were not intended for worship, Bach allowed himself some deviation from the order of reading the Gospel on the day of the performance of one or another cantata.

In order for the oratorio to appear as a single whole, and not as separate cantatas, randomly collected, its libretto was published in advance, in the form of a brochure. You could get acquainted with it before the concert or in advance at home.

The oratorio consists of 64 numbers, distributed by topic as follows:

Birth of the Child (Nos. 1-9, the first day of Christmas, Luke 2:1, 3-7);
Good News (Nos. 10-23, second day, Luke 2:8-14);
Shepherds at the Manger of the Child (Nos. 24-35, Third Day, Luke 2:15-20);
The Child is Named Jesus (Nos. 36–42, New Year, feast of circumcision, Lk. 2:21);
Magi at King Herod (Nos. 43-53, the first Sunday after the New Year, Matt. 2:1-6);
Adoration of the Magi (Nos. 54–64, Theophany, Matt. 7-12).

In this concert the first three movements and the last, sixth, were performed.

The perception of each of the cantatas when they are performed one a day, of course, cannot coincide with the perception of them in a row in one concert. The sharpness of such perception is dulled from cantata to cantata.

And in general, a concert performance cannot but differ from a performance in a church. There, emotions are more spiritual, sublime than in a concert hall. They are less open, but more sincere. The very atmosphere in the temple is conducive to this.

In addition, a sermon and reading of the Bible is heard in the church. All this enhances the impact of cantatas in the church.

In a concert, the factors of the absence of a word and the presence of random listeners, far from Christianity, must be compensated by something. This justifies the increase in the degree of emotionality of music.

By the way, maybe it is worth reading in Russian in concert performance those fragments from the Holy Scriptures that are heard in the church with these cantatas? Then the understanding of music could be an order of magnitude deeper.

This would also be useful for Russian church music performed in the Church Slavonic language, which today is not understood by the vast majority of people, even believers. And performing Russian sacred music in modern Russian is the same as singing Italian opera in Russian. After all, the prosody of the Church Slavonic language is much more musical than modern Russian.

The emotional degree of Helmut Rilling's performance of the Christmas Oratorio on December 7 was very high. Despite his 83 years, physical weakness and economical gesture, Rilling held the ensemble very firmly.

Even in young musicians, he managed to instill a sense of style and taste. It is practically an ensemble of soloists.

The jubilant trumpet of Max Westermann and the timpani player Zoltan Varga, who played the old cauldrons of a very pleasant timbre with a soft, roaring sound, set the festive tone for the entire performance in No. 1.

Rahel Maria Rilling, the concertmaster of the ensemble, gave good solos, and cellist David Adoryan sounded even better. Mathieu Gosi-Ansleni - flute and Tjaina Wake-Valker - oboe played wonderfully.

The ensemble of soloists Rilling brought first-class. In the first part, there were complaints about the soprano Julia Sophie Wagner, but she had only one solo No. 7 Chorale "Er ist auf Erden Kommen arm", in which she was vocally clamped.

After the intermission, however, she sang well, in no way inferior to her colleagues, especially in a duet with bass from Cantata No. 3 "Adoration of the Shepherds" N 29 "Herr, dein Mitleid". Her second solo aria N 57 "Nur ein Wink" sounded good.

The alto part was performed by the Spanish mezzo-soprano Lydia Viñes Curtis with excellent vocals and excellent understanding of style. We are already familiar with the brilliant bass Tobias Berndt from Haydn's oratorio "The Creation" in 2013 and J.S. Bach's Mass in B Minor last year.

But even in such a constellation of soloists, tenor Martin Lattke surpassed everyone. I don't even remember if I ever heard this live great tenor in the cantata-oratorio genre. He perfectly and evenly played his entire huge and most complex part (he has 15 numbers, including a duet with bass).

The version performed by Rilling consists of 46 numbers: soprano - 5 (including one duet), alto - 5, tenor - 15, bass - 7 (including two duets), choir - 15. This alignment of voices shows that the main role in the oratorio, he belongs to the tenor (who, as in Bach's Passions, mainly plays the role of the Evangelist) and the choir.

The large choir "Masters of Choral Singing", directed by Lev Kontorovich, in collaboration with Helmut Rilling, demonstrates the highest class of world-class professionalism.

I would like to hope that the meeting of the Moscow listeners with Helmut Rilling and his ensemble was not the last.

Vladimir Oivin

On air next issue program “Music Lessons”, in which we will continue our conversation about Johann Sebastian Bach and listen to his Christmas Oratorio. A major innovator and founder of a number of new genres, Bach never wrote operas and did not even make attempts to do so. Nevertheless, Bach implemented the dramatic operatic style in a wide and versatile way. The prototype of Bach's elevated, pathetically mournful or heroic themes can be found in dramatic operatic monologues. In vocal compositions, Bach freely uses all forms of solo singing developed by operatic practice, various types arias, recitatives. He does not avoid vocal ensembles, introduces interesting trick concentration, that is, the competition between the solo voice and the instrument. In some cantatas and oratorios, the basic principles of opera dramaturgy (the connection between music and drama, continuity musical drama development) are embodied more consistently than in contemporary Bahu Italian opera. By the way, it was precisely because of this that Bach had to listen more than once to reproaches from the church nobility for the theatricality of cult compositions. Neither traditional gospel plots nor spiritual texts set to music saved Bach from such “accusations”. The interpretation of familiar images was in too clear contradiction with the orthodox church rules, and the content and secular nature of the music violated the idea of the purpose and purpose of music in the church. Seriousness of thought, the ability to make deep philosophical generalizations life phenomena, the ability to concentrate complex material in concise musical images, - all this with unusual strength appeared in Bach's music. These properties determined the need for a long-term development of the musical idea, caused a desire for a consistent and complete disclosure of the ambiguous content of the musical image. A little about the history of the creation of the Christmas Oratorio - a little later, but now we will listen to a fragment of the Christmas Cantata from the Concertus Musicus Wien cycle performed by Tölzer Knaben- choir, conductor Nikolaus Harnonkurt. In 1733, Bach, who was then cantor of the Church of St. Thomas in Leipzig, came up with a plan for a large work dedicated to the events of the Nativity of Christ. In the Christmas Oratorio, there are no specific characters and events, there are only lyrical reflections on them, interconnected by the recitatives of the Evangelist. The composer combined six cantatas composed at different times for Christmas. He created the future work, at a time when Bach petitioned the King of Saxony and Poland, Leopold, for the title of Saxon-Polish court composer, which would significantly increase his social status. The large opening choruses and almost all the large solo numbers of the Christmas Oratorio are borrowed from previously written compositions, but this does not mean that its music is less united and significant than other compositions of Bach. The plot is canonical - from the Gospels of Luke and partly from Matthew, apparently, was arranged by the composer himself. He tells how Mary, carrying the Divine Child in her womb, and Joseph went from Galilee to Bethlehem, the homeland of their ancestors, where they were supposed to participate in the census. In overcrowded Bethlehem, not finding a place in a hotel, they were forced to spend the night in a barn, where Christ was born. The good news of His birth is proclaimed by the angels to the shepherds, who hasten to greet the Savior. At the behest of an angel, the Child is named Jesus. Having learned about His birth, the Eastern kings - Magi go to bow to the Divine Infant. Stopping at King Herod of Judea, the Magi tell him about what happened, and the cruel tyrant, fearing for his throne, asks the Magi to inform him about the Baby when they find Him. The star leads the Magi to Bethlehem, where they worship the Child, bring him precious gifts, and, taught by the angels, leave for their homeland in a different way, bypassing Herod. The author of the poetic texts is unknown. Researchers suggest that he was Bach's permanent collaborator in Leipzig, Pikander (real name Christian Friedrich Henritz, 1700-1764). The composer completed work on the music in 1734, and the first performance took place on the Christmas holidays - from December 25, 1734 to January 6 (the feast of the Epiphany), 1735. Subsequently, also separately, parts of the Christmas Oratorio were performed repeatedly on Christmas holidays until the turn of 1745/46. We will continue to listen to the wonderful music of Bach's Christmas Oratorio performed by the Budapest Lutheran Choir, the Weiner-Zaz Chamber Orchestra, conductor Salamon Kamp, soloists Maria Zadori (Angel Soprano), Judith Nemeth (viola), Peter Marosvari (Evangelist, bass) and Istvan Berzelli (Jesus, bass). The Christmas Oratorio is a collection of six cantatas, each 30 minutes long, imbued with the same mood and united by a consistent development of the plot. The story about the birth of the Baby is divided into six parts of the oratorio as follows: Part 1 - The Birth of the Baby; 2. Good news; 3. Shepherds at the nursery of the Child; 4. The baby is named Jesus; 5. Magi at King Herod; 6. Adoration of the Magi. The oratorio consists of choral episodes, recitatives of the Evangelist, full of beauty and cordiality, as well as numerous touching chorales with orchestral accompaniment and less significant solo numbers. In addition to the fact that the plot of the Christmas Oratorio disposed more towards an epic narrative with only elements of drama, here, perhaps, the composer also pursued a practical goal - the reality of the performance of the work as a whole. On the experience of the Matthew Passion, he had to be convinced of how difficult, thankless and essentially unrealistic the task is to perfectly fulfill such a task. monumental work in its entirety, in a row, on one day - bearing in mind, of course, the conditions for execution in Leipzig at that time. A lot of annoyance and serious disappointment brought the composer, presumably, this performance in 1729. In the Christmas Oratorio, he could get around such difficulties (the benefit and content of it did not necessarily require continuity figurative development), allowing for a certain, although not complete, autonomy of each of the six parts, performed with interruptions of a day or more. The six parts of the Christmas Oratorio are not a simple series in relation to each other. Rather, two groups can be distinguished here. The first three parts (D-dur-G-dur-D-dur: solemn-pastoral-solemn) form the first group. They are performed on the first three days of the holiday, being united by plot (the basis is the gospel of Luke). The last three parts are less closely related. This group opens with a New Year's "cantata" in F-dur, which switches attention to other events. Then two parts follow (A-dur-D-dur) with a new plot connection (the basis is the gospel of Matthew). In the first group we are talking about the birth of Christ and the worship of the shepherds; in the second - mainly about the arrival of the Magi with gifts, about the anxiety and deceit of Herod. But the Gospel gives only a scheme of events. Everything else, as in many other cases from Bach, is taken from spiritual songs and poems, or represents (in borrowed arias and choirs) a reworking of secular texts. And again - another fragment of the Christmas Oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach has a gospel text in the oratorio remains untouched. It constantly sounds in the recitatives of the Evangelist, highlights this part with special colors and special significance, seriousness of tone. The rest of the parties, as a rule, are not personified, although the recitatives contain the replicas of the Angel and Herod. As if it is implied that the lullaby in the second part of the oratorio is the song of Mary over the baby. But here there is a convention of a kind of influx, not actually "action". The shepherds only heard from the Angel the news of the birth of Christ, they were only told “And a sign has been given to you: you will find a child in swaddling clothes lying in a manger.” They have not set off yet (this will “happen” in the third part of the oratorio), but somewhere in the distance an imaginary image already rises ... The viola sings a lullaby The whole second part of the Christmas Oratorio is therefore largely imbued with pastoral features. But meanwhile, in the oratorio, in addition to the features of pastorality (mainly in the second part), there are many signs that are somehow connected with the lullaby genre, with poetic motifs of lulling, peaceful and bright calm. For Bach, such images are generally quite characteristic - in spiritual cantatas, in passions. Pastorality and "lullaby" serve in the Christmas Oratorio as a necessary contrast to the images of triumph, jubilation, glorification and communicate spiritual, human warmth to the whole. And our program will continue with another fragment of Bach's "Christmas Oratorio". It is worth emphasizing that Johann Sebastian Bach was the first to discover and use the most important property of polyphonic music: the dynamics and logic of the process of unfolding melodic lines. A sense of the dynamics of keys, tonal connections, was also new for Bach's time. Ladotonal development, ladotonal movement is one of the critical factors and the basis of form for many of Bach's compositions. Bach's polyphony is first of all a melody, its movement is independent life of each melodic voice and the interweaving of many voices into a mobile sound fabric, to which the position of one voice is determined by the position of another. Also, Bach's works are saturated with a kind of symphony, and this purposeful movement is found both in large-scale masses and in small fugues of the Well-Tempered Clavier. Bach was not only the greatest polyphonist, but also an outstanding harmonist. No wonder Beethoven considered Bach the father of harmony. Numerous Bach works, where the homophonic warehouse prevails, are distinguished by the amazing boldness of chord-harmonic sequences, that special expressiveness of harmonies, which are perceived as a distant anticipation of the harmonic thinking of musicians of the 19th century. In the next issue of the Music Lessons program, we will again turn to the work of the great German composer, and I say goodbye to you, until we meet again!

II International Christmas Festival of Sacred Music "Advent"

J. S. Bach. "Christmas Oratorio"

The culminating event of the Advent festival will be the performance in Cathedral Sts. Peter and Paul "Christmas Oratorio" by J. S. Bach - the greatest, brightest and most solemn piece of music dedicated to Christmas. The oratorio with the words of the Gospel tells the story of the Virgin Mary and the birth of Jesus Christ, the appearance new star and the adoration of the Magi, while the choirs and arias complete the action, revealing deep meaning spiritual message.

This concert makes it a very special event. shiny makeup performers, great interpreters early music: soloist opera studio at the Royal Academy of Music Anna Gorbacheva (soprano), soloist of the Bolshoi Theater Daria Telyatnikova (viola), recognized European masters Richard Resch (tenor, Germany) and Dominique Wörner (bass, Germany), as well as the Soli Deo Gloria Chamber Chapel, artistic director and conductor Oleg Romanenko.

With the support of the Moscow bible church and Embassies Federal Republic Germany in Moscow.

The Christmas Oratorio was completed by Bach in 1734 in Leipzig. It does not contain specific actors, and lyrical reflections on the events of Christmas are interconnected by the recitatives of the Evangelist. The plot, borrowed from the Gospels of Luke and partly from Matthew, apparently was arranged by the composer himself, but the author of the poetic texts remained unknown.

For this oratorio, Bach combined six Christmas cantatas composed by him at different times. The first performance of the new composition took place during the Christmas holidays of late 1734 - early 1735, during the life of the composer, parts of it were repeatedly performed in Leipzig at Christmas. The most joyful and solemn parts of the cantata will be performed in the Moscow concert: 1. "The Birth of the Child", 2. "Good News", 3. "Shepherds at the Manger of the Child" and 6. "Adoration of the Magi".

Chamber Chapel "Soli Deo Gloria" in his work he refers to large-scale works of the high Baroque, and first of all to the works of Bach. Artistic director and chapel conductor Oleg Romanenko is also a director and artistic director Advent Christmas Festival.

Anna Gorbacheva(soprano) is a soloist of the Opera Studio at the Royal Academy of Music in London, a graduate of the Royal College of Music. Laureate and diploma winner of numerous international competitions in Italy, the Czech Republic, France, Austria, including the 1st Prize of the International Baroque Opera Competition. Honor in Innsbruck. The young singer's repertoire includes more than ten opera parts in the works of composers of the 18th-19th centuries, chamber programs, as well as solo parts in oratorios. Anna is involved in major international festivals, collaborates with the Hungarian State Opera House, memorial house-museum Handel (London), the Baroque Orchestra of the Royal College of Music and the Russian Orchestra of London.

Daria Telyatnikova(viola) - soloist of the Bolshoi Theater of Russia, graduate of the St. Petersburg Conservatory. N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov. In 2010-2012 - soloist of the Academy of Young Singers Mariinsky Theater, in the 2012/2013 season - an artist of the International Opera Studio in Zurich. In 2013 she made her debut in Bolshoi Theater. Since 2013 also a soloist of the Perm academic theater opera and ballet. She took part in the Stars of the White Nights festival (St. Petersburg), performed on the stage of the Comunale Theater of Ferrara (Italy), the Berlin Philharmonic, the Megaron Concert Hall (Athens), the Paris Cite de la Musique, Concert Hall them. P. I. Tchaikovsky, Great Hall Moscow Conservatory, St. Petersburg Philharmonic. D. D. Shostakovich, collaborates with the State Academic symphony orchestra Russia them. E. F. Svetlanova and Moskovsky chamber orchestra Musica Viva.

Richard Resch(tenor) - graduate high school music "Leopold Mozart Center" (Augsburg) and the Basel Academy of Music Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, where he studied early music. Participated in master classes of leading experts in the field of historical performance, specialized in the oratorio genre. Laureate of a number of international competitions in Italy and Germany. Worked in opera houses in Augsburg, Braunschweig, Bregenz, Bavaria State Opera in Munich. Collaborated with such conductors as K. Eschenbach, H. Rilling, A. Shpering, with many renowned orchestras, including the Bergensky philharmonic orchestra, Bremen Philharmonic Orchestra, Capella Istropolitana, Leipzig Chamber Orchestra, New Choir Munich, Bach-Collegium in Stuttgart, Sinfonia Varsovia and others. the great German composer (Immortal-Bach-Ensemble, Chapelle de la Vigne, Luthers Bach Ensemble Groninge and Bachkantaten).

Dominic Wörner(bass) - studied church music in Stuttgart and Bern, improved his skills at master classes of leading European experts in the field of historical performance. Already a student, he gave concerts in Switzerland, Poland, Great Britain and Germany, became the winner of a number of competitions, among which international competition them. J. S. Bach in Leipzig (I prize). He quickly gained European fame as an excellent performer of parts in oratorio compositions, took part in various festivals: the Boston Early Music Festival, the Bach Festival in Leipzig, the London Proms, Handel Days in Halle, the Suntory Hall Festival in Tokyo, etc. Collaborated with conductors F. Herreweghe, T. Hengelbrock, K. Coin, K. Saint-Clair, Collegium Vocale orchestras (Ghent), Champs Elysees Orchestra, Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Bremen Chamber Orchestra, Capella Istropolitana. He has records on radio and television, has repeatedly participated in the creation of audio recordings of early music (compositions by Monteverdi, Schutz, Rosenmuller). The singer also brilliantly established himself in modern repertoire(he has a number of world premieres to his credit) and as a performer Lied (his repertoire includes vocal cycles by Schubert, Mahler, etc.).

Oleg Romanenko conductor, graduate of the Moscow Conservatory. P. I. Tchaikovsky (2008); improved the art of symphonic conducting under the guidance of Teodor Currentzis, worked with Orchestra MusicAeterna and the New Siberian Singers choir. In 2007 he created the Moscow Ensemble of Soloists Vocalitis, with which he successfully toured to Austria, Germany, Italy and the USA, performing Russian and European spiritual and classical choral music, and recorded two CDs. Since 2007 he has been collaborating with the Austrian chamber orchestra Louise Spohr Sinfonietta. In 2008 he created the Soli Deo Gloria Chamber Chapel. Under the direction of O. Romanenko, “Messiah” by G. F. Handel, “Seven Words of the Savior on the Cross” by J. Haydn, the Russian premiere of the oratorio “Death and Sunday” by E. Sheve, “Passion according to Matthew” by Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeev), Cantata 4, 31, 80, 140, 147 John Passion and Magnificat by J. S. Bach.

Funds raised at the concert will go to charitable causes:

1. Help in the treatment of little Nastya, who is in the "Kolomensky specialized children's home".

Nastya is 4 years old. The girl's mother issued a refusal to raise a child and consent to adoption a month after birth without a written explanation of the reasons.

Nastya was born with a congenital defect of the central nervous system, an operation was performed, but this defect gives complications.

The main task is to give Nastya the opportunity to stand and walk independently. For this, courses of treatment and comprehensive rehabilitation, including surgical treatment, are carried out.

But for the formation of legs, maintaining the effect achieved by surgery, for proper verticalization and walking, she needs high-quality orthoses and the right shoes.

2. Project "Medicines" of the Charitable Foundation "Give Life" (30% of the funds raised)

One of the most important tasks of the fund is to provide clinics with medicines, the purchase of which is not paid from the state budget. As a rule, these are the most modern drugs. Their cost is very high, but the effect of their use is also very high. Purchased at the end of the year a large number of medicines for the future before the price increase at the beginning next year, also by the end of the year there are usually children who are no longer covered by the annually set state quota for free medicines.