A trio of cantatas drawn from earlier works, deftly reworked to suit their new contexts. The Pentecostal cantatas 173 and 184 find their roots in secular Serenatas written for Prince Leopold at Cöthen, their imagery ingeniously preserved so that association between words and music is unharmed. Cantata 194, written for the dedication of the church and organ at Störmthal in 1723, was probably also based on a lost Cöthen work and is revived here in full festal splendour for Trinity Sunday in 1724.

In his second cycle of Cantatas at Leipzig, Bach focuses exclusively on the chorale, each Cantata based on the main Lutheran hymn for the occasion. This new ‘chorale cantata’ cycle is announced with a sweeping French overture in the grand Cantata 20 ‘O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort’. After impressive coloratura from the tenor, we are woken up by the bass and trumpet with the words ‘Wacht auf, wacht auf!’. Cantata 2 takes as its basis Martin Luther’s chorale ‘Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein’, with images of silver purified through fire.

A mighty handful of cantatas takes us on journey from the Parable of the Lost Coin, to Mary’s Magnificat, to Peter’s great catch of fish and the feeding of the four thousand, and finally a warning of false prophets from the Sermon on the Mount. This rich panoply of music displays a unique fanatasia based on the ‘Passion Chorale’, a clamorous uproar of the whole world in the Song of Mary, and two movements which Bach thought sufficiently well of to include in the Schübler Chorale Preludes.

From July 1724 onwards, Bach must have had access to an exceptionally talented flautist for whom, in the months that followed, he regularly composed unusually demanding music. This unknown player possessed remarkable virtuosity on an instrument that was then still a novelty, and the opening bars of Cantata 94 must have surprised the connoisseurs among the Leipzig congregation. Cantata 101, based on the Martin Moller’s chorale (1584) which he had written during a time of plague, displayed yet more of this fine flautist’s skill in the first aria.

Muted violins and pizzicato express fearfulness of shaky steps in Cantata 33, and a virtuoso flute counterpoint depicts shaking and torment of the soul in Cantata 99. The monumental opening chorus of BWV 78 stands out as one of Bach’s most remarkable examples of a chromatic passacaglia in passus duriusculus, used in the model for the Crucifixus of the B Minor Mass. Plucked arpeggios, bell tones, and a slow elegiac swing evoke the scene of ‘a passing funeral cortège’ (Gardiner) in the opening movement of Cantata 8, painting a picture of a ‘church-yard full of lowers in the springtime’ (Spitta).

An instruction to ‘Take what is yours and go away’ opens this concert of three of Bach’s most celebrated chorale-cantatas. These direct words in Cantata 114 draw from the Parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard, and are followed directly by a second instruction not to grumble when things don’t go as planned. Cantata 96 compares Christ to the ‘Morning Star’, with the appearance of a sparkling sopranino recorder, used for the first time in his cantatas, and the famous melody by Philipp Nicolai often heard at Christmas, ‘Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern’ (How brightly shines the morning star)

Themes of weddings and feasts abound in Cantata 180, Bach’s choral-cantata setting of the great Eucharist hymn, ‘Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele’ (Deck thyself, my soul, with gladness). Based on the Parable of the Great Banquet, it maintains a festive feeling throughout, imagining a bride preparing for her wedding, full of charm, grace, and great delicacy.

Join us for one of Oxford’s most evocative seasonal events in the magical setting of New College Chapel. J. S. Bach’s much loved telling of the Christmas story describes the Birth of Jesus, the annunciation to the shepherds, and the adoration of the shepherds in his Christmas Oratorio of 1734. Spread over two days, the Oratorio shares the stage with Bach’s Advent masterpiece Cantata 62 Nun komm der Heiden Heiland, and Christmas Cantatas written in his second year at Leipzig. Such festive and brilliant music is sure to be a memorable way to celebrate Christmas this year!