The first cantata of the Christmas Oratorio is bright and celebratory. Bach opens it with instrumentation well suited for such a festive occasion: 3 trumpets and timpani, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, strings and basso continuo, with a 4-part choir. It is remarkable how the timpani and flutes take the lead, quickly followed in dizzying motion by the rest of the orchestra and then by the choir, who proclaim excitement and joy, urging the congregation to worship and celebrate God’s deed. This movement was sourced from the opening chorus of BWV 214, which, given its text, explains why the voices come in on musical motifs that resemble timpani and trumpets. In section B, Bach abandons the largely homophonic choral delivery of section A in favor of imitative textures and gives a break to the trumpets, before the movement loops around to repeat the initial segment.
After this expansive and joyful opening, the cantata is structured in two sets of four movements. Each set starts with a segment of Gospel narrative delivered by the Evangelist, continues with a recitative/aria pair, and closes with a chorale.
The first such group refers to the time just before Jesus’ birth. The Evangelist tells us of the journey of Joseph and Mary into Nazareth to be registered, and how the moment of Jesus’ birth arrived. The alto is in charge of the first reflection, with a recitative (accompanied by oboes d’amore) and aria that explore the rhetorical figure of Zion (Jerusalem, representing the Church) and Jesus as lovers to be soon betrothed. Bach changed the instrumentation of the original aria, sourced from BWV 213/9, adding an oboe d’amore in unison with the violin. The chorale that closes this first segment is the title stanza of “Wie soll ich dich empfangen” by Paul Gerhardt, of 1653, set to four-part harmony with the instruments doubling the voices.
The next set of four movements deal with Jesus’ birth. The Evangelist picks up the biblical narrative with the verses from Luke that describe the birth of Jesus and his refuge in the manger. The following movement is a combination of a chorale melody, given to the sopranos, with recitative insertions by the solo bass. The voices are accompanied by the two oboes d’amore and continuo. The soprano line is a stanza of the chorale “Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ,” by Martin Luther, of 1524, while the bass recites original poetry. The two voices jointly meditate on the coming of Jesus in poverty, as the savior of humanity, to offer us the riches of Heaven. This reflection leads to a spectacular bass da-capo aria with solo trumpet (sourced from BWV 214/7), a combination frequently employed by Bach and other Baroque composers in celebratory circumstances. The orchestration also includes flute (added to the parody in unison to the first violin) and strings, and the text continues to elaborate on God’s disdain for earthly pomp in sending the Savior to a manger.
The cantata closes with a chorale interspersed with fanfares from the trumpets and timpani, with text in the first person that celebrates the arrival of Child Jesus and offers the heart of the faithful as his resting place. The text comes from “Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her” by Martin Luther of 1535.
