• Christmas Day
• Epistle: Titus ii. 11-14 (The grace of God appeared to me)
• Gospel: Luke ii. 1-14 (The Nativity of Christ)
• Rating: 1*

I can give no other recommendation for this cantata other than to say that the music is taken from the b-minor mass (BWV 191/1 corresponds to the Gloria in excelsis Deo, BWV 191/2 to the Domine Deus, BWV 191/3 to the Cum sancto spiritu). Wonderful stuff! This latin cantata was probably written to celebrate the Peace of Dresden (which ended the 2^nd Silesian war) and was performed on Christmas day, 1745. For more details about this and about the origins of this cantata, see John Butt's book Bach: Mass in b-minor, CUP.

Copyright © 1998, Simon Crouch.