#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalHoliday Week 4 2023
A holiday tradition (of sorts) returns! Since 2017, the #ClassicsaDay team has made holiday music the December theme. The music shared doesn't necessarily have to be related to Christmas. It can be any classical work associated with either December's sacred or secular activities (or even just weather).
The challenge is to post video performances of the works that fit the theme in your social media channels. As always, I shared selections I hadn't used before. Here are my picks for the fourth and final week of #ClassicalHoliday.
12/25/23 Johann Sebastian Bach: Christmas Oratorio BWV 248
This oratorio was never meant to be heard in one sitting. It's actually a set of cantatas that were originally sung -- one for each of the six feast days -- throughout the Christmas season.
12/26/23 Johann Kuhnau: Four Christmas Chorales
Johann Sebastian Bach replaces Kuhnau as Thomaskantor after his death. Kuhnau had held the post for over 20 years and few were convinced that Bach could fill his shoes.
12/27/23 Johann Schelle: Ere sie Gott in der Hohe
Schelle was Thomaskantor in Leipzig for 30 years in the late 1600s. Bach would be hired to the position in 1723.
12/28/23 Sethus Calvisius: Pareter rerum serium
Calvisius was Thomaskantor in Leipzig from 1594-1615. His duties included composing music for worship every week. It was basically the same job Bach was hired to do as Thomaskantor a century later.
12/29/23 Wolfgang Figulus: Joseph lieber Joseph mein
Figulus was the eighth Thomaskantor of Leipzig, hired in 1525 to provide sacred and secular music for St. Thomas Church and the city. Bach would be hired to the same post two centuries later.
