Bach & Bandura

Kantaten I-VI in the Grell version (1857) in dialogue with the Ukrainian bandura. The so-called "Christmas Oratorio" was not created during Johann Sebastian Bach's lifetime. It experienced its premiere as a complete work many years after his death – on December 17, 1857. Eduard Grell, director of the Sing-Akademie, first combined all six cantatas that Bach had composed for the Sundays in the Christmas season of 1734/35 into an oratorio at that time. This performance marked the beginning of the ongoing rediscovery of the Christmas Oratorio around the world. This year, Kai-Uwe Jirka will present the 1857 Grell version and combine it with Ukrainian Christmas songs played on the bandura by Svitlana Kavka. How do the additions and omissions affect the sound of this familiar ritual? The Deutsche Welle Staats- and Domchor Berlin Chamber Choir of the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin performed the following: compagney BERLIN