De Nederlandse Bachvereniging . Jos van Veldhoven

When it came to composing the 'Christmas Oratorio', Bach took his inspiration not so much from the limited but rich tradition of the German 'Christmas narrative' but more from his own passions. We find the same triple-layered structure in the text: Bible passages, chorales and newly written poetry, including a variety of musical forms from which they originate. Recitatives, arias, ariosos, great choruses and short chorales continually alternate. In contrast to the often very dramatic passions in which various characters stand face to face as if it were a religious opera, the 'Christmas Oratorio' is much more contemplative in character, being entirely patterned on the Christmas narrative from the Bible. The emphasis is not so much on the telling of the story with all its dramatic developments, but more on a reflection on Christmas. The Nederlandse Bachvereniging has for some time adopted a more refreshing approach, whereby the soloists join together with eight other members of the choir to form a flexible chorus. Jos van Veldhoven has a particularly refined sense of Bach's complex musical lines, which he likes to mark out with the finest pencil.