Bach's Christmas Oratorio

“And lo, the star, which they had seen in the East, went before them…”

Johann Sebastian Bach’s monumental ‘oratorio’ for the Christmas season is really a set of six cantatas – one for each of the first six days of Christmas. Performing them together in concert is the musical equivalent of binge-watching Bach – the best of guilty pleasures! In 2023, Brett Weymark conducted Parts 1–3 in what Limelight described as a triumphant ‘high-altitude assault on Bach’s magic mountain’.

In 2025, Elizabeth Scott concludes the series with Parts 4–6. In these cantatas, the narrative turns to the Magi – the wise men from the East who followed the star to the Christ child – and Bach gives them music that’s as brilliant and intoxicating as gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Sydney Philharmonia’s Chamber Singers and elite youth ensemble VOX will be joined by the Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra, and two emerging composers will be invited to create reflective interludes to sit between the cantatas.