Pièce d’Orgue (BWV 572)
Vom Himmel hoch da komm ich her (BWV
700)
Vom Himmel hoch da komm ich her (BWV
738)
Vom Himmel hoch da komm ich her (BWV
701)
Vom Himmel hoch da komm ich her (BWV
606)
Vom Himmel hoch da komm ich her (BWV
769)
In dulci jubilo (BWV 608)
In dulci jubilo (BWV 729)
Christum wir sollen loben schon (BWV
696)
Christum wir sollen loben schon (BWV
611)
Pastorella (BWV 590)
Puer natus in Bethlehem (BWV 603)
Vom Himmel kam der Engel Schar (BWV
607)
Wir Christenleut (BWV 710)
Wir Christenleut (BWV 612)
Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ (BWV 697)
Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ (BWV 604)
Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ (BWV 722)
Der Tag, der ist so Freudenreich (BWV
605)
Jesu, meine Freude (BWV 610)
Jesu, meine Freude (BWV 713)
Lobt Gott, ihr Christen, allzugleich
(BWV 609)
Lobt Gott, ihr Christen, allzugleich
(BWV 732)
Wie schön leucht’t uns der Morgenstern
(BWV 739)
Consistently inventive,
colourful and, even more to the point,
enjoyable, this disc handily collates
all Bach’s Christmas music on a single
CD. There are caveats; as John O’Donnell
admits not all these pieces were necessarily
written for the divine services and
the opener, the Pièce d’Orgue
(BWV 572) is a case in point, even though
it’s clearly festive and employs the
same material as Bach used in one movement
from his Christmas Oratorio. And the
Pastorella makes it by virtue
of being a Christmas genre, though it
seems to have had no known liturgical
connection.
Such details aside
one can but admire O’Donnell’s sensitivity,
technical address and consistently thoughtful
choice of registrations. Everything
is alive and apt and the programme is
adroitly chosen, divided into groups
in partial emulation of the kind of
service at which Bach would have played
– opening with a prelude and ending
with a fantasia or fugue and in between
chorale based works. Here therefore
we have five different and consecutive
settings of Vom Himmel hoch da komm
ich her each of them independent
and imbued with its own distinctive
sound world and response. The contrasting
settings of In dulci jubilo and
Lobt Gott, ihr Christen, allzugleich
embody the same qualities and differences.
I was particularly taken by the fughetta
for manuals in Vom Himmel hoch da
komm ich her, BWV 701, and the fifth
of the settings here, the great Canonic
Variations, where the fluidity of the
music is matched by the mellow 4’ Spitzflöte
and oboe. O’Donnell chooses registrations
with great textual ear – and it’s good
that he ensures that they are printed
in the booklet where one can, if one
wishes, follow him at work.
The four-movement Pastorella
is another of the highlights, full of
springy textures, where O’Donnell proves
light and aerated, as indeed elsewhere
– the first setting of Lobt Gott,
ihr Christen, allzugleich, for instance
– he shows himself powerfully in command
of the more dramatic and leonine aspects
of the music.
Sound is warm and mellow
and the Jürgen Ahrend organ proves
a most adaptable instrument – and this
seasonal conspectus proves equally to
be a winning collection.
Jonathan Woolf
see also
review by Chris Bragg
John O’Donnell (organ) 