Bach: Christmas Oratorio, Cantata No. 3

What the great Passions are to Easter, the Christmas Oratorio is during those dark, wintry days at the end of the year. Johann Sebastian Bach wrote the six independent parts to be performed on six nights between Christmas and Epiphany. On Christmas Day, Jan Willem de Vriend is leading the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Cappella Amsterdam and four specialist soloists in the first three parts.