In a programme celebrating Bach's music in performance, Penny Gore introduces some of the composer's most joyful works.

For Christmas Day:
Cantata BWV 91: Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ (Praised be Thou, Jesus Christ)
Performed by the Monteverdi Choir/English Baroque Soloists at St Bartholomew's, New York, 25 December 2000
Soloists: Katherine Fuge (soprano), Robin Tyson (counter-tenor), James Gilchrist (tenor), Peter Harvey (bass)
Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

For the Second Day of Christmas:
Cantata BWV 40: Dazu ist erschienen der Sohn Gottes (To this end appeared the Son of God)
Performed by the Bach Collegium Japan
Soloists: Yukari Nonoshita (soprano), Robin Blaze (counter-tenor), Gerd Türk (tenor), Peter Kooij (bass)
Conductor: Masaaki Suzuki

For the Third Day of Christmas
Weihnachts-Oratorium (Christmas Oratorio), BWV 248
Cantata for the Third Day of Christmas: Herrscher des Himmels, erhöre das Lallen (King of Heaven, harken to the murmur)
Performed by the RIAS-Kammerchor and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin
Soloists: Dorothea Röschmann (soprano), Andreas Scholl (alto), Werner Güra (tenor), Klaus Häger (bass)
Conductor: René Jacobs

Three Christmas Cantatas
	Programme times (see under 'In Concert')

This programme first broadcast on 24-25 December 2005.