The Christmas Oratorio

Take the quiz. Click the link below for the answers.

1) An oratorio is:
b) a long dramatic work which is sung and accompaniment by an orchestra, but not acted out

2) The Christmas Oratorio is not entirely an appropriate name because:
a) it's really several separate pieces

3) The text for the Christmas Oratorio:
c) is taken in part from the German translation of the Bible, and is part poetry

4) The Christmas Oratorio is divided into:
b) six parts, each to be performed on six different days between Christmas and the Epiphany

5) The Christmas Oratorio was written
b) over a period of about two years in Leipzig

6) The Christmas Oratorio:
d) uses different combinations of soloists, choir, and instruments for each cantata

7) The Christmas Oratorio is normally performed:
b) in German

8) In the Christmas Oratorio the shepherds are:
c) the focus of two of the cantatas

9) All the cantatas in the Christmas Oratorio:
b) have a different number of movements

10) Which answer is correct?
b) Bach never called this work the Christmas Oratorio.

11) Chorales were written:
b) by Luther and others so that the congregation would have something easy to sing

12) In chorales, a fermata indicates:
d) a place to breathe

13) Bach:
b) harmonized familiar chorales

14) Chorales were originally always written:
c) in German, the language of most Lutherans in Bach's day

15) Bach's chorale settings in the Christmas Oratorio:
b) can be described in one of three ways

16) The melody in a chorale:
c) is almost always sung and/or played by the sopranos or soprano instruments

17) Many of Bach's chorale settings in the Christmas Oratorio:
a) use a traditional, 4-part setting in the choir, with a busy orchestral accompaniment

18) The largest group of chorales in the Christmas Oratorio are:
d) those which use a traditional, 4-part setting and probably allowed the congregation to sing

19) Many chorales were sung:
d) at a slow tempo

20) The last chorale in the Christmas Oratorio is:
b) the most complicated

© 2003 Carol Traupman-Carr