12/16/2011 11:38 am

Spreading Christmas Cheer with the Gewandhaus Orchestra

This week saw the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig out on the road again, this time bringing Christmas cheer to cities across western Germany.

The orchestra collaborated with the Thomanerchor Leipzig on Johann Sebastian Bach's Weihnachtsoratorium BWV 248 (Cantatas 1 to 3 and 6) as they traveled between the cities of Essen, Frankfurt, Dortmund, and Baden-Baden to bring Christmas cheer to symphony lovers.

Bach wrote the long and complex Christmas Oratorio in six parts, intending the nearly three-hour composition to be played at church during Christmas. While the logistics of bringing Bach's work to audiences around Germany on Christmas Day itself is impossible, DHL helped the movable orchestra spread holiday joy across western Germany in advance of its December 25 concert in Leipzig.

The concerts previewed the collaboration of the Gewandhaus Orchestra with the Thomanerchor Leipzig's eighth centenary celebration events that will be held across Asia in the spring. For more information on just how DHL is helping these musicians travel lightly, have a look here at our slideshow reporting on the logistics of bringing the symphony to venues around the world.

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