In composing his Easter Oratorio, Bach drew heavily on a now-lost cantata entitled Entfliehet, verschwindet, entweichet, ihr Sorgen, which he had written to mark the birthday of Duke Christian of Saxe-Weisenfels, on February 23, 1725. Little over a month afterwards the work was given again, but this time with a revised text supplied by Picander, and with new recitatives. With its celebratory scoring, including parts for three trumpets and drums, the work undoubtedly suited the jubilant Easter celebrations well. There is evidence to show that Bach revised it again as a birthday cantata in August 1726, but he did not return to it thereafter until the mid-1730s.
Only now, having replaced the solo oboe in the orchestra with a flute and reworked the opening duet as a chorus, did Bach give it the revised title of "oratorio." Originally, the four solo vocal parts had been assigned to principal characters from the Gospel record, but the names of Mary the mother of James, Mary Magdalene, and the apostles Peter and John did not appear in the revisions of 1732 - 1735. Bach's Easter Oratorio remains remarkably faithful to the Italian oratorio style. The relatively compact proportions of this work omits biblical recitatives, does not require the role of the Evangelist to unfold the narrative, and nor does it include the traditional chorales sung by chorus and congregation. Easter Oratorio is largely contemplative in tone, the only significant moment of drama being the discovery of the empty tomb.
The work begins with a large scale sinfonia in the two movements, the style and scoring of the first being reflected in the opening chorus, thus completing a fast-slow-fast scheme. There are da capo arias for three soloists (soprano, tenor, and alto), punctuated with rather plain recitatives. Only towards the close do the solos become noticeably more florid and ambitious, as the music depicts the glory of the risen Christ. One very significant feature, however, is the way in which Bach ensures that the work as a whole orbits the tenor aria "Sanfte soll mein Todeskummer" (sometimes called the "slumber-aria"), which celebrates the Christian hope of triumph over death, to the gentle accompaniment of recorders and muted strings. Here, the music touchingly portrays the believer's assurance that the pain of death is now merely a sleep with glorious reawakening. The closing triumphant chorus also recalls the start of the oratorio in a vigorous affirmation of Christian faith.
Description by Michael Jameson courtesy of https://www.allmusic.com/…/easter-oratorio-oster-oratorium-
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