Christus der Meister is the second of three Christus oratorios from the pen of Friedrich Schneider. After the prelude to the trilogy, Christus das Kind, was performed again by the Kantorei Barmen-Gemarke shortly before Christmas 2019 after more than a hundred years, the work that comes second within the trilogy but was written chronologically first now follows. Schneider's Christus Trilogy, which was originally planned as a series of four full-length oratorios, i.e. as a tetralogy, is of some significance in terms of genre history. Schneider's trilogy is also special in that it ranges from the story of the Nativity to the Passion, thus encompassing the entire life of Jesus. Schneider did not compose the originally intended fourth oratorio, Christ the Glorified.