Something for a Friday: All of Bach

[Hitch]

Bach - Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben BWV 483

Daniel Johannsen, tenor
Matthias Havinga, organ
Instrument: Henrick Bader, 1639/1643

Recorded for the project All of Bach on May 29th 2024 at Walburgiskerk, Zutphen.

From the YouTube summary:

Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben? – recorded here for All of Bach with tenor Daniel Johannsen and organist Matthias Havinga – was one of the main hymns in Leipzig’s churches in the seventeenth century. Bach used the text (by Caspar Neumann) and the melody (by Daniel Vetter) as a basis for one of his most beautiful cantatas (BWV 8) ánd this Schemelli-song from 1736.

From the All of Bach website:

To be or not to be

Contemplating death, almost like Hamlet with the skull.

‘Dearest God, when will I die?’ Sometimes we feel the need to ask this question, even when in our times life-threatening hazards are more effectively kept at bay than in any other period of human history. How different the situation was in Bach’s time. The composer had to bury ten of his twenty children, and his first wife Maria Barbara died when he was on a long journey with his sovereign Leopold von Anhalt-Köthen, so that upon his return he could do no more than visit her grave.

Death was omnipresent during the Baroque period. When Caspar Neumann, author of the poem of this Schemelli song, was born in Breslau, the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648) had come to an end. Approximately a third of Germany’s population perished during these three decades. Neumann, not only a renowned theologian and writer but also a scientist researching demography and statistics, could have provided a long list of casualties from his own family.

Neumann’s poems and prayers remained in print for many decades, and Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben? was one of the main hymns in Leipzig’s churches. Thus, Bach wrote one of his most beautiful cantatas based on it (BWV 8, in September 1724). He must have been especially fond of the beautiful melody by his older colleague and Leipzig contemporary, Daniel Vetter (also born in Breslau), since he used this tune unaltered in both the cantata and this Schemelli song from 1736.

‘Hilf, dass ich ein ehrlich Grab neben frommen Christen hab’ (Help me to have an honest grave next to pious Christians). We cannot contemplate these words without bearing in mind that Bach’s own grave on Leipzig’s Johanniskirchhof was forgotten (and definitely not well maintained) for almost two centuries, until in 1950 his remains were eventually reburied in the Thomaskirche. It is therefore only fitting that today all the musicians performing from the organ loft of the Thomaskirche look down upon this honorary grave, situated in front of the altar.

Musicalisches Gesang-Buch G.C. Schemelli

In the eighteenth century, sacred songbooks for private use were an important aid in simple, domestic devotion. For example, no fewer than 17 editions of Johann Freylinghausen’s Geistreiches Gesangbuch were published between 1704 and 1734. Two years later, pietist Georg Christian Schemmel, alias Schemelli, launched his own songbook, containing no fewer than 954 songs, 69 of which included melody, text incipit and figured bass. In order to outdo the competition, he involved probably the most famous music consultant of all time, who happened to be his son’s music teacher: Bach. Following intensive research, only three of the 21 original melodies in the collection (BWV 439-509) can be attributed with certainty to the cantor at the Thomasschule: BWV 452, 478 and 505. The others are accompaniments, revisions and improvements. Bach’s precise role in Schemelli’s Gesangbuch will probably always remain a mystery.

[Hitch]

Bach - Chorale O hilf, Christe, Gottes Sohn BWV 1084

Netherlands Bach Society
Monica Monteiro, soprano
Bernadett Nagy, alto
Immo Schröder, tenor
Bram Trouwborst, bass

Recorded for the project All of Bach on May 5th 2024 at Sint-Gertrudiskerk, Bergen op Zoom.

From the YouTube summary:

This chorale – recorded here for All of Bach with singers of the Netherlands Bach Society – Bach rewrote when he recorded the work again in Leipzig. Instead of a fairly simple harmonisation, he wrote a new version with harmonic and rhythmic variation. What stands out: it seems that notes are missing from several chords. This is particularly striking in the interim final chords without a third (to the words ‘Gottes Sohn’, ‘meiden’ and ‘arm und schwach’). These ‘open’ chords without a major or minor third, and so without ‘timbre’, have a rather archaic sound.

From the All of Bach website:

Missing thirds

A chorale that Bach rewrote when he performed the work again in Leipzig.

Naturally, All of Bach revolves around Bach as a composer, but of course he also conducted other people’s music. On Good Friday 1726 – one year before he presented his own St Matthew Passion – Bach conducted a performance of the St Mark Passion by Reinhard Keiser. He had already performed the work on a previous occasion in Weimar.

When Bach performed Keiser’s Passion again in Leipzig, he made a few alterations here and there. One change was the replacement of the earlier setting of the chorale O hilf Christe, Gottes Sohn. Instead of a fairly simple harmonisation, he wrote a new version with harmonic and rhythmic variation. The reason for this new version was probably a practical one, as the chorale melody used in Leipzig was slightly different to the one used in Weimar.

At first sight, Bach’s new four-part version is indistinguishable from the many other four-part chorale harmonisations he wrote. But on closer listening, you start to notice something: it seems that notes are missing from several chords. This is particularly striking in the interim final chords without a third (to the words ‘Gottes Sohn’, ‘meiden’ and ‘arm und schwach’). These ‘open’ chords without a major or minor third, and so without ‘timbre’, have a rather archaic sound.

This may have been a deliberate choice, but there’s probably something else going on here. Keizer’s Passion was written for a five-part group of strings. In Weimar, both the first and second violins double the soprano in O hilf Christe, Gottes Sohn. The instrumental parts for the performance in 1726 have not survived, but it seems likely that when Bach wrote a new version of the chorale he gave an independent part to the first violins. When the violin part was lost, so were the thirds.

[Hitch]

Bach - Cantata Himmelskönig, sei willkommen BWV 182

Netherlands Bach Society
Johanna Soller, organ and direction
Kristen Witmer, soprano
Alex Potter, alto
Guy Cutting, tenor
Matthias Winckhler, bass

Recorded for the project All of Bach on June 28th 2024 at Oude Kerk Charlois, Rotterdam.

This recording was initiated by social fund MWH4impact and organised specially for residents of Rotterdam-Zuid. MWH4impact aims to achieve social and cultural impact and joins the Netherlands Bach Society in their mission Bach for All.

0:00 Sonata
2:13 Himmelskönig, sei willkommen (Chor)
5:31 Siehe, ich komme (Rezitativ)
6:08 Starkes Lieben (Arie)
8:36 Leget euch dem Heiland unter (Arie)
16:10 Jesu, laß durch Wohl und Weh (Arie)
19:25 Jesu, deine Passion (Chor)
22:31 So lasset uns gehen (Chor)

From the YouTube summary:

The festive cantata Himmelskönig, sei willkommen – recorded here for All of Bach with Johanna Soller – is a hit. And that was just what Bach intended it to be. He wrote the cantata on the occasion of Palm Sunday as well as the Feast of the Annunciation, and to impress the Weimar court, where he was that day making the transition from organist to concertmaster. On this double festive day Bach pulls out all stops: four singing parts, solos for recorder and himself (!) on violin, two violas, a partly independent cello part, and continuo for organ and double bass.

From the All of Bach website:

A royal entrance

Bach marks his debut as a concertmaster with an exceptional cantata.

25 March 1714; Palm Sunday as well as the Feast of the Annunciation. The painted wooden ceiling of the ‘Himmelsburg’, the court chapel in Weimar, is open and daylight streams in through the skylights. Twelve metres above the monumental altar, half hidden on the cosy organ balcony, a 29-year-old Johann Sebastian Bach glances down on the heads of the ducal court. Most probably with a mix of nerves and self-confidence, as today he is finally making the transition from organist to concertmaster. Himmelskönig, sei willkommen, the first of his monthly cantatas, had to be – and would be – a hit.

Later, in Leipzig, Bach was able to use more musicians – as for the revivals of BWV 182 in 1724 and 1728 – but in Weimar the space was simply too limited. Yet on this double holy day, all the stops were pulled out: four singing parts, solos for recorder and himself (!) on violin, two violas, a partly independent cello part, and continuo for organ and double bass. The gospel reading for the day made its own contribution: riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, Jesus was received as a king by his disciples, who are unaware that less than a week later he would die on the cross. (Regality also dominates the Feast of the Annunciation, which for Luther revolved more around Jesus as the king of heaven than around his mother.)

In three arias, the cantata zooms in on the question of how the listener can prepare for the promised eternal life. After a brief quote from Psalm 40, interpreted as Jesus’ own words, the bass sings about the ‘starkes Lieben’ that drove the Redeemer to sacrifice himself for mankind. The alto then asks everyone to lay their heart at the feet of Jesus and wear their faith like an ‘unbeflecktes Kleid’. Finally, the tenor already cites the coming ‘Kreuzige’ and calls on people to remain true to the banner of Christ’s cross, even in times of hardship.

Around this sermonising core, Bach writes four beautifully balanced tutti sections. First come a sonata and an opening chorus, which can be taken together as a French overture: a stately (instrumental) beginning with dotted rhythms, followed by a flowing fugue, which Bach makes extra long in ABA form. After the arias, but not at the end as was customary later on, we hear a verse from the much-used chorale text ‘Jesu Leiden, Pein und Tod’ by Paul Stockmann, from 1633. Just as in ‘O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig’ from the St Matthew Passion, for example, the three expressive lower voices always prepare for the entrance of the soprano, who spans the chorale melody above the musical web in long notes. As a counterpart to the impressive opening, Bach guides the listener in a cheerful closing chorus towards the ‘Salem der Freude’, a heavenly Jerusalem. Hear how it is always the bass who starts off ‘Er gehet voran’; an old Baroque tradition, whereby this voice represents Jesus himself.

[Hitch]

The Netherlands Bach Society's New Artistic Leader: Johanna Soller

"Johanna Soller has been appointed as artistic leader of the Netherlands Bach Society starting May 1. She succeeds Shunske Sato, who held that position until June 2023. Johanna Soller is the seventh artistic leader in our ensemble's 104-year history." More information here.

[Hitch]

vinteuil I'm glad you enjoy the posts. The All of Bach project is one of the unequivocally good things in life.

oddoneout Many thanks.

[oddoneout]

I don't know if this has been posted already but it may be of interest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IZ0uMgeVCM

[vinteuil]

.

... many many thanks, Hitch, for continuing to download these marvels.

They provide real sustenance, for which I am so grateful

[Hitch]

Bach: Vater unser im Himmelreich BWV 636

Matthias Havinga, organ
Instrument: Henrick Bader, 1639/1643
Recorded for the project All of Bach on May 30th 2024 at Walburgiskerk, Zutphen.

From the YouTube description:

This organ arrangement of the Lord’s Prayer – recorded here for All of Bach with Matthias Havinga - comes from the Orgelbüchlein. This collection of chorale preludes dates back to the years 1712-1717. By then, Bach had already gained a few years’ experience as an organist in Arnstadt and Weimar. The Orgelbüchlein shows us Bach’s organ style in its first great flush.

From the All of Bach website:

Keep praying

In this organ arrangement of the Lord’s Prayer, the sombre melody is lent extra laboriousness.

The Lord’s Prayer is the most important prayer in Christianity. No wonder, as it is the only one that came directly from Jesus himself. Luther arranged the prayer as a rhyming chorale, Vater unser im Himmelreich, adding one important supplication: Grant that the mouth not only pray, from deepest heart oh help its way.

Bach arranged Luther’s chorale melody numerous times: at least four times for organ, but also in several cantatas and in the St John Passion. This chorale prelude comes from the Orgelbüchlein, a collection of chorale preludes dating back to the years 1712-1717. By then, Bach had already gained a few years’ experience as an organist in Arnstadt and Weimar. The Orgelbüchlein shows us Bach’s organ style in its first great flush.

In this setting, Bach has opted for a relatively simple and steady accompaniment. The four parts actually play a chorale, but there is always one part that deviates from that principle and plays a figure in semiquavers. This figure travels continuously through the musical construction, while the other three parts keep playing chords, lending extra laboriousness to a melody that is already sombre to begin with. The message is clear: prayer is necessary and divine benediction does not just fall into the lap of mankind.

Orgelbüchlein, BWV 599-644

During his time as court organist at Weimar (1708-1714), Bach already started compiling his first collection of chorale arrangements and chorale preludes (compositions based on Lutheran hymns). They were intended to be used in church services, and the preludes were an introduction to congregational singing. According to the list of contents in Bach’s manuscript, it was supposed to have been a collection of 164 compositions, but in the end it did not exceed 46 (BWV 599-644). The order, combined with the limited length of the pieces, indicates that Bach was planning to compile a complete cycle of chorale arrangements. Later, in his period at Köthen, he gave the collection a title page, which reads: ‘Orgel-Büchlein, Worinne einem anfahenden Organisten Anleitung gegeben wird, auff allerhand Arth einen Choral durchzuführen…’ (‘Little organ book, in which a beginner organist is taught to arrange a chorale in all sorts of ways...’). So at the time, he intended the collection just as a teaching manual, maybe to present on his application in 1722 for the post of cantor at the Thomasschule in Leipzig, which was an important teaching position. The pupils must have had a hard time of it, as the preludes contain the complete range of baroque keyboard techniques in a nutshell.

[Hitch]

Bach: Prelude in G minor BWV 930

Guillermo González García, harpsichord
Instrument: Titus Crijnen, 1992 after Johannes Ruckers, 1638

Recorded for the project All of Bach on October 16th 2024 at Maltezerhuis, Utrecht.

From the YouTube description:

Bach is one of the most celebrated composers of all time, but during his lifetime he was also an outstanding teacher. Possibly his best pupils were his wife and children, for whom he wrote a number of Klavierbüchlein, exercise books, containing short pedagogic tips and simple practice pieces. This Prelude in G minor from the Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann was recorded for All of Bach with young keyboard talent Guillermo González García from Spain as part of a talent development project by the Netherlands Bach Society.

From the All of Bach website:

Teaching material

Bach used this simple prelude to train his eldest son in keyboard playing.

Bach is one of the most celebrated composers of all time, but during his lifetime he was also an outstanding teacher. Possibly his best pupils were his wife and children, for whom he wrote a number of Klavierbüchlein, exercise books, containing short pedagogic tips and simple practice pieces. By following them, his family learnt not only to play the keyboard, but also the ins and outs of music theory and composition. Bach thus carried on the tradition of his musical family, as he himself had been taught by his elder brother Johann Christoph.

In 1720, when Bach’s eldest son Wilhelm Friedemann was ten, his father wrote the first teaching method we know for him. The Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann is still regarded as one of the classics of the pedagogic genre and is popular with piano teachers who want to introduce children to Bach’s work. The book includes over sixty pieces, arranged in order of difficulty, going from the simple Applicatio in C major, BWV 994, to the relatively challenging three-part Sinfonias. Most of them are written by Bach, although some are by other composers and some even by Friedemann himself. It is clear he had already made considerable progress by the time he started on this book.

As number nine in the series, this introspective Prelude in G minor, BWV 930, is still fairly easy. The piece was probably composed by Bach, although there are also suggestions it may have been written by Friedemann. The construction is simple: first a musical phrase takes us to a different key, and then another brings us back again. Both phrases are repeated. The music is built up of two parts, which frequently imitate one another. Account has clearly been taken of the beginner, as at some moments only one part is active. The bass part is full of big octave leaps, which is easy for adults but probably still challenging for Friedemann. The harmonies are also relatively simple, although there are occasional glimmers of a richer world. The piece is known to musicologists for its fingerings, which are annotated by father Bach himself. They are very different to the fingerings normally used by musicians today.

Young talent

Once every two or three years, the Netherlands Bach Society organises a talent development project for gifted young musicians under the age of 18. The projects, which focus on the performance practice of Bach’s music, allows us to bring talented youngsters into contact with historical performance practice and give them deeper insight into Bach’s music. In this project, we worked with keyboardists of the future. Seven very talented international youngsters between twelve and eighteen years old were selected from auditions to take two masterclasses about Bach, the harpsichord and baroque playing techniques and styles, given by Siebe Henstra. Each keyboardist rehearsed movements from the Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, including the Nine Little Preludes, BWV 924-932, which Bach wrote to use in lessons with his son Wilhelm Friedemann. The rehearsed works were recorded for All of Bach in October 2024, at the Maltezerhuis in Utrecht.

[Hitch]

Bach: Beglückter Stand getreuer Seelen BWV 442

Daniel Johannsen, tenor
Leo van Doeselaar, organ
Instrument: Henrick Bader, 1639/1643

Recorded for the project All of Bach on May 28th 2024 at Walburgiskerk, Zutphen.

From the YouTube description:

This chorale - recorded here for All of Bach with tenor Daniel Johannsen and organist Leo van Doeslaar - has a a favourite Baroque topic: Christians should refuse an earthen lifestyle. Bach (or the hymnal editor Georg Christian Schemelli) chose the earnest and quite meditative minor melody of another (contemporary) chorale: Entfernet euch, ihr matten Kräfte. The words of this chorale by Gottfried Arnold are dealing with exactly the same issue as in BWV 442: ‘Welt, geh aus, lass Jesum ein’, as we know from the last aria in Bach’s St Matthew Passion.

From the All of Bach website:

Disciples with discipline

A chorale with a favourite Baroque topic: Christians should refuse an earthen lifestyle.

Many modern theologists have their sore thoughts about the refusal of an earthen lifestyle, promoted in this chorale Beglückter Stand getreuer Seelen. But this self-denial, which was so common for Bach and his contemporaries, is a very commandment of Christ (cf. Luke 9:23-24). The poet Ulrich Bogislaus von Bonin (1682 – 1752), deriving from a Pomeranian family of militaries but then turning towards faith and church, was truly convinced of this axiom of self-denial when he wrote the eight verses of this song, from which three were chosen for our recording.

The world, being in conflict with itself, can surely grant nothing worthwhile; God must be our ‘dwelling place’ (‘Gott muss allein die Wohnung sein’). And when we really aim for that, not even the angels have a superior situation compared to us: they will not have more wealth, honour, joy and satisfaction than ‘the friends of Christ’. This is the promised reward.

Bach (or the hymnal editor Georg Christian Schemelli) chose the earnest and quite meditative minor melody of another (contemporary) chorale: Entfernet euch, ihr matten Kräfte. The words of this chorale by Gottfried Arnold are dealing with exactly the same issue as in BWV 442: ‘Welt, geh aus, lass Jesum ein’, as we know from the last aria in Bach’s St Matthew Passion.

Musicalisches Gesang-Buch G.C. Schemelli

In the eighteenth century, sacred songbooks for private use were an important aid in simple, domestic devotion. For example, no fewer than 17 editions of Johann Freylinghausen’s Geistreiches Gesangbuch were published between 1704 and 1734. Two years later, pietist Georg Christian Schemmel, alias Schemelli, launched his own songbook, containing no fewer than 954 songs, 69 of which included melody, text incipit and figured bass. In order to outdo the competition, he involved probably the most famous music consultant of all time, who happened to be his son’s music teacher: Bach. Following intensive research, only three of the 21 original melodies in the collection (BWV 439-509) can be attributed with certainty to the cantor at the Thomasschule: BWV 452, 478 and 505. The others are accompaniments, revisions and improvements. Bach’s precise role in Schemelli’s Gesangbuch will probably always remain a mystery.

[silvestrione]

Alternative translations are painfully/arduously seeks a path - slightly different way to express a struggle?

Ah yes, much better.

[oddoneout]

What a way to describe one of the most sublime melodies ever composed!

(But thanks for posting this)

Alternative translations are painfully/arduously seeks a path - slightly different way to express a struggle?

[silvestrione]

Bach: Cantata Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen BWV12

Netherlands Bach Society
René Jacobs, conductor
Isabel Schicketanz, soprano
Alexander Chance, alto
Thomas Hobbs, tenor
Edward Grint, bass

Recorded for the project All of Bach on November 5th 2023 at Grote Kerk Naarden.

From the YouTube description:

This cantata – recorded for All of Bach with conductor René Jacobs – is one of the most popular works today by Bach. The cantata was written for the 3rd Sunday after Easter, Sunday Jubilate, and glorifies the pain of earthly life. Tears, worries, suffering and fear are an inevitable part of life for all those baptised in Christ’s name. After all, Jesus paid for eternal life for his followers with his death. So redemption awaits those who are patient.

From the All of Bach website:

Beacon in the labyrinth

A hymn to Jesus’ suffering hovers between fear and hope

‘You feel sorrowful now, but I will see you again’, Jesus comforts his twelve apostles. ‘And your hearts will rejoice.’ The readings for the 3rd Sunday after Easter discuss, and sometimes glorify the pain of earthly life. Tears, worries, suffering and fear are an inevitable part of life for all those baptised in Christ’s name. After all, Jesus paid for eternal life for his followers with his death. So redemption awaits those who are patient.

While writing this BWV 12, in the winter of 1713-1714, Bach was comfortably at work in Weimar. He was expecting his fifth child (Carl Philipp Emanuel), his salary had risen steadily since 1708 and so had his reputation. And Duke Wilhelm Ernst of Saxe-Weimar was nowhere near ready to let go of his most talented musician. So when Bach auditioned elsewhere (in Halle), triumphed and even created a cantata there, the Duke acted quickly: more money and promotion to ‘Concert-Meister’, in exchange for a monthly cantata in Weimar. Bach then composed, in quick succession, some of his most popular works today, including Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen.

The sinfonia was written in the form of an instrumental lament, in which the oboe laboriously carves out a path between the large complement of strings (listen out for the extra viola). This is precisely the message of the recitative, as ‘only after many trials can we enter God’s kingdom.’ But first we hear the iconic opening section, which Bach arranged 35 years later to become the Crucifixus of his Mass in B minor. A poignant basso ostinato (repetitive bass line) provides a shaky foundation for sighing voices and faltering strings. The middle section makes a musical turnaround to hope, before the return of the sorrowful basso ostinato.

The recitative is followed by three arias that each link Jesus’ crucifixion to the lives of the congregation. The alto calls for resignation, as suffering (‘cross’ and ‘struggle’) is simply part of redemption (‘crown’ and ‘prize’). The bass would prefer to make Jesus’ crucifixion sacrifice himself, or at least share in his pain. And the tenor reminds us once again of the goal: eternal life in heavenly bliss. Listen to how the trumpet radiates the redemption chorale ‘Jesu, meine Freude’ above the tortuous melody of the aria – an answer to the searching oboe from the sinfonia. And Bach adds a jubilant upper voice or descant to the chorale Was Gott tut das ist wohlgetan.

What a way to describe one of the most sublime melodies ever composed!

(But thanks for posting this)

[Hitch]

Bach: Cantata Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen BWV12

Netherlands Bach Society
René Jacobs, conductor
Isabel Schicketanz, soprano
Alexander Chance, alto
Thomas Hobbs, tenor
Edward Grint, bass

Recorded for the project All of Bach on November 5th 2023 at Grote Kerk Naarden.

From the YouTube description:

This cantata – recorded for All of Bach with conductor René Jacobs – is one of the most popular works today by Bach. The cantata was written for the 3rd Sunday after Easter, Sunday Jubilate, and glorifies the pain of earthly life. Tears, worries, suffering and fear are an inevitable part of life for all those baptised in Christ’s name. After all, Jesus paid for eternal life for his followers with his death. So redemption awaits those who are patient.

From the All of Bach website:

Beacon in the labyrinth

A hymn to Jesus’ suffering hovers between fear and hope

‘You feel sorrowful now, but I will see you again’, Jesus comforts his twelve apostles. ‘And your hearts will rejoice.’ The readings for the 3rd Sunday after Easter discuss, and sometimes glorify the pain of earthly life. Tears, worries, suffering and fear are an inevitable part of life for all those baptised in Christ’s name. After all, Jesus paid for eternal life for his followers with his death. So redemption awaits those who are patient.

While writing this BWV 12, in the winter of 1713-1714, Bach was comfortably at work in Weimar. He was expecting his fifth child (Carl Philipp Emanuel), his salary had risen steadily since 1708 and so had his reputation. And Duke Wilhelm Ernst of Saxe-Weimar was nowhere near ready to let go of his most talented musician. So when Bach auditioned elsewhere (in Halle), triumphed and even created a cantata there, the Duke acted quickly: more money and promotion to ‘Concert-Meister’, in exchange for a monthly cantata in Weimar. Bach then composed, in quick succession, some of his most popular works today, including Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen.

The sinfonia was written in the form of an instrumental lament, in which the oboe laboriously carves out a path between the large complement of strings (listen out for the extra viola). This is precisely the message of the recitative, as ‘only after many trials can we enter God’s kingdom.’ But first we hear the iconic opening section, which Bach arranged 35 years later to become the Crucifixus of his Mass in B minor. A poignant basso ostinato (repetitive bass line) provides a shaky foundation for sighing voices and faltering strings. The middle section makes a musical turnaround to hope, before the return of the sorrowful basso ostinato.

The recitative is followed by three arias that each link Jesus’ crucifixion to the lives of the congregation. The alto calls for resignation, as suffering (‘cross’ and ‘struggle’) is simply part of redemption (‘crown’ and ‘prize’). The bass would prefer to make Jesus’ crucifixion sacrifice himself, or at least share in his pain. And the tenor reminds us once again of the goal: eternal life in heavenly bliss. Listen to how the trumpet radiates the redemption chorale ‘Jesu, meine Freude’ above the tortuous melody of the aria – an answer to the searching oboe from the sinfonia. And Bach adds a jubilant upper voice or descant to the chorale Was Gott tut das ist wohlgetan.

[Padraig]

Bach - Chorale Von Gott will ich nicht lassen BWV 418

Catching up, Hitch, after Christmas. Please don't ask.