This six movement cantata, is scored, for the standard combination, of strings and continuo, with chorus and two oboe d’amore. On top of this, Bach calls upon the Tromba, for the aria movement, no 5 and a flauto piccolo, or descant recorder, in movements, 1 and 3,...
Bach: The Cantatas
2022 Cantatas
– First Sunday after Easter – 24th April 2022 – J.S.Bach cantata BWV 67 – ,Halt in Gedächtnis Jesum Christ’ –
It is a fact, that, week after week, -and day after day, it seems, that Bach managed to continue to produce works, -and not just church cantatas, of outstanding musical and metaphysical merit. And BWV 67 is no different. A standard orchestra, choir and organ continuo,...
– Second Sunday after Easter – 1st May 2022 – J.S.Bach cantata BWV 104 ,Du Hirt Israel, höre‘ –
1/(chorus) ‘You, The Good Shepherd, of Israel, give us your ear, you, who lead Joseph, like sheep: Shine, you, who is enthroned, upon the cherubim.’ This cantata, which, on top, of the standard orchestra, chorus and continuo, requires an additional two oboes, plus...
– Tuesday after Easter – 19th April 2022 – J.S.Bach cantata BWV 145 – ,Ich lebe, mein Herze’ –
The genesis and subsequent evolution, of this cantata, is uncertain. Whether one or more movements preceded the opening duetto, what they were and even the question of who wrote them, are beyond the considerations of these short notes of guidance. What we have in the...
– Monday after Easter – 18th April 2022 – J.S.Bach cantata BWV 66 – ,Erfreut euch, ihr Herzen’.
A later, sacred reworking, of an earlier, secular serenata, -probably the congratulatory cantata, BWV 66a, this cantata, adds a lone trumpet, to its standard orchestra. 1/(chorus) ‘Hearts rejoice, sorrows begone, The Saviour lives and reigns, among you. Drive away...
Easter Sunday – 17th April 2022 – J.S.Bach – cantata BWV 31 – ,Der Himmel Lacht! Die Erde jubilieret’-
This extraordinary and beautiful cantata allows Bach, to draw together a large ensemble: oboes, with a d’amore option, strings and continuo and a 5-part choir, with solo bass, tenor and soprano recits and arias, are joined by an extra oboe, taille and a bassoon, for...
– Psalm Sunday 10th April 2022 – Osteroratorium BWV 249’ –
The complex revisions, musical-evolution and the history, of the formation, of this cantata-oratorio, are not under discussion here. What we have and can see before us, set out, in 11 sections, for Easter Sunday, but here presented, as a suitable fill-in for Psalm...
– Sunday 3rd April 2022 – J.S.Bach cantata BWV 120 – ,Gott, man lobet dich in der Stille’ –
In this, 6-movement, festival cantata, containing some re-cycled material, the orchestra, -with an oboe d’amore option and chorus, are joined, by a concertanteor solo violin. Three trumpets and timps, are included, but only in the second, strictly choral movement....
-Sunday 27th March 2022 – J.S.Bach cantata BWV 119, ,Preise, Jerusalem, den Herrn’-
A splendid festive civic-election cantata, Ratswechsel, that just gets more and more splendid, as it progresses. Leipzig, in the August of 1723 just did not realise, how lucky it was, to have such music, in its midst. A large scale work, with 9 varied and interesting...
– Friday March 25th 2022 – The Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary – J.S Bach Magnificat BWV 243’-
Musical settings, of the Magnificat, -the song, of the most blessed, virgin Mary, stretch back, to the 14th century and beyond. It seems that everybody and anybody, from the great and remembered, to the lowly and forgotten, have put their mind and their music, to pen...