Bach's chorale cantatas are unified by their structure: each begins and ends with a hymn, with the opening movement as an elaborate chorale fantasia and the final movement plainly harmonized.
Composition History
This album features cantatas from Johann Sebastian Bach's annual cycle of chorale cantatas, which he wrote between Trinity Sunday 1724 and Easter 1725.
Interpretation
The performers on this album use a contrabassoon in the outer movements of the cantatas, even though Bach only had access to this instrument later in his career.
Recording & Production
This recording was made in a coproduction with Deutschlandfunk Kultur at the Deutschlandfunk Kammermusiksaal in Cologne, Germany, in February and March 2019.
Interpretation
The organ, which Bach himself was primarily, plays a more prominent role in this recording than in comparable albums, sometimes accompanied by a harpsichord or performed alone.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Bach combined the Central German chorale cantata form, cultivated by his predecessor as cantor at St. Thomas's, with more modern forms inspired by Italian opera.
