The motet Fürchte dich nicht is stylistically related to works by earlier members of Bach's family, sharing the same formal scheme as a motet by Johann Michael Bach, his great-uncle.
Historical Context
In Bach's time at St Thomas's Church in Leipzig, Latin motets were required each Sunday for morning service and Vespers, but Bach often used older works.
Composition History
Most of Bach's German motets, including those on this recording, were written for special occasions outside the regular church liturgy.
Composition History
Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf is the only motet of the six that can be definitively assigned to a specific event: the funeral of J. H. Ernesti, Rector of St Thomas's School, in 1729.
Compositional Technique
The motet Jesu, meine Freude uses a popular chorale by Johann Franck and Johann Crüger, combined with free passages setting words from Romans 8, creating an ingenious symmetrical structure.
Notable Performances
Mozart heard Bach's motet Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied during his 1789 visit to St Thomas's in Leipzig and exclaimed, "Now, there is something one can learn from!"
Composition History
When Bach wrote his motets in the 1720s, he was continuing a tradition that was about five hundred years old.
