Unlocking Bach (Cantatas BWV 11, 117, 29)

Featuring

Marie Luise Werneburg
David Erler
Patrick Grahl
Tobias Berndt
Gotthold Schwarz
Wolfram Lattke

Julia Sophie Wagner
Susanne Krumbiegel
Tobias Hunger
Thomanerchor Leipzig
Sächsische Barockorchester
Johann Sebastian Bach

Did you know?

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Compositional Technique

The alto aria 'Ach, bleibe doch, mein liebstes Leben' from BWV 11 was later reworked by Bach for the Agnus Dei in his famous Mass in B minor.

Interpretation

Bach's Cantata BWV 29, originally intended for a full choir, was recorded with a smaller ensemble of three to four singers per voice part, following historical performance practice championed by Thomaskantor Gotthold Schwarz.

Recording & Production

This recording was produced under strict hygiene regulations and broadcast worldwide as a substitute Festival Opening Concert for the 2020 Bachfest Leipzig, which was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Compositional Technique

Bach's Cantata BWV 29 is one of his few sacred cantatas that opens with an orchestral sinfonia, which musicologists often cite as an origin of the later symphony genre.

Composition History

Bach's 'Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen' (BWV 11), also known as the Ascension Oratorio, connects sacred and secular music, as its opening chorus is based on a lost secular cantata.

Performer Biography

Gotthold Schwarz, the Thomaskantor and conductor on this album, is the 17th Thomaskantor after Johann Sebastian Bach and has been awarded the Cross of Merit 1st Class of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Compositional Technique

Bach's Cantata BWV 117, composed between 1728 and 1731, is considered the first of his spiritual works to feature such a rich abundance of dance-typical triple-meters.