Slaying the dragon

Cantata 149 was composed most likely for the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel in 1728, and it’s considered a “sister” cantata to BWV 19 for the same occasion in 1726 (which we listened to last year). Its libretto, by C. F. Henrici (Picander), is based on one of the readings for the day, from […]

The organ mogul

During his years in Weimar (1708 to 1717), Bach performed many transcriptions and arrangements of works by Italian composers, which were starting to come into fashion as travelers brought them into Germany.   Copying and transcribing were great ways to study and learn their style and musical language, and Bach did this thoroughly especially with works […]

A Passion triptych

Cantata 182 was performed for the first time in 1714 in Weimar, shortly after Bach was appointed to his post there as Concertmeister. Over the years, Bach reused it possibly up to seven times! There are records of 3 performances in Weimar and 4 in Leipzig which speaks to the appreciation that Bach had for […]