Blessing, salvation and peace

This cantata may have been written for a wedding around 1728, but we don’t have firm data as to the precise circumstances of its composition. It belongs to the “chorale cantata” type, in which the text of a hymn is preserved in full (“per omnes versus”), and references to the chorale tune associated with the […]

WTC II – F minor & F sharp major

After our Easter break, here is a delightful pair of preludes and fugues to come back to, as we resume our journey through the Well-Tempered Clavier, book II. Plus, in an exciting new recording which just came out – Trevor Pinnock’s. He plays an instrument built by David Way, of Stonington, Connecticut, in 1982, which […]

Faith in adversity

This Cantata, composed for the 21st Sunday after Trinity probably in 1728, has a libretto by Picander which comes from a collection of religious poetry that he published in 1728-29. The text, a lesson about faith in God in adverse times, is related only loosely to the Gospel of the day, which narrates Jesus’ healing […]