The Song of Mary
The Gospel of Luke, starting in chapter 1 verse 39, tells the story of Mary, pregnant with Jesus, visiting her cousin Elizabeth who was also pregnant with John the Baptist. The libretto for Cantata 147, which we discussed in our last session, is based on the first part of this narrative. Elizabeth blesses Mary upon […]
A basso continuo lesson
The sonata for violin and basso continuo in E minor, BWV 1023, is one of two such pieces that don’t belong in the major cycles of violin music by Bach – the 6 Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin, and the 6 Sonatas for violin and harpsichord obbligato. This sonata, and its sister in C […]
Dancing to the Reformation
This cantata, one of the shortest that Bach ever wrote, survives only through an incomplete set of parts. There is no score, and the tenor part is unfortunately lost, but scholars were able to reconstruct it satisfactorily. By virtue of the calligraphy of the surviving parts, we can date the piece to somewhere between 1729 […]