The blessed hour

One week after performing Cantata 138, on the 16th Sunday after Trinity in 1723 (September 12th), we find Bach again experimenting with a proto- “chorale cantata”. A chorale cantata is one whose text and music are closely related to a church hymn and its associated melody, which the congregation would have readily recognized. During his […]

Goldberg Variations II

Let’s continue our exploration of the “Aria with diverse variations”, with the second set of three variations leading up to the second canon in the series. Today we’re listening to Pierre Hantaï’s first recording of this work, from 1999. He plays a copy of a Michael Mietke harpsichord from the early 1700’s, built by Bruce […]

An experimental journey

A journey from distress to faith. That’s the path that Bach takes us on with Cantata 138. And he does so while setting out on a bit of experimentation himself, in terms of musical language and cantata format. The occasion is the fifteenth Sunday after Trinity during Bach’s first year in Leipzig (1723), which fell […]