Crushing the serpent

Cantata 40 was composed for the second day of Christmas of 1723. It was first performed on December 26th of that year, and we have records of a second performance in the late 1740’s. Its libretto, by an unknown poet, makes little reference to readings of the day (although it includes several biblical references), instead […]

Goldberg Variations IV

As we progress through the collection, we continue to find different styles and architectures in each variation. Variation 10 was named a “Fugetta” – i.e., a small, less developed fugue. It’s set to four voices, with a four-bar theme that starts on the bass, moves to the tenor in bar 5, then to the soprano […]

The King is coming

Cantata 61 was composed in Weimar in 1714, during Bach’s first year on the job of Kapellmeister, which entailed composing monthly cantatas for performance in the palace’s chapel. The year of composition is noted in Bach’s handwriting on the score’s cover page. The cantata was then given a second performance in Leipzig on November 28th, […]