Dark prophecies

Like Cantata 86, which had been played the week prior, Cantata 44 also features a libretto based on a fragment of Jesus’ “Farewell Discourse” as narrated in the Gospel of John. The work was premiered in 1724 on the sixth Sunday after Easter (May 21), also referred to as Exaudi, or Sunday after Ascencion (Ascencion […]

Keyboard Partita No. 6

To close out our exploration of the Clavier-Übung part I, let’s review the last Partita of the set. Partita 6 opens with a movement titled “Toccata”, adhering to the principle of naming all initial movements in the set with a different term, not only to drive variety and spur interest, but also to better reflect […]

Promises and prickly roses

Cantata 86 was composed in 1724 for the fifth Sunday after Easter, also called Rogate or Rogation Sunday, which fell on May 14th that year. The Gospel for this Sunday is John 16: 23-30, a fragment of Jesus’ “Farewell Discourse” after the Last Supper. The unknown librettist adopts a quote from the beginning of this […]