Bach: Cantatas, BWV 10, 93, 107, 178

Read About This Recording

The work continues for Masaaki Suzuki and his Bach Collegium Japan with additional items from their stimulating series of Bach cantatas from BIS. Here we present Volume 23. While working as a solo harpsichordist and organist, Masaaki Suzuki founded the Bach Collegium Japan in 1990, embarking on a series of performances of J.S. Bach's church cantatas which gained a formidable reputation. This dynamic recording project has come from this association.

Volume 23 features four cantatas from Bach's so-called chorale cantata year. This large-scale cycle of cantatas were written in Bach's second year of service in Leipzig covering the religious calendar of 1724/25. The cantatas all refer to specific hymns that were in common use on the Sundays and feast days of the liturgy. Therefore little, if anything, is known of the author of the overall text. Musicologists maintain that a local poet of Leipzig, who possessed a deep understanding of theology, worked with Bach in preparing them. The idea was to incorporate these familiar hymns into large-scale cantatas. It was to be the librettist's duty to rework them as arias and recitatives as well as choruses. Of course, hymns were selected for their suitability to the gospel readings, forming the basis of a sermon.

The recorded sound is clear and vivid. Suzuki's thoughtful and exemplary direction combined with the splendid singing and playing of the Bach Collegium Japan have become givens in the series. The package contains excellent and detailed booklet notes, as well as the now-expected first-rate sound engineering. An inspiring and worthy music series.

—Terence London

Contents

Cantatas: No. 10, Meine Seel erhebt den Herren, BWV10; No. 93, Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten, BWV93; No. 107, Was willst du dich betrüben, BWV107; No. 178, Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält, BWV178.

Yukari Nonoshita, Soprano; Matthew White, Countertenor; Makoto Sakurada, Tenor; Peter Kooij, Bass; Bach Collegium Japan; Masaaki Suzuki, Conductor.

Sung in German. Contains libretto.