Johann Sebastian Bach

Alto Cantatas

 

Monica Groop/Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra/ Juha Kangas

 

Bach arrived in Leipzig in 1723 to become Cantor of the Thomassschule. He also supervised the work of the organists at the two churches and was responsible for the music library and instruments. He was expected to perform at various festivities.

In Leipzig, the church cantata became Bach’s main genre for a number of years. In all, he is known to have composed nearly 200 church cantatas. During his first two years in Leipzig Bach wrote a new cantata almost every week.

What makes Bach’s achievement even more remarkable is that this was by no means the only music he wrote in Leipzig in the 1720s; for instance, his large scale St.John and St.Matthew Passions and the Magnificat also date from this period.

Bach’s cantatas range from concise solo cantatas to extensive works calling for several soloists, choir and additional instruments. He took his texts from the Bible and from Lutheran hymns, and also made use of spiritual texts written for his use or from books of cantata cycles published in the early 13th century.

Bach’s diversity of approach is reflected in the three solo cantatas for alto on this disc, which were written for ordinary Sunday services in Leipzig in 1726. They are all different in form and in the performers required.

 

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