J.S. Bach / Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben? BWV 8 (Herreweghe)

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Cantata BWV 8: Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben? (24 September 1724)

1. Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben? (Chorus)
2. Was willst du dich, mein Geist, entsetzen (Aria: T) 06:40
3. Zwar fühlt mein schwaches Herz (Recitative: A) 10:25
4. Doch weichet, ihr tollen, vergeblichen Sorgen! (Aria: B) 11:19
5. Behalte nur, o Welt, das Meine! (Recitative: S) 16:05
6. Herrscher über Tod und Leben (Chorale) 17:08

Soloists:
Soprano: Deborah York
Alto: Ingeborg Danz
Tenor: Mark Padmore
Bass: Peter Kooy

Collegium Vocale Gent performs under the direction of Philippe Herreweghe. Recorded by Harmonia Mundi France in 1998.

"'Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben?' was completed on 24 September 1724. For a performance in Bach's later years the work was transposed from E major to D major, which resulted in a number of minor changes. [The version here is the one in E major.] Caspar Neumann's chorale melody appears in an expressively ornamented form in the opening chorus, but in comparison with most of the other chorale-cantatas, this choral writing is conspicuously simple. Bach makes one of the lines of the chorale -- 'Meine Zeit läuft immer hin' -- the point of departure for an atmospherically extremely dense musical depiction. The main weight of the opening movement lies in the unusually expansive instrumental ritornelli, for which Bach has devised an extraordinary 'pictorial' sound texture. Over an unremitting quaver movement in the muted strings, the musical equivalent of the time continuum, two oboes d'amore unfurl a constantly varied ritornello theme, which stands for the idea of fleeting time. They are joined by a piccolo whose repeated notes are a stylised representation of the death bell. In the sharpest imaginable contrast to the elegiac serenity of the opening chorus, the following aria, 'Was willst du dich, mein Geist, entsetzen', is an expressively highly charged, rhythmically and melodically driven piece that captures the anguished tension before the moment of death. An accompanied recitative leads into the bass aria in which the fear of death appears to change into the certitude of a better life. In a variety of ways Bach reaches back to the opening chorus, where, as here, a rocking 12/8 time sets the tone of a restful, pastoral gesture, and even in the bass aria the solo flute plays a significant role." - Thomas Seedorf

Painting: A Visit (detail), Carl Spitzweg

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