# Bach Cantatas - A Top 20 List (Part II)



## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

The second half of my list from the post above (I accidentally reversed the posting order)...

*10. BWV 80 Ein' Feste Burg ist Unser Gott:* This is a famous one, and for perfectly good reason. The motet chorus on the ubiquitous "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" is a piece to make us fall on our knees. But the other movements, including a operatic-style love duet and a virile theatrical setting of the hymn, are also top-notch.

*9. BWV 27 Wer Weiß, wie Nahe mir mein Ende:* This work is almost never talked about, which utterly confounds me. It has all the transcendental Romantic richness of a work like Mahler's _Das Lied von der Erde_. It is a tough work to crack because it is such a surprising blend of various emotions, but it's absolutely essential for understanding Bach as the artist that he was.

*8. BWV 109 Ich Glaube, Lieber Herr, Hilf Meinem Unglauben:* This an amazing pinnacle of Bach's progressive modernistic innovations. Like 60 it is a deep dive into the dark regions of the human soul and the afflictions of fear and uncertainty. Julian Mincham sees it as a precursor to the expressionism of the Second Viennese School and Craig Smith points out "an elaborate, almost Wagnerian system of motives, which advise us of the believer's progression throughout the cantata." I find it baffling how anyone could dislike Bach after hearing a cantata like this.

*7. BWV 147 Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben:* "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" needs no explanation, but it is only one glorious melody in a luxuriously lyrical and genial cantata. This is the ultimate place to start your cantata journey - if you can't appreciate the craftsmanship and pathos, then Bach might not be for you. The aria for alto is one of those mysterious Bachian things that seems to communicate so many layers of meaning beyond the surface.

*6. BWV 161 Komm du Susse Todesstunde:* Bach's sublime yet painfully realistic treatment of death finds its full realization here. The arias and choruses are unimaginably beautiful (I've been close to shedding actual tears), but the highlights may be, believe it or not, the recitatives, which are among Bach's ultimate essays in the form seen by many as dry and perfunctory.

*5. BWV 101 Nimm von uns, Herr, du Treuer Gott:* How could Bach bestow so much attention on a single cantata that would only be performed on one Sunday, with only a week's worth of preparation? This is a towering peak of artistic inspiration. The opening chorus sees the earth as a war-torn wasteland, matched with some of Bach's most emotionally piercing yet technically complex fugal music. Most likely to appeal is the magical, melancholy duet which finds the beauty and redemption in the suffering of Christ on the cross.

*4. BWV 23 Du Wahrer Gott und Davids Sohn:* This is one of two audition pieces that Bach presented at Leipzig that eventually won him the job of Cantor at St. Thomas Church. How could anyone refuse him after hearing this? In Leipzig, no music was performed in church during the entire time of Lent and Bach knew that this would be the last thing they would hear until Good Friday. The work is only four movements long, but each one is so perfectly-polished and emotionally devastating in its look toward the cross that it stands as one of his most perfect compositions in any form.

*3. BWV 106 Gottes Zeit ist die Allerbeste Zeit:* Commonly known as "Actus Tragicus," this very early cantata is a masterpiece of dramatic invention. Composed for a funeral, it is a sublimation of the emotions felt by the grieving and foreshadows the gentle humanistic comfort of Brahms's _German Requiem_. It is a short work, but is full of many amazingly felicitous details and feels like the journey of a lifetime from the flowing tears of the opening sinfonia to the hesitant purity of the closing chorale.

*2. BWV 21 "Ich Hatte viel Bekümmernis:* BWV 21 is Bach's longest sacred cantata by a large margin, usually lasting around 40 minutes. In many ways it is his greatest essay in the "drama of the soul" that he sought to achieve. It contains everything - operatic idioms, stern _stile antico_, poignant cries for mercy and expressions of devotion, all along an epic traversal from the throes of sorrow to a sublime vision of the last days taken from the book of Revelation. The whole Bible and the whole human experience are contained within the cantata.

*1. BWV 105 Herr, Gehe Nicht ins Gericht mit Deinem Knecht:* 105 is not a long cantata, but it is maybe the most perfect. Ostensibly dealing with harsh themes of judgment, the narrative tells of the taming of the tortured soul from quivering before the fear of the unknown to satisfaction in the Lord. The chorus is sovereign in might, intellect, and cumulative force. The soprano aria is simply the most ravishing thing in the cantatas to my ears - maybe the most wonderful melody I know. Both recitatives are masterpieces in the form. The tenor aria is full of irrepressible hope and light, and the final hymn is like ascending to heaven on a cloud. In no way am I asserting that this is Bach's "best" cantata, but it is my favorite.


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