Piano Excerpts

The impressive collection Selva morale et spirituale, first published in 1641, is a milestone in Monteverdi's oeuvre and reflects his almost 30 years of activity as a church musician in Venice. As in...

The alto cantata 'Geist und Seele wird verwirret' has seven movements; in the opening movements of the two parts of the cantata, a lost concerto by Bach survives in its original form, which he had arr...

It only became apparent a few years ago that the text of the soprano cantata 'Falsche Welt, dir trau ich nicht'' came from the collection Gott-geheiligten Sabbaths-Zehnden by the Leipzig theology stud...

The cantata Widerstehe doch der Sünde BWV 54 is one of Johann Sebastian Bach's most popular solo cantatas today. The short text, comprising just three movements, comes from a collection of cantata tex...

The Reformation cantata Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott BWV 80b, published by Carus-Verlag for the first time in a practical performing edition, remained unknown to Bach scholars until well into the 20t...

For this choral cantata, Bach took the 1st, 4th and 7th verses of the chorale of the same name by Georg Neumark. The other verses, however, were mixed with free adaptations.

It seems reasonable to link the creation of the work to a penitential service held in St. Mary's Church in Mühlhausen to commemorate the devastating fire that ravaged large parts of the town on May 29...

The cantata "Erforsche mich Gott und erfahre mein Herz" BWV 136 was composed during Bach's first year in office as Thomaskantor in Leipzig and was premiered on the 8th Sunday after Trinity, July 18, 1...

Bach's chorale cantata with its opening text 'Wohl dem, der sich auf seinen Gott recht kindlich kann verlassen' (Tis well with him who on the Lord trusts just like a child) BWV 139 was performed for t...

Bach chose an unconventional beginning for his nine-movement cantata 'Schau, lieber Gott, wie meine Feind' BWV 153, which he composed in his first year as Kantor of St. Thomas's for the Sunday after N...

'Ich steh mit einem Fuß im Grabe' (I stand with my open grave before me) BWV 156 is one of the few surviving cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach that is based on texts from the so-called Picander cycle....

The cantata for the 20th Sunday after Trinity Ach, ich sehe, itzt, da ich zur Hochzeit gehe BWV 162 was first performed on October 25, 1716 in Weimar's Schlosskirche. Bach performed the cantata again...

This six-movement cantata BWV 164 was performed for the first time on 26 August 1725 in Leipzig. The text was written by Bach's Weimar cantata poet Salomon Franck and had been published earlier in 171...

The cantata 'O heilges Geist- und Wasserbad'' (O Holy spirit's solemn rite) BWV 165 is one of Bach's earliest cantata compositions and was presumably first performed in the Weimar Schlosskirche for Tr...

The cantata 'Ihr Menschen, rühmet Gottes Liebe' (You mortals, tell of God's devotion) BWV 167 is one of the first works which Bach wrote in his capacity as Kantor of St. Thomas's Leipzig. It was compo...

The cantata Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ begins with an expansive chorale arrangement, for which Bach drew on a tried and tested pattern: the chorale is performed by the four-part vocal ensemble,...

The cantata "Himmelskönig, sei willkommen" BWV 182 occupies a special place in Johann Sebastian Bach's life story. Active as an organist and chamber musician at the Weimar court since 1708, he was app...

The cantata 'Ärgre dich, o Seele, nicht' (Fret thee not, thou mortal soul) BWV 186 is in a sense the companion work to the much better-known cantata 'Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben' BWV 147. Both wer...

The two-part cantata from Bach's third cycle of cantatas was performed for the first time on 4 August 1726 (the 7th Sunday after Trinity). The large-scale opening chorus for full forces to a text from...

The cantata 'Ich habe meine Zuversicht' BWV 188 comes from the so-called 'Picander cycle' and was written for the 21st Sunday after Trinity in 1728 or 1729. There are some particular problems associat...

The cantata 'Nun danket alle Gott' (Now thank we all our God) BWV 192 is based on the text of the well-known hymn. It is therefore one of a small number of chorale cantatas which contain no free poeti...

The cantata "Der Herr denket an uns" BWV 196 has a special charm due to its early date of composition, penned by the just 22-year-old Bach, and its brevity and simple scoring make it easy to perform e...

Bach's solo soprano cantata Mein Herze schwimmt im Blut was composed in the summer of 1714 for the Weimar court service on the 11th Sunday after Trinity. The cantata poem by the Darmstadt court poet G...

In addition to the Mass in B minor, Bach is known to have composed four other, smaller masses, the so-called Lutheran or Kyrie Gloria masses. Despite their high musical qualities, they are often overs...