Bach Cantatas, Vol. 2 - F. Werner (Erato 10-CD)

including Cantatas 181 and 184, that Bach composed between fuly and November 1724, causing
Robert L. Marshall to assume the availability of an unusually good flautist at the time; perhaps Pierre
Gabriel Buffardin, who is known to have visited Bach in Leipzig. Buffardin's speciality was playing
"fast pieces" and his style is indebted to the French school. The lively mood of the tenor aria
"Ermuntre dich", its clearly articulated phrases and dance-like rhythms seem to have been inspired
by the flute.
CD6
Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen, BWV 56 was composed three weeks before Cantata No.55 and
displays exactly the same arrangement, in addition to a similar key sequence from G minor via B flat
major to C minor. Its abundance of contrasts and detailed pictures, to which the lyrically significant
text of an unknown poet inspired the composer, is all the more unusual. The introductory aria is
already unconventional in its bar form (AA'B) and is exceedingly impressive in the contrast of the
musical symbols for "Kreuzstab" (cross-staff) and "tragen" (carry) to the consoling rocking melody
of the B section ("Da leg'ich den Kummer auf einmal ins Grab"). The subsequent accompagnato
depicts the allegorical "Schiffahrt" (sea journey) of human life and the arrival in port (the wave
motion in the cello ceases!) with sober forcefulness. Certainty of faith and the joy of believing are
reflected in the second aria, which is a consistent counterpart to the first in its regular da capo
structure, dance rhythm and solo oboe. The following accompagnato
-
with appropriate
interpretation of the text -
leads into a repetition of the first aria's B section; an element with
touching effect which was certainly a poetic-musical idea of Bach's rather than one by the text
author. The concluding chorus, with its rich palette of harmonies and details such as the emphatic
syncopation of the beginning, displays once more the loving attention to the finest of details which
characterizes this cantata and has rightly made it one of the most popular Bach cantatas.
Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan, BWV 98 was composed for the Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity
1726 (10 November) and thus chronologically is the second of the three Bach cantatas on this text
(Cantata No.99 was written in 1724, and Cantata No.l00 around 1732-35). The anonymous text