Label : Deutsche Grammophone
It is hard to single out any one of the hundreds of Cantatas of J.S. Bach as being especially more imporant that the others, but Cantata 140 "Wachet Auf" has to be among the group that slightly edges out others. In aggregate the Cantatas comprise the heart of the output of the composer. They were written for specific Sundays of the Lutheran ecclesiastical calender, and pretty much were performed every Sunday at the St. Thomas church in Leipzig where Bach was in charge of all matters musical for many years. Except for just a few secular Cantatas, they are based on Biblical material, but one does not have to be Lutheran or oven Christian to appreciate their grandeur. In our Artsconverge presentation one can appeciate how the recitatives are the settings for the gems of the arias and duets. Bach represents the pinnacle culmination of polyphonic composition, wherein every theme is forever in variation and interaction with its earlier forms. Every Cantata ends with a simple Chorale, but this one also gives us a more complex Chorale in tracks 1 and 4 as well. Viewers will recognize track 4 as one of Bach's greatest hits. R.E.C.