The three cantatas on Volume 34 were first performed in February and March 1725, in the Thomaskirche in Leipzig, where Bach was employed. The first...

The three cantatas on Volume 34 were first performed in February and March 1725, in the Thomaskirche in Leipzig, where Bach was employed. The first one, Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, was composed for the Feast of the Annunciation, and celebrates the joyous news brought to Mary of the coming birth of Christ in a suitably jubilant manner. A particular feature is the unusual scoring - as well as a string orchestra there are two horns, two oboi da caccia (ie. alto oboes) and two solo violins. BWV126 (Erhalt uns, herr, bei deinem Wort) is in a rather more dramatic vein, with its exhortation to God to support mankind against the enemies of the faith. the recitative 'Der Menschen Gunst und Macht' for alto and tenor is particularly noteworthy: Bach has cast the entire movement in the form of a dialogue, creating a fusion of recitative, arioso and chorale that is without equal in its era. The disc ends on a more resigned note with BWV127, based on a hymn which is in fact a song of death, ending with a plea for the forgiveness of sins. The soprano aria 'The soul will rest in Jesus' hands' combines a certainty of belief and a longing for death are combined in one of Bach's most beautiful and individual cantata movements, and the simple four-part final chorale concludes with an exquisite sequence of harmonies that lends a dreamlike quality to the words 'until we slumber blessedly'.