The debate surrounding Bach’s vocal scoring has mostly focused on the cantatas and Passions. The evidence for Joshua Rifkin’s hypothesis of single voices is found...

The debate surrounding Bach’s vocal scoring has mostly focused on the cantatas and Passions. The evidence for Joshua Rifkin’s hypothesis of single voices is found among the sources of these works. Bach’s motets have featured rather less in the debate. For those wanting a general “choral” approach, La Petite Bande and Sigiswald Kuijken present on their recording from the early 1990s an alternative to the authentic early performance style. La Petite Bande was founded in 1972 by Sigiswald Kuijken at the request of the record company Harmonia Mundi in order to record Lully’s “Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme,” under the direction of Gustav Leonhardt. The orchestra takes its name and constitution from Lully’s own orchestra at the court of Louis XIV. All its members are internationally renowned specialists in the early music field. La Petite Bande has recorded instrumental as well as vocal music, including operas and oratorios from the Baroque and Classical periods. La Petite Bande currently makes recordings for Accent, Challenge, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Denon, Seon/Virgin and Hyperion.