Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach wrote his Israeliten in der Wüste immediately after assuming the post of Hamburg City Music Director in 1768/69, succeeding his godfather...

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach wrote his Israeliten in der Wüste immediately after assuming the post of Hamburg City Music Director in 1768/69, succeeding his godfather Georg Philipp Telemann. As his musical visiting card he selected a subject offering him a broad palette of expressive possibilities and a neutral theme transcending the limits of a particular religious confession. The first part develops theatrical effects, and the second serves toward the spiritual deepening of the events experienced. The theme must have appealed to Bach already on the basis of his aesthetic combining Empfindsamkeit and the Sturm und Drang: here he had the opportunity to depict human beings in life’s extreme situations and to do so both textually and musically. His contemporaries were enthused, and Reichardt wrote, "How mighty the shout of the despairing people, how original the expression of their scorn toward God, how majestic the language of Moses and how imploring his prayer, how delightfully the whole last scene stands apart from the earlier horribly pitiable scenes!" - CPO

"Here is a very rare yet rewarding Baroque oratorio with lyrical and dramatic choruses and plaintive recitatives and arias all beautifully sung." - Greg La Traille, ArkivMusic.com