Arias with Instrumental Obbligato

Johann Sebastian Bach’s arias are the only chamber music in which vocal and instrumental solos share equally to convey the text’s meaning. The singer is entrusted with the words, and the instrumentalist with delineating the ideas and feelings of the text –as intensely as the words themselves. Bach’s arias have been underappreciated because they are excerpted, and because they are taken from cantatas that functioned liturgically in the churches where Bach worked. They unfairly suffer a parochial status when their universality is evident--their sadness is sadder than that in many other musical genres, and their joy is more joyous. Here, Bach related directly to his congregants, acknowledging their occupations and celebrations, their fears and aspirations, and their mystical religious leaps. Bach’s genius as composer of the some of the greatest religious music stems from his participation as an accepted, admired, and trusted member of a middle class community, attuned to its values and concerns. In Bach’s arias, the interaction between religious, political, and socioeconomic forces found an authentic voice that continues to resonate. This recording of the Bach Aria Festival and Institute was recorded in 1987 and originally released in 1989.

Track Listing

101	Cantata 30a: "Was die Seele kann ergötzen" for Alto, Flute, and Continuo	Bach Aria Group	05:37
102	Cantata 205: "Angenehmer Zephyrus" for Soprano, Violin, and Continuo	Bach Aria Group	03:33
103	Cantata 41: "Woferne du den edlen Frieden" for Tenor, Cello, and Continuo	Bach Aria Group	09:35
104	Cantata 158: "Welt, ade!" for Bass, Flute, and Continuo, with Chorale in Soprano	Bach Aria Group	05:46
105	Cantata 105: "Wie zittern und wanken der Sünder Gedanken" for Soprano, Oboe, Violins, and Violas	Bach Aria Group	06:33
106	Cantata 146: "Wie will ich mich freuen" Duet for Tenor, Bass, and Orchestra	Bach Aria Group	05:50
107	Cantata 33: "Wie furchtsam wankten meine Schritten" for Alto, Strings, and Continuo	Bach Aria Group	10:31
108	Cantata 58: "Ich bin vergnügt in meinem Leiden" for Soprano, Violin, and Continuo	Bach Aria Group	05:01
109	Cantata 97: "Ich traue seiner Gnaden" for Tenor, Violin, and Continuo	Bach Aria Group	08:39
110	Cantata 140: "Meine freund ist mein" Duet for Soprano, Bass, Oboe, and Continuo	Bach Aria Group	05:36
111	Cantata 83: "Erfreute Zeit!" for Alto, Violin, Strings, Two Oboes, Two Horns, and Continuo	Bach Aria Group	06:20