Recordings of Bach Cantatas & Recommended Cantatas
General Discussions - Year 2020-2022

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Which one would you take ?

Mang Buehler wrote (April 17, 2020):
You have been sentenced to life on a deserted island. You are to be given an audio system and one Bach cantata on a CD.

• Yes, you have electric power
• No. you have no other music
• If your CD has any music besides the cantata, The audio system will not play it.
• No, you can't choose either of the passions, The Christmas/Easter Oratorios, or the B Minor Mass. Cantata only.

Which cantata do you choose to bring ?

(if you like, you can add the version of your choice)

Razvan Georgescu wrote (April 17, 2020):
[To Mang Buehler] I will choose cantata BWV 56. It will teach me in a heavenly way how to deal with imminent death.

Paul Beckman wrote (April 17, 2020):
[To Mang Buehler] Ha. I will bring BWV 106 to remind me that God's time IS the best time.

Mang Buehler wrote (April 17, 2020):
BWV 140

Joseph Ficht wrote (April 17, 2020):
[To Mang Buehler] BWV 129 is my favorite.

Yoel L. Arbeitman wrote (April 17, 2020):
[To Mang Buehler] I'm afraid it's only ascribed to JSB: BWV 53, Schlage doch gewünste stunde with Hilde Rössl-Majdan.

Anandgyan wrote (April 17, 2020):
Greetings lovers of Bach music and washers of hands,

Guess one cantata it is and oh well, so many and no Mass in B minor;

I concur with BWV 140 but on a desert island with just one cantata...
... anyone will do the work.

You're asking for a top one and not a top ten. hehe

81

On a nice beach, suntanning naked and getting ready for the big one.

I have a sound system but no fishing rod.

I'm so lonely, I could and shall die
and one cantata to listen to
though "Yer Blues" from the Beatles to hum.

Yeah, BWV 81 will do the trick.

Agony and ecstasy.

.:.

Anandgyan

P.S. A death is either natural or accidental(or tragic).
P.P.S. A death on an island is neither and both because unnoticed by others.
P.P.P.S. You're not on an island but with others and breathing so wash your hands.
P.P.P.P.S. People get ready.

Jane Newble wrote (April 17, 2020):
[To Mang Buehler] BWV 169, without hesitation. Sung by Aafje Heynis.

Alain Bruguières wrote (April 17, 2020):
[To Mang Buehler] What a cruel quandary. Had I to decide now I would probably pick BWV 182. But at another moment I'd pick another. And in any case I'd try to smuggle in the whole set.

Julian Mincham wrote (April 17, 2020):
An agonising dilemma. The first question is, are we expected to limit ourselves to the 180-odd church cantatas, or may we include the 40-odd secular ones? I am tempted to widen the choice and say the limit should be two cantatas, not just the one---one church and one secular.

Of the secular canon, would one choose the delightful coffee cantata BWV 211 to raise our hopes? Or the much longer and more penetrating Contest between Phoebus and Pan? BWV 201. Then there is the more introverted and revealing 'I am content in myself' BWV 204.

Hmm I think one would require some fun and joy on the island so I think I would go for the coffee cantata.

Which allows for a little more depth and introspection in the choice of the church cantatas. Would one choose one with a massive stirring opening chorus, eg BWV 103, BWV 109 (with it's later representations of a mind on the edge of reason--perhaps a little too near the knuckle on the island?) or BWV 7, BWV 178, BWV 101??

Actually I think I'll choose BWV 38 as it has a bit of everything. A searing opening chorus (Lord I cry to you in great sorrow) a stirring tenor solo, recitatives simply packed with musical depth and complexity, and a stunning trio--one of very few (and probably the best) that occur in the canon.

Yup that's it--BWV 211 and BWV 38. But if I am told that I can only have one of them, I am not going!

S K Lewicki wrote (April 17, 2020):
[To Joseph Ficht] BWV 104 - Du Hirte Israel, höre. More than forty years ago, it was the one that began my love of the cantatas, and my exploration of them.

Sneffels wrote (April 17, 2020):
Verjaget, zerstreuet, zerrüttet, ihr Sterne, BWV 249b.
("Chased away, scattered, shattered, you stars")

A lost secular cantata: alas, all we have is the text, a dialogue amongst pagan gods celebrating a birthday.

So many reasons for this cantata.... It's never been heard before and it would be a wonder to hear some new genuine Bach. It's a marvellous celebration of being alive. It's a thoughtful reminder that there is no god and that humans are responsible for our own lives and what joy we may find in them. And especially valuable thoughts in this present time of fear and pain and death, and superstition and corrupt government making everything worse for everyone. As Bach's opening dialogue between Genius, Mercury, Minerva, and Melpomene tells us, whatever storms befall us, we can dispel them by reminding ourselves of the splendor of our own human delight in the world around us. As Albert Einstein said, "If anything in me can be called religious, it's the unbounded admiration for the univere as our science has revealed it." And I like to think of the Cafe Zimmerman, with Bach buying Einstein a coffee and laughing together....

Julian Mincham wrote (April 17, 2020):
[To Sneffels] If is possible that were we able to hear the music of this cantata, it might not be for the first time. Dürr suggests that it is a version of 249a (which itself was a version of the Easter oratorio) and can consequently be reconstructed from it. Thus all that we might hear as new if the score turned up would be the recitatives.

Sneffels wrote (April 17, 2020):
A good point from jhmincham; I should have said, "nobody alive has heard this cantata."

Ehud Shilon wrote (April 17, 2020):
[To Sneffels] BWV 131
Written specifically for a desert island like situation.

Julian Mincham wrote (April 17, 2020):
Sneffels wrote
< I should have said, "nobody alive has heard this cantata.">
Can't argue with that!

Linda Gingrich wrote (April 17, 2020):
[To Julian Mincham] I would choose Cantata BWV 78, Jesu, der du meine Seele. It is musically rich, especially in its monumental first movement and delightful second movement, iit is spiritually rich and affirming as it covers the gamut of Christ's work on earth, and it is rich in musical allegory, with its chiastic structure, varied musical symbolism (especially in the first movement), key relationships--you name it, it seems to have everything. It can provide much food for contemplation in case coconuts run short!

William Hoffman wrote (April 19, 2020):
There are two recordings of parody Cantata 249a, "Entflieht, verschwindet, entweichet, ihr Sorgen" (the original version; see https://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV249a.htm). That's good enough for me.

Zachary Uram wrote (April 19, 2020):
[To William Hoffman] Cantata BWV 54 “Widerstehe doch der Sünde”

William Rowland (Ludwig) wrote (April 19, 2020):
[To William Hoffman] Think youre missing the point of variant. Niether is better than the other.t' These exist because Bach did not have the same performance Venues for the first version. Alsov, just because one BMV is labeled a or b does not necessarily that one id the original. It scientificaly is an educated guess thatbone is a and the other b. The arts are full of false assumptions and 'authorities' who do not know much more than do. A number if years ago (1930s/1940s) a Vermepainting was 'discovered' . All the great 'authorities' and 'experts declared it genuine and it was sold to a museum for into days money would be about 100-million dollars. There were some doubters on museum staff. In the 1980s, the doubters had the painting scientificaly examine with x-rays and paint chemistry analysis. Thev result prove this 'Vermeer' was a fake that Vermeer never saw or painted.

Jeffrey Solow wrote (April 19, 2020):
[To Ludwig] The story of Han van Meegeren and his Vermeer fakes is a fascinating one:
http://www.essentialvermeer.com/fakes_thefts_school_of_delft_lost_sp/erroneously_attributed_vermeers_two.h

“The Van Meegeren trial denoted a serious shortcoming in connoisseurship. A large number of experts had failed to recognize the forgery as such, thus they were apparently unable to distinguish between an authentic old master and a fake. This painful conclusion not only affected the reputation of connoisseurs in the field of Dutch seventeenth-century art—more so than any previous error had done—but also heightened the awareness of the difficulty of attributing and dating paintings.”

Charles Francis wrote (April 20, 2020):
[To Mang Buehler] Perhaps I would go with BWV 29, a work first performed in 1731, with its second movement inspired by Bach's mature study of the great Catholic masters. Ultimately he Latinised it and used it twice in his B-Minor Mass (BWV 232), concluding with the 'Dona nobis pacem', said to have been introduced by Pope Sergius I in 687 AD: https://youtu.be/P6ni0hX-xZw?t=2987

Jyrki Wahlstedt wrote (April 20, 2020):
[To Mang Buehler] Hmm,
really hard to choose, but one good choice would be BWV 26 ”Ach wie flüchtig, ach wie nichtig”…

Alain Bruguieres wrote (April 20, 2020):
[To Julian Mincham] Considering Julian's astute interpretation, I would pick BWV 202 for a secular cantata.

If I am allowed to change my mind with respect to the church stuff, I have previously said I'd pick BWV 182 because it is my current favorite; I have considered BWV 103 as well, but I guess I'd need something in the more uplifting ranges of the spectrum. I'd certainly get a good enough dose of 'weinen und heulen' in any case, and I don't want Bach to be the sort of companion who keeps rubbing salt in the wounds.

If I think long term, I believe the cantata I return to once in a while, and perhaps is dearest to my heart, is BWV 58, 'Ach Gott wie mahcnes Herzeleid".

It doesn't have mighty choruses, admittedly, but it does have two wonderful aria-choral combos. And it seems somehow appropriate to pick something more intimate. Besides, assuming our desert islands form an archipelago, I believe I might feel like building a raft to visit your islands for a nice chat - and also to listen to your cantatas - so it would be nice to avoid a situation where we all pick the same kind of cantatas ; and the last aria-choral 'Ich habe vor mir ein' schwere Reis' would be an encouraging message. I could certainly do wiith some buoyant support.

In the first link Fwd: The 50 best Johann Sebastian Bach recordings

Miguel Prohaska wrote (May 5, 2022):
The 50 best Johann Sebastian Bach recordings

Because great music inspires great performances from each succeeding generation of musicians it can be difficult to know which recordings to explore next. This is why we have created guides like 'The 50 best Johann Sebastian Bach recordings' – with similar lists dedicated to Beethoven, Mozart and Brahms – on the Gramophone website, alongside our beginner's guides to particular periods of music history: Top 10 Baroque composers, Top 10 Romantic composers, and much more. Visit the Gramophone website today to find your next life-changing recording.

Find out more: https://www.gramophone.co.uk/features/article/the-50-best-johann-sebastian-bach-recordings

The best JS Bach recordings of 2022: Editor's Choice. Gramophone

Miguel Prohaska wrote (December 8, 2022):
https://www.gramophone.co.uk/features/article/the-best-js-bach-recordings-of-2022-editor-s-choice

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