Bach Again

A cantata is a vocal work originating in the 17th century and though many composers wrote cantatas, the most well-known are by J. S. Bach. For many years Bach composed a cantata every week. They were performed as part of the Lutheran service every Sunday in the Thomaskirche in Leipzig. They therefore comprise the bulk of his work as a composer. There is even a website devoted to them.

They range from the boisterous:

--which is an Italian concerto movement for trumpet and soprano...

To the formidable and imposing:

--which is a French overture with slow introduction and quicker contrapuntal section...

To the sorrowful and lamenting:

--which is a passacaglia with (harmonically) delicious Corelli seconds clashing mournfully...

To the effervescent and quirky:

--which is a lengthy choral fugue interrupted by a bass solo...

To the indescribable:

--which is one of the most beautiful oboe solos ever written...