BACH Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich
Netherlands Bach Society - Shunske Sato, conductor

FROM GUEST CURATOR MALCOLM J. MERRIWEATHER

Johann Sebastian Bach inscribed in every composition: “Soli Dei Gloria” or “To the Glory of God.” His faith was everything to him and it is heard in every note he wrote. From organ music to masses and secular music, his compositional output needs no introduction. His masterful contribution to sacred vocal music is several hundred church cantatas. Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich is an early cantata and is believed to have been written around 1705. The text painting and rhetoric is apparent from the very first choral entrance “Lord, I lift my soul unto You” which is portrayed with an octave leap upward. Beginning with a Sinfonia, most movements are choral except for the soprano aria and the Terzetto movement. The cantata is scored for two violins, basso continuo, and bassoon. The sixth movement is notable for the texture variation with the fluttering of the violins and syncopation amidst the simple choral parts. The final movement is four bar ground bass that modulates to several different keys. In 1705, Bach would have been twenty years old and many scholars believe that he was experimenting with form and compositional gesture. While it is considered a juvenile work, I find it to be just as clever and meaningful as the later cantatas.

– Malcolm J. Merriweather