Bach: Cantata No. 61 “Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland” / Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Cantata from the Weimar period. It begins with the chorale fantasy “Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland” in the form of the Lully-like French overture. The second viola is used as in Lully’s case. In the intense first half of the piece, the chorale melody descends from the soprano to the lower voices, and finally all the voices come together. The piece proceeds to a light rhythmic fugue and ends back on dotted notes. Following the tenor recitative (Arioso), the tenor aria “Komm, Jesu, komm zu deiner Kirche” is sung in an unusual all-string unison accompaniment. Following the bass recitative accompagnato (with strings pizzicato), the bright soprano aria “Öffne dich, mein ganzes Herze” is sung with only basso continuo. The “Tölzer Knabenchor” Seppi Kronwitter’s dainty boy soprano is quite good. The final piece is the chorale “Amen, Amen, komm du schöne Freudenkrone” an arrangement of the second half of the last verse of a hymn by Philip Nicolai. #baroque #bach #cantata #片山俊幸
