Bach: Cantata No. 167 “Ihr Menschen, rühmet Gottes Liebe” / Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Cantata for the feast of St. John the Baptist. The piece begins with the tenor aria “Ihr Menschen, rühmet Gottes Liebe (You people, praise God’s love)” accompanied by a flowing string ensemble. What a tender and loving melody. The parallel fourths that appear between the upper voices sometimes have the power to bring relief to the listener. Following the alto recitative and arioso, the soprano and alto duet aria “Gottes Wort, das trüget nicht” is sung by the soft-toned oboe da caccia in obbligato. The vocal part of this undoubted highlight of the cantata is sung homophonically in an intense dotted-note pattern. There is a fast section in 4/4 time in the middle of the piece, and after the long melisma, once returning to 3/4 time with the tempo is maintained. Finally, the tempo of the beginning returns for the da capo. Am I the only one who finds this piece, sung by a boy soprano (Helmut Wittek) and a boy alto (Christian Immer), more pure and beautiful than the female rendition? Following the bass recitative, the piece closes with the chorale “Sei Lob und Preis mit Ehren” which is surprisingly unexpected orchestration with a 16th-note obbligato played in unison by the oboe and violin I, and the soprano cantus firmus is overlaid with clarinos (zink in the recording). #baroque #bach #cantata #片山俊幸
