Bach: Cantata No. 169 “Gott soll allein mein Herze haben” / Nikolaus Harnoncourt

One of the solo cantatas for alto. The opening Sinfonia is almost a substantial organ concerto, written for two oboes, taille, string ensemble and organ. It opens with a lively solo by the first violin. After three changes of arioso and recitative, the alto aria “Gott soll allein mein Herze haben” is sung by the organ in obbligato. After a ritornello by the right hand of the organ, which is brilliantly decorated, the soloist enters, and after a middle section, the opening da capo is sung. After a short recitative, the aria “Stirb in mir, Welt, und alle deine Liebe” is sung with strings and organ obbligato. The tragic siciliano melody is beautiful. This cantata is based on an existing concerto, but in this movement, the lyrics and melody of the aria are embedded in the music, so to speak. The music, along with aria in siciliano from Cantata No. 35, is also a good example of Bach’s arranging skills. After the recitative, the cantata closes with the chorale “Du süße Liebe, schenk uns deine Gunst”.　#baroque #bach #cantata #片山俊幸 https://excelkobo.net/bachwerke/archive/BWV0169.pdf