Dearest Immanuel, Lord of the Faithful (Liebster Immanuel, Herzog der Frommen)

SKU: CA.3112300

ISBN 9790007164843. Text language: German/English. Text: Fritsch, Ahasverus.

This six-movement cantata uses the hymn of the same name by Ahasverus Fritsch, first recorded in 1698 in the Darmstadter Liederbuch. This places it amongst those chorale cantatas which use a hymn from the repertoire associated with Pietism. As was customary, the hymn text is retained in the outer movements, whereas the text for the inner movements - two secco recitatives and a tenor and a bass aria - are concerned with the contrast between the hostile world and the certainty of Jesus; the links between the cantata text and the Feast of the Epiphany are correspondingly tenuous. In the first movement the soprano sings the hymn melody complete, accompanied by mainly homophonic vocal parts, whilst the instrumental writing is largely influenced by the melody of the first line of the hymn. Remarkable is the tenor aria, with its contrasting central section and its chromatic twists and turns, in which Bach once again proves himself to be a master of harmony. The demands on the chorus are fairly modest, whereas the instrumentalists are challenged in the first movement and in both the arias.