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*Ich elender Mensch*
Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750):
Cantata BWV 48 ‘Ich elender Mensch’
Cantata BWV 109 ‘Ich glaube, lieber Herr, hilf mein Unglauben’
Cantata BWV 73 ‘Herr, wie du willt, so schicks mit mir’
Cantata BWV 44 ‘Sie werden euch in den Bann tun’
Dorothee Mields _soprano_
Damien Guillon _countertenor_
Thomas Hobbs _tenor_
Peter Kooij _bass_
Collegium Vocale Gent
Philippe Herreweghe
*Ich elender Mensch*
The cantatas written by Johan Sebastian Bach in his first year as cantor in Leipzig share one conspicuous aspect: their impressive opening choruses. With virtuosity and continual variety, he made the rich instrumental passages meld seamlessly with the musical material for choir and soloists. Displaying the self-confidence of a Kappelmeister rather than a lowly cantor, Bach modernized church music from the inside out and left his mark on the German cantata, a genre that – two centuries on – we still unconsciously associate almost exclusively with him. And not without reason!