Luogo e data di registrazione		Doopsgezinde Kerk, Haarlem (Holland) - Dicembre 1974 (BWV 51, 54) - Gennaio / Giugno 1975 (BWV 52, 55, 56)
	Registrazione: live / studio		studio
	Producer		Wolf Erichson
	Prima Edizione LP		Telefunken "Das Alte Werk" | SKW 14/1-2 | 2 LPs - durata 34' 42" - 44' 45" | (p) 1976 | ANA
	Edizione CD		Teldec Classics | LC 6706 | 8.35034 ZL | 2 CDs - durata 34' 42" - 44' 45" | (c) 1988 | ADD
	Cover		Johann Sebastian Nach, einige Jahre vor seiner Ernennung zum Kantor in Leipzig. Gemälde con JJ. Ihle (1720) Bach Museum Eisenach.
	Note		-

INTRODUCTION by Ludwig Finscher “Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen” (BWV 51) was intended by Bach for the 15th Sunday after Trinity “et in ogni tempo”. Its use going beyond the Sunday after Trinity must have been planned from the outset, for the text (by an unknown author) has practically no relationship to the Sunday gospel reading at all. On the other hand from the point of view of style, form and scoring it fits well into a series of post-Trinity cantatas of the 1726 annual set in that it closes a gap resulting from the 15th Sunday after occurring simultaneously with Michaelmas in 1726. The text and music are completely attuned to glorification, adoration and jubilation. The clarity of form, virtuosity and concerto tone of the outer movements - particularly in third parallels and concertato dialogues between trumpets and treble - conspicuously recall the cantatas of Alessandro Scarlatti; but the affinity of inflexions and techniques does not disguise the fact that as far as Bach is concerned virtuosity is never an end in itself, but always remains related to the text. Between the two splendid C major movements there are two A minor pieces which contrast quiet praying gestures with the louder jubilation. The recitative has the solemn prayer, with its quite simple string chord accompaniment, followed by an arioso, in which the “Lallen” (babbling) of the “schwachen Mundes” (weak mouth) is graphically and symbolically illustrated by hesitant melismas and reduction of the participants. The aria in 12/8 time suggests in its amiable rocking siciliano rhythm the realisation of divine goodness, dealt with in the text in the picture of the good shepherd. The concertato chorale arrangement with following free fugal alleluia provides the fourvoiced chorale setting with which a series of solo cantatas of the 1726 annual set concludes. “Falsche Welt, dir trau’ ich nicht” (BWV 52) for the 23rd Sunday after Trinity (24th November) in 1726 belongs to this cantata group of the third annual set, as does BWV 55 written a week earlier, and BWV 56 which in turn is three weeks older. In this case too, the text author is unknown, but as opposed to BWV 51, the text is related to the gospel reading of the Sunday in question in the sense that the parable of the tribute money is used to postulate the Christian’s determined rejection of the false world and his turning to God. The textual and musical structure of the work is very simple and directly intelligible: a recitative and an aria each describe the false world and the goodness of God. They are preceded by an instrumental sinfonia while the conclusion is formed by a chorale verse. The key sequence is just as clear: F major forms the framework, D minor and A minor are the false world, while B-flat major is allotted to God’s realm. This simple basic plan is enriched by unusually colourful instrumentation resulting from use of the 1st movement of the first Brandenburg Concerto (without violino piccolo) as the sinfonia. The magnificent concerto sound of this sinfonia provides a contrast to the ascetic tone picture (2 violins and continuo) of the first aria in which the pious Christian, with contemptuous declamation motifs (“Immerhin” = nevertheless) rejects the false world. The vehemently repulsing declamation of the first recitative is the antithesis of the soft, frequently repeated arioso motif “Gott ist getreu” in the second recitative; this is followed by the second aria, the illuminating instrumentation of which (3 oboes) and almost Polonaise-type dancing character symbolize the bright world of God and the “dance of the soul” of the devout Christian. The full orchestra again joins in the concluding chorale verse, with the first horn augmenting the treble cantus firmus. “Widerstehe doch der Siinde” (BWV 54) for the 7th Sunday after Trinity (or for Sunday Oculi?) - an alto cantata with string accompaniment without choir - is one of the most impressive early Bach cantatas, written 1714 in Weimar to a text by the Darmstadt court poet Georg Christian Lehms in 1711. Bach let himself be inspired by the zealous note of the poetry, its wealth of pictures and its biblical allusions to compose a musical sermon which unites gloomy pressure with extreme differentiation and which at the same time makes do with the simplest formal and instrumental means. The first aria describes in extremely bold fashion the temptation of sin and the Christian’s struggle against it - the one in softly flattering melodic turns, the other in the signal-style dissonance of the beginning (dominant seventh chord above tonic organ point!) in tortuous suspended dissonances and daring modulations. Just as graphically, with the simplest means, the recitative paints the “übertünchte Grab” (whitewashed grave) and the “scharfe Schwert” (the sharp sword) of sin. The final aria is a fugal four-part movement which absolutely bores its way into the repudiation of sin: with lamenting “sin chromatics”, burrowing semi-quavers on “Teufel” (devil) and a lead voice revelling in dissonances a terrible vision is conjured up, the like of which is scarcely found in Bach’s works. “Ich armer Mensch, ich Siindenknecht” (BWV 55), written for the 22nd Sunday after Trinity (17th November) in 1726 and dealing with the gospel story of the unfaithful servant, covers almost the same subject as the Weimar early work but with conspicuously changed perspectives - no longer as a, so to speak, apocalyptic sermon, but as a subjective confession and plea for mercy. The anonymous poetic setting is, as with the solo cantatas adjacent in time, simply structured as regards form and content: an aria and a recitative each deal with the sinfulness of man and with God’s mercy, a chorale verse forming the conclusion. The keys of sin are G minor and (in the recitative) C and D minor; the plea for mercy is in D minor and (in the textually linked recitative) in B-flat major; the concluding chorus is in B-flat major. The unusual tonal openness of the cantata thus manifestly signalizes the movement from remorse for sins to consolation through Christ’s sacrificial death. It accords with this that the two arias are entirely taken up with the torments of sin and contrition - by way of the high position of the instruments and the lack of an instrumental middle region, as well as the extremely high pitch of the tenor - and that the chorus, as opposed to the subsequent composition of the same verse in the Matthew Passion, is kept in a markedly modest style, thus being more effectively distinguished and in more consoling fashion than the foregoing sections. “Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen” (BWV 56) was composed three weeks before BWV 55 and displays exactly the same arrangement, in addition to a similar key move from G minor via B-flat major to C minor. Its abundance of contrasts and pictures in detail, to which the poetically significant text of an unknown poet inspired the composer, is all the more unusual. The introductory aria is already unconventional in its bar form (AA’B) and is exceedingly impressive in the contrast of the musical symbols for “Kreuzstab” (crosier) and “tragen” (bear) to the consoling rocking melody of the B section (“Da leg’ ich den Kummer auf einmal ins Grab”). The subsequent accompagnato depicts the allegorical “Schiffahrt” (sea journey) of human life and the arrival in port (the wave motion in the violoncello ceases!) with sober forcefulness. Certainty in faith and joy in belief are reflected by the second aria which is through-formed as a consistent counterpart to the first aria by way of regular da capo structure, dance rhythm and solo oboe. The following accompagnato - with appropriate interpretation of the text - leads into a repetition of the first aria’s B section; an element with touching effect and certainly a poetic-musical idea of Bach’s rather than of the text author. The concluding chorus in its richly graduated harmony, and in details such as the emphatic syncopation of the beginning, displays once more the loving attention to through formation of the minutest points which so especially sets its seal upon this cantata and because of which it has quite rightly become one of the most popular Bach cantatas.