Luogo e data di registrazione		Doopsgezinde Kerk, Haarlem (Holland) - 9/12 Gennaio 1987)
	Registrazione: live / studio		studio
	Producer		Wolf Erichson
	Prima Edizione LP		Teldec "Das Alte Werk" | 6.35799 EX | 2 LPs - durata 56' 19" - 47' 44" | (p) 1988 | DIGITAL DMM
	Edizione CD		Teldec Classics | LC 6706 | 8.35799 ZL | 2 CDs - durata 70' 03" - 37' 18" | (p) 1988 | DDD
	Cover		Johann Sebastian Nach, einige Jahre vor seiner Ernennung zum Kantor in Leipzig. Gemälde con JJ. Ihle (1720) Bach Museum Eisenach.
	Note		In questo volume sono presenti anche La Cantate BWV 182 e BWV 183 a cura del Concentus Musicus Wien diretto da Nikolaus Harnoncourt.

INTRODUCTION by Nele Anders In the second Leipzig volume of cantatas, one of which is "Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele" (BWV 180) (first performed on October 22, 1724), Bach takes up the Leipzig tradition of the chorale cantata. The identity of the author who reworked the hymns is unknown; in the case of Cantata No. 180 the original was the Communion hymn of the same name by Johann Franck dating from 1649 and 1653. The alteration work always proceeded according to the same pattern: the chorale strophes were left unchanged for the first and last movements, while the arias and recitatives in between were freely rewritten. This method matches the musical layout: the two outer movements treat the chorale melody as it is, the first movement in a large-scale chorale movement for choir with imitatory part-writing, an independent orchestral part and alternating instrumental groups in a gigue-like rhythm, the last movement as a simple choral movement with instrumental reinforcement. The two arias, Nos. 2 & 5, are also written in a dancelike style, which in No. 2, with its similarity to a Bourrée, is emphasized by the virtuoso flute writing. One is struck by the particularly sophisticated nature of the flute part in this cantata, as compared with the other instruments. This holds true for more than a dozen other church cantatas, including Cantatas No. 181 and No. 184, that Bach composed between July and November 1724, causing Robert L. Marshall to assume the personal availability of an unusually good flautist at the time, perhaps Pierre Gabriel Buffardin, who is known to have visited Bach in Leipzig. Buffardin's speciality was playing ”fast pieces” and his style is indebted to the French school. The lively mood of the tenor aria “Ermuntre dich,” its clearly articulated phrases, and dancelike rhythms seem to have been inspired by the flute. "Leichtgesinnte Flattergeister" (BWV 181) was first played on February 13, 1724 in St l\licholas's, Leipzig. Here the unknown author of the text interprets the parable of the sower as an admonition directed at the faithful: death and the Devil notwithstanding, the "Holy Word” should "comfort the heart at all times." The form of Cantata No. 181 differs from that of No. 182: Bach uses the coupling of recitative and aria that dominated the Leipzig period. This scheme is followed in individual fashion, however, rather than rigidly. The bass aria (No. 1) is thus not a three-part da capo aria, but has four parts as a result of the repetition of the A  and B sections. The introductory instrumental ritornello already contains the motif of the "leichtgesinnte Flattergerster” that runs through the whole movement. In the recitative that follows, arioso insertions lend eloquent expression to the prophecy that "in stony hearts... they stifle” (Felsenherzen... ihr eigen Heil verscherzen). The solo violin part to the tenor aria (No. 3] has heen lost, so that the aria in its present form is only a torso - albeit one that still possesses great expressive power. In the elated, contrapuntal final chorus, in contrast, Bach employs the entire ensemble; trumpet, strings and continuo, as well as flute and oboe in a later version dating from after 1735. This chorus seems to he based at least in part on an earlier version, which, however, appears here in a considerably altered form. Like Cantata No. 181, "Erwünschtes Freudenlicht" (BWV 184), belongs to thc cantatas written in Bach’s first year in Leipzig. Cantata No. 184 was performed on May 30, 1724. The work in fact is based on a secular ”original": Cantata No. 184a, whose text has not survived. Hans-Joachim Schulze has been able to prove that this work was written in Cöthen for New Year's Day of 1721. The unknown author of the text portrays Jesus as the Good Shepherd, whose blissful herd of blessed Christians follows him joyously unto the grave. It is these same joys, then, that characterize with a distinctive flute motif (four semiquavers followed by a quaver) both the opening recitative and the recitative No. 3, which has the arioso transition to the following aria typical of the early Bach cantatas. In both arias (Nos. 2 & 4) the instrumental ritornelli correspond in many points to the vocal parts. The final chorus takes up the dancelike air one last time: the "Gentle Shepherd" gives solace in the rhythm of a gavotte.