Bach’s Roots: Early Influences on the Young Master

This first joint project by the Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin and the Basel-based vocal ensemble Voces Suaves is dedicated to the musical milieu into which Johann Sebastian Bach was born, and especially to those composers who had a demonstrable influence on the work of the man who would later become Thomaskantor in Leipzig. In addition to pieces from the Altbachisches Archiv (Archive of the Older Bachs), the album features sacred concertos and early cantatas by Bach’s predecessors and superiors from Arnstadt, Muhlhausen, Weimar and Leipzig, and with them impressive proof of how highly developed the musical tradition of Central Germany then was. Although many of the composers are completely unknown to us today, their works, some of which are recorded here for the first time, provide a fascinating insight into the musical language of late seventeenth-century Germany with it’s inspiring wealth of colours and forms.

01 – Gott ist unser Zuversicht und St?rke
02 – Nun ist alles überwunden
03 – Partie IV in E Minor, P. 373′ I. Sonata. Adagio
04 – Partie IV in E Minor, P. 373′ II. Aria
05 – Partie IV in E Minor, P. 373′ III. Courant
06 – Partie IV in E Minor, P. 373′ IV. Aria
07 – Partie IV in E Minor, P. 373′ V. Ciacona
08 – Fürchte dich nicht
09 – Barmherzig und gn?dig ist der Herr
10 – Partie à 4 in G Major, T. 339′ I. Sonatina
11 – Partie à 4 in G Major, T. 339′ II. Allamana
12 – Partie à 4 in G Major, T. 339′ III. Gavott
13 – Partie à 4 in G Major, T. 339′ IV. Courant
14 – Partie à 4 in G Major, T. 339′ V. Aria
15 – Partie à 4 in G Major, T. 339′ VI. Sarabandt
16 – Partie à 4 in G Major, T. 339′ VII. Gigue
17 – Partie à 4 in G Major, T. 339′ VIII. Finale
18 – Die Welt, das ungestüme Meer
19 – Sei, lieber Tag, willkommen
20 – Wer gn?dig wird beschu?tzet