Luogo e data di registrazione		Doopsgezinde Kerk, Haarlem (Holland) - 22/26 Marzo 1983
	Registrazione: live / studio		studio
	Producer		Wolf Erichson
	Prima Edizione LP		Telefunken "Das Alte Werk" | 6.35607 EX | 2 LPs - durata 40' 09" - 40' 54" | (p) 1984 | ANA
	Edizione CD		Teldec Classics | LC 6706 | 242 618-2 ZL | 2 CDs - durata 40' 09" - 40' 54" | (c) 1989 | 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 Gerhard Schuhmacher »Bereitet die Wege, bereitet die Bahn« (BWV 132) written in Weimar for the Fourth Sunday in Advent 1715, is based on a text taken from Salomo Franck ’s collection of cantatas entitled »Evangelisches Andachts-Opfer«. (In Leipzig no cantatas were performed between the Second and Fourth Sunday in Advent because this period was a time of penitence, the ecclesiastical year beginning with the First Sunday in Advent.) This work, conceived in chamber music style with four solo voices, two oboes, strings and continuo, teflects Bach’s concern at that time with Italian cantatas, which were made up of two recitatives and two arias (in Bach’s case Nos. 2-5). A great aria takes the place of the opening chorus; Franck provided the text for a final chorale, but the music has not been preserved. Researchers assume, since a chorus was not otherwise required, that this chotale was written on separate sheets of paper which have got lost. Franck’s text »Ertöt uns durch dein’ Güte«, which features as a simple four-part chorale at the end of BWV 164, can be used in transposition to conclude BWV 132. The great opening aria is based on a commanding figure representing the sayings and sermons of John the Baptist and extended runs on the word »Bahn«. The middle section is calm and declamatory, with clearly contrasting joyful shouts of »Messias kömmt an« (Messiah approaches). In addition a concertante character is imparted to the aria by the oboes and strings. The following secco recitative contains distinctly arioso passages providing a creative extension of the Italian recitative style; the imitation between tenor and continuo is a symbol of succession (the Latin word »imitatio« having the theological connotation of »succession«.) The bass aria »Wer bist du ?« with a cello obbligato, unusual in Bach’s works, is based on a questioning figure developed from the text. The singer represents Christ who asks the question of man. The accompaniment and crossing of the voice and cello parts produce many daring harmonies. In accordance with Italian practice, the second recitative is accompanied by the strings; this in itself achieves a special form of expression, quite distinct from the secco recitative, enabling Bach to dispense with arioso interpolations. In the alto aria with its very demanding violin obbligato the predominant figure symbolises the baptismal water; the solo violin represents man. »Ich freue mich in dir« (BWV 133) is a chorale cantata written for the Feast of St. John the Evangelist (27th December) 1724. The modest deployment of choral forces, which may well be connected with the heavy demands upon the choir of St. Thomas’ during the Christmas season and the open-air carol singing which preceded it, is compensated by the soloists and the instrumentation. In the great opening chorus the lines of the chorale are woven into the orchestral writing rather in the manner of a chorale prelude; the substance of the movement is a motif related to the line of text »Ach wie ein süßer Ton« (Oh what sweet tones) and is treated contrapuntally. This passage is the only one in which the choral writing contains counterpoint. The first violin almost functions as a solo instrument, because the second violin and the viola are joined by the two oboi d’amore. These also carry over the throbbing motion of the opening chorus into the alto aria »Getrost, es faßt ein heil’ger Leib« musically, symbolising man and his salvation. As in the first and third movements of BWV 132, the motif »Getrost« (Be comforted) is a rhetorical figure; likewise the phrase »Wie wohl ist mir geschehen« (what bliss for me) is taken out of the context of the message as an expression of personal experience by the dynamic marking piano. The secco recitative (No. 3) is followed by a soprano aria with string accompaniment whose melody is developed from the cantus firmus and orchestral writing of the opening chorus. The first line of text »Wie lieblich klingt es in den Ohren« corresponds to the violin obbligato of the opening chorus, and indeed the »delightful sound« of this movement is entirely in keeping with the »sweet tones« of the opening; the passage »dies Wort« matches the »Getrost« in the alto aria. The first and fourth stanzas of the hymn text were retained in the cantata, the second and third stanzas being extensively reworked for the recitatives and arias although various elements, such  as the rhymes in the recitative preceding the final chorale, were accommodated in the paraphrase of the text. »Ein Herz, das seinen Jesum lebend weiß« (BWV 134), written for Easter Tuesday 1724, was originally an adaptation of the secular cantata BWV 134a »Die Zeit, die Tag und Jahre macht« composed for New Year’s Day 1719, when Bach was at the court of Cöthen. In 1724 he prepared a straightforward »parody« by merely fitting new words, in places quite mechanically, to the music without even writing out a new score. The final version, in which the work is now performed, was prepared until after 1731. Bach made substantial changes not merely in the recitatives, though the duet character, to which he adhered, can be traced back to the allegorical figures in the New Year cantata and correspond in the first recitative to a dichotomy between the tenor, the narrator, and the alto, a symbolic figure who in some passions of that period was called the »faithful soul«. He also made some purposeful changes to the arias and the final chorus, as well as writing out the score. One is nonetheless struck by the total absence of chorale or bible text, the libretto consisting of a freely devised poem relating to the events of Eastertide. Thus its relevance is superficial by comparison with other cantatas. The tenor aria »Auf, auf Gläubige« (Arise, ye faithful) derives its impulse from the »Auf, auf« phrase; there is figure work to the words »Lieder« and »scheinet«, but not to »Licht« or »der lebende Heiland«. Even so, the aria impresses by its tuneful orchestral writing with the intermingling of oboes and violins. This also applies to the great duet »Wir danken, wir preisen«, where the first violin plays a solo part, alto and tenor sing predominantly in parallel, and the continuo is skilfully interlinked with the vocal parts. Both text and music of the expansive final chorus are a reply to the opening aria. »Ach Herr, mich armen Sünder« (BWV 135) is a chorale cantata written for the Third Sunday after Trinity 1724 (25th June); the text is by an unknown author who retained the first and sixth stanzas of the hymn on which the cantata is based. In the opening chorus, once again laid out in the manner of the great chorale preludes or chorale fantasias, the cantus firmus is in the bass, producing a brooding, heavy timbre. This is enhanced by striking chromaticism on appropriate words (»mein’ Sünd« - my sin), but is also brightened by contrasting figures (»ewig leben« - live forever). The climax of the succeeding recitative, which is full of tonal symbolism on »schnellen« (rapid) and »Wangen abwärts rollen« (course down my cheeks), is the word »Schrek - ken« (ter - ror), with an awe-inspiring rest in the middle of the word. In the following lamentation aria »Tröste mich« in C, two oboes represent man in relation to the divine. The voice part contains a remarkable number of leaps of a seventh or augmented fourth (»Tod« - death), which are replaced in the second part by very deliberate consonances. After a simple secco recitative there is a bass aria with a passionate but not concertante violin obbligato »Weicht, all ihr Übeltäter«, in which the significant words are set to extensive figuration. A simple chorale movement with mobile inner voices and bass concludes this magnificent work.