Luogo e data di registrazione		(luogo e data di registrazione non indicati)
	Registrazione: live / studio		studio
	Producer		Wolf Erichson
	Prima Edizione LP		Teldec "Das Alte Werk" | 6.35658 EX | 2 LPs - durata 48' 26" - 55' 02" | (p) 1987 | DIGITAL DMM
	Edizione CD		Teldec Classics | LC 6706 | 8.35658 ZL | 2 CDs - durata 48' 26" - 55' 02" | (p) 1987 | 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 167, BWV 168 e BWV 169 a cura del Concentus Musicus Wien diretto da Nikolaus Harnoncourt.

INTRODUCTION by Gerhard Schuhmacher "Ihr, die ihr euch von Christo nennet" (BWV 164) based on a poem in Salomo Franck’s collection of cantata texts Evangelisches Andachts-Opffer published in 1715, was composed in Leipzig for August 16, 1725. It deals with the Imitatio Christi, which is illustrated by the use of imitative counterpoint. This is matched by an appropriately strong element of chamber music in the work. In the opening aria the vocal line is integrated into the rich string texture, the key being confirmed by a powerful leap of a fifth. All the more effective is the inversion of the subject at the words ”Wo bleibet die Barmherzigkeit?... Sie ist von euch, ach, allzuweit” (Where is that mercy now revealed?... From you 'tis fled, ah far afield); they relate to the melisma on the Word ”Barmherzigkeit” in the recitative (No. 2) which, by describing the Priest and the Levite as pitiless Christians, alludes to the parable of the Good Samaritan. In the alto aria ”Nur durch Lieb und durch Erbarmen” (By our love and tender mercy) the concept of the Imitation of Christ is expressed by two flutes, Bach’s favoutite instrument for this idea. After the emphasis placed on pity in No. 2, love is the focal point in the accompanied rocitative No. 4. Arioso elements prepare the way for the expressive duet for soprano and bass in movement No. 5, accompanied by strings and winds. This movement, another canon, reverts to the basic concept ofthe opening aria, thereby creating a strong musical link throughout the cantata, which is rounded off by a simple four-part chorale. "O heilges Geist- und Wasserbad" (BWV 165) was probably composed in Weimar for Trinity Sunday, 1715, and may have been performed again with slight changes on Trinity Sunday of 1724 in Leipzig; the reservations arise from the nature of the source material. The text is once again from Salomo Franck's collection of 1715 (cf. BWV 164). The opening aria is a striking example of the freedom with which Bach treated forms and expressive values. Its structure is that of a fugue, its form a rondo; some of its sections contain free inversions of the basic theme. The string figures and the formal arrangement contribute to a symbolic interpretation of the text, e.g. the inversion at the words "O Flut, die alle Missetat   ertränket und uns das neue Leben schenket” (O Fount, which swallows sin and pride, ...our strength and hope and life renewing). No. 2, a recitative with arioso declamation on certain words characteristic of the Weimar cantatas, and No. 3, a moving, prazer-like alto aria with continuo, refer to Man's redemption through baptism. An expressive accompanied recitative, No. 4, containing arioso passages which are so free as to be almost improvisations, introduces a tenor aria ("Jesu, meines Todes Tod"), in which the violins and violas in unison powerfully support the salvation of those who are baptised and turn to Christ. The string figures are inspired by the "Heilschlänglein" (the snake of salvation), in contrast to the venomous snake in the Garden of Paradise. The words of the final chorale "sein Wort, sein Tauf, sein Nachtmahl" (Thy Word, communion, sacrament) are closely linked to Franck's original text. "Wo gehest du hin?" (BWV 166) was written in Leipzig for May 7, 1724, the Fourth Sunday after Faster, to the words of an unknown author. In the first movement, a cross between an aria and an arioso, the bass with string accompaniment is clearly intended to be the voice of Christ; this is also obvious from the following movements. The words “Where goest Thou Lord, ah where?" are set with expressive figures illustrating both the question and the idea of going; the word "where" is used repetitively and the interrogative motif also dominates the instrumental writing. For the following aria ”lch will an den Himmel denken” (All my thoughts to Heav’n are turning) the solo violin pail has been reconstructed. Although a violin and obbligato oboe in a cantata aria is comparatively rare, it is implied by the whole substance of the work in which the emotive content of the second and third movements is provided by Heaven, that of the fourth and fifth by the World. Mutual imitation by the oboe, symbol of heaven, and the violin, symbol of Man turning to God, is enhanced by the text ”Ich will an den Himmel denken” (All my thoughts to Heav’n are turning); the melisma on ”schenken" (give) emphasises the word, even though it is negated. This also applies to the fifth movement, in which worldly pleasures determine the emotional content, though they too are renounced. It is a fact of life in baroque music that the sentiments of ideas and concepts are not impaired by being expressed in musically contradictory terms. The contrast between Heaven and the World reinforces the intention of the movement. The tenor aria is followed by a chorale concerto, the seriousness of which is emphasized by the long note values; the violins and violas, playing in unison, syrnbolise the concept of Man turning to God, just as they do in the fifth movement of Cantata No. 165. The cantata ends with the chorale ”Wer weliß, wie nahe mir mein Ende” (Who knows how near is my last hour), which is as powerful as the opening aria and the chorale concerto in the middle of the work.