This is a partial list of commercial or professional recordings of Johann Sebastian Bach's cantata Christ lag in Todes Banden, BWV 4, organized chronologically.
The Bach cantatas fell into obscurity after the composer's death and, in the context of their revival, Christ lag in Todes Banden stands out as being having been recorded early and often; as of 2016, the Bach Cantatas Website lists 77 different complete recordings, the earliest dating from 1931. [1]
In 1931 Lluís Millet conducted the Orfeó Català in Francesc Pujol 's Catalan version of the cantata. The performance was recorded by La Voz de su Amo (His Master's Voice) and appeared on three 78 rpm discs.
La Voz de su Amo [2] | His Master's Voice [3] | Movement | Audio [4] |
---|---|---|---|
AB 690 (side 1) | 11178–A (M 120-1) | 1–2a | Flac |
AB 690 (side 2) | 11178–B (M 120-2) | 2b | |
AB 691 (side 1) | 11179–A (M 120-3) | 3 | Flac |
AB 691 (side 2) | 11179–B (M 120-4) | 4–5 | Flac |
AB 692 (side 1) | 11180–A (M 120-5) | 6 | |
AB 692 (side 2) | 11180–B (M 120-6) | 7 |
In 1937 Nadia Boulanger made her first recording of the cantata in Paris for Voix de son maître (His Master's Voice), but this appears not to have been released commercially at the time. She also recorded the work in the USA in 1938.
The entries in the following table are taken from the listings on the Bach Cantatas Website. [1] Some recordings rely on choir without (or with few) solo voices. Choirs with one voice per part (OVPP) and orchestras playing on period instruments in historically informed performances are marked by green background. [1]
Title | Conductor / Choir / Orchestra | Soloists | Label | Year | Choir type | Orch. type |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
J. S. Bach: Das Kantatenwerk – Sacred Cantatas Vol. 1 | Kurt Thomas Thomanerchor Gewandhausorchester | Teldec | 1959 | |||
Les Grandes Cantates de J. S. Bach Vol. 8 | Fritz Werner Heinrich-Schütz-Chor Heilbronn Pforzheim Chamber Orchestra | Erato Records | 1961 | Chamber | ||
J. S. Bach: Himmelskönig, sei willkommen (BWV 182; Christ lag in Todesbanden (BWV 4) | Wilhelm Ehmann Westfälische Kantorei Deutsche Bachsolisten |
| Cantate | 1964 | ||
Bach Cantatas Vol. 2 – Easter | Karl Richter Münchener Bach-Chor Münchener Bach-Orchester | Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau | Archiv Produktion | 1968 | ||
J. S. Bach: Das Kantatenwerk – Sacred Cantatas Vol. 1 | Nikolaus Harnoncourt Concentus Musicus Wien |
| Teldec | 1971 | Period | |
J. S. Bach: Cantatas | John Eliot Gardiner Monteverdi Choir English Baroque Soloists | Stephen Varcoe | Erato | 1980 | Period | |
Die Bach Kantate Vol. 13 | Helmuth Rilling Gächinger Kantorei Bach-Collegium Stuttgart | Hänssler | 1980 | |||
J. S. Bach: Oster-Oratorium | Andrew Parrott Taverner Consort Taverner Players | Virgin Classics | 1993 | OVPP-RP | Period | |
J. S. Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 1 | Ton Koopman Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir | Antoine Marchand | 1994 | Period | ||
J. S. Bach: Cantatas Vol. 1 | Masaaki Suzuki Bach Collegium Japan | BIS | 1995 | Period | ||
J. S. Bach: Christ lag in Todesbanden; Lobet den Herrn; Himmelskönig sei willkommen | Philippe Pierlot Choeur de Chambre de Namur Ricercar Consort | Ricercar | 1995 | Chamber | Period | |
Bach Edition Vol. 20 – Cantatas Vol. 11 | Pieter Jan Leusink Holland Boys Choir Netherlands Bach Collegium | Brilliant Classics | 2000 | Period | ||
J. S. Bach: Actus Tragicus – Cantatas BWV 4, 12, 106 & 196 | Konrad Junghänel Cantus Cölln | Harmonia Mundi France | 2000 | OVPP | Period | |
Bach/Webern: Ricercar | Christoph Poppen Hilliard Ensemble Münchener Kammerorchester | ECM | 2001 | OVPP | Chamber | |
Aus der Notenbibliothek von Johann Sebastian Bach, Vol. II | Thomas Hengelbrock Balthasar-Neumann-Chor Balthasar-Neumann-Ensemble | Hänssler | 2001 | Period | ||
J. S. Bach Early Cantatas Volume I | Purcell Quartet | Chandos | 2004 | OVPP | Period | |
Bach J. S: Cantatas Vol 22 | John Eliot Gardiner Monteverdi Choir English Baroque Soloists | Soli Deo Gloria | 2000 | Period | ||
Das Kirchenjahr mit Bach, Vol. 5: Ostern · Easter | Georg Christoph Biller Thomanerchor Gewandhausorchester |
| Rondeau | 2012 |
Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, BWV 1, is a church cantata for Annunciation by Johann Sebastian Bach. In 1725, when the cantata was composed, the feast of the Annunciation coincided with Palm Sunday. Based on Philipp Nicolai's hymn "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern" (1599), it is one of Bach's chorale cantatas. Bach composed it in his second year as Thomaskantor in Leipzig, where the Marian feast was the only occasion during Lent when music of this kind was permitted. The theme of the hymn suits both the Annunciation and Palm Sunday occasions, in a spirit of longing expectation of an arrival. As usual for Bach's chorale cantata cycle, the hymn was paraphrased by a contemporary poet who retained the hymn's first and last stanzas unchanged, but transformed the themes of the inner stanzas into a sequence of alternating recitatives and arias.
Christ lag in Todes Banden, BWV 4, is a cantata for Easter by German composer Johann Sebastian Bach, one of his earliest church cantatas. It is agreed to be an early work partly for stylistic reasons and partly because there is evidence that it was probably written for a performance in 1707. Bach went on to complete many other works in the same genre, contributing complete cantata cycles for all occasions of the liturgical year. John Eliot Gardiner described it as Bach's "first-known attempt at painting narrative in music".
Bleib bei uns, denn es will Abend werden, BWV 6, is a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach for use in a Lutheran service. He composed it in Leipzig in 1725 for Easter Monday and first performed it on 2 April 1725.
Jesu, der du meine Seele, BWV 78 is a church cantata of Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed the chorale cantata in Leipzig for the 14th Sunday after Trinity and first performed it on 10 September 1724. It is based on the hymn by Johann Rist.
The cantatas composed by Johann Sebastian Bach, known as Bach cantatas, are a body of work consisting of over 200 surviving independent works, and at least several dozen that are considered lost. As far as known, Bach's earliest cantatas date from 1707, the year he moved to Mühlhausen, although he may have begun composing them at his previous post in Arnstadt. Most of Bach's church cantatas date from his first years as Thomaskantor and director of church music in Leipzig, a position which he took up in 1723.
Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis, BWV 21 in Weimar, possibly in 1713, partly even earlier. He used it in 1714 and later for the third Sunday after Trinity of the liturgical year. The work marks a transition between motet style on biblical and hymn text to operatic recitatives and arias on contemporary poetry. Bach catalogued the work as e per ogni tempo, indicating that due to its general theme, the cantata is suited for any occasion.
Erfreut euch, ihr Herzen, BWV 66.2, BWV 66, is a church cantata for Easter by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it for the Second Day of Easter in Leipzig and first performed it on 10 April 1724. He based it on his congratulatory cantata Der Himmel dacht auf Anhalts Ruhm und Glück, BWV 66.1, first performed in Köthen on 10 December 1718.
Jan Kobow is a German classical tenor in concert, Lied, and Baroque opera.
"Christ lag in Todesbanden" is an Easter hymn by Martin Luther. Its melody is by Luther and Johann Walter. Both the text and the melody were based on earlier examples. It was published in 1524 in the Erfurt Enchiridion and in Walter's choral hymnal Eyn geystlich Gesangk Buchleyn. Various composers, including Pachelbel, Bach and Telemann, have used the hymn in their compositions.
Himmelskönig, sei willkommen, BWV 182, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in Weimar for Palm Sunday, and first performed it on 25 March 1714, which was also the feast of the Annunciation that year.
Ein Herz, das seinen Jesum lebend weiß , BWV 134, is a church cantata for Easter by Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach composed the cantata for the third day of Easter in Leipzig and first performed it on 11 April 1724. He based it on his congratulatory cantata Die Zeit, die Tag und Jahre macht, BWV 134a, first performed in Köthen on 1 January 1719.
Gelobet sei der Herr, mein Gott, BWV 129, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. It is a chorale cantata performed on Trinity Sunday 8 June 1727 in Leipzig. Rediscovery of the printed libretto of the cantata in the first decade of the 21st century led to a re-appraisal of prior assumptions regarding the early performance chronology of a few cantatas, including this one.
Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata Was willst du dich betrüben, BWV 107 in Leipzig for the seventh Sunday after Trinity and first performed on 23 July 1724. The chorale cantata is based on the words of Johann Heermann's hymn in seven stanzas "Was willst du dich betrüben" (1630).
Johann Sebastian Bach composed the cantata Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin, BWV 125, for use in a Lutheran service. He composed this chorale cantata in Leipzig in 1725 for the feast for the Purification of Mary, which is celebrated on 2 February and is also known as Candlemas. The cantata is based on Martin Luther's 1524 hymn "Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin" and forms part of Bach's chorale cantata cycle, written to provide Sundays and feast days of the liturgical year with cantatas based on a related Lutheran hymn.
There are 52 chorale cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach surviving in at least one complete version. Around 40 of these were composed during his second year as Thomaskantor in Leipzig, which started after Trinity Sunday 4 June 1724, and form the backbone of his chorale cantata cycle. The eldest known cantata by Bach, an early version of Christ lag in Todes Banden, BWV 4, presumably written in 1707, was a chorale cantata. The last chorale cantata he wrote in his second year in Leipzig was Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, BWV 1, first performed on Palm Sunday, 25 March 1725. In the ten years after that he wrote at least a dozen further chorale cantatas and other cantatas that were added to his chorale cantata cycle.
Antonia Fahberg was an Austrian lyric soprano in opera and concert. Her career focused on the Bavarian State Opera where she sang for 25 years. She performed regularly in concerts and recordings with Karl Richter and the Münchener Bach-Chor, and appeared at major opera houses and festivals in Europe.
Greta De Reyghere is a Belgian soprano who specializes in early music and Baroque music in historically informed performance but also performs a variety of other classical music in concert. She is a teacher at the Royal Conservatory of Liège.
Emily Van Evera is an American soprano who specializes in early music and Baroque music in historically informed performance.
Johann Sebastian Bach started composing cantatas around 1707, when he was still an organist in Arnstadt. The first documented performances of his work took place in Mühlhausen, where he was appointed in 1708.
This is a list of recordings of Bach's cantata Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen, BWV 56, a solo cantata for bass or bass-baritone composed for the 19th Sunday after Trinity, first performed on 29 October 1726. In English, it is commonly referred to as the Kreuzstab cantata.