About the Music

Unequivocally one of Bach's most moving and haunting solo cantatas, Ich habe genug ("I have enough") presents a soul who has experienced life's blessings and who, having seen and felt enlightenment, is ready to pass into the next realm, rejoicing in his readiness. The music tugs on our empathy and compassion while, at the same time, gently encourages our own wishes for bliss.

With perhaps the most startling initial chord in any of Bach's compositions, the early cantata Widerstehe doch der Sünde ("Stand steadfast against transgression") is a work of outstanding effects and chromatic harmony. Bach called upon his youthful inspiration and contrapuntal mastery to create a soul-stirring and compelling admonishment to do good.

Perfectly paired with Bach’s cantatas, the program also includes the dynamic Concerto in C Minor for Oboe & Violin and richly sonorous works by German composers Johann Heinrich Schmelzer and Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber.