KWHMusic: Johann Sebastian Bach

1685–1750

List of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach

Masses, Passions, etc.
Cantatas
Secular
Fugues

Bach miscellanea
J.S. Bach: Life and Works

BBC documentary - "Bach: A Passionate Life" - John Eliot Gardiner - 1h29m15s

BWV 245 St. John Passion (with preceding analysis of Bach's audience)
BWV 245 St. John Passion (this subject ends at 1h03m38s)
BWV 244 St. Matthew Passion is discussed from 1h05m40s to 1h12m20s
BWV 232 B Minor Mass at 1h19m40s

YouTube playlist for the Oregon Bach Festival featuring Helmuth Rilling (Embed below:)

Masses, Passions, etc.

BWV 232 Mass in B Minor, Messe in h-Moll
All material related to this great work has been moved to a dedicated post:
http://kwhmusic.blogspot.com/2009/02/bach-mass-in-b-minor.html.

BWV 233–236, Missae Brevis, the short Masses
@Wikipedia; @bach-cantatas.com; view playlist

BWV 243 Magnificat
All material related to this great work has been moved to another post:
http://kwhmusic.blogspot.com/2009/02/bach-magnificat.html.

BWV 244 Matthaeus-Passion, Saint Matthew Passion
To reduce time required to load this post,
all material related to this great work now appears in another post,
http://kwhmusic.blogspot.com/2009/02/bach-matthew-passion.html.

Cantatas

My dedicated web page:
http://kwhmusic.blogspot.com/2010/04/bach-cantatas.html

Now for some examples:

Bach BWV 51 Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen!
Clicking on the above yields a playlist of a number of performances of BWV 51.
@Wikipedia; @bach-cantatas.com; German text; German-English text; view playlist

Compare:

Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen!
Was der Himmel und die Welt
An Geschöpfen in sich hält,
Müssen dessen Ruhm erhöhen,
Und wir wollen unserm Gott
Gleichfalls itzt ein Opfer bringen,
Dass er uns in Kreuz und Not
Allezeit hat beigestanden.

Praise ye God in ev'ry nation!
All that heaven and the world
Of created order hold
Must be now his fame exalting,
And we would to this our God
Likewise now present an off'ring
For that he midst cross and woe
Always hath stood close beside us.

That was Edith Mathis.
Other videos have better visuals,
but it is hard to imagine it better sung.

Movements 4 (Sei Lob und Preis mit Ehren) and 5 (Alleluia).
I do not know why the audio is so soft (as of 2010-10-19);
I cannot find a better version at youtube of these movements of BWV 51.
However a lovely MP3 of the complete BWV 51 by the late Elizabeth Parcells is here.
Movement 4 (Sei Lob und Preis mit Ehren) starts at 11:40,
Movement 5 (Alleluia) at 15:10.

Sei Lob und Preis mit Ehren
Gott Vater, Sohn, Heiligem Geist!
Der woll in uns vermehren,
Was er uns aus Gnaden verheißt,
Dass wir ihm fest vertrauen,
Gänzlich uns lass’n auf ihn,
Von Herzen auf ihn bauen,
Dass uns'r Herz, Mut und Sinn
Ihm festiglich anhangen;
Drauf singen wir zur Stund:
Amen, wir werdn's erlangen,
Glaub’n wir aus Herzensgrund.

Now laud and praise with honor
God Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!
May he in us make increase
What he us with grace hath pledged,
So that we firmly trust him,
Entirely turn to him,
Make him our true foundation,
That our heart, mind and will
Steadfast to him be cleaving;
To this we sing here now:
Amen, we shall achieve it,
This is our heart’s firm faith!

Bach BWV 140 Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme
@Wikipedia; @bach-cantatas.com; German text; German-English text; view playlist

The performance at Wikipedia (by the MIT Chamber Chorus) offers an alternative.

BWV 147 Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben
@Wikipedia; @bach-cantatas.com; German text; German-English text
Koopman (still photo) followed by Harnoncourt (live video, but without recitatives)

Live video of Koopman, et al.
Embed of the same:

Bach BWV 150 Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich
@Wikipedia; @bach-cantatas.com; German text; German-English text; view playlist

BWV 171 Gott, wie dein Name, so ist auch dein Ruhm
@Wikipedia; @bach-cantatas.com; German text; German-English text

The opening chorus was reworked into Movement 2, Patrem omnipotentem,
of the Symbolum Nicenum, or Credo of BWV 232, the Mass in B Minor.

BWV 190 Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied
@Wikipedia; @bach-cantatas.com; German text; German-English text