BWV 43

Bach's Acension Day cantata BWV 43 was written in his third year in Leipzig.  Although it is in eleven movements, the work is no longer than the normal cantata because of the brief, condensed nature of all of its movements.  The opening chorus is grand, with trumpets and drums, but is over before you know it.  The tenor recitative leads into the wonderful tenor aria with its string figuration that keeps piling up to produce a great sense of the thousands upon thousands.  The soprano aria has a sweetness that is appropriate to the childlike tone of the text.  In complete contrast is the clarion bass aria with solo trumpet. The alto aria has a melancholy that reflects the sad side of the story. A setting of the chorale "Ermuntre dich, mein schwacher Geist" ends the cantata.

©Craig Smith