Bach Cantata "Der Friede sei mit dir" BWV 158

Bach Cantata "Der Friede sei mit dir" BWV 158
Craig Philip Price, bass-baritone
Maggie Alley, soprano; Sara Cutter, alto; Peter Douglas, tenor
Sinisa Ciric, violin; Andrew Ripley, oboe; Marcy Brenner, violone
Cantor Thomas White, organ continuo
Recorded March 21, 2021, at the Lutheran Church of the Ascension, Savannah, GA. Engineering: The
Rev. Sara Cutter and Jim Scooler.

0:00 Intro
0:46 Sinfonia (by Rudoplh Lutz)
5:08 Bass Recitative
6:44 Bass Aria with Soprano Chorale
13:34 Bass Recitative and Arioso
15:08 Chorale

Notes:
Bach composed no cantatas or florid music for Lent as the Lutheran church of the day observed tempus clausum (closed time) during this season, as well as Advent. This cantata was composed when Bach was established as Kantor of Thomaskirche in Leipzig around 1728 for Easter Tuesday, but may have also been performed for The Presentation of Jesus at the Temple (known in German as Mariae Reinigung) because of the references to Simeone. This is not unusual as Bach often reworked his music for different occasions. This approach to Bach’s music and his own flexibility, therefore, gives us license to honor him on his birthday, March 21, which always falls during Lent. More importantly, we experience the music the way Bach intended: within the context of worship.
Der Friede sei mit dir is the shortest of Bach’s 200 cantatas, comprised of just one aria, two recitatives, and a stanza of Luther’s chorale, Christ lag in Todesbanden. Most scholars believe it is a fragment from a larger work. So to round out the brief cantata, we include a Sinfonia by Swiss musician, Rudolph Lutz, as a musical prelude written especially for "Der Friede sei mit dir". Composed in 2015, it captures the essence of the cantata, keeps its spare scoring (violin, oboe, continuo) and quotes Luther’s chorale. Lutz is the artistic director of the J.S Bach-Stiftung, St. Gallen, Switzerland, a foundation engaged in performing and recording all of Bach’s vocal works.
-T. J. White