Bach Cantatas 18

As the much awaited last
volume of the Bach Cantatas
Pilgrimage, it is one of the most talked
about musical events of the last
decade.
This is an anthology of the
Christmas period, combining
cantatas for Christmas Day and the
Epiphany.
The album opens with Christen,
atzet diesen Tag (Christians,
engrave this Day), which was
performed on Christmas Day 1999
to launch the year-long pilgrimage.
This is one of Bach's best known
cantatas. The accompagnato recit
was sung by Bernarda Fink to great
acclaim.
The cantatas on this album display
a great variety of dramatic
expression. Both Mein Liebster
Jesus ist verloren (My dearest
Jesus is lost) and Liebster Jesu,
mein Verlangen (Beloved Jesus,
my Desire) tell the same story but
in a different style, expressing
different emotions.