J.S. Bach: Es ist das Heil uns kommen her, BWV 9 - The Church Cantatas, Vol. 69

Cantata 9 ‘Es ist das Heil uns kommen her’ was written for the 6th Sunday after Trinity, sometime between 1732 and 1735. The opening chorus and final chorale employ the same melody. It is announced in the opening chorus, after 24 bars of instrumental introduction, in long notes in the upper voice. The other voices imitate the instrumental parts, while the flute, oboe d’amore and violin interweave their solo lines. There is a shadow side, however, to the initially confident mood with its key of E major and 3/4 rhythmic movement, a shadow side first heard in the tenor aria No.3 in E minor. In the unusual time signature of 12/16 Bach casts humanity unmercifully into the depths at the words ‘wir waren zu tief gesunken’. This fall is broken just slightly by occasional tied notes in the avalanche of semiquavers. Not until the duet in A major for soprano and alto does man make a moral revival. Here the flauto traverso and oboe d’amore elaborate on ‘des Herzens Glaubensstärke’. Composer: Johann Sebastian