J.S. Bach: Ich freue mich in dir, BWV 133 - The Church Cantatas, Vol. 176

The six-movement chorale Cantata 133 ‘Ich freue mich in dir’ was written for the 3rd day of Christmas in 1724. It is symmetrically constructed, with a choral movement at the beginning and end, and four movements in between consisting of aria-recitative and aria-recitative. Despite the festive occasion the instrumentation is relatively sober, comprising four soloists, four-part choir, two oboes d’amore, cornett, strings and basso continuo. The fact that singers and players were already under great pressure on the first two days of Christmas probably played a role. This may also explain the cornett part, which simply reinforces the sopranos in the opening and final choruses, giving extra colour to the chorale tune ‘Ich freue mich in dir’. Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach Artists: Netherlands Bach Collegium, Pieter Jan Leusink (conductor), Holland Boys Choir, Sytse Buwalda (Alto), Knut Schoch (Tenore), Ruth Holton (Soprano) & Bas Ramselaar (Basso) 🎵Online purchase or streaming (Spotif