J.S. Bach / Siehe, ich will viel Fischer aussenden, BWV 88 (Leonhardt)

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Cantata BWV 88: Siehe, ich will viel Fischer aussenden (21 July 1726)
Part I.
1. Siehe, ich will viel Fischer aussenden (Aria: B)
2. Wie leichtlich könnte doch der Höchste uns entbehren (Recitative: T) 06:52
3. Nein, Gott ist allezeit geflissen (Aria: T) 07:35
Part II.
4. Jesus sprach zu Simon: Fürchte dich nicht (Arioso: T, B) 11:34
5. Beruft Gott selbst, so muss der Segen (Duet: S, A) 13:49
6. Was kann dich denn in deinem Wandel schrecken (Recitative: S) 17:00
7. Sing, bet und geh auf Gottes Wegen (Chorale) 18:19
Soloists:
Boy Soprano - Marcus Klein (Soloist of the Knabenchor Hannover)
Alto (Countertenor) - Paul Esswood
Tenor - Kurt Equiluz
Bass - Max van Egmond
Performed by the Knabenchor Hannover (Chorus Master: Heinz Hennig), Collegium Vocale Gent (Chorus Master: Philippe Herreweghe), and the Leonhardt-Consort under the direction of Gustav Leonhardt. Recorded by Teldec in 1978.
"'Siehe, ich will viel Fischer aussenden' (BWV 88) was written for the fifth Sunday after Trinity, 21 July 1726, almost immediately after Bach had introduced a series of works by his cousin in Meiningen, Johann Ludwig Bach, to the St. Thomas Church instead of his own cantatas. At least the form of the anonymous text -- as with the cantatas BWV 39, 187, 45, 102, and 17, composed more or less around the same period -- corresponds precisely with that of this group of inserted works. Thus it seems reasonable to assume that Bach instructed a Leipzig poet to write texts in this form, or that he himself undertook the task. The focal point of these texts is a quotation from the Sunday Gospel in question, symmetrically framed by two arias and two recitatives. Before the first recitative there is a quotation from the Old Testament, the sense of which is related to the passage from the Gospel, while the second recitative is followed by the concluding chorus. On the whole this is an arrangement which is not only satisfying from the musical point of view, but theologically is also eminently significant (with the New Testament at the center, the Old Testament at the beginning, and the congregation at the end).
Bach's composition places almost too much emphasis upon the quotation from the Old Testament, in the sense that it transposes its graphic language into two broad and splendidly painted genre scenes, a marine and a hunting piece. Beneath their colorful surface they are extremely artistically designed, and are set in contrast to each other. The short but harmonically rich first recitative leads on to the tenor aria which, without a ritornello, answers the question of the recitative. It is not until after the contrasting vocal sections, held together by the motif treatment of the oboe d'amore, that the ritornello is subsequently featured as an abbreviated da capo, with the oboe d'amore adopting the role of the vocal part. The Gospel quotation is introduced by a two-bar Evangelist arioso and is then taken up in the bass (the 'vox Christi') as a solemn, four-part arioso (A A' A A'') above a quasi ostinato bass. The duet once more reverts to the motet-like sequence form and the technique of varying repetition which dominate the entire cantata and give Bach an opportunity of declaiming the text with unusual intensity and ever-fresh shading. Two text sections, the second being repeated, are arranged in an artistically polyphonic three-movement setting (A A' A''). The final chorus after the second recitative is kept in a comparatively simple, song-like style."
Drawing: The Miraculous Draught of Fish (detail), Gustave Doré

[@mariacristinagarulli4831]

CANTATA BELLISSIMA...INTERPRETAZIONE MAGNIFICA...♡

[@malbamope]

I think this is the best recording of this beautiful Cantata. All others I've heard take a first movement tempo ridiculously fast.