Camerata Silesia / Bach by Bach, J. S., Sat 28 Jan 2023, From (2023/2023), Conductor Anna Szostak, NOSPR, Katowice, Poland

We do not know which liturgical feast the creation of the Cantata BWV 150 was related to. It represents the early works of the genre penned by the great cantor of Leipzig – composed at the end of the first decade of 18th century, most probably in Mühlhausen or Arnstadt. The work is based on a poetic reworking of the biblical Psalm 25: "Unto thee, o Lord, do I lift up my soul”, while as many as four of its seven movements were entirely entrusted to the choir. The request for delivery from danger was crowned with a perfect chaconne, which made a great impression on Johannes Brahms. It might be to a fascination with this work that we owe the finale of his Symphony No. 4... The Missa brevis in A major BWV 234, in accordance with its name and convention („brief”, „concise”), is a combination of two ordinary parts of a mass: the Kyrie and the Gloria. Although composed thirty years after the BWV 150, what it has in common with the cantata form seems to prevail over the differences between them. The duration time is equivalent, while Bach also applied the technique of parody: selected parts of the mass are built basing on his earlier cantata works.