Bach - Cantata Ach Herr, mich armen Sünder BWV 135 - Sato | Netherlands Bach Society

The six strophes of Ach Herr, mich armen Sünder from 1597 – on the theme of Psalm 6: a fearful plea for God’s forgiveness – are interpreted in Bach’s cantata of the same name in an equal number of movements; cited literally for the opening and the ending, and paraphrased for the rest. The melody will be familiar to many, mainly from ’O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden’ from the St Matthew Passion. Bach restricted his chorale tricks to the first movement, as follows: the melody is first heard in the violin/viola unison, and to this wonderful base in the middle register lines are added – first by the oboes and later by the soprano, alto and tenor – which are reminiscent of the start of the chorale melody. The bass voices (singers, strings and trombone) lay a foundation of longer lines below this. Recorded for the project All of Bach on 22 April 2021 at TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht. If you want to help us complete All of Bach, please subscribe to our channel and consider dona