Freiburger Barockorchester - Collegium Vocale - Sigiswald Kuijken

Bach's secular cantatas may be fewer in number than their religious counterparts - less than twenty compared to almost two hundred preserved church cantatas - but each is one of Bach's most inspired and compelling compositions. When listening to many of these works it is striking how often Bach 'reuses' his own compositional material: on the one hand he revived passages from earlier work in the secular cantatas and on the other he later incorporated music from these cantatas in emphatically religious pieces. For example, the opening chorus of the cantata 'Vereinigte Zwietracht der wechselnden Saiten', written in 1726, is based on the third part of the first Brandenburg Concerto, but with much richer orchestration including trumpets and tympani. He reworked the opening chorus of the cantata 'Tönet, ihr Pauken! Erschallet, Trompeten!' a year later, Christmas 1734, for the renowned opening chorus of the first cantata of the 'Christmas Oratorio'. When one listens to the original secular version it is striking how closely the words and music fit together in this opening chorus. The fact that Bach reused this masterly music in a completely different context a year later tells us a lot about his attitude to his own music and its function. He apparently considered it important to reuse his music for special occasions - because this is what the cantata for the birthday of the Saxon Elector Maria Josepha clearly is - in a much more permanent though totally different context rather than surrender it to oblivion.