Bach Cantatas: in Print and Recordings

In February 2013 the Bach Collegium Japan, under the direction of Masaaki Suzuki, came to the end of their project of performing and recording all the sacred cantatas of Bach with concerts in Kobe and Tokyo of three cantatas: Freue dich, erlöste Schar (BWV 30), Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele (BWV 69), and Gloria in excelsis Deo (BWV 191).1 This was a significant milestone and I was invited to give pre-concert lectures before the two performances. Since a video disk charting the progress of the whole series, focusing on these final concerts, has recently been issued, it seems like the right time to make these lectures accessible.2 The first pre-concert lecture was given in Kobe Shoin Women’s University Chapel on 23 February, and the second at Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall on the following day. They are given here in lightly edited versions.