harmonia mundi (en)

Johann Sebastian Bach wrote several series of chorale cantatas, particularly during his time in Leipzig, the most extensive and uniform of which is from 1724/25. Bach wrote 40 cantatas that year, all of which are very consistent in form – a principle that ended in March 1725, however. Presumably, the unknown lyricist died and Bach had to resort to another source ‘in a hurry’. And here something extraordinary happens, because he uses the lyrics of a woman: Christiana Mariana von Ziegler (1695-1760) was a German writer born in Leipzig, whose financial circumstances enabled her to lead a self-determined, independent life. In Leipzig, she founded one of the first literary and musical salons. Bach used Ziegler‘s texts for another nine cantatas in 1725, which, however, are not based on a chorale, but on a Bible verse, which is then poetically elaborated with many artistic references. In this recording, Christoph Spering presents three of these Ziegler cantatas.