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Bach: The Great Choral Cantatas / Biller, St. Thomas's Boys Choir; Gewandhausorchester


Release Date: 11/13/2015 
Label:  Rondeau Productions   Catalog #: 4046   Spars Code: DDD 
Composer:  Johann Sebastian Bach,  Hymnorum, Anonymous, F. s,  Georg Christoph Biller,  Anonymous
Conductor:  Georg Christoph Biller
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra,  St. Thomas Boy's Choir,  Leipzig Thomaner Choir,   ... 
Number of Discs: 10 
In Stock: Usually ships in 24 hours.  

Notes and Editorial Reviews

Georg Christoph Biller, cantor at St Thomas Leipzig, has made music history: as directorof St Thomas’s Boys Choir Leipzig, which is renowned across the globe, he nurtured and continued Johann Sebastian Bach’s musical heritage for 22 years. These ten CDs present the 30 greatest and most inspiring of Bach’s choral cantatas, performed together with the Gewandhausorchester and exceptional soloists. The bonus CD features several exclusive recordings from St Thomas’s Church under the direction of Georg Christoph Biller, cantor at St Thomas emeritus; these are released here for the very first time. Bach’s cantatas comprise roughly one-fifth of his overall oeuvre – alone 150 of the 190 sacred works in this genre appeared in his time as cantor at St Read more Thomas Leipzig between 1723 and 1726. Thematically, the series is orientated to the liturgical year escorts the listener from the Advent season to Christmas and Epiphany, through to Lent, Easter, Ascension Day and Whitsun. Cantatas for the Trinity Sundays, the Marian festivities as well as the feast of St Michael and the Reformation feast determine the ecclesiastical year. The singers of St Thomas’s Boys Choir realise the solo parts for soprano and alto voices in the concerts recorded live by the Deutschlandradio Kultur and Rondeau production in St Thomas Leipzig. The Bach cantatas offer the listener a musical overview of the diversity of the genre that was obviously so close to the composer’s heart. The tradition of the weekly cantata concerts is being kept alive to this day by St Thomas’s Boys Choir. Read less

Works on This Recording

1.
Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 61 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Conductor:  Georg Christoph Biller
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra,  St. Thomas Boy's Choir
Period: Baroque 
Written: 1714; Cöthen, Germany 
 Venue:  Thomaskirche Leipzig 
Length: 13 Minutes 2 Secs. 
2.
Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 62 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Conductor:  Georg Christoph Biller
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra,  St. Thomas Boy's Choir
Period: Baroque 
Written: 1724; Leipzig, Germany 
 Venue:  Thomaskirche Leipzig 
Length: 17 Minutes 51 Secs. 
3.
Schwingt freudig euch empor, BWV 36 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Conductor:  Georg Christoph Biller
Period: Baroque 
Written: 1731; Leipzig, Germany 
 Venue:  Thomaskirche Leipzig 
Length: 29 Minutes 24 Secs. 
4.
Unser Mund sei voll Lachens, BWV 110 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Conductor:  Georg Christoph Biller
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra,  Leipzig Thomaner Choir
Period: Baroque 
Written: 1725; Leipzig, Germany 
5.
Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied, BWV 190 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Conductor:  Georg Christoph Biller
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra,  Leipzig Thomaner Choir
Period: Baroque 
Written: 1724; Leipzig, Germany 
6.
Christen, ätzet diesen Tag, BWV 63 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Conductor:  Georg Christoph Biller
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra,  Leipzig Thomaner Choir
Period: Baroque 
Written: 1713-1715; Cöthen, Germany 
7.
Sie werden aus Saba alle kommen, BWV 65 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Conductor:  Georg Christoph Biller
Period: Baroque 
Written: 1724; Leipzig, Germany 
 Venue:  Thomaskirche Leipzig 
Length: 14 Minutes 37 Secs. 
8.
Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid, BWV 3 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Conductor:  Georg Christoph Biller
Period: Baroque 
Written: 1725; Leipzig, Germany 
 Venue:  Thomaskirche Leipzig 
Length: 21 Minutes 19 Secs. 
9.
Alles nur nach Gottes Willen, BWV 72 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Conductor:  Georg Christoph Biller
Period: Baroque 
Written: 1726; Leipzig, Germany 
 Venue:  Thomaskirche Leipzig 
Length: 15 Minutes 28 Secs. 
10.
Wer da gläubet und getauft wird, BWV 37 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Conductor:  Georg Christoph Biller
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra,  Leipzig Thomaner Choir
Period: Baroque 
Written: 1724; Leipzig, Germany 
11.
Jesus nahm zu sich die Zwölfe, BWV 22 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Conductor:  Georg Christoph Biller
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra,  Leipzig Thomaner Choir
Period: Baroque 
Written: 1723; Cöthen, Germany 
12.
Himmelskönig sei willkommen, BWV 182 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Conductor:  Georg Christoph Biller
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra,  Leipzig Thomaner Choir
Period: Baroque 
Written: 1714; Cöthen, Germany 
13.
Gott fähret auf mit Jauchzen, BWV 43 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Conductor:  Georg Christoph Biller
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra,  Leipzig Thomaner Choir
Period: Baroque 
Written: 1726; Leipzig, Germany 
14.
Du wahrer Gott und Davids Sohn, BWV 23 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Conductor:  Georg Christoph Biller
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra,  Leipzig Thomaner Choir
Period: Baroque 
Written: 1723; Cöthen, Germany 
15.
Auf Christi Himmelfahrt allein, BWV 128 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Conductor:  Georg Christoph Biller
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra,  Leipzig Thomaner Choir
Written: 1725 
16.
Christ lag in Todesbanden, BWV 4 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Conductor:  Georg Christoph Biller
Period: Baroque 
Written: 1708; Weimar, Germany 
 Venue:  Thomaskirche Leipzig 
Length: 20 Minutes 37 Secs. 
17.
St. Thomas Ostermusik, for soloists, chorus & orchestra by Georg Christoph Biller
Conductor:  Georg Christoph Biller
Period: Baroque 
 Venue:  Thomaskirche Leipzig 
Length: 16 Minutes 2 Secs. 
18.
Der Himmel lacht! die Erde jubilieret, BWV 31 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Conductor:  Georg Christoph Biller
Period: Baroque 
Written: 1715; Cöthen, Germany 
 Venue:  Thomaskirche Leipzig 
Length: 19 Minutes 28 Secs. 
19.
Halt im Gedächtnis Jesum Christ, der auferstanden ist von der Todten, BWV 67 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Conductor:  Georg Christoph Biller
Period: Baroque 
Written: 1724; Leipzig, Germany 
 Venue:  Thomaskirche Leipzig 
Length: 13 Minutes 4 Secs. 
20.
Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten, BWV 74 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Conductor:  Georg Christoph Biller
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra,  Leipzig Thomaner Choir
Period: Baroque 
Written: 1725; Leipzig, Germany 
21.
O ewiges Feuer, O Ursprung der Liebe, BWV 34 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Conductor:  Georg Christoph Biller
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra,  Leipzig Thomaner Choir
Period: Baroque 
Written: after 1740; Leipzig, Germany 
22.
Lobe den Erschallet, ihr Lieder, erklinget ihr Saiten!, BWV 172 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Conductor:  Georg Christoph Biller
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra,  Leipzig Thomaner Choir
Period: Baroque 
Written: 1714; Weimar, Germany 
23.
Die Elenden sollen essen, dass sie satt werden, BWV 75 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Conductor:  Georg Christoph Biller
Period: Baroque 
Written: 1723; Cöthen, Germany 
 Venue:  Thomaskirche Leipzig 
Length: 29 Minutes 38 Secs. 
24.
Höchsterwünschtes Freudenfest, BWV 194 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Conductor:  Georg Christoph Biller
Period: Baroque 
Written: 1724; Leipzig, Germany 
 Venue:  Thomaskirche Leipzig 
Length: 40 Minutes 19 Secs. 
25.
Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin, BWV 125 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Conductor:  Georg Christoph Biller
Period: Baroque 
Written: 1725; Leipzig, Germany 
 Venue:  Live  Thomaskirche Leipzig 
Length: 22 Minutes 35 Secs. 
26.
Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, BWV 1 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Conductor:  Georg Christoph Biller
Period: Baroque 
Written: 1725; Leipzig, Germany 
 Venue:  Live  Thomaskirche Leipzig 
Length: 23 Minutes 34 Secs. 
27.
Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Conductor:  Georg Christoph Biller
Written: 1723 
 Venue:  Live  Thomaskirche Leipzig 
Length: 27 Minutes 38 Secs. 
28.
Nun ist das Heil und die Kraft, BWV 50 [fragment] by Johann Sebastian Bach
Conductor:  Georg Christoph Biller
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Leipzig Gewandhaus Chorus,  Leipzig Thomaner Choir
Period: Baroque 
Written: ?1723; ?Leipzig, Germany 
29.
Gott, der Herr, ist Sonn und Schild, BWV 79 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Conductor:  Georg Christoph Biller
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Leipzig Gewandhaus Chorus,  Leipzig Thomaner Choir
Period: Baroque 
Written: 1725; Leipzig, Germany 
30.
Es erhub sich ein Streit, BWV 19 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Conductor:  Georg Christoph Biller
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Leipzig Gewandhaus Chorus,  Leipzig Thomaner Choir
Period: Baroque 
Written: 1726; Leipzig, Germany 
31.
Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott, BWV 80 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Conductor:  Georg Christoph Biller
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Leipzig Gewandhaus Chorus,  Leipzig Thomaner Choir
Period: Baroque 
Written: by 1744; Leipzig, Germany 

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review:  ( 1 Customer Review )
 The Great Choral Cantatas, Georg Biller, Thomaner January 31, 2016 By robert bullock (Jamul, CA) See All My Reviews "Bach's cantatas are a genre of classical music that seems underappreciated. The Great Choral Cantatas compiled by the Thomanerchor Liepzig, Thomaskantor Georg Christoph Biller, Conductor are a great place to start. This compilation, featuring a boys choir and great soloists, is superb and also unique in that these clear youthful voices enhance this genre. What is so special about Bach's Cantatas are the amazing melodies found nowhere else, both the melodies in the choruses and in the solo renditions, with Bach's lacing melodies that accompany them are found nowhere else in classical music. You cannot do better in selecting and listening to this truly special compilation to reach an exalted enhancement of your classical music listening experience and to those of us who already love Bach's Cantatas this compilation is not to be missed." Report Abuse
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