Bach's cantata BWV 21: Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis

Bach's cantata BWV 21: Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis is one of my very favourites. I have three recordings of the work: Herreweghe (1990), Suzuki (1997) and Kuijken (1988). Bach would appear to have greatly valued the work, since he relaunched it several times, on occasions replacing the soprano with a tenor, depending on which artists were available at the time (so much for playing the music exactly as the composer would have imagined it).

Even for Bach, the cantata BWV 21 is highly multi-layered and contrapuntal as Bach weaves together solo instrumentalists, solo voices, the choir, and the band, often with highly sophisticated harmonic changes. It is important that we hear all the voices, and this is where Herreweghe scores in his recording for Harmonia Mundi. I also like his team of soloists — Barbara Schlick, Howard Crook, and Peter Harvey who, to my ears, outshine Suzuki's team of Monika Frimmer, Gerd Türk, and Peter Kooij. Both Suzuki and Herreweghe have the inimitable Marcel Ponseele as oboe soloist. But Herreweghe's recording is my favourite, since I love hearing all the strands of the music