J.S. Bach: Ich elender Mensch, wer wird mich erlösen, BWV 48 - The Church Cantatas, Vol. 151

The splendid opening movement of BWV48 (3 October 1723) expresses the sorrow of the Christian over `the body of this death’ as expressed by the apostle Paul in Romans 7. The `Leibe dieses Todes’ sinks to a deep note while the violins play a longing melody and the trumpet plays the chorale `Herr Jesu Christ, du höchstes Gut’, another prayer out of the depth of sin on which cantata 113 is based. The choral entries are endlessly varied, the voices never entering in the same order. The intense coda after the last line is unforgettable. An expressive alto recitative, with big jumps up and down, is followed by a beautiful bonus in the form of an intensely chromatic chorale fitted in between alto recitative and alto aria. This short aria has a very vocal oboe line. The tenor then follows with an enthusiastic recitative in which we almost hear the next aria coming, with its confident orchestral melody embedding a tender tenor line. The chorale on the melody from the opening movement has especially lively accompa