Bach wrote the festive cantata Der Himmel lacht! Die Erde jubilieret – recorded here for All of Bach with René Jacobs – for Easter.
For this most important church festival, Bach pulls out all the stops. He employs an orchestra that is, by his standards, enormous, featuring three trumpets, timpani, and not four but five parts for the choir.
Central to this cantata is the transformation from mortality to immortality. Bach’s librettist, Salomon Franck, uses the Easter story – Jesus’ resurrection – to look forward to the world to come.
Recorded for the project All of Bach on November 5th 2023 at Grote Kerk Naarden.
