Day of reck’ning! Judgment day BWV 168

The text of Bach’s cantata "Tue Rechnung! Donnerwort” was published in 1715, that is during Bach’s Weimar period, in the “Evangelisches Andachts-Opffer" by Salomon Frank. This concisely-written but powerful work was, however, only composed ten years later in Leipzig, and was heard for the first time on 29 July 1725, the 9th Sunday after Trinity. Its main dramatic-musical emphasis lies clearly in the first movement, a dark, almost operatic movement for baritone and string orchestra in B minor. By contrast, the ensuing aria for tenor with obbligato oboe accompaniment is distinctly more intimate, and the duet between soprano and alto – just accompanied by continuo – is more restrained in its musical language and expression than the first movement. In between there are two extended recitatives, the first of which leads into an arioso. The breadth of expression within the cantata is striking, its opening movement a masterpiece of Bach’s dramatic writing.