Video of the week: Bach’s language of grief with the Netherlands Bach Society

Our Video of the Week features soprano Stefanie True and oboist Ivan Podyomov in “Seufzer, Tränen, Kummer, Not,” a lament from Bach’s Cantata BWV 21, recorded for the Netherlands Bach Society’s All of Bach project.

Sighs, tears, grief and distress: the opening words of “Seufzer, Tränen, Kummer, Not” name the emotions that Bach turns into music. In this soprano aria from Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis, BWV 21, interrupted phrases and expressive pauses suggest a voice struggling to speak through sorrow. The oboe becomes a companion to the singer, its sighing figures giving an instrumental voice to the same anguish.

This week’s recommendation brings together Stefanie True and Ivan Podyomov, performing with the Netherlands Bach Society under Shunske Sato. Recorded at TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht on 22 April 2021, the excerpt offers a concentrated encounter with Bach’s ability to make a sacred text feel deeply personal. Listen particularly to the space between the vocal phrases, and to the way the oboe sustains the lament when the singer falls silent.

A cantata with a history

The Netherlands Bach Society traces an early version of BWV 21 to a possible funeral performance in 1713, for the wife of a senior court official. Bach subsequently expanded the work, performing a longer version in Weimar on 17 June 1714. Within the cantata’s broader journey from affliction towards consolation, this aria holds the listener close to the experience of grief.

All of Bach: a freely accessible musical treasury

The recording belongs to All of Bach, the Netherlands Bach Society’s undertaking to perform, film and share Bach’s complete works free of charge. Launched online in May 2014, the project combines performances with interviews, texts and background material, inviting listeners to explore both familiar masterpieces and less frequently heard music. This aria offers an accessible starting point: a single movement that opens a door onto a much larger musical world.