Bach: Cantatas [Complete on 71 CDs plus CDR]

At the center of Bach's amazing output stand the more than 200 surviving cantatas. While these works are rightly regarded as timeless masterpieces, the majority were performed only once or twice. Bach's church cantatas were composed during just 20 years - beginning with Cantata 150 written ca. 1705 in Arnstadt and concluding with the second surviving cycle of cantatas for the entire church year complete in Leipzig in 1725. Despite the utilitarian nature of these works, Bach lavished each score with the full measure of his genius. At the other end of Bach's creative output is his handful of surviving secular cantatas. Beginning with the beloved "Hunt" Cantata BWV 208 in 1717, Bach wrote the majority of his secular cantatas for performance by the gifted university students of the Leipzig Collegium musicum. These occasional works were composed both to provide pageantry for royal celebrations as well as for popular entertainment at Zimmermann's Coffee-House. As with his church cantatas, his secular scores brim with genius and colorful orchestrations.

Hänssler CLASSIC is proud to present Helmuth Rilling's landmark recording of the complete Bach Cantatas in a new, specially-price collector's edition.