Bach - Easter
Oratorio: Kommt, eilet und laufet BWV 249
This Oster-Oratorium
(Easter oratorio) was first performed on Easter Sunday in 1725. Two days
earlier, the congregation in Leipzig had listened to the St John Passion, just
as in 1724. The closing chorus ‘Ruht wohl, ihr heiligen
Gebeine’ sent them on their way home to celebrate
Holy Saturday. And then, on Sunday morning, the church resounded with the huge
contrast of a Sinfonia with leading roles for three trumpets and timpani.
Before the singers get going, Bach seems to recall Jesus’s death with a melancholy
Adagio in B minor for solo traverso and strings.