The last hour | Oxford Bach Soloists

When Bach decided to transcribe his Brandenburg Concerto No 4, BWV 1049 into the Keyboard Concerto in F, BWV 1057, he created something exceptionally effective from the triple concerto for violin and two recorders. Inspired by the endless possibilities, the harpsichord is deployed in ingenious ways with a wealth of timbres. Bach’s Cantata Komm, du süße Todesstunde is of indescribable charm, the sound of two recorders charactering the peaceful, spiritualised tone that prevails. This mournfully-happy piece is just one of Bach’s many sermons on the hour of death, and contains the German hymn-melody which is best known in this country, the so-called Passion Chorale, HL Hassler’s ‘Herzlich thut mich verlange’, on which Pachelbel set his Chorale and 7 Variations.