Jesu, Meine Freude

BACH Motets • Peter Kooij (cond); Sette Voci • RAMÉE RAM 0906 (70:23 Text and Translation) Since the motets are the only works by Bach that remained continuously in use after his death, one would think that we should know how to perform them. Yet the thinking on so basic an issue as accompaniment has turned completely around. A cappella singing was the norm probably for two centuries, but it is now commonly thought that instruments were used in Bach’s time. By the same token, the motets have been an integral part of the choral tradition for just as long, but there is now an increasing sentiment in favor of solistic performances. One-to-a-part recordings of Bach’s motets are still relatively few, but who can doubt that the number will increase? Peter Kooij, familiar to listeners as the favored bass soloist of both Philippe Herreweghe and Maasaki Suzuki, hereby casts his lot with the minimalists. Four of the extant motets were written for double chorus, so eight si