• Whit Tuesday
• Epistle: Acts viii. 14-17 (The holy spirit descends)
• Gospel: John x. 1-10 (Christ, the door of the sheep-fold)
• Rating: 2+

A delicious little phrase from the flutes introduces a long recitative that is based on the gospel of the day together with the twenty-third psalm. After that we're immediately into an absolute show-stopper! A dancing pastoral duet between soprano and alto, with the flutes providing a line that you will be whistling for days after you hear it. This is one of the greatest of the hidden gems of the cantatas and for once you will be glad that the da capo aria form allows you to hear the big tune again! The stately and elegant dance that this movement suggests means that it will come as no surprise to you to learn that BWV 184 was adapted from the secular cantata BWV 184a which is, alas, now lost to us. Another lengthy recitative is followed by a pleasant but otherwise undistinguished tenor aria and the cantata draws to a close with a straightforward, but lovely, chorale setting.

Oh no it doesn't! For once, Bach doesn't finish off with the chorale. There's an extra chorus seemingly tacked on the end, attractive but not outstanding.

Copyright © 1996 & 1998, Simon Crouch.