The text of the chorale 'Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern' – performed here by the Netherlands Bach Society for All of Bach - is teeming with partly concealed imagery. Poet and song composer Philipp Nicolai (1556-1608) wrote both the seven-verse text and the melody. Bach decided not to add any more musical metaphors to the wealth of images already in the poem itself. This harmonious setting reserves the starring role for Nicolai himself.

For more information on BWV 436 and credits of this production go to https://www.bachvereniging.nl/en/bwv/...

Recorded for the project All of Bach on March 7th 2020 at Grote Kerk Naarden. If you want to help us complete All of Bach, please subscribe to our channel https://bit.ly/2vhCeFB and consider donating https://bit.ly/3J5uprM.

All of Bach is a project of the Netherlands Bach Society, with the aim to perform and record all of Bach's works and share them online with the world for free. Visit our online treasury for more videos and background material on https://www.bachvereniging.nl/en/allo.... For concert dates and tickets go to https://www.bachvereniging.nl/en/conc....

Netherlands Bach Society
Marta Paklar, soprano
Sofia Gvirts, alto
João Moreira, tenor
Matthew Baker, bass
Mike Fentross, theorbo