Bach Cantata BWV 167: Ihr Menschen, rühmet Gottes Liebe

Cantata 167, Ihr Menschen, rühmet Gottes Liebe, begins with a seemingly familiar yet short string melody with a good tenor aria. Maybe the string melody is a parody of some other Bach work that I am not aware of or maybe the melody simply sounds like a classic example of an elegant Baroque melody which makes it seem familiar to me. Movement 3 is a long duet for soprano and alto, which might have been better served by being cut slightly shorter than its 8 minute length. Movement 5 is an average chorale melody but with a really good driving oboe/horn/string line. Movements 1 and 5 are clearly the standouts of this cantata.

I have heard versions of this cantata by Harnoncourt, Leusink (on Brilliant Classics), and the aforementioned recording by Gardiner. Harnoncourt begins the piece at a snail’s pace, and his boy sopranos can’t hold up to any competition in the duet, but he ends with a strong, grand chorale. Leusink isn’t bad at all and takes a rather straightforward approach, which includes a soprano and a coutertenor in the duet. Gardiner takes the opening the quickest and the duet the slowest (with two female singers) and naturally finishes strong in the chorale. Track 1 from Gardiner, track 3 from Leusink, and track 5 from Harnoncourt would make a nice pairing.

Rating: 8 out of 10.