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46 BACH / ISOIR_TRANSCRIPTIONS
The melancholic siciliana from the Cantata BWV 169 establishes a link with the
concertante domain. Bach reused the second movement of the Harpsichord
Concerto in E major BWV 1053, itself transcribed from a lost solo concerto, for the
alto aria, ‘Stirb in mir’, of this cantata for the eighteenth Sunday after Trinity. Its
configurationwith
organo obbligato
prompts Isoir to concentrate his adaptation on
the instrumental material of this piece by going back to its source. Here we find
no trace of the cantata’s vocal line, but instead the concertante organ’s right-hand
part is unfolded in full, surrounded by its complete apparatus of accompaniment.
Such is not the case, ina different context,with the tenor aria ‘Jesus Christus, Gottes
Sohn’ from the Cantata
Christ lag in Todesbanden
BWV 4. Here the organ asserts the
joy of Easter with the vocal line en taille until the abrupt break in mood caused by
the silence preceding the short adagio which marks the point at which death is
overcome. The reprise of the initial vivacity, animated by the two violins in unison,
in accordancewith Italian concerto technique, is supported, as it is throughout the
aria, by an ostinato figure in the continuo.