Arias with an obbligato instrumental part interacting with the voice in a symbiotic duet were a particular glory of the Baroque era, in both secular and sacred vocal music. They offered opportunities for musical display and expressive enhancement, opportunities Bach seized often in his vocal works, from cantatas to the St. Matthew Passion.

Bach’s Cantata No. 32, Liebster Jesu, mein Verlangen (Dearest Jesus, my desire) is an allegorical dialogue between the Soul and Christ. It was first performed in Leipzig on the first Sunday after Epiphany in 1726, and in it, Bach pairs a soprano with solo oboe to represent a distraught and searching Soul, while a bass voice and a solo violin offer Christ’s comforting assurances in the aria “Hier, in meines Vaters Stätte” (Here, in my father’s dwelling place).

A da capo aria, written in A-B-A form, it provides a predominantly pastoral quality to the framing music, while the middle section goes darker. The violin introduces the aria and weaves around the voice in trilling joy, imitating and expanding the vocal line.

Cantata No. 158, Der Friede sei mit dir (Peace be with you) may have originated in Bach’s Weimar period (1708–17) or even earlier, but this version was probably first performed in Leipzig on the third day of Easter in 1727 or 1728.

The aria “Welt, ade, ich bin dein müde” (World, farewell, I am tired of you), forms the bulk of the short cantata. Here, Bach again pairs a bass voice with violin. The text, which amplifies phrases from an interpolated chorale by Johann Rosenmüller, focuses more on the looming joy of heaven than weariness with the world. This is reinforced by elaborate violin embellishments, sparkling like the heavenly crown the bass anticipates.

–John Henken