(Just as the showers) for soprano, tenor and bass, vocal ensemble, recorder I+II, bassoon, viola I-IV and continuo.

The cantata “Gleich wie der Regen und Schnee vom Himmel fällt” (Just as the showers and snow from heaven fall) is undoubtedly unique in Bach’s oeuvre. While its libretto and form are distinctive in themselves – with a long opening dictum referencing the parable of the sower, a single aria and an extensive litany as a middle movement – the instrumentation for just four violas and continuo truly sets the work apart. Even when Bach re-performed the cantata in Leipzig around 1724, he did not “correct” his Weimar instrumentation to create a typical string group with violins, but instead added two recorders, there by only slightly brightening the timbre.