(Make a reck’ning! Thund’rous word) for soprano, alto, tenor and bass, oboe d’amore I+II, bassoon, strings and continuo

The cantata “Tue Rechnung! Donnerwort” (Make a reck’ning! Thunderous word), probably performed for the first time in 1725, numbers among Bach’s most dramatic compositions. Indeed, the work adopts an arresting tone from the opening phrase: in a setting of garish luminance – a musical pendant to the artworks of Bosch and Grünewald – the fiery introductory aria storms without warning, like a spiritual tax inspector, into the house of the soul, an image underscored by whipping dotted rhythms and hasty triplet passages alternating over a mercilessly driving continuo line.