Reinhard Goebel and Musica Antiqua Koln s recordings of J. S. Bach are classics of the Early Music movement. Equally revelatory is their championing of the music of the Bach family stretching from the mid-17th to the late 18th century: a treasure trove of vocal and instrumental works. Here they are complete in a single box for the first time, with Magdalena Kozená a stunning soloist.

Wilhelm Friedemann Bach was Director of Music in Halle from 1746 to 1764. This position was in many respects similar to that of Johann Sebastian Bach’s in Leipzig. Certainly, in performing his duties Friedemann Bach largely followed the example of his father – whether in matters of organ playing, choice of repertoire or making demands of the musicians. W. F. Bach was required to perform a cantata every third week and also on all feast days. The cantatas and Mass compositions performed here for the first time are works from this era – outstanding artistic contributions to the genre of the church cantata after J. S. Bach. Under the direction of Jürgen Ochs the eight singers of the Rastatter Hofkapelle perform both the choral as well as solo passages.

When on 12 May 1764 Wilhelm Friedemann Bach tended his resignation as Music Director and Organist at Halle a brilliant musical epoch came to an inglorious end. From the time of Samuel Scheidt the position of organist of the Halle Marktkirche had always been occupied by outstanding virtuosi and composers, and with W. F. Bach the last of them quit the service. The twenty or so surviving Halle cantatas by Wilhelm Friedemann Bach form a long-neglected body of music which is in many respects unparalleled. They represent extraordinarily individual attempts to emulate the musical achievements of his great paternal teacher and model, and to develop them further. Thus this son of Bach arrived at solutions to problems in his works which strive repeatedly towards grace and pathos, brilliance and originality, artistic diversity and natural simplicity.

J.S. Bach’s talent seems to flow in his grandson’s blood at least as strongly as in any of his sons. Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst Bach’s two symphonies (as well as the vocal works featured here) inhabit the sound-world of mid- to late Mozart, albeit without the brilliance (in every sense of the word). This Bach’s wind writing is tasteful, and makes good use of the (then) newly-arrived clarinet. The Andante of the C major symphony is quite beautiful, with a dolefully sweet oboe solo throughout the movement. The period strings of Das Kleine Konzert are lively, clean, and in tune, although the violin soloist is not quite up to the rapid passage-work at the end of the G major symphony.

This set is a rerelease of recordings made in 1991, not previously reviewed in Read more . In the order listed in the header, these four cantatas were composed for the following festal days in the liturgical church calendar: the Third Sunday in Advent, the Feast of St. John the Baptist, Pentecost, and Easter Sunday. All stem from the time of the younger Bach’s increasingly fractious and unhappy years as director of music in Halle, which spanned 1747 to 1764. The first of these is definitely known to have been written in 1749; the dates for the others are less certain, but stem from the mid to late 1750s.

This is a unique collection of largely unknown compositions of the Bach family, the largest and most incredibly talented musical family of all time. For nearly two hundred years, the Bach family dedicated themselves to singing God’s praises in music. Helmuth Rilling, who has made the works of J S Bach and his family his life work, performs these pieces with delicacy, energy and intelligence.

In 2010 the world is celebrating the 300th anniversary of the birth of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, whose music – for the most disparate reasons – was for a long time shrouded in oblivion. Many of his works disappeared completely after the Second World War, and it was not until 1999 that they were rediscovered in Kiev. The present world-première recording of four of his cantatas grants us a fascinating insight into the composer’s output and invites us to join him on a musical voyage of discovery. These ambitious works, which were written for Christmas and Ascension, attest to the technical and musical virtuosity of Johann Sebastian Bach’s eldest son.