Hänssler: HAEN92069

Within Bach´s oeuvre, the motets form a group that stands out for a number of reasons. When compared with the cantatas, they are few in number and cast in a singularly old-fashioned form, especially the motets for double chorus. The motets, however, made their breakthrough into the concert repertoire at an early date: they were Bach´s first works to be printed after his death, and, as early as 1794, the motet "Singet dem Herrn" was introduced into the repertoire of the newly founded Berlin "Singakademie" as its first Bach work. The motets thus founded access to the burgeoning middle-class concert life before the Passions and cantatas, "behind the backs" of the Bach cult´s high priests in Leipzig.