Himmelfahrts-Oratorium, BWV 11

Johann Sebastian Bach himself described the Ascension Oratorio "Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen" (BWV 11) as an "Oratorio Festo Ascensionis Christi". In the old Bach edition it was still classified under the cantatas, but with a duration of almost half an hour it clearly goes beyond the scope of Bach's classical cantatas. The cantatas for the two Sundays before (BWV 108 & 86) and the Sunday after (BWV 44) the Feast of Ascension complete the present programme, which Sigiswald Kuijken recorded with La Petite Bande as part of his series of Bach cantatas for all Sundays and feast days of the church year on 18 CDs between 2005 and 2014. The special charm of these recordings lies in the solo instrumentation of all instrumental and choral voices, which lends Bach's music a great transparency.