Arioso (Sinfonia) from Cantata BWV 156

The opening Sinfonia (also known as Arioso) of Cantata BWV 156 'Ich steh mit einem Fuss im Grabe' is one of Bach's most famous pieces. In this cantata it's orchestrated for solo oboe and strings, basso continuo. Bach also used this movement in Harpsichord Concerto BWV 1056, but there the solo voice is much more elaborated. Both pieces are arrangements of a lost Köthener oboe concerto. In BWV 156 Bach doesn't ask for pizzicato strings, in BWV 1056 he does. For this recording I used a fine transcription for organ by Peter Baekgaard.

This is my first recording on the beta test version of the surround model of the Metzler organ, Poblet. This sample set is now only available as stereo version, but OrganArt Media is working on the surround version, which lifts this sample set up to a whole new level. The beautiful acoustics of the Poblet Abbey come through even more. I received the test version today and couldn't resist immediately making a small recording.