Aria, “Doch weichet, ihr tollen,” from Cantata 8

from: J.S. Bach - Cantatas

Originally (in the 1724 version of this cantata), for bass voice, “flauto piccolo o flauto traverso,” and continuo, the 4th number in the cantata, in A major, transposed here to Bb. This arrangement is an attempt to make this obbligato available to a recorder player within the realistic bounds of playability on a baroque instrument. There are four measures where notes out of the normal recorder range occur. In all of these cases, a reasonable alternative is given, along with the option to play the original, which are all quite possible with the use of the knee stopping the bell. Thus this recorder part could be used in a performance of the cantata, provided that the recorder player, on either alto or sopranino, plays on a recorder pitched half a tone below the rest of the ensemble. Title means, “But melt away, you crazy, useless worries!” Revised May 12, 2018.

Keyboard parts include separate recorder parts at no additional cost.