Sax Sextets

Just as the Rain and Snow Fall from Heaven

Johann Sebastian Bach, arr. Ben Tordoff

Composed:
1713 Arranged:
2021 Grouping:
sSATBb Duration:
03:05

This sinfonia is taken from one of Bach's early cantatas, BWV 18, created for the second Sunday before Lent begins (known as "Sexagesima") - often in the cold and wet of early February. The title and text are taken from Isaiah:

"For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:

So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it."

February 2021 was particularly cold in the UK and this seemed particularly appropriate. Originally written for the relatively uniform sound of four violas, cello, and bass it counters a strident repeating bass phrase with smooth counterpoint in the upper voices that sits nicely across six saxes.

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This music is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Licence.