This is the first of the chorales the deal with aspects of Luther’s catechism, this on the Ten Commandments. The repeated notes of the chorale feature strongly throughout in the accompaniment, and as with other of Bach’s settings of ‘Ten Commandment’ texts, there are references to ‘ten’ in this setting: Williams describes the ‘ten entries’ of the subject (see Williams 2003 p.300).

from notes by George Parsons © 2019