BWV686 is unique in Bach’s output. It is an ‘organ motet’, in huge six-part texture, written in organo pleno with a double pedal line throughout. It builds a massive structure, fugal, running through each phrase of the chorale in turn. The theme of Luther’s text is repentance, based on Psalm 130. The note of anguish is unmistakable in the dissonances, felt more keenly with the slowly unfolding harmony. Perhaps ‘the depths’ are invoked by the extra weight and textural thickness created by the double pedals, with the chorale melody given to the upper pedal—literally crying out under the weight of a heavy burden above it. As the setting progresses, the antico style of slowly unfolding counterpoint is lifted by the appearance of dactyl rhythmic figures, lending more of a dance-feel, even joy, to the music.

from notes by George Parsons © 2020