Listening to BWV 98 for my first time, I find my ear drawn to the beautiful duet between soprano and oboe. The uniquely distinctive voice of the oboe wraps its plaintive commentary around the soprano, providing a color shaded with melancholy. However, the motor of the low string instruments keeps the mood just light enough, the tempo just "up" enough not to let me indulge in what might become sadness. Is there such a mood as Melancholy Lite?

Heath Marlow
Director of Development & Engagement