Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit

Bach wrote the cantata Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit, BWV 106, known as the Actus tragicus, as a young man around 1707, most likely for a funeral service. Its opening Sinfonia, scored for two recorders, two violas da gamba and continuo, is one of the most serene and intimate pages in all of Bach.

Matthew’s arrangement for four guitars keeps the gently interlocking lines and the steady pulse of the bass, giving each player a singing, independent voice.