CPE Bach is muchbetter known for his instrumental works, which are numerous, than his vocal, which are few: but his short oratorio Die Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt Jesu (‘The Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus’), a late work which was written in the 1770s, has a strong claim to be reckoned among hismost original and his finest. It certainly proclaims his originality in its opening bars, a sombre and mysterious passage for cellos and basses alone, and the ensuing chorus at least hints at the grandeur and sense of the momentous that distinguishes his father’s great choral works.

The narrative is sung by a tenor in a series of recitatives, mostly starting secco but increasingly coloured by orchestral textures as they gather emotional force. Here they are impressively done by Christoph Genz, with subtle and refined shading of the tone and a quiet intensity of expression. The long one at the opening of Part 2 is especially fine. There are several arias, often in two parts, with a moderate main section and a slower, more contemplative middle section; one, for tenor, has a remarkable bassoon obbligato.

The soprano aria, warmly and touchingly done by Uta Schwabe, with a mournful first part and a joyous second, is a particularly expressive piece, although arguably it is outshone by the duet that follows, with its attractive use of two flutes to accompany the soprano and its typical use of appoggiaturas and the dissonances they create to heighten the expression. There is a brilliant little ‘Triumph!’ chorus which recurs, with its celebratory trumpets, its excitedly rushing violin figuration and its declamatory passages for the choir. And the choir, of course, has the last word, in a big concluding chorus culminating in a fugue.

Sigiswald Kuijken’s lively but sensitive and thoughtful direction, and his attention to details of the instrumental texture, ensure that the work gets the performance it merits. I found it compelling, and warmly recommend it.