Even by Bach’s standards, they are exceptional. All three of them were conceived as grateful celebrations of the ancient feastday of the Archangel Michael . St Michael’s day commemorates the apocalyptic combat and eventual victory of Michael and the angels of Heaven against the armies of Satan. All three of these cantatas are set for a festive orchestra with strings plus three trumpets, drums, and other luxuries (an extra third hautboy, a traverso in Cantata 130, and hautboys doubling on hautbois d’amour or playing oboe da caccia in Cantata 19).

French Baroque composer Marin Marais is primarily known for his inward-looking viol music, but he also worked as a "measure beater" at the Académie royale de musique, the institution that evolved into the Paris Opéra, and he wrote vocal music of various kinds, as well. This disc presents instrumental excerpts from Marais' 1709 opera Sémélé. These excerpts are dances, marches, and slightly longer orchestra passages "symphonies," "préludes," an overture, and "entreés" for groups of personages that appear on-stage in the opera.

This disc is the debut entry in a full cycle of Bach's cantatas to come from Canada's Montreal Baroque historical performance ensemble. Conductor Eric Milnes opts for the controversial approach of having just one voice per part – the four soloists, joined together – in the choral movements, with no choir in sight.