Bach so plentifulfull of convictionfervor praisefearing nothingI’m a child before himhis faitha contagionspeeding fastestwhere most needed whenthere’s nowhere elseto turn he wasa believerthe last of themthere can beno moreenvy him hiscertainty I cannothe lends it meheart door left openmitigating ancestralgrief with precisionunfathomablesearching forgratitude mysoul swells myears peal who elseI ask youwould compose music of wafting breezes nuzzlinggeese while tiny birds hop and chirpand little childrenangels reallyhold handsswaying gentlyin joyfulcircling danceto the words‘Heavenly Father oh whenmay I die?’____Patrick Rucker reviews concerts for The Washington Post, CDs for International Record Review, and has been a contributor to the Journal of the American Liszt Society since 1986. He lives in Washington, DC. ‘Bach so plentiful,’ a reflection on the 1724 cantata, Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben?, BWV 8, is dedicated to Timothy Ohrum.