Far from escaping to the country in the blazing heat of July 1724, Bach was committed to performing four cantatas (he probably composed at least three of them during the same month), one for each of the Trinity Sundays between the 2nd and 30th. As collectors of this distinguished series will recall, we have now reached the heart of Bach’s chorale-cantata cycle, where seasonal hymns represent the starting-point for Bach’s topical and compositional inspiration.

A concise approach is common to the examples here: each offers an insight into Bach’s extraordinarily mature handling of counterpoint to project a clear conceit. Meine Seel erhebt (No 10) is a striking setting of the Magnificat – a psalm whose opening strophes allow Bach to construct a merry-go-round of purposeful belief, both in the chorus and in the brilliant soprano aria which follows it – but perhaps uniformity of design inhibits some of the free-spirited invention of the earlier works?

Masaaki Suzuki rises to the intent of all the splendid choruses with energy and conviction. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he finds musical solace more readily in the brooding intensity and doctrinal concentration of No 93 than in, say, No 10. Even so, Herreweghe’s refined phraseology and soloists go further; tenor Makota Shimata is an assiduous executant of the fine aria, ‘Man halte nur’, but he can’t summon the sense of trusted discipleship which Howard Crook provides for Herreweghe. The soprano, Yukari Nonoshita, is altogether more alive to the rhetoric of the music. Matthew White is a worthy replacement for Robin Blaze but I hope the latter’s absence is only temporary.

While, as in the opening chorale fantasia of No 178, both chorus and orchestra produce a gloriously luminous and focused texture, the arias feel as if produced in isolation from the whole – not helped by the inexplicably long breaks between movements. In No 178, Peter Kooy traverses the choleric passaggi of ‘Gleichwie die wilden Meeres Wellen (‘just as the raging waves of the sea’) with disappointingly professional objectivity, though as soon as the chorus enters in the remarkable imagery of the subsequent chorale and recitative the fire is re-ignited. Ton Koopman’s reading satisfies rather more overall.

The best is left to the end: an outstanding reading of Was willst du dich betrüben (No 107). This is a beautifully poised and balanced work in which Bach uses an antiquated technique of four back-to-back arias. Suzuki relishes the lightness of Bach’s instrumental palette, especially in Shimata’s touching ‘Darum ich mich ihm ergebe’, where a feathery flute sits irresistibly within the string filigree. Not most consistent volume overall, perhaps, but this last performance is exceptional.