PHOTO ID: front from left: Julia Szabo, Jayne McGarrity; back: Jeremy Szabo, Linda Sycks

The double duet, "Du wahrer Gott und Davids Sohn" (You true God and son of David), from Bach's Cantata 23 will be performed at the Bluffton Presbyterian Church Sunday, Aug. 14 at the 10:15 worship service.

The cantata is one of two pieces which Bach submitted for an audition to become cantor for St. Thomas' Church in Leipzig in 1723. The double duet consists of two oboe parts played along with two treble voices, plus a continuo.

Linda Sycks and Jeremy Szabo will be playing the oboe parts with Jayne McGarrity, soprano and Julia Szabo, mezzo soprano singing the vocal duet.

Cantata 23 has been described as one of the densest and most difficult of all cantatas. Theology inherent in the duet has been described by Craig Smith in program notes for a Boston performance:

"Du wahrer Got und Davids Sohn" expresses the duality of Christ's human and divine identity, characterized by the two oboes and the two high voices. The thorny, even awkward juxtaposition of triple and duple meters in the duet is a brilliant portrayal of the difficulty of the human and the divine inhabiting one body."

One may not come away humming the tune of this complex piece, but there's a rhythmic "hook" in the instrumental part which is very catchy.