One performance features two of the 200 sacred pieces composed by Bach, with a Goldberg sonata thrown in.

The 81st Carmel Bach Festival features a concert dedicated to two of Bach’s cantatas. A cantata – derived from the Latin word canto, meaning to sing – is a composition featuring choruses, solos or duets for singers, and recitatives.

Recitatives, you ask? A recitative is a section of a vocal work that is half-sung and half-spoken, usually used as a narrative or dialogue between characters of an opera.

The key takeaway for modern listeners is that cantatas were either sacred (for the church) or secular (for anniversaries and entertainment in nobility and society) and that Bach was especially prolific at writing cantatas, often writing one per week for performances at Sunday services and for holidays. As Thomaskantor – the director of a boys’ choir in Leipzig – Bach’s job from 1723-1750 was to compose the work, rehearse the musicians, and perform at the service, the Lutheran Liturgy.

Bach composed 1,300 pieces of music in total, and over 200 were cantatas. His Christmas Oratorio was made up of six cantatas. A professional composer who worked for a church in the 18th century was expected to write an enormous amount of music for all the services, and to make sure the music was performed correctly.

The first cantata in this concert, Mein liebster Jesus ist verloren (“My Dearest Jesus is Lost”), was an occasion. It was first performed in 1724 on the first Sunday after Epiphany. The general theme is Jesus’ parents trying to locate 12-year-old Jesus and finding him in the temple (a fitting theme for a boys’ choir). The second cantata, In allen meinen Taten, lacks such a clear narrative or theme. The work premiered around 1734 and was probably composed to commemorate a wedding.

Sandwiched between the two cantatas is the Trio Sonata in C Major, written by Johann Gottlieb Goldberg. (Goldberg was a student of Bach’s, and the inspiration for Bach’s celebrated work for harpsichord, The Goldberg Variations.) This trio consists of two violinists, cello and harpsichord.

There aren’t a lot of talented singers specializing in baroque music running around. The Carmel Bach Festival pulls together a choir of professional quality, drawing on experts from far-flung places. The soloists at this performance – Mhairi Lawson (soprano), Meg Bragle (alto), Tom Cooley (tenor) and John Brancy (bass) – are renowned specifically for performing baroque music.

BACH CANTATAS 2:30pm Monday, July 16 and July 23, All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Dolores and Ninth, Carmel. $30-$35. 624-1521, bachfestival.org/bach-cantatas