JS Bach ,Es war ein wunderlicher Krieg from Cantata BWV 4 Arranged for Brass Quintet

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Christ lag in Todes Banden which translates in English to "Christ lay in death's bonds" or "Christ lay in the snares of death".
BWV 4, is an Easter cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach, and this is believed to be one of his earliest church cantatas. It appears to be an early work partly for stylistic reasons and partly because there is evidence that it was probably written for a performance in 1707. Bach went on to complete many other works in the same genre, contributing complete cantata cycles for all occasions of the liturgical year. John Eliot Gardiner describes it as Bach's "first-known attempt at painting narrative in music".
Christ lag in Todes Banden is a chorale cantata, a style in which both text and music are based on a hymn. In this instance, the source was Martin Luther's hymn of the same name, the main hymn for Easter in the Lutheran church. The composition is based on the seven stanzas of the hymn and its tune, which was derived from Medieval models. Bach used the unchanged words of a stanza of the chorale in each of the seven vocal movements, in the format of chorale variations per omnes versus (for all stanzas), and he used its tune as a cantus firmus. After an opening sinfonia, the variations are arranged symmetrically: chorus–duet–solo–chorus–solo–duet–chorus, with the focus on the central fourth stanza about the battle between Life and Death. All movements are in E minor, and Bach achieves variety and intensifies the meaning of the text through many musical forms and techniques.
Christ lag in Todes Banden is Bach's first cantata for Easter – in fact, his only composition for the first day of the feast – and his earliest surviving chorale cantata. It was related to his application for a post at a Lutheran church at Mühlhausen. He later twice performed it as Thomaskantor in Leipzig, beginning in 1724 when he first celebrated Easter there. Only this second version survives. It is scored for four vocal parts and a Baroque instrumental ensemble with two components, an instrumental "choir" of cornetto and three trombones doubling the choral voices (only in the 2nd Leipzig performance in 1725 were these used), and a string section of two violins, two violas, and continuo. While this scoring reflects the resources at Bach's disposal (the cornetto and brass players would have been available because of the city band tradition in Leipzig),[5] it was old-fashioned and exemplifies a 17th-century Choralkonzert (chorale concerto) style; the lost scoring of the earlier performances was perhaps similar.
The piece was thought to have been written in 1707. At that time Bach was a professional organist aged 22, employed from 1703 in Arnstadt as the organist of the New Church (which replaced the burned Bonifatiuskirche, today known as the Bach Church).At age 18, he had inspected the new organ built by Johann Friedrich Wender, was invited to play one Sunday, and was hired.
Christ lag in Todes Banden is one of a small group of cantatas that survive from his early years.
This arrangement of Es war ein wunderlicher Krieg, is the 5th out of the 8 parts of Cantata BWV4 Excellently provided by the highly accomplished arranger, Phil Carrington.
It has been transposed down a tone into D minor for playability.