L'Astratto, the amusing fourth cantata in Arie Op. 8 3, depicts a man striving to express his suffering in poetry and song. Maybe he has pen in hand, or a library of arias to choose from, but either way he begins by stating his resolve to sing, in a recitative in D major (bars 1-26) which sets the word tormento to a poignant chromatic Passacaglia and gives the continuo a Ciaccona solo. He rejects his first attempt, in e minor (preceded by a Passacaglia Ritornello), overwhelmed by its sadness; ...