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Cantata
2010, May 02
Cantata BWV 172
JS Bach Cantata BWV 172: Erschallet, ihr Lieder, erklinget, ihr Saiten!
(Ring out, you songs, resound, you strings!)
Whit Sunday May 20, 1714
Weimar Cantatas
Scoring: Trumpets I,II,III, Timpani, Oboe, Violins I,II, Violas I,II, Bassoon
Violincello, Organ obbligato
Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass
Key: C Major
Bärenreiter vol 5; p 273
Reading: Epistle Romans 8:14-17
Reading: Gospel John 14:8-17
Words: probably Salomo Frank
Bach Bibliography
This cantata is a favorite of mine, especially the opening chorus and the closing chorale. Dürr (p 346) remarks that the opening chorus is so celebratory, it might have been used in a lost secular cantata; indeed, I think it is in the same class with the opening of the Christmas Oratorio. Green (p 366) says the trumpet parts in the first part of the opening chorus are high and difficult, and he says the first trumpet part in the third section, the bass aria, is fiendishly difficult with very rapid passagework. I agree, there are thirty-second notes in very long stretches.
Green also describes the cello part in the fifth section as most demanding. He also points out that there are two viola parts in the first and last section. In the final chorale, the first violin, which usually doubles the soprano line, takes the descant. The second violin takes the chorale with the soprano and violas play with the alto and tenor.
Whittaker (v1 p 586) points out that the low C below the bass staff for the singer in the bass recitativ is the lowest sung note in all the cantatas.
Going back to the fifth part, Whittaker spends a very long time. The alto-soprano duet, a dialogue between the soul and the Holy Spirit, is sung in counterpoint with an abbreviated and decorated version of the chorale 'Komm Heiliger Geist Herre Gott'. It is heard in a most ornate form, decorated by the loveliest fioriture twining in and out of the voices like the tendrils of a delicate and luxuriant plant, penetrating, as it were, the innermost corners of the heart offered to the Spirit.
There is not agreement about what instrument takes this part; Schweitzer favored the oboe. Apparently one of the versions used a violin. The latest version transferred the part to the organ, which Whittaker deplores: the unemotional tone and inablility to shade with infinite subtleties cannot adequately replace violin or oboe and cello.
Whittaker ends with the remark that The duet is one of the most elaborate numbers in all the church works, the endless convolutions of the three upper lines, the numerous appogiature, producing a marvelous texture and an ecstatic feeling of bliss which no other composer has ever expressed.
Duet (first 2 minutes): Leusink with organ only. Favorite vocals. 4:33
Duet (first 2 minutes): Rifkin oboe, cello. 4:12
Duet (first 2 minutes): Gardiner's second recording: oboe, cello. Favorite instruments. 4:42
Duet (first 2 minutes): Gardiner's first recording: oboe, cello. 4:20
Duet (first 2 minutes): Suzuki oboe, cello. 4:12
Duet (first 2 minutes): Leonhardt oboe, cello. 3:48
All the sopranos seem a little overwhelming except Ruth Holton in the Leusink recording. Her restraint allows the music to stand on its own. The instruments are best brought out by Gardiner in his new recording, both in the duet and in the chorale 172.6 with the violin obbligato. However I do not like Gardiner's repetition of the initial chorus for the ending, though sources say Bach sometimes used it this way.
Chorale 1
C.S. Terry vol 2, p 250 discusses the chorale 'Komm Heiliger Geist Herre Gott' in the fifth part. The melody is played in an obbligato part by the organ, an oboe or a violin, depending on the version of the cantata. Terry states that this is a very free treatment in an abridged form.
This chorale melody is also treated at length on Cantatas.com.
Chorale 2
C.S. Terry vol 2, p 129 discusses the final chorale 'Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern'. This is one of my favorite chorales of the nearly 500 Bach harmonized. The obbligato violin part is truly wonderful.
The music
Suzuki at Presto Cello and organ in duet, but excellent violin obbligato in final chorale.
Gustav Leonhardt, Chorus on YouTube
The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Choir at Presto
Barbara Schlick (Soprano)
Kai Wessel (Alto)
Cristoph Prégardien (Tenor)
Klaus Mertens (Bass)
Dir. Ton Koopman
Koopman 1 Chorus on YouTube
Koopman 2 recitativ bass 3 aria bass on YouTube
Koopman 4 tenor aria on YouTube
Koopman 5 soprano alto aria 6 chorale on YouTube
Instruments and voices for each part
| Section | Text | Instruments, voices |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Chorus | SATB, trumpet I,II,III, timpani, violin I,II, viola I,II, bassoon, continuo (NBA: violoncello and organ) | |
| 2 Recitativ bass | John 14:23 | Bass, continuo (NBA: violoncello and organ) |
| 3 Aria bass | Bass, trumpets I,II,III, timpani, continuo (NBA: violoncello, bassoon and organ) | |
| 4 Aria tenor | Tenor, violin I,II, viola I,II, continuo (NBA: violoncello and organ) | |
| 5 Aria duet alto soprano | Alto, soprano, organ obbligato or Alto, soprano, oboe or violin and violincello obbligato |
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| 6 Chorale | SATB, strings, continuo (NBA: bassoon, violoncello and organ) | |
| 7 Chorus | Some recordings repeat the first movement here |
Biblical references for each part
References for the text: Luther's German Bible and King James Bible
| Scripture | Text | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | John 14:23 | Jesus antwortete und sprach zu ihm: Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten; und mein Vater wird ihn lieben, und wir werden zu ihm kommen und Wohnung bei ihm machen. |
| 2 | John 14:23 | Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. |
References
BWV 172 recorded at
Holy Trinity, Long Melford
Gardiner's notes on BWV 172 PDF
John Eliot Gardiner Cantatas PDF
John Eliot Gardiner recording
Emmanuel Notes BWV 172
Emmanuel Translation BWV 172
Discussion from Bach Cantatas Website
Recordingsfrom Bach Cantatas Website
Classical.net discussion, Simon Crouch.
London Bach Society Database entry BWV 172
Answers.com BWV 172
2010, April 18
Cantata BWV 12
JS Bach Cantata BWV 12: Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen
(Weeping, lamenting, worrying, hesitating)
Third Sunday after Easter (Jubilate) April 22, 1714
Weimar Cantatas
Scoring: Oboe, Trumpet, Violin I II, Viola I II, Bassoon, Continuo
Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass
Bärenreiter vol 4; p 533
Reading: Epistle 1 Peter 2:11-20
Reading: Gospel John 16:16-23
Words: Probably by Solomo Franck
Bach Bibliography
- Sinfonia, Chorus Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen, Recitativo Wir müssen durch viel Trübsal in das Reich
- Arie Kreuz und Krone sind verbunden
- Arie "Ich folge Christo nach, Arie Sei getreu, Choral "Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan Masaaki Suzuki, Bach Collegium Japan
- 1 Sinfonia, 2 Chorus; Cantus Cölln, Konrad Junghänel
- 3 Recitativ; Cantus Cölln, Konrad Junghänel
- 3 Recitativ; John Eliot Gardiner
Discussion
If you love woodwinds and brass, you will love Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen. Green (p 25) says the oboe part is quite difficult and exposed, combining long phrases and highly ornamented figurations. Green also states that the string parts are accessible to intermediate players.
The Sinfonia (Leonhardt) is a lovely piece of music which stands alone. The second chorus was reworked and used in the Crucifixus B minor Mass, BWV 232.
The third movement is a plaintive and melodic alto recitative. The first violin plays a rising C major scale, which the alto picks up in the middle of measure five, singing "in das Reich Gottes eingehen", into the Kingdom of God. This third movement is a setting of part of Acts 14:22. The John Eliot Gardiner recording brings out the violin part.
Notice that while the violin is playing the C major scale upward, the basso continuo is playing a varied C major scale downward.
The oboe is an obbligato instrument in the fourth piece, an alto aria; the bassoon can also be heard in its continuo part. The next piece, a bass aria features independent violin parts.
The sixth piece, a tenor aria includes a trumpet playing a varied form of the chorale "Jesu meine Freude". A four part chorale ends the piece, with an independent line for oboe and trumpet, which may have been written for violin in an earlier version.
Charles S. Terry (p162) discusses the origins of this final chorale melody.
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Final chorale melody notes from Bach cantatas.com
The few religious works that have survived from the early years of Bach's career take us into a stylistic world that is deeply impregnated by the rich and varied musical tradition of Middle Germany, which within a short period almost entirely disappeared from the consciousness of contemporary composers, due to the Italianate stylistic reform in the second decade of the eighteenth century.
Considered in a historic perspective, the overcoming of the stylistic conventions and the abandoning of the aesthetic postulates of a work do not, however, mean that it is inferior in quality. Thus in our present musical estimation, Bach's early cantatas on an equal footing with the vocal works of his maturity. --Peter Wollny
Peter Wollny is head of research at the Bach Archive in Leipzig, General Editor of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: Collected Works, Editor of the Wilhelm-Friedemann-Bach-Ausgabe, Editor of the Bach-Jahrbuch and of the Jahrbuch Mitteldeutsche Barockmusik. His numerous publications include editions in the Neue Bach Ausgabe series, books and articles on the Bach family and on the history of 17th and 18th-century music.
Instruments and voices for each part
| Section | Instruments, voices | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Sinfonia | Oboe, Violin I,II Viola I,II and continuo (NBA: bassoon and organ) | |
| 2 Chorus | SATB Violin I,II Viola I,II, bassoon, and continuo (NBA: organ) | |
| 3 Alto Recitativ | Violin I,II Viola I,II bassoon, and continuo (NBA: organ) | |
| 4 Alto Aria | Oboe and continuo (NBA: organ) | |
| 5 Bass Aria | Violin I,II and continuo (NBA: organ) | |
| 6 Tenor Aria | Trumpet and continuo (NBA: organ) | |
| 7 Chorale | SATB Oboe, Trumpet, Violin I,II Viola I,II and continuo (NBA: bassoon and organ) |
References
Emmanuel Notes BWV 12.
Emmanuel Translation BWV 12.
Discussion from Bach Cantatas Website.
Recordingsfrom Bach Cantatas Website.
John Eliot Gardiner Cantatas, PDF index.
John Eliot Gardiner Cantatas Recording.
Classical.net discussion, Simon Crouch.
London Bach Society Database entry BWV 12
2010, April 11
Cantata BWV 182
JS Bach Cantata BWV 182 Himmelskönig, sei willkommen
(King of Heaven, be Thou welcome)
Palm Sunday or the Annunciation
Weimar Cantatas
Scoring: Recorder, violin concertante, violin, viola I,II, violoncello, continuo
Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass
Bärenreiter vol 3; p 615
Reading: Epistle Philipians 2:5-11
Reading: Gospel Matt 21:1-9
Dürr (p 258) states that this is probably Bach's first cantata written after his appointment to Weimar.
C.S. Terry vol 2, p 460 discusses the chorale 'Jesu deine Passion' in the seventh part. The words and music are identical with BWV 159.5
Instruments and voices for each part
| Section | Instruments, voices | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Sonata | Recorder, violin concertato, violin ripieno, viola I,II and continuo (NBA: violone, violoncello and organ) | |
| 2 Chorus | SATB, recorder, oboe, violin, viola I,II, violoncello, violone and continuo (NBA: organ) | |
| 3 Recitativ | Bass, and continuo (NBA: violone, violoncello and organ) | |
| 4 Aria | Bass, oboe, violin, viola I,II and continuo (NBA: violone, violoncello and organ) | |
| 5 Aria | Alto, recorder and continuo (NBA: violone, violoncello and organ) | |
| 6 Aria | Tenor and continuo (NBA: violone, violoncello and organ) | |
| 7 Chorale | SATB, recorder, oboe, violin I,II, viola I,II, violoncello and continuo (NBA: organ) | |
| 8 Chorus | SATB, recorder, violin I,II, oboe, viola I,II, violoncello and continuo (NBA: organ) |
The music
The final chorus is taken with dignity, and is very sedate in the Harnoncourt recording. Rifkin ups the tempo and the chorus is very invigorating. Whittaker (p 155) says of this chorus: It is the gayest of dancing processions.
- Sonata, Chorus, Recitativ (Titled BWV 183 on videos but is actually BWV 182)
- Aria, bass
- Aria, alto
- Aria, tenor; Chorale fantasia
- Chorus
References
Emmanuel Notes BWV 182.
Emmanuel Translation BWV 182.
Discussion from Bach Cantatas Website.
Recordings from Bach Cantatas Website.
John Eliot Gardiner Cantatas, PDF index.
John Eliot Gardiner Cantatas Recording.
Classical.net discussion, Simon Crouch.
London Bach Society Database entry BWV 182
2010, March 29
Conductor's Guide
The book has arrived.
Yes, the book arrived much more quickly than expected. And it is full of very helpful notes on the performance of the cantatas. I am very glad to have it. Thank you, Jonathan Green.
