Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. - Albert Einstein

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

 

 

Previous post for BWV 172.

 

 

 

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
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


Cantatas for the Third Sunday after Easter: Jubilate
Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner
Ensemble: English Baroque Soloists, Monteverdi Choir
Soprano: Brigitte Geller
Countertenor: William Towers
Countertenor: Robin Tyson
Tenor: Mark Padmore
Tenor: James Gilchrist
Bass: Julian Clarkson
Bass: Stephen Varcoe
Label: Soli Deo Gloria Records 107
Date: March 2005


Actus Tragicus
Conductor: Konrad Junghänel
Ensemble: Cantus Cölln
Soprano: Johanna Koslowsky
Alto: Elisabeth Popien
Tenor: Gerd Türk
Tenor: Wilfried Jochens
Bass: Stephan Schreckenberger
Label: Harmonia Mundi HMC 901694
Date: 1999

 

 

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.

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

 

Previous post for BWV 182.

 

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.


Alto: Paul Esswood
Tenor: Kurt Equiluz
Bass: Robert Holl
Director: Nickolaus Harnoncourt
Tölzer Knabenchor
Choir master: Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden


 

 

Bach: Three Weimar Cantatas (BWV 182, 12, 172)
Recorded: 1995 and 1996
Label: Dorian Recordings 93231
Soprano: Susanne Rydén
Countertenor: Steven Rickards
Tenor: John Elwes
Bass: Michael Schopper
Conductor: Joshua Rifkin
Orchestra/Ensemble: Bach Ensemble

 

 

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.

Page 4 of 8 pages « First  <  2 3 4 5 6 >  Last »

Category Archives

Powered by:   PHP
     MySQL
     Apache
     Mac OS X
     QuickTime
     ExpressionEngine

<< Back to homepage

The Complete Cantatas
Barenreiter cat# TP 2004

Scroll down the page to NBA cantatas in a nineteen volume paperback set.

JSBChorales.net

JSBChorales.net offers free midi, QT and PDF files of Bach's four-part harmonized chorales. They can be downloaded individually or in complete sets. Be aware that other sites offering files downloaded from this site in the past may not have current updates. Please see Chorale Editions, File Accuracy.



Archives

  • Complete Archives
  • Category Archives

Visitors

  • Locations of visitors to this page