rssMost of the time Bach is using the keyboard not to suggest itself, but to suggest something that lies beyond it. - Ralph Kirkpatrick
2010, May 20
Cantata BWV 199
JS Bach Cantata BWV 199: Mein Herze schwimmt im Blut
(My heart is bathed in blood)
Eleventh Sunday after Trinity Aug 12 1714
Weimar Cantatas
Scoring: Two recorders, Two violas da gamba, Continuo
Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass
Key: Weimar c minor, Leipzig d minor
Bärenreiter vol 8; p 49
Reading: Epistle 1 Corinthians 15: 1-10
Reading: Gospel Luke 18: 9-14
Words: Georg Christian Lehms
Bach Bibliography
Recordings
BWV 199, 82
Conductor: Craig Smith
Ensemble: Emmanuel Music
Recording Date: 2002
Nonesuch 79692-2
Discussion
Literature
Dürr p 490-493
Whittaker vol 1 p 74-79
Green p 422-424
Terry vol 2 p 476
Boyd p 291
A frequently recorded favorite solo cantata for soprano, perhaps written for Bach's wife Anna Magdalena. The music moves from sinfulness to remorse to forgiveness in accord with the gospel of the day. The music for this piece exists in at least three versions; it was a favorite of Bach's too. Green (p 422) states that a version from Leipzig is a step higher and includes a violoncello piccolo. Here is a post about one experience with such an instrument. Green also states that the oboe parts in movements 2 and 8 are conspicuous and challenging. He states that the viola (violoncello piccolo) obbligato part is idiomatic but difficult.
Idiomatic instrumental writing: better use of the unique properties of each type of musical instrument. Idiomatic music: Parts or pieces which are written both within the natural physical limitations of the instrument and human body and, less so or less often, the styles of playing used on specific instruments. Idiomatic music bears characteristics that are associated with the specific strengths or weaknesses of a particular instrument. For example, in the Baroque era composers begin to write idiomatic music for instruments; trumpet or string parts were no longer interchangeable with vocal parts. Here is a long technical paper presenting a 'theory of idiomaticism'
In the liner notes for the Harnoncourt edition, Nele Anders points out Bach varied the instrumental accompaniment to the vocal part in each movement in order to avoid the monotony that could result from a solo voice throughout. He also describes the Baroque text of the recitatives as extravagant.
Nicholas Anderson, p 291 Oxford Composer Companion: J.S. Bach, describes the sixth part, a chorale setting of consummate beauty. The voice is accompanied by an obbligato viola, one of only two instances where the viola is employed in this capacity. An indication of how often Bach performed the work, however, is given by the variety of different instruments he called upon at one time or another to accompany the voice in this chorale. A cello seems to have been used on at least one occasion at Weimar, while a viola da gamba took the part at Cöthen, perhaps reflecting the favoured status enjoyed by an instrument cultivated and played both by Prince Leopold himself and by Christian Ferdinand Abel.
BWV 199.6 'Ich, Dein Betruebtes Kind': viola Alice Harnoncourt, soprano Barbara Bonney, 1989
C.S. Terry discusses the chorale in a PDF excerpt from Cantata 199 and 163
Chorale melody on Bach-Cantatas.com
Whittaker (vol 1 p 74) quotes an article by Dr. F. Noack who asserts that Bach's music bears certain resemblances to a previous setting by Christopher Graupner, a prolific composer who was one of the three men proposed for the cantorship of St. Thomas's, the other two being Telemann and Bach. It is evidently, then, one of the numerous instances where Bach worked over the compositions of other people, not disdaining to take what good he might find in them and reshaping in his own way, a practice which seems reprehensible in these days of strict copyright laws, but which was accepted as quite permissible and honest at that time. It is this which makes Bach the most comprehensive composer of his or any other age; all streams flow into the great river which is sufficiently vast and powerful to absorb them all and yet retain its own unpolluted individuality. Which paragraph goes to show that flowery language is not confined to the Baroque. This reminds me of the legend that Beethoven once said "Bach sollte nicht Bach, sondern Meer heissen" (Bach should not be called Bach (brook) but Meer (sea).
Dürr (p 490) mentions that Graupner had previously set the same text, but does not draw any parallells with the music. He then goes on to describe each movement and closes with the comment: After 1714 Bach revived the work on several occasions—notably during the Cöthen period, 1717-23, and in Leipzig on 8 August 1723—at times in reduced circumstances and with the viola of the chorale arrangement (no. 6) replaced by viola da gamba, cello or violoncello piccolo; and this may be taken as an indication of the esteem in which the work was held by its composer.
The music
On YouTube BWV 199.2 Soprano aria: Stumme Seufzer, unknown singer
On YouTube BWV 199.5, 6, 7, 8 (6 on cello rather than viola, unknown group)
PDF score: Vocal parts with piano accompaniment
Instruments and voices for each part
| Section | Text | Instruments, voices |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Soprano recitativ, violin I,II, viola, and continuo (NBA: bassoon, violone or violoncello and organ) | |
| 2 | Soprano aria, oboe, and continuo (NBA: violone or violoncello and organ) | |
| 3 | Luke 18:13 | Soprano recitativ, violin I,II, viola and continuo (NBA: bassoon, violone or violoncello and organ) |
| 4 | Soprano aria, violin I,II, viola and continuo (NBA: bassoon, violone or violoncello and organ) | |
| 5 | Soprano recitativ and continuo (NBA: violone or violoncello and organ) | |
| 6 | Chorale | Soprano chorale, viola obbligato and continuo (NBA: violone or violoncello and organ) |
| 7 | Soprano recitativ, violin I,II, viola and continuo (NBA: bassoon, violone or violoncello and organ) | |
| 8 | Soprano aria, violin I,II, viola and continuo (NBA: bassoon, violone or violoncello and organ) |
Biblical references for each part
References for the text: King James Bible and Luther's German Bible
| Part | Scripture | Text |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | Luke 18:13 | And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. |
| 3 | Luke 18:13 | Und der Zöllner stund von ferne, wollte auch seine Augen nicht aufheben gen Himmel sondern schlug an seine Brust und sprach: Gott, sei mir Sünder gnädig |
References
Emmanuel Translation BWV 199
London Bach Society Database entry BWV 199
Simon Crouch BWV 199
PDF score: Vocal parts with piano accompaniment
Wikipedia article BWV 199
Discussion from Bach Cantatas Website.
Recordingsfrom Bach Cantatas Website.
