rssCantata BWV 69a
JS Bach Cantata BWV 69a: Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele
(Praise the Lord, my soul)
12th Sunday after Trinity August 15, 1723
Scoring: Trumpet I,II,III, timpani, flauto dolce, oboe d'amore or oboe da caccia, oboe I,II,III, bassoon, violin I,II, viola, Continuo
Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass
Bärenreiter vol 8; p 143
Reading: Epistle 2 Corinthians 3:4-11
Reading: Gospel Mark 7: 31-37
Words: Unknown librettist
Bach Bibliography
Recordings
Discussion
Literature
Dürr p 501-504
Whittaker vol 1 p 600-607
Green p 157-158
Terry vol 2 p 162
Boyd p 270
A festive cantata, surprising for a Sunday in Ordinary Time. Though the "a" in BWV 69a makes it seem that this is a subsidiary work, it is actually the first known version. Other versions were written later, one about 3-4 years later, and BWV 69 which was put together for a city council installation. I will look at BWV 69 in the next post.
1 Chorus: Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele, und vergiß
This cantata starts out with a celebratory chorus, which David Humphreys calls enormous (Boyd p270). Dürr says that this section may have been adapted from an earlier composition. A fanfare opening, measure 46 changes to a double fugue, which Green calls "quite complex". Dürr describes this movement as beautifully symmetrical: sinfonia, chorus, fugue, chorus, sinfonia. This long, complicated chorus uses thirty-eight pages in my study edition.
What I see and hear:
sinfonia (24 measures) measure 1 to 24.
chorus starting at measure 24 to 46 (22 measures)
bipartite double fugue measure 46 to 131 (85 m)
(1a) measure 46 to 78
(1b) measure 78 to 95
(2) measure 95 to 131
chorus, measure 131 to 141 (10 measures)
sinfonia, repeat of the beginning, the last 24 measures from measure 141 to the end measure 164.
Though Mincham says it should not be impossible for the listener to hear these divisions, the themes are sufficiently similar that I find it difficult without following along in the score.
2 Soprano recitative: Ach, daß ich tausend Zungen hätte
A straight forward statement by the soprano, very subdued after the florid opening section.
3 Tenor aria: Meine Seele, Auf! erzähle
An exposed solo for oboe da caccia and recorder (Green). This is the longest movement in the cantata,
4 Alto recitative: Gedenk ich nur zurück
In the last three measures, the continuo changes to sixteenth notes, imparting an arioso feel to the finish.
5 Bass aria: Mein Erlöser und Erhalter
A short aria, which Whittaker calls splendid, not in a da capo format, is rather straight forward in its sentiments. A dotted eighth and sixteenth rhythm is interspersed with a lot of triplets, making this section what Dürr calls powerfully and energetically rhythmical. Julian Mincham describes this aria in great detail.
6 Chorale: Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan
Nearly the full force of the instruments with trumpet I playing along with the soprano.
This chorale was used earlier in 12.7; compare: same harmonization except for m 3 and last measure. GMaj BbMaj
BWV 12.7 PDF.
BWV 69.6 PDF.
Charles S. Terry (p162) discusses the origins of this final chorale melody.
Final chorale melody notes from Bach cantatas.com
The music
BWV 69a parts 1 2 3 Koopman
BWV 69a parts 4 5 6 Koopman
Complete cantata in old clefs, PDF
Instruments and voices for each part
| Section | Instruments, voices |
|---|---|
| 1 | Chorus, SATB, trumpet I,II,III, timpani, oboe I,II,III, bassoon, violin I,II, viola, continuo |
| 2 | Soprano recitative, continuo (NBA: bassoon and keyboard) |
| 3 | Tenor aria, flauto dolce, oboe da caccia, continuo (NBA: bassoon and keyboard) |
| 4 | Alto recitative, continuo (NBA: bassoon and keyboard) |
| 5 | Bass aria, oboe d'amore, violin I,II, viola, continuo (NBA: bassoon and keyboard) |
| 6 | Chorale Soprano c oboe I,II, violin I and trumpet I, Alto c oboe III, violin II, Tenor c viola, Bass, continuo (NBA: bassoon and keyboard) |
Biblical references for each part
References for the text: King James Bible
| Scripture | Text | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Psalm 103:2 | Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits |
References for the text: Luther's German Bible
| Scripture | Text | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Psalm 103:2 | Lobe den Herrn, meine Seele, und vergiß nicht, was er dir Gutes getan hat |
References
Emmanuel Notes BWV 69a.
Emmanuel Translation BWV 69a.
Discussion from Bach Cantatas Website.
Recordingsfrom Bach Cantatas Website.
John Eliot Gardiner Cantatas Recording.
Classical.net discussion, Simon Crouch.
Discussion from Julian Mincham
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