rssMuhlhausen to Weimar
Mühlhausen 1707-1713 to Weimar 1713-1716
85 kilometers, 53 miles
We are ready now to move from the cantatas written in Mühlhausen to those written in Weimar. In Mühlhausen, Bach was 22 to 28 years old. The years Bach spent in Weimar, he was 28 to 31 years old. In Weimar, Bach wrote a cantata every four weeks so there is more music with better documentation and less uncertainty and controversy. The cantatas written in this early period in Mühlhausen and Weimar before he moved on include some of his most popular works.
Dürr (p 11-20) states that "In Bach's early cantatas, then, a gradual transformation took place from sectional form in small units to a unified large form." The newer form consisted more of sequences of chorus, aria, recitative and chorale.
Whittaker (p 64-65) points out that most of the libretti of the Weimar cantatas were written by Neumeister and Solomo Franck. He also points out that many of the duets in the cantatas were written during this period.
Between Weimar and Leipzig, Bach spent six years in Cothen, from the age of 31 to the age of 37. There is still much work being done regarding the chronology of the chamber work, but it seems generally agreed that in Cothen, Bach was occupied with the composition of much instrumental solo and chamber music, including the sonatas for violin and keyboard, cello and keyboard, solo sonatas and partitas for violin, solo suites for cello (viola da gamba), concertos for keyboard, violin and oboe and orchestra, the Brandenburg concertos, the orchestral suites, the English and French suites and the Partitas for keyboard, the first book of the Well Tempered Clavier, the two and three part inventions, many little preludes and fugues. Christoph Wolff in Bach: Essays on his Life and Music (p 223) states that "a systematic and thorough review of this matter is long overdue." The style differences between the various concertos point to a later date, especially for the Double Violin Concerto in d minor, BWV 1043.
| Mühlhausen | ||
|---|---|---|
| 131 | Unknown | Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, Herr, zu dir |
| 106 | Funeral | Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit |
| 4 | Easter | Christ lag in Todesbanden |
| 71 | Town Council installation | Gott ist mein König |
| 196 | Wedding? | Der Herr denkt an uns |
| 150 | Unknown | Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich |
| Weimar | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1713: | 21a(?) | Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis Occasion | |
| 1714: | 182 | Himmelskönig, sei willkommen Palm Sunday/Annunciation | |
| 1714: | 12 | Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen 3rd Sunday after Easter (Jubilate) | |
| 1714: | 172 | Erschallet, ihr Lieder, erklinget, ihr Saiten Whitsunday | |
| 1714: | 21b | Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis Sunday after Trinity | |
| 1714: | 199a(solo) | Mein Herze schwimmt in Blut 11th Sunday after Trinity | |
| 1714: | 61 | Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland 1st Sunday of Advent | |
| 1714: | 63(?) | Christen, ätzet diesen Tag Christmas Day | |
| 1714: | 152 | Tritt auf die Glaubensbahn Sunday after Christmas | |
| 1715: | 18(?) | Gleich wie der Regen und Schnee vom Himmel fällt Sexagesima (Dürr states that it could have been a year earlier) | |
| 1715: | 54(solo) | Widerstehe doch der Sünde 3rd Sunday in Lent (Oculi) (Dürr dates BWV 54 as 1714) | |
| 1715: | 31 | Der Himmel lacht, die Erde jubilieret Easter Sunday | |
| 1715: | 165 | O heilges Geist- und Wasserbad Trinity Sunday | |
| 1715: | 185 | Barmherziges Herze der ewigen Liebe 4th Sunday after Trinity | |
| 1715: | 163 | Nur jedem das Seine 23rd Sunday after Trinity | |
| 1715: | 132 | Bereitet die Wege, bereitet die Bahn 4th Sunday of Advent | |
| 1716: | 155 | Mein Gott, wie lang', ach lange? 2nd Sunday after Epiphany | |
| 1716: | 80a | Ein’ feste Burg ist unser Gott 3rd Sunday in Lent (Oculi) (Dürr dates BWV 80a as 1715) | |
| 1716: | 161 | Komm, du süße Todesstunde 16th Sunday after Trinity | |
| 1716: | 162 | Ach! Ich sehe, jetzt, da ich zur Hochzeit gehe 20th Sunday after Trinity | |
| 1716: | 70a | Wachet! betet! betet! wachet! 2nd Sunday of Advent | |
| 1716: | 186a | Ärgre dich, o Seele, nicht 3rd Sunday of Advent | |
| 1716: | 147a | Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben 4th Sunday of Advent |
Mühlhausen Cantatas
Mühlhausen 1707-1708 by Jan Koster
Mühlhausen by Timothy Smith
Orientation to all the cantatas
The World of the Bach Cantata - Wolff
Weimar Cantatas
Weimar (II) 1708-1717
Erdmann Neumeister
The Cantatas of J.S. Bach- Dürr
Next entry: Conductor's Guide
Previous entry: Bach's Birthday and Jonathan Green
