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Cantata BWV 148
Bringet dem Herrn Ehre seines Namens
Discussions - Part 4 |
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Continue from Part 3 |
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Discussions in the Week of September 27, 2015 (4th round) |
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William L. Hoffman wrote (September 27, 2015):
Cantata 148,'Bringet dem Herrn Ehre,' Intro.; Trinity 17 Chorales
For the 17th Sunday after Trinity 17, on September 19, 1723, Bach probably returned to the favored mirror-image A Form of Cycle 1 in Cantata 148, “Bringet dem Herrn Ehre seines Namens” (Bring to the Lord the Honor of His Name, Psalm 29:2); with one slight variant: the internal pairs of recitatives-arias is reversed, with two striking arias alternating with two brief, traditional recitatives.1 The choral book ends of this joyous 18-minute, six-movement work are a typical, festive biblical opening chorus using psalms and a closing plain chorale, Jacob Regnart’s 1607 chorale melody, “Auf meinen lieben Gott” (In My Loving God). As with Cantata 77, “Du sollt Gott, deinen Herren, lieben” (You must love God, you Lord, Luke 10:27), for Trinity 13, Bach omitted the chorale text, possibly to serve a dual purpose. The two favored text sources from the melody are “Wo soll ich fliehen hin” (Where shall I flee?) or “Auf meinen lieben Gott.” The full texts and Francis Browne’s English translation are found, respectively, at BCW http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/Chorale021-Eng3.htm and http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/Chorale046-Eng3.htm. Melody and text information for both hymns are found at BCW http://www.bach-cantatas.com/CM/Wo-soll-ich-fliehen-hin.htm.
Cantata 148 has other inconsistencies: Like Cantata 69a, Lobe den Herren, meine Seele” (Praise the Lord, my soul, Psalm 102:6), for Trinity 12, Cantata 148 is a Trinity Time Sunday musical sermon dealing with the theme of death and dying. Like Cantata 69, it may have been composed for an adjacent festival (Town Council installation), possibly doing double duty for a Trinity Time Sunday as well as, in this case, the Feast of St. Michael and All-Angels, which fell on Wednesday, September 29. The next Sunday, Trinity 18, is one of two gaps Bach did not fill in the first cycle, the other being Trinity 6, which fell two days after the Feast of the Visitation, July 2. It is possible that Bach simply chose to compose and present a festive work instead of the adjacent Sunday or reperformed the work to serve dual purpose.
Another departure in Cantata 148, which Bach probably labeled a “concerto” for the interplay of forces, from the usual is Bach’s use of only two soloists, tenor and alto, instead of the usual complement of four; here each is allotted an aria and recitative, and it is possible that Bach had no soprano or bass available for this Sunday. In addition to the usual four-part chorus, the instrumental forces probably involve trumpet, 3 oboes, strings, and organ continuo with the oboes substituting oboes d’amore and oboe da caccia. The listed forces and chorale text are omitted in the only surviving source, a student score copy dating after 1756.
Further, the source of this unknown librettist’s text, unlike most of the works in Cycle 1, is known. It is based on church service poem from Picander’s 1724/25 cycle. The full text and Francis Browne’s English translation are found at BCW: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/BWV148-Eng3.htm.
The dating to 1723 or 1725 and cycle context are discussed in Julian Mincham’s Commentary introduction (see below). The Picander text and the Cantata 148 libretto are compared in Martin Petzoldt’s Bach Commentary, Vol. 1, Trinity Sundays.2 Petzoldt lists the dual date and venue (Ibid.: 502) as follows: September 23, 1725, early main service, St. Thomas Church, sermon (not extant) of Pastor Christian Weise (1671-1736), who may have been the librettist, or September 19, 1723, early main service, St. Niklaus Church, sermon on the gospel, (not extant) of Superintendent Salomon Deyling (1677-1755).
The Gospel for the 17th Sunday after Trinity in Bach’s time was Luke 14: 1-11, the miracle of Christ healing the dropsical man, and the Epistle, from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians 4: 1-6, “Exhortation to unity.” The full texts, Luther’s German translation published in 1545, the English Authorised (King James) Version 1611, is found at http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Read/Trinity17.htm. The introit psalm for the 17th Sunday after Trinity is Psalm 50, Deus deorum (The mighty God, even the Lord, hath spoken, KJV), says Petzoldt (Ibid. 487) that he describes as “Vom wahren Gottesdienst” (observing God’s service), which originated musically with the Clementine vulgate. The full text is found at http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Psalms-Chapter-50/. No motets are listed for Trinity 17 in Bach’s book of polyphonic motets, Bodenschatz’s Florilegium Portense, says Douglas Cowling.3 Given the repetition of hymns across the mid-Trinity season, the motets for the preceding and succeeding Sundays may have been sung.
The various datings are discussed in the BCW Cantata 148 cover page (BCW Details & Discography, FN 1). “Alfred Dürr (English4) as early as Sep 19, 1723? No source mentions any 1724 date. BWV [Schmieder Catalogue] reports a repeat performance on Sep 19, 1723 or Sep 23, 1727 (the latter appears impossible, see below). Spitta had chosen Sep 23, 1725 (a date still considered as a serious possibility by the NBA KB [I/23] and perhaps a better date than Sep 19, 1723). The Picander text was published in 1725. Bach and Picander’s collaboration began Feb 23, 1725. Conrad Küster [Bach Handbuch 1999] also indicates a possible performance on the 17th Sunday after Trinity in 1726 sharing the service with BWV 49. Both the NBA KB and Küster (probably basing his opinion on the NBA KB I/23) point out that a performance on the 17th Sunday after Trinity in 1727 could not have occurred because of the period of national mourning (Landestrauer) [for Saxon Princess Christiane Eberhardine] that was in effect at that time.”
The movements, text, scoring, key, and meter are:
1. Chorus (tutti), owning sinfonia and two-part fugue: “Bringet dem Herrn Ehre seines Namens” (Bring to the Lord the glory of his name); D Major, 2/2.
2. Aria (da-capo) tenor, violin solo): “Ich eile, die Lehren / des Lebens zu hören” (I hurry to hear / the teaching of life); b minor, 6/8 gigue style.
3. Recitative (alto, strings), “So wie der Hirsch nach frischem Wasser schreit” (As a hart cries for fresh water); G Major, 4/4.
4. Aria (alto, oboes): “Mund und Herze steht dir offen” (Mund und Herze steht dir offen (My mouth and heart stand open to you); G Major, 4/4.
5. Recitative (tenor): “Bleib auch, mein Gott, in mir” (Remain also, my God, in me); e minor to f sharp; 4/4.
6. Plain Chorale: (various texts possibilities), “Auf meinen lieben Gott” melody harmonized; f-sharp minor, 4/4.
Cantata 148 Summary
A “mood of secure faith in God” dominates Cantata 148, observes Aryeh Oron, in his “Background” to BCW Discussions Parts 1 (October 15, 2000, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV148-D.htm). <<"Bringet dem Herrn Ehre seines Namens (Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name), is marked by its mood of secure faith in God. It is not known who wrote the text, but it seems probable that for this cantata, composed in 1725, Bach himself, who had considerable experience of work with religious texts, adapted a poem from Picander's Sammlung erbaulicher Gedanken, (Collection of devotional thoughts), to fit the sentiments of verses 8 and 9 of the 96th psalm, from which the opening chorale is taken, and also of the final chorale: 'Führ auch mein Herz und Sinn' (Guide thou my heart and mind). With the dazzling fanfare of trumpets above the string orchestra, the overture leads into tfirst chorale's song of praise. The intense emotions of the tenor aria which follows is first anticipated by the solo violin which then joins with the tenor voice in: 'Ich eile, die Lehre des Lebens zu hören und suche mit Freuden das heilige Haus' (I long to know life's lesson and seek with joy the house of the Lord). The peace of God is also present in the recitative 'Wie der Hirsch nach frischem Wasser schreit' (As the hart panteth after the water brooks), and the contralto aria: 'Mund und Herze steht dir offen' (Mouth and heart are open to thee), the mystic entrenchment of the contralto emphasised by the accompaniment of the three oboes and organ reaffirmed in the da capo section of the aria. In the final chorale, a similar wish is expressed for God's help on behalf of the whole congregation: 'Führ auch mein Herz und Sinn durch deinen Geist dahlin' (Guide thou my heart and mind in thy sprit)."
Cantata 148 provenance, text, Picander source, untexted closing chorale, dating the composition, and other sources are discussed at length in Thomas Braatz’s Introduction (October 23, 2005) to the BCW Discussions Parts 2, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV148-D2.htm. Citing Eric Chafe books on Bach’s use of tonal allegory, Braatz explores “BWV 148 - Anabasis or Catabasis (or both?) Eric Chafe”
Closing Chorale Text Possibilities
Three chorale text option possibilities, according to Oron, are found at BCW, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/INS/BWV148-06.htm. No. 2, “Amen zu aller Stund” (Amen at all hours), S. 7, “Auf meinen lieben Gott” (BCW, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/Chorale046-Eng3.htm), Anon. or Sigismund Weingärtner (1607), suggests Werner Neumann, Handbuch der Kantaten Joh. Seb. Bachs (Wiesbaden: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1984 5th ed.) and Dürr (Ibid.: 558). No. 1, Others such as Philipp Spitta and the edition of the Bach Gesellschaft (BGA XXX) preferred the final verse (S. 11) of Johann Heermann's hymn "Wo soll ich fliehen hin" (1675, BCW http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/Chorale021-Eng3.htm) which was sung on the same melody in Leipzig (Dürr (Ibid.), “Führ auch mein Herz und Sinn / durch deinen Geist dahin” (Guide, Lord, my heart and mind /through your spirit.” No. 3, verse 20 of "Frisch auf, mein Seel, in Not" (Cheer up, my soul, in need), is set to the melody “Wo sol lich fliehen hin,” BCW http://www.bach-cantatas.com/CM/Wo-soll-ich-fliehen-hin.htm.
Petzoldt (Ibid.: 503, 506), advocates "Frisch auf, mein Seel, in Not,” of Josua Stegmann (1588-1632), verse 20, “Da den all unser Leid / sich kehren soll in Freud” (Therefore all our sorrow / shall sweep you up in joy; John 16:20b). Petzoldt says Bach’s use of the reference to the image of “Kehren” (sweeping) and also are referred to in Cantatas 21/4 and 188/6 for the Third and 18th Sundays after Trinity respectively.
The Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch5 lists “Frisch auf, mien Seel, versage nicht” (Cheer up, my, soul, fear not), as Chorale No. 283 (Cross, Tribulation, Persecution). It is listed in the Weimar <Orgelbüchlein> as No. 103 (Christian Life and Conduct) but not set. The NLGB describes this as another sacred song from the spoken word, "Who God trusts has built well," using the J. H. Schein eight stanza version for SATB, with Zahn melody 7578. No further texts could be found.
Michael Praetorius (?1571-1621) made a setting of “Frisch auf . . . in Not” (http://www.worldcat.org/title/gesamtausgabe-der-musikalischen-werke/oclc/3577784) and Johann Christoph Bach (1642-1703) did a setting of “Frisch auf . . . versage nicht” found in John Elliot Gardiner’s recording of the dialogue, “Herr, wend dich und sei mir gnädig,” http://www.monteverdi.co.uk/downloads/booklets/sdg715.pdf. The first stanza of the melody, “Auf meinen lieben Gott,” that closes Cantata 148 is most appropriate, suggests Gardiner in his liner notes to his recording of all three Cantatas for the 17th Sunday after Trinity.6 A charming analysis of the joyous opening movement is found in Gardiner’s commentary. In the same spirit, Gardiner analyzes the remaining movements. His recording his found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLIkiX39aDY.
Analysis of Cantata 148 is found in Hans-Joachim Schulze’s 2000 liner notes to Masaaki Suzuki’s BIS complete sacred cantata recordings.7 The pairing of alto recitative and alto aria (Nos. 3 and 4), solicits special commentary from Dürr (Ibid.: 560). The recitative with strings, “As a hart cries for fresh water” (Psalm 42.1), “strikes an almost mystical tone, the eloquent declamation culminates” with the text, “for God himself dwells in me.” “The mystical sinking of the soul in God, and of God in the soul, forms the content of the following aria” with oboes, “My mouth and heart stand open to you.”
While Picander omitted psalms references in his original poem, which Bach used in Cantata 148 opening chorus and possible the closing chorale, Bach’s alto recitative repeats the reference to Psalm 42.1. Previously, Bach has referred to Psalm 41 in Cantata 21, “Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis” (I had much affliction), for the third Sunday after Trinity. The tenor aria (no. 4) makes references to Psalm 42:4, 8, “Streams of salty tears, floods rush always along,” followed by the chorus, Psalm 42:12, Why are you distressed, my soul, and are so restless in me? Wait on God; for I shall yet thank him / that I shall see him as my help and my God.”
The Psalm 42 dictum, “As a hart cries for fresh water,” is “where David compares his longing for God to that of a deer thirsting for water,” observes Eric Chafe in his new book, Tears into Wine: J. S. Bach’s Cantata 21 in Its Musical & Theological Contexts.8 This “most famous poetic expression” “was voiced by many thinkers as a universal quality – the sine qua non of religious experience,” observes Chafe. The full KJV text of Psalm 42 is found at http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/kjv/psa042.htm.
Cantata 148 Dating, 1st Cycle Context
The Cantata 148 dating and its context within the first Leipzig cycle are studied in Julian Mincham’s Commentary introduction, Chapter 20 BWV 148 Bringet dem Herrn Ehre seines Namens, http://www.jsbachcantatas.com/documents/chapter-20-bwv-148.htm.9 <<Dürr (p 558) raises the intriguing possibility that this cantata may have originated later than 1723 but current Bach research places it within the first cycle. The bipartite structure of the opening chorus certainly suggests that it sits comfortably alongside the raft of works Bach presented in his first year at Leipzig.
After two highly original works in which Bach was clearly experimenting with various types of structural innovation, he returns to the tried and tested format of alternating arias and recitatives set between opening chorus and closing chorale; but only for one week. This first Leipzig cycle demonstrates clearly two important facets of his personality. One was the restless urge to push back barriers and to innovate with every musical element; structural amalgamations are particularly common but there are also developments of rhythm, melody, harmony and tonal colour. But he was also a great searcher-out and collector of other people′s music and one of the first major composers to appreciate the significance of composition as a central European heritage. It is not, therefore, surprising that his constant innovation was interspersed with revisitings of traditional forms and techniques.
Thus C 148 accords with Cs 69a, 77 and 25, all examples of concise formats using established combiof free-standing chorus, aria and recitative. There is, however, one small point of difference. Those three cantatas used the pattern recit--aria--recit--aria between the outer movements but C 148 reverses the order e.g. aria--recit--aria—recit.>>
Cantata 148: Textual Disparities
Textual disparities are discussed in the BCW Musical Context (Ibid.), <<Apparently for his inaugural 1723 Leipzig cycle on Trinity 17, September 19, Bach utilized an early draft of a Picander six-stanza sacred poem, quite different from the 1725 published version and constructed differently with no opening dictum and no final chorale text. Picander emphasized turning away from worldly temptation and pursuits in favor of “essential principles of faith,” says Schulze (Ibid., Suzuki recording). Since the Picander text has little to do with the day’s Gospel, Bach chose for the opening chorus appropriate passages from Psalms 29:2 and 92:8-9, a Sabbath Song of Praise.
The textual disparities have caused disputes among Bach scholars regarding the first performance date of Cantata 148, as shown in the BCW Cantata 148 template: http://www.bach-ca.tatas.com/BWV148.htm. Another inaugural date suggested is September 23, 1725, during Cycle 2a Trinity Time addendum to Cycle 2 when Bach presented only a handful of original works mostly for special occasions. Suffice is to conclude the following:
1. There is source-critical evidence that Bach, previously to Cantata 148, may have used Picander poetry in chorale chorus Cantatas 25 and 138 for Trinity 14 and 15 as Bach continued to struggle to find acceptable texts from a great variety of sources in the heterogeneous first cycle. This involved established and acceptable Weimar-era published poets (1710-17) and still-undetermined and unpublished contemporary Leipzig poets writing new libretti to fit Bach’s two basic cantata structures involving biblical words, alternating recitatives and arias, and closing chorale, and biblical dicta with arias and recitatives and internal and closing plain chorales.
2. There is no other cantata Bach could have presented on this Trinity Sunday 17 in 1723; meanwhile there is still no extant evidence as to what cantatas Bach presented on the succeeding Sunday Trinity 18 (September 26), as well as the St. Michael’s Festival three days later on Wednesday, September 29. This is the second gap in Bach’s Cycle 1 cantata production that began on the First Sunday after Trinity, May 30, 1723. It is possible that Bach encountered a conflict with the Leipzig Town Council over his choice of cantata texts prior to publication in monthly texts books for main services.
3. There is no original manuscript score and parts set for Cantata 148, only a score in the hand of son-in-law Johann Christoph Altnikol (1720-59), copied after 1756, probably from the original score, now lost, in the possession of a Bach family member, that was found in the 1790 estate of son Carl Philipp Emmanuel. There also are indications that between 1732 and 1735 the Picander-style poetic text of Cantata 148, which contains no closing chorale, only music, again was altered, possibly for a reperformance in 1732.
Chorale Usages for Trinity 17
By the middle-late Trinity Time 1723, Bach was secure in the choice of chorales for particular services. He relied on popular traditional and newer published hymns. His conflicts were solely with the Leipzig Town Council, involving non-religious issues, primarily his job conditions. Church matters were the exclusive purview of the ordained members of the Leipzig church consistory (ruling council). Bach’s use of popular chorales is no exception in his Trinity 17 Cantatas 148, 114, and 47. Closing Cantata 148, the Trinity Time chorale “Wo soll ich fliehen hin/Auf meinen lieben Gott” is one of Bach’s most used settings with various interrelated texts and melody variants. Chorale Cantata 114 is a setting of “Ach lieben Christen seid getrost” (Ah, dear Christians, be comforted); and Cantata 47 closes with the chorale “Warum betrübst du dich, mein Herz?” (Why Are You Afflicted, My Heart?).
“Auf meinen lieben Gott”
Bach closes Cantata BWV 148, “Bringet dem Herrn Ehre seines Namens” (Bring to the Lord the Honor of His Name) with a harmonization of the Jacob Regnart 1607 chorale melody, “Auf meinen lieben Gott” (In My Loving God), later set to the Johann Heermann 1630 11-stanza text, “Wo soll ich fliehen hin?” (Where Should I Flee Hence?). Lacking the text setting, Bach scholars have debated which specific stanza of the two hymns Bach used in Cantata 148. Just about any verse would be effective to close Cantata 148 and Gardiner (Ibid.) actually uses the first verse of “Auf meinen lieben Gott” “with its appropriate vow of submission to God’s will.”
The six-stanza chorale “Auf meinen lieben Gott” is found in the NLGB as No. 299 in a J. H. Schein 1638 four-part setting under the heading “Persecution, Tribulation, and Challenges.” “Wo sol lich fliehen hin? is hymn No. 182 in the NLGB as a penitential Catechism Hymn and is listed as one of the hymns to be sung on Trinity 3. Bach’s uses are for the Chorale Cantata 5 for Trinity 19 in 1724, and to close Cantata 136/6 for Trinity 8 in 1723 and Cantata 89 for Trinity 22 in 1723. For other Bach uses of the hymns see BCW, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/LCY/M&C-Trinity8.htm.>>
<<Trinity 17 Cantatas 148, 114, 47: Commonality
Commonality of biblical theme and related chorales is found in all three cantatas (BWV 148, 117, and 47) that Bach composed for the 17th Sunday after Trinity (Musical Context, Ibid.). <<Following the unified, somber yet uplifting chorale-driven four meditations on death in the 16th Sunday after Trinity, Bach in his three extant cantatas for the 17th Sunday after Trinity again seeks unity through diversity in his choice of texts, hymns and corresponding musical treatment. Timing in the Trinity Time of thematic Christian teaching is crucial as the temporal calendar year and Trinity Time begin transitioning towards their cyclic conclusions.
Flexibility, unity through diversity, and a renewed need to proclaim and teach infuse the three works for Trinity 17: chorus Cantatas BWV 148, “Bringet dem Herrn Ehre seines Namens”; chorale Cantata BWV 114, the hymning “Ach lieben Christen seid getrost” (Ah, dear Christians, be comforted); and chorus Cantata BWV 47, “Wer sich selbst erhohet, der soll erniedriget werden” (Whoever exhalts himself, he shall be abased).
The 17th Sunday after Trinity is the penultimate Sunday of the six affirmative paired teachings of miracles and parables in the Trinity Time mini-cycle emphasizing the “Works of Faith and Love,” that is, the meaning of being a Christian, says Paul Zeller Strodach, <The Church Year> (United Lutheran Publication House, Philadelphia PA, 1924: 216). This Sunday’s Gospel (Luke 14:1-11) uses both a healing miracle and a parable to show the righteousness of the Lord and his judgments. These lead to next Sunday’s Gospel affirmation (Matthew 22:34-46) of the Great Commandment to love God and its Christian corollary, and also to love one’s neighbor as one’s self, ending the six-Sunday cycle in the third quarter of Trinity Time.
The affirmative facets of the Christian character in this Sunday’s Gospel involve proactive care for all living things beyond passive observance of the law primarily motivated by pride in self and place. This is demonstrated in Jesus’ Sabbath miracle healing and his concomitant parable of the guests and their place at a wedding where humility instead of pride leads to honor from the host and respect from the other guests.
That Bach had a special interest in this cantata trilogy of reflections on the Lucan gospel teaching of Healing on the Lord’s Day and the Parable of Humility is shown through his careful selection of poetic texts and chorales with biblical and theological references and his subsequent reprisals of all three cantatas with changes. Meanwhile, all three cantatas are representative of the special character of each of his three respectiveannual church cycles composed in Leipzig between 1723 and 1727, as well as Bach’s quest for well-ordered cantatas as musical sermons through effective texts and expressive music.
All three cantatas show Bach’s intense interest in the principal ingredients of poetic text, chorale hymns, and appropriate music. At this point in Trinity Time, there had been a succession of three months of Sunday didactic cantatas without festive sacred holidays. Now the proximity of the 18th Sunday after Trinity to the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels, of the symbolic defeat of evil, on September 29, would inaugurate the Leipzig Fall Fair celebrating the harvest and the approach a month later to the final church year festive observance of Reformation Day on October 31, about one month before the beginning of the new church year of Advent in December and the onset of winter.
Bach could have been excused for being a bit anxious, wanting to use brass instruments and effective choruses to anticipate the coming changes as well as the eschatology (end times) of the church and civic year. Thus, for Cantata BWV 148, Bach chose a solo high trumpet for the opening chorus, and used a horn in the opening chorale fantasia of Cantata 114, “Ach lieben Christen, seid getrost” (Ah dear Christians, be comforted a year later. For the opening chorus of Cantata 47, Bach composed elaborate interplay between solo voices and chorus as well as instruments in the orchestra.
In all three cycles, Bach took a particular interest in setting and enhancing effective music to the poetic texts while harmonizing popular omnes tempore Trinity Time chorales to support the teaching and energize the congregations at St. Thomas and St. Nikolaus. All three cantatas open with intricate large-scale choruses and close with effective chorale harmonizations emphasizing specific words in the chosen verses. All three cantatas have appealing internal dance-style da-capo solo arias with elaborate solo instruments: BWV 148/2 is a 6/8 gigue for tenor and violin, “I hasten the teaching of life to hear”; BWV 114, in addition to the gigue-style vivace opening chorus in 6/4, shows progressive Lombard “Scottish-snap” rhythm in the ¾ time A section, “Where will . . . my spirit the refuge be?” for tenor and flute, as well as the vivace B section in 12/8 time; and BWV 47/2, “Who a true Christian will be called,” is in pastoral style 3/8 time for soprano and obbligato violin, substituting an organ in reperformances in 1736-39 and about Sept. 3, 1742.
The other two cantatas also were reperformed in Leipzig: Cantata 148 between 1732 and 1735 with text alterations and Cantata 114 between 1740 and 1747 with a possible reperformance of the entire chorale cantata cycle on October 17, 1734. In addition, Chorale Cantata 114 was copied from the St. Thomas parts set in September 1755 by former Bach student and Prefect Christian Friedrich Penzel, probably for a performance on Trinity 17, October 5, 1755. There is no record of Bach sons, Friedemann and Emmanuel, performing any of these cantatas (148, 114, 47) or materials from them that they inherited, in Halle or Hamburg, respectively. For the record, only a student score copy of Cantata 148 survived in the estate of Emmanuel, Friedemann’s score and the St. Thomas parts of Chorale Cantata 114 survive, and both the score and parts set of Cantata 47 survive, apparently transmitted through Friedemann.>>
<<“Ach lieben Christen seid getrost”
Turning to Chorale Cantata 114, “Ach lieben Christen seid getrost” (Ah, dear Christians, be comforted), Johannes Gigas’ six-stanza 1561 hymn is a paraphrase of Psalm 124, God as the Peoples’ Protector. In the NLGB it is No. 326 (Death & Dyng) and is assigned to the 17th Sunday after Trinity in the Leipzig and Dresden hymn schedules, says Günther Stiller’s <JSB and Liturgical Life in Leipzig> (Concordia: St. Louis, 244).
“Warum betrübst du dich, mein Herz?
To close Cantata 47 in 1726, Bach harmonized the 11th and final stanza of the anonymous, before 1563 chorale, “Warum betrübst du dich, mein Herz?” (Why Are You Afflicted, My Heart?), beginning with the text “Der zeitlichen Ehrn will ich gern entbehrn” (Worldly honour I shall do without completely). It is found in the NLGB as No. 275, is an <omnes tempore> "Of the Cross: Persecution and Tribulation," for Trinity 7, 9, and 15. Details of Bach’s uses of thus hymn are found in BCW, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/LCY/M&C-Trinity15.htm, involving Cantata 138, a 1723 hybrid chorale cantata. Francis Browne’s translation is found in BCW, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/Chorale037-Eng3.htm.
Other Trinity 17 Chorales
The NLGB lists two chorales and one theme designated for the 17th Sunday After Trinity: “Nun freut euch lieben Christen g’mein,” NLGB 231, and “Wo Gott der Herr nicht bein uns halt,” and the omnes tempore hymns on the Ten Commandments of Luther’s Catechism, particularly “Dies sind die heiligen Zehn Gebot,” “Mensch wilt du leben seliglich,” and “O Mensch wiltu vor Gott bestahn,” Nos. 170-172, that are designated to be sung on the Third Sunday after Trinity. It is designated in the NLGB for Trinity 12, 13, 17, 18, and 27 as Catechism Communion Hymn and for general use as a Communion Hymn in all the main services.
There are three other Trinity 17 performances in which Bach had chorales available:
1. For Trinity 17, Sept. 19, 1728, the Picander published cycle lists no chorale setting for the Cantata P-60, “Stolz und Pracht ist der Welt,” which Bach did not set.
2. On Sept. 25, 1735, Bach probably performed a Stözel two-part cantata as part of the cycle “Saitenspiele des Hertzens” (Music Playing of the Heart), text by Benjamin Schmolck, with two chorale settings not identified.
3. About Sept. 23, 1736; Bach may have performed Stözel’s two-part cantata “Des Menschen Sohn ist auch ein Herr über den Sabatt” from the cantata cycle “Das Namenbuch Christi,” (Book of Names of Christ), Schmolck text, No. 59. No musical source with chorale is extant.
Final Note
One final note on Bach’s use of biblical quotations noted related to the service’s Gospel or Epistle lesson. The Bach hymnal NLGB designates the hymns on the theme of the Ten Commandments for this Sunday. It is possible, particularly with Bach’s substitution of the Psalm 29 and 92 quotations in the opening chorus of Cantata 148 replacing lines Picander’s original poetry, that Bach not only wanted to emphasize the Gospel teaching but also to use references to the Commandment sins of coveting good and bearing false witness. In addition, the entire mini-cycle on the “Works of Faith and Love,” from the 12th to the 18th Sundays after Trinity focuses on the overarching Christian principle of Jesus’ Great Commandment to love God and the neighbor as the self.
Besides selecting the chorale melody and verse to be used in each chorale, Bach for the text settings probably chose specific biblical passages that reinforced the Sunday Gospel and Epistle lessons, as well as the actual main service sermon to be delivered after his particular “musical sermon” cantata. The chorales and texts were chosen to fit into the various movements in the overall structure usually, and particularly in Cantatas 148, 114, and 47 for the 17th Sunday after Trinity, in the usual A form of opening chorus, alternating arias and recitatives, and closing four-part chorale.>>
FOOTNOTES
1 Cantata 148 BCW Details and Discography, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV148.htm. Score Vocal & Piano [1.50 MB], http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Scores/BWV148-V&P.pdf, Score BGA [2.02 MB], http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BGA/BWV148-BGA.pdf. References: BGA XXX (Cantatas 141-150, Paul Graf Walderess, 1884),NBA KB I/23 (Cantatas for Trinity 17, Rufus Hallmark, 1984), Bach Compendium BC A 140, Zwang K 45.
2 Petzoldt, Bach Kommentar: Die geistlichen Kantaten des 1. Bis 27. TrSontagges, Vol. 1; Theologisch Musikwissenschaftlicke Kommentierung der Geistlichen Vokalwerke Johann Sebastan Bachs, Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart (Kassel: Bärenreiter, 2004: 499-503).
3 Source: BCW “Musical Context: Motets & Chorales for 17th Sunday after Trinity,” http://www.bach-cantatas.com/LCY/M&C-Trinity17.htm.
4 Dürr, Cantatas of J. S. Bach, revised and translated by Richard D. P. Jones (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005: 557ff).
5 BACH'S HYMN BOOK: Jürgen Grimm, "Das neu [?] Leipziger Gesangbuch des Gottfried Vopelius (Leipzig 1682)", Berlin: Merseburger, 1969.
6 http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Pic-Rec-BIG/Gardiner-P09c[sdg159_gb].pdf, BCW Recording details, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Performers/Gardiner-Rec2.htm#P9.
7 http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Pic-Rec-BIG/Suzuki-C14c[BIS-CD1081].pdf, BCW Recording details, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Performers/Suzuki.htm#C14.
8 Café, Tears into Wine (New York: Oxford University Press, 2015: 4).
9 Mincham, The Cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach: A listener and student guide, Revised 2014; Home Page, http://www.jsbachcantatas.com/index.htm. |
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Aryeh Oron wrote (September 27, 2015):
Cantata BWV 148 - Revised & updated Discography
The discography pages of Cantata BWV 148 "Bringet dem Herrn Ehre seines Namens" (Bring to the Lord the glory of his name) for the 17th Sunday after Trinity on the BCW have been revised and updated.
The cantata is scored for alto & tenor soloists; 4-part chorus; and orchestra of trumpet, 3 oboes, 2 violins, viola & continuo. See:
Complete Recordings (10): http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV148.htm
Recordings of Individual Movements (8): http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV148-2.htm
The revised discography includes many listening/watching options to recordings directly from the discography pages, just below the recording details.
I also put at the BCW Home Page: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/
2 audios of the cantata. A short description below the audio/video image is linked to the full details at the discography pages.
I believe this is the most comprehensive discography of this cantata. If you are aware of a recording of BWV 148 missing from these pages, or want to correct/add details of a recording already presented on the BCW, please do not hesitate to inform me.
You can also read on the BCW the recent discussion of the cantata in the BCML (4th round): http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV148-D4.htm |
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William L. Hoffman wrote (September 28, 2015):
“Frisch auf, mein Seel, in Not(h)” (melody “Auf meinen lieben Gott), which may close Cantata 148/6, is a different chorale than “Frisch auf, mein Seel, versage nicht,” which Bach planned but did not set in his Orgelbüchlein and his cousin Johann Christoph did set as part of his dialogue, “Herr, wend dich und sei mir gnädig.”
Hymnary.org reproduces the first four stanzas of “Frisch auf, mein Seel, in Not(h)” (melody “Auf meinen lieben Gott), at: http://www.hymnary.org/text/frisch_auf_mein_seel_in_noth, and “Frisch auf, mein Seel, versage nicht,” author Caspar Schmucker (1578), in several hymn books with the melody “Gen Gott gretru hat” (no sources) or “O Herre Gott, dein Göttliche Wort” in several stanzas at http://www.hymnary.org/text/frisch_auf_mein_seel_verzage_nicht.
The various suggested texts for the closing plain chorale, Cantata 148/6, are described in detail in BCW, “Chorale Melodies used in Bach's Vocal Works (Wo soll ich fliehen hin, Auf meinen lieben Gott),” “Untexted”
http://www.bach-cantatas.com/CM/Wo-soll-ich-fliehen-hin.htm#Arrange. The Praetorius settings of both chorales, Frisch auf, mein Seel, in Not,” and Frisch auf, mein Seel, Versage nicht,” are found in his v. 8. Musae Sioniae, Teil VIII (1610), in Praetorius’ Gesamtausgabe der musikalischen Werke (http://www.worldcat.org/title/gesamtausgabe-der-musikalischen-werke/oclc/3577784).
Francis Browne in his BCW English translation of Cantata 148 (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/BWV148-Eng3.htm), uses the text “Amen zu aller Stund” (Amen at all hours), Stanz 7 of “Auf meinen lieben Gott,” the melody Bach harmonized in BWV 148/6.
Two different settings with three texts of “Frisch auf, mein . . . ” are found in Telemann’s 1730 chorale book published with harmonization’s of more than 400 chorales sung then in Hamburg, Fast allgemeines Evangelisch-Musicalisches Lieder-Buch; https://books.google.com/books?id=lr9IAAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=false. “Frisch auf, mein Seel, in Not(h),” is No. 137. “Frisch auf, mein Seel, versage nicht” to a different melody is No. 69,” as is “Frisch auf, mein Sinn, ermuntre dich, also No. 69”
Johann Hermann Schein (1586-1630), “Frisch auf, mein Seel, verzage nicht (SATB) Cantional oder Gesangbuch Augspurgischer Confession (4, 5 or 6 voices), Author Edition; Leipzig 1627. Dedicated to Maire and the Counsel of Leipzig. Listed in Neu Leiziger Gesangbuch SATB with 8 stanzas, Zahn melody 7578, melody Ludwig Helmbold. |
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Charles Francis wrote (September 28, 2015):
[To William L. Hoffman] Interestingly, the Telemann choral harmonisations are given as figured bass. I found two scans of decent quality at MDZ: http://reader.digitale-sammlungen.de/
To locate them, just use the extended search feature with the following terms:
Author: Telemann
Title: Fast allgemeines Evangelisch
Year: 1730 |
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Luke Dahm wrote (September 29, 2015):
[To William L. Hoffman] At the link below is a PDF of all five of Bach's four-part chorale settings of Wo soll ich fliehen hin. The chorales have been aligned and placed in the same key for easy comparison. On the first page of the document is the chorale as it appears in the 1682 Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch. In addition to the BWV 148.6 chorale currently under discussion, settings include BWVs 5.7, 89.6, 136.6, and 188.6.
http://www.lukedahn.net/Bach/WoSollIchFliehenHin_5Settings.pdf |
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William L. Hoffman wrote (September 29, 2015):
Sorry, unable to get through. It just loops and gives me other listings using key word "allgemeines." |
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Charles Francis wrote (September 29, 2015):
[To William L. Hoffman] Click on:
http://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/index.html?c=suchenm <http://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/index.html?c=suchenm&l=en> &l=en
Then to get the exact hits, just put the three bits of info I gave earlier into the form and click the ‘magnifying glass’ at the bottom right to search. You will subsequently be able to download a PDF for off-line reading after clicking a copyright acceptance button and entering a code they provide. Impossible to post a direct link to the document unfortunately. |
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