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Cantata BWV 175
Er rufet seinen Schafen mit Namen
Discussions - Part 5 |
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Continue from Part 4 |
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Discussions in the Week of June 4, 2017 (4th round) |
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William L. Hoffman wrote (June 3, 2017):
Pentecost Tuesday Cantata 175: “Er rufet seinen Schafen mit Namen”
In his return to the Mariane von Ziegler preferred, intimate solo alto-tenor-bass format of Easter/Pentecost season, Bach created his second Good Shepherd Sunday cantata, BWV 175, “Er rufet seinen Schafen mit Namen” (He calls his own sheep by name), for Pentecost Tuesday 1725, with various pastorale instrumental and dance elements. The first had been BWV 85, “Ich bin ein guter Hirt” (I am a good shepherd, John 10:12), for Misericordias (Easter 2), five weeks before. The 18-minute Cantata 175 musical sermon alternates Gospel-related recitatives and arias, including a parody borrowing from a Köthen serenade, BWV 173a/7, and closing with a “parody” setting of a plain chorale from 1724 Pentecost Cantata 59, “Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten” (Who loves me will keep my word. John 14:23). The Cantata 175 hymn is Johann Rist’s 1651, “O Gottes Geist, mein Trost und Rat” (O God’s spirit, my trust and support), the ninth stanza, “Nun, werter Geist, ich folg dir” (Now, honoured spirit, I follow you), set to the melody, “Komm, Heiliger Geist, Herre Gott” (Come, Holy Spirit, Lord God).
Cantata 175 has two gospel mottos from the day’s Gospel, John 10, verse 3 in the opening tenor recitative and verse 6 in the alto recitative (No. 5a), (But they did not understand what he had said to them), both accompagnato, the first with three pastoral recorders and the second with strings. The overall structure of three alternating recitatives and arias is reminiscent of a mini-oratorio, with the Gospel words, John 10:1-11 (the Parable of Jesus as the True Shepherd), spread throughout the seven movements, suggests John Eliot Gardiner in his Cantata 175 liner notes (BCW http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV175.htm; music https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRZoA3e5Ej8). There is one secco recitative for tenor (No. 3), the more negative, “Where may I find you? / Ah, where are you hidden?” Interspersed are three three-part striking, affirmative, interpretive arias, the first two in baroque Shepherd dance style: alto free da-capo pastorale (No. 2) with recorders, ‘Come, lead me”; the tenor bouree-style with violoncello piccolo (no. 4), “It seems to me, I see you coming”; and the stirring bass trumpet aria (No. 6), ”Open, both of you ears,” which also could be based on pre-existing material.1
As with his other cantatas for the Pentecost festival 1724 and 1725 (BWV 59, 74, 68, 173, 174, 175, 184), Bach consistently relied on earlier music. This suggests both a busy schedule as the Thomas School year came to a close for the cantor as well as the opportunity to utilize previously-existing materials. This is especially notable among parodies/adaptations with connections to Köthen congratulatory serenades and instrumental music that utilize the image of the shepherd in appropriate dance forms such as the pastorale and bouree.2
Cantata BWV 175 was premiered on Pentecost Tuesday, 22 May 1725, at the early main service in the Nikolaikirche before the sermon (not extant) on the day’s Gospel by Archdeacon Friedrich Wilhelm Schütz, says Martin Petzoldt in Bach Commentary, Vol. 2, Advent to Trinityfest.33 The Epistle and Gospel readings of the German text of Luther’s 1545 translation and the English Authorised (King James) Version 1611 are found at BCW http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Read/Whit-Tuesday.htm. The opening introit psalm set in polyphonic style was popular vesper Psalm 110, Dixit Dominus (The Lord said unto my Lord, KJV), says Petzoldt (Ibid.), 1031. In Bach’s time, it also was the introit psalm for Easter Sunday as well as the 8th and 18th Sunday after Trinity and the Feast of St. Michael. The text is found at http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Psalms-Chapter-110/.
Cantata 175 movements, scoring, text, key, meter (Ziegler text and Francis Browne English translation and “Note on the text” (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/BWV175-Eng3.htm).
1. Recitative accompagnato, motive-driven [Tenor; Flauto dolce I-III, Continuo]: “Er rufet seinen Schafen mit Namen und führet sie hinaus.” (He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out, John 10:3); G Major; 4/4.
2. Aria (Larghetto) free da-capo [Alto; Flauto dolce I-III, Continuo] with ritornelli: A. “Komm, leite mich, / Es sehnet sich / Mein Geist auf grüner Weide!” (Come, lead me, / my soul longs / for green pastures); B. “Mein Herze schmacht, / Ächzt Tag und Nacht, / Mein Hirte, meine Freude.” (my heart yearns, / groans day and night, / my shepherd, my joy!); e minor; 12/8 pastorale style.
3. Recitative secco [Tenor, Continuo]: “Wo find ich dich? / Ach, wo bist du verborgen? / O! Zeige dich mir bald! / Ich sehne mich. / Brich an, erwünschter Morgen!” (Where may I find you? / Ah, where are you hidden? / O, show yourself to me soon! / I am filled with yearning, / dawn, morning for which I long!); a minor to C Major; 4/4.
4. Aria (Poco allegro) three-part ostinato with ritornelli [Tenor; Violoncello piccolo, Continuo]: A. “Es dünket mich, ich seh dich kommen, / Du gehst zur rechten Türe ein.” (It seems to me, I see you coming, / you enter by the right door.); B. “Du wirst im Glauben aufgenommen / Und musst der wahre Hirte sein.” (You are received in faith / and must be the true shepherd.); C. “Ich kenne deine holde Stimme, / Die voller Lieb und Sanftmut ist, / Dass ich im Geist darob ergrimme, / Wer zweifelt, dass du Heiland seist.” (I recognise your lovely voice, / which is full of love and gentleness, / so that I am enraged in my soul / if anyone doubts that you are the saviour.); C Major; 2/2 bouree style.
5. Recitative accompagnato (3 mm) and recitative accompagnato-arioso [Alto, Continuo; Bass; Violino I/II, Viola, Continuo}: A. Recit. alto (a minor), “Sie vernahmen aber nicht, was es war, das er zu ihnen gesaget hatte.” (But they did not understand what he had said to them, John 10:6); B. Bass Recit. (D Major), “Ach ja! Wir Menschen sind oftmals den Tauben zu vergleichen: / Wenn die verblendete Vernunft nicht weiß, was er gesaget hatte. / O! Törin, merke doch” (Ah yes! We men are often like the deaf: / when our blinded reason does not understand what he has said. / O foolish reason, realise that); Arioso, “wenn Jesus mit dir spricht, / Dass es zu deinem Heil geschicht.” (when Jesus speaks to you, / that is done for your salvation.); 4/4.
6. Aria da-capo with ritornelli [Bass; Tromba I/II, Continuo]: A. “Öffnet euch, ihr beiden Ohren, / Jesus hat euch zugeschworen, / Dass er Teufel, Tod erlegt.” (Open, both of your ears, / Jesus has sworn to you / that he will vanquish the devil and death.); B. “Gnade, Gnüge, volles Leben / Will er allen Christen geben, / Wer ihm folgt, sein Kreuz nachträgt.” (Grace, sufficiency, abundant life, / he will give to all Christians, / to whoever follows him, bears his cross after him.); D Major; 4/4.
7. Chorale plain, modified BAR For (varied second stolen [S, A, T, B; Flauto dolce I-III, Continuo, Violino I col Soprano, Violino II coll'Alto, Viola col Tenore): A. “Nun, werter Geist, ich folg dir; / Hilf, dass ich suche für und für / Nach deinem Wort ein ander Leben, / Das du mir willt aus Gnaden geben. / Dein Wort ist ja der Morgenstern, / Der herrlich leuchtet nah und fern. / Drum will ich, die mich anders lehren, / In Ewigkeit, mein Gott, nicht hören. / Alleluja, alleluja!” (Now, honoured spirit, I follow you / help me to seek for ever and ever / according to your word a new life, / that you will graciously give to me. / Your word is indeed the morning star / that shines in splendour near and far. / Therefore those who teach differently / in eternity, my God, I do not want to listen. / Alleluia, alleluia!); G Major; 4/4.
Note on the text
BWV 175 is the eighth of the nine cantatas that Bach composed to texts by Christiane Mariane von Ziegler between 22 April and 27 May 1725. (BWV 103, BWV 108, BWV 87, BWV 128, BWV 183, BWV 74, BWV 68, BWV 175, BWV 176). They share a common structure: each one begins with a biblical text; after a series of recitatives and arias (normally two of each, though BWV 175 has three arias), the cantata is concluded by a chorale.
As often with this author Bach introduces slight alterations in the text. For example, the bass recitative was originally: “Ach ja! Wir Menschen seynd gar offt, / Den Tauben zu vergleichen, / Wenn die verblendete Vernunfft nicht kan erreichen, / Was sein geheiligter Mund gesagt.” Z. Philip Ambrose gives further examples in the notes to his translation (http://www.uvm.edu/~classics/faculty/bach/BWV175.html): The cantata's train of thought is closely connected with the gospel reading (John 10: 1-10) for the third day of Pentecost. This tells of the good shepherd and his sheep. The text is clearly divided into two parts: movements 1-4 and 5-7. Both are introduced by a verbatim quotation from the gospel [verses 3, 6]. Dürr4 comments that the reference to 'blinded reason' is based not on the gospel but rather on the defensive reaction of the Lutheran church in Bach's time to the beginning of the enlightenment.
The tenor aria is a parody of the secular bass aria (transposed from A Major), “Dein Name gleich der Sonnen geh” (May your name go forth like the sun, BWV 173a/7), left over from Cantata 173a, “Durchlauchtster Leopold, / Es singet Anhalts Welt” (Most Serene Highness Leopold, / the world of Anhalt sings). This celebrates the birthday of Prince Leopold of Köthen, probably 10 December 1722 [which Bach converted into a virtual parody, BWV 173, “Erhöhtes Fleisch und Blut” (Erhöhtes Fleisch und Blut!” (Exalted flesh and blood), for Pentecost Tuesday 1724, repeated 1728 and 1731 (see Cantatas 173(a), BCML Discussion Part 4, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV173-D4.htm). To accomodate the present lengthy text Bach took the unusual step of fitting lines 3 and 4 to a repetition of the first section of the original aria. The remaining lines were distributed over the two concluding sections; the vocal part had to be rewritten where the prince's name was mentioned, but the two instrumental parts were virtually unchanged.>>
The tenor da-capo trumpet aria (no. 6), “Öffnet euch, ihr beiden Ohren”(Open, both of you ears), may also be a borrowing although no model is extant, says Dürr (Ibid.). NBA KB I/14 p. 211. This bass aria, although the origin of it cannot be traced back to an earlier original setting (another indication of how Bach is working against the clock to assemble this cantata in time), has all the appearances of being a parody, says Dürr in his original critical commentary (Ibid., NBA KB 1/14: 211). If it was not a parody of another vocal aria, then it must have pre-existed as a movement with 'strong' orchestral instrumentation ("als stark instrumental konzipiert"). “A certain unevenness in the text declamation leads us to suspect that the bass aria probably also derives from an earlier compositions,” says scholar Klaus Hofmann in his Cantata 173 liner notes to the Masaaki Suzuki BIS recording (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Performers/Suzuki-Rec2.htm#C39). Ulrich Prinz in Bachs Instrumentarium (Stuttgart/Kassel: 2005: 105) finds that timpani were used only once with only 2 trumpets (BWV 59, possibly also BWV 249 early version). The usual combination is with either 3 or 4 trumpets. Prinz also comments that "The bass aria (BWV 175/6) is the only one to have this orchestration: 2 trumpets without timpani.”
It is possible that the bass aria, BWV 175/6, is a rough parody of the aria (No. 6) in Neumeister’s original justification text, “Ich bin der Seligkeit gewiss” (I am certain of the salvation, Romans 8:38) with six lines and a repeat of the dictum. Cantata 59 probably was composed for Pentecost Sunday, 16 May 1723, and performed at the University Church as a soprano-bass cantata without chorus and limited to two trumpets. The surviving Cantata 59 manuscript for performance the succeeding year on a doublebill with Cantata 172, on 28 May 1724, lacks the Neumeister text for the aria (no. 6), the preceding recitative (No. 5), “Gott der Hoffnung erfülle euch” (Romans 15:13), and a presumed closing chorale. For Pentecost Sunday, 20 May 1725, Bach expanded the opening duet to a chorus and parodied the bass aria (No. 3) in C Major, “Die Welt mit allen Königreichen,” as the succeeding soprano aria, “Komm, komm mein Herz steht dir offen,” in F Major in Cantata 74. Two days later on Pentecost Tuesday, Bach hastily prepared and presented Cantata 175, which includes the material from Cantata BWV 173a/7 and BWV 59/3, as well as the bass aria with two trumpets.
Cantata 175 as Mini Oratorio. Besides the use of the Gospel text spread out across all seven movements, Cantata 175 “is almost a miniature oratorio,” like 1735 Ascension Oratorio BWV 11, since “the various sections are very definitely marked off by strongly contrasted orchestral [accompaniment] schemes”, says W. Gillies Whittaker:5 Nos. 1 and 2, three recorders; No. 4, violoncello piccolo; No. 5, strings; No. 6, two trumpets; ad No. 7, recorders with strings. Whittaker favorably describes the arias as “lovely alto aria (No. 2); an incongruous but pleasing tenor aria with violoncello piccolo (No. 3), “itself possibly borrowed from some lost work”; and the “stirring” bass trumpet aria (No. 6), “the outstanding number of this interesting cantata” (Ibid.: II: 62).
Chorale Recorder Scoring. Chorale scoring note (Douglas Cowling, BCML Discussion Part 3, 13 March 2011, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV175-D4.htm): “The concluding chorale in BWV 175 has the unusual feature of the three flutes [recorders] playing an octave above the voices: instruments usually double at pitch. I noticed for the first time that second flute does not exactly match the alto part, but frequently has an independent part. The three fluttering flutes can only mean the descent of the Third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, as a dove.” This elicits a response from Peter Smaill (14 March 2011): <<This is an interesting observation certainly, and it has occurred separately to me that the ethereal descending flutes in the amazing Chorale concluding BWV 46 [Trinity 10, 1723], "O grosser Gott von true," are illustrative of the Holy Ghost proceeding (harmoniously in thirds and sixths) from the Father and Son, a chorale which only at the end has the descanting flutes unite with the earthly choir and touch D major (?Or is it - Chafe feels the tonality remains unclear). In both cases the text supports the use of Trinitarian symbolism.>>
Closing Chorale, “O Gottes Geist”
The text of the hymn “O Gottes Geist, mein Trost und Rat” is by Johann Rist (1651).>> The 12-stanza Chorale of Rist (1607-1667), is found in the Halbetstadt/Wernigeröder Gesangbuch of 1716, No. 727, says Petzoldt (Ibid.: 1044f). “The words of the Choral are the ninth stanza of Johann Rist’s Hymn for the Sixth Sunday after Easter [Exaudi], “O Gottes Geist, mein Trost und Rath,” first published in his Sabbahtische Seelenlust (Lüneburg, 1651), to the melody, “Komm, heiliger Geist,” says Charles S. Terry.6 The Rist BCW Biography is found at http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Lib/Rist.htm. The Rist hymn is not found in Das neu Leipziger Gesangbuch of 1682. Bach used the same harmonization as in 1724 Pentecost Cantata 59/3, “Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten I” (Who loves me will keep my word, John 14:23), substituting the string accompaniment wthree independent recorders to reemphasize the pastorale character of the opening recitative and aria in Cantata 175. Also, Bach set the melody of BWV 59/3 to the associated hymn text, Stanza 1.
The hymn uses the chorale melody (Zahn 7445a) “Komm, Heiliger Geist, Herre Gott (Come Holy Spirit, Lord God,” from the antiphon Veni Sancte Spiritus to which Martin Luther set the text in 1524 (melody and text information and Bach’s uses, see BCW http://www.bach-cantatas.com/CM/Komm-Heiliger-Geist-Herre-Gott.htm). “Komm heiliger Geist” is the hymn of the day in the NLGB as well as in the Leipzig hymnbook of 1693, says Günther Stiller.7 This Bach setting of the melody is in modified BAR Form with a varied second Stollen melody, also of 7 measures (A, A’ varied), followed by the Abgesang (B section) of 11 measures.
“Luther clearly saw Pentecost as a major feast day, as it was on this day in 1659 that he chose to introduce the Reformation in Leipzig, says Anne Leahy.8 “He preached at the Thomaskirche on Pentecost Sunday. Unfortunately, this sermon has not survived, but that which he preached the night before at Pleissenberg Castle, Leipzig, is extant.” Two hundred years later Bach published the Clavier-Übung III, Catechism Organ Mass collection of chorale preludes in Leipzig on Michaelmas (late September) 1739 (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clavier-Übung_III
Pentecost Tuesday Chorales, Motets
Pentecost Tuesday motets and chorale, says Douglas Cowling [BCW, “Musical Context of Bach Cantatas: Motets& Chorales for Pentecost Festival,” http://www.bach-cantatas.com/LCY/M&C-Pentecost.htm], are Introit: “Accipite Jucunditatem” (LU 762): “Accipite jucunditatem glorie vestre, attendite popule meus, legem meam” (Give ear, O my people, to my teaching), Vespers Introit, Thursday After Pentecost (IV. Ezra 2:36, Psalm 77,1). Motet: “Spiritus sancti gratia,” “Des Heiligen Geistes reichte Gnad” (NLGB 126); Hymn de Tempore: “Komm Heiliger Geist, Herre Gott” (NLGB 124); Pulpit Hymn: “Nun bitten wir den Heiligen Geist” (NLGB 130); Hymns for Chancel, Communion & Closing: “Gott Vater, Sende deiner Geist” (no NLGB, Paul Gerhardt 1653).
Pentecost Tuesday cantatas use the following chorales: BWV184, “Erwünschtes Freudenlicht” (1724),Chorale: 184/5, “O Herre Gott, dein Götthlich Wort”; BWV175, “Er rufet seinen Schafen mit Namen” (1725). Chorale: 175/7=59/3, “Komm heilger Geist, Herre Gott” (NLGB 124); and 1729 Picander cycle P-40, “Ich klopf an deine Gnadentüre,” chorale “Du, o schones Weltgebaude” (NLGB 385). Details of Pentecost Tuesday chorales used in cantatas: 1725: 175/7, “O Gottes Geist, mein Trost und Rat,” S.9, “Nun, werter Geist, ich folg dir” (Now, honored spirit, I follow you); melody “Komm, Heiliger Geist, Herre Gott” (NLGB 124); and 1729: P-40/5, “Du, o schones Weltgebaude” (O Beautiful Abode of Earth), J. Franck 1649, 8 stanzas; melody J. Crüger (NLGB 385); S. 8, “Komm, o Tod, du Schlafes Bruder” (Come, O death, you brother of sleep), ?=BWV 301; same stanza, 56/5, Tr.19 (1726).
For the second cantata cycle in 1725, Bach originally may have considered composing chorale cantatas for the Pentecost Festival. Likely candidates may have been Martin Luther’s popular settings: 1. Pentecost Sunday (de tempore): “Komm, Heiliger Geist, Herre Gott” (3 verses, NLGB 124), BCW: www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/Chorale103-Eng3.htm; 2. Pentecost Monday: “Komm Gott Schöppfer, Heiliger Geist (6 verses, NLGB 129), melody “Also hat Gott” (NLGB 233 justification), www.flickr.com/photos/51243943@N00/4626665843/; 3. Pentecost Tuesday: “Nun bitten wir den Heiligen Geist” (4 verses, NKGB 402), “Nun bitten wir den Heiligen Geist” (EKG 124).
Pentecost Tuesday Cantatas
In all likelihood, Bach composed only two cantatas for the Third Day of the Pentecost Festival, Pentecost Tuesday: BWV 184, “Erwünschtes Freudenlicht“ (Desired Light of Joy) in 1724, and BWV 175, “Er rufet seinen Schafen mit Namen” (He Calls His Sheep by Name), in 1725. Yet these two pastoral shepherd works, using recycled materials, are emblematic of Bach’s intense and fruitful interest in popular musical and religious interests of his day as well as his basic strategy to created a significant and meaningful well-order church music to the glory of God. Bach’s Leipzig performance calendar for Pentecost Tuesday shows the following: 5/30/1724 (1) 184 Erwunschtes Freudenfest Chorus/Parody; 5/22/1725 (2) 175 Er rufet seinen Schafen mit Namen Solo/Partial Parody; 6/11/1726 (3) no record; 5/27/1727 (1) (184) Erwunschtes Freudenfest /repeat; 6/7/1729 (4) [P40] Ich klopf an deine Genadentüre /Picander text only; 5/15/1731 (184) Erwunschtes Freudenfest /repeat; 5/31/1735 (?184) Erwunschtes Freudenfest /no repeat documented; and 5/22/1736 G.H. Stölzel, “Durch Christum haben wir auch einen Zugang im Glauben zu dieser Gnade,” Mus. A 15:209 + “Wer aus der Wahrheit ist, der höret meine Stimme,” Mus. A 15:210. In addition, it is possible that for the 1723 Pentecost Festival, May 15-17, at the University Church Bach presented Cantata 59, followed with two parodies of solo Köthen serenades (text only): BWV Anh. 6, “Dich loben die lieblichen Strahlen der Sonne” (http://www.uvm.edu/~classics/faculty/bach/ix.html), and BWV 7, “Heut ist gewiss ein gutter Tag” (http://www.uvm.edu/~classics/faculty/bach/XII.html). No music survives.
Cantata 175 Tonal Direction, Theology
Using the tonal pattern of descent followed by ascent, Cantata 175 contrasts “the ability to recognize Christ’s voice” “with the inability of reason to hear what it said,” says Eric Chafe in “Reason contra Faith in the Cantatas.” 9 Christ’s voice is represented “the special instrumentarium” of three recorders (No. 1-2 and 7) and the violoncello piccolo (no. 4), and the tonally descent in the first four movements from G Major to e minor to the Subdominant C (No. 4). The turning point is found in the Gospel dictum, John 10:6 (No. 5), the alto as evangelist: “But they [the Pharisees] did not understand what he had said to them,” followed by the bass commentary, “Ah yes! We men are often like the deaf: / when our blinded reason does not understand what he has said.” The tonality moves upward to the triumphal D Major of the Easter Oratorio and Ascension Cantata BWV 182, emblematic of salvation (Heil). In contrast to the cross as the symbol of suffering to achieve atonement found in the St. John Passion is the trumpet aria’s emphasis on Luther’s Theology of the Cross as justification, giving grace to whoever “bears his cross after him.” The “cross in interpreted purely as the emblem of Christ’s [Johannine] victory and mankind’s participation in Jesus’ glorification,” says Chafe (Ibid.: 242).
The Johannine character of Cantata 175 emphasizes the “realized eschatology,” meaning its “immediate participation in the realm of the spirit through faith,” stated in the closing chorale (no. 7): “Now, honoured spirit, I follow you.” “The ‘other life’ [ander Leben] given in grace, or the present life of faith based on the Word [Wort] of God, is akin to the Johannine idea that ‘Eternity is Now’,” says Chafe (Ibid.: 243). The reference to Christ’s Word as the “Morningstar,” “expresses desire for inner light, the illumination of reason.” This is emphasized in the use of soft, sensuous instruments Bach uses in the Ziegler cantatas, notably the violoncello piccolo and the pastorale recorders and oboes, emthe ideas of love and the sense of taste. The appeal to the senses, especially hearing and seeing “are associated with reason and the flesh. Especially in the Theology of the Cross is the emphasis on foretaste (Vorgeschmack), denoting the anticipation of the afterlife in the present,” with Luther’s “emphasis on the presence of the spirit in the flesh [that] lies behind all ideas asserting the blessings that follow faith,” says Chafe (Ibid.: 243). These teachings of Lutheran orthodoxy are balanced with the sense of pietism that “stood closer to the Enlightenment,” says Chafe. Two pietist elements are subjectivity and the idea of “unmediated awareness,” unmediated by reason.
Cantata 175: Bach Motive, Method, Opportunity
Bach's Motive, Method & Opportunity are discussed in William L. Hoffman’s commentary (17 March 2011). citing Julian Mincham and Mark Peters. <<An in-depth examination of Bach's Cantata BWV 175 possibly can provide a better understanding of Bach's motivation for composing a particular cantata, including its text and contexts, its shape and forces, and its special characteristics. An examination of the Mariane von Ziegler text (one of only a small percentage of Bach cantata texts whose author is documented) shows a double Gospel dictum as part of concise, descriptive, and inter-related contemporary texts.
In addition, Cantata 175 contains many striking features, including symmetrical form, soloists as symbolic figures, pastorale music and literary elements, rich poetic language, and extensive musical reworking of previously-composed music with attendant textual alterations.
The basic form of BWV 183 is the template for the five-movement Cantata 175, "Er rufet seinen Schafen mit Namen": opening biblical dictum as recitative, alternating aria-recitative-aria, with closing chorale. It is in palindrome or mirror symmetrical from with the addition of an internal aria-recitative pair for a total of seven movements. None of the remaining Ziegler cantatas has the same exact structure for the final nine consecutive services of the 1725 season encompassing Easter, Pentecost and Trinity Sunday, that concludes the de tempore portion of the first half of the church year.
Here is a summary of the qualities and uniqueness of Cantata BWV 175:10
1. Vox Christi voice (tenor!, p. 87f) is an accompanied recitative (arioso) in the opening movement (Gospel, John 10:3b): “Er rufet seinen Schafen mit Namen und führet sie hinaus.” (He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.). There is only one other movement like this: the opening of Cantata BWV 183/1 for Exaudi Sunday (Sixth After Easter), nine days earlier in 1725, also with Ziegler text. Normally, says Mark A. Peters (Ibid.: Footnote 10), Bach uses the bass voice for the Vox Christi in the Schütz and Buxtehude tradition, beginning in Weimar in the dramatic Passion tradition with a brief arioso section. While Bach uses the traditional cantata opening of a biblical dictum, this involves an accompanied recitative (arioso) with the emblematic instrumental accompaniment of just the three soprano block flutes (recorders) and basso continuo, also found in the ensuing alto aria. Opening Cantata 175 is a Gospel verse but one set for alto instead of the bass vox Christi. Rather than narrating events, this quotation is supported with appropriate pastorale accompaniment but no bass voice is used, “presumably because the parable uses the third person:” “He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out” (John 10:3), observes Richard D. P. Jones in “Leipzig Cycle II: non-chorale cantatas.” 11
There “is an range of instrumental colour put to use in all movements," Mincham observes. There is no use of the tutti forces as normally would be found in an opening (chorale) chorus. Instead each succeeding movement has different accompaniment: No. 3 secco recitative with basso continuo; No. 4, parodied pastorale (BWV 173a/7) trio aria for tenor, violoncello piccolo, and basso continuo; No. 5, accompanied recitative, alto then bass, with strings and basso continuo; No. 6, bass da-capo proclamation aria with two trumpets and basso continuo; and. No. 7, four-voice plain chorale with strings and basso continuo (same harmonization as BWV 59/3) with the addition of the three block flutes.
2. Richness of poetic language (Peters, p.75), No. 2, pastorale free da-capo alto aria with three recorders and basso continuo, “Komm, leite mich, / Es sehnet sich / Mein Geist auf grüner Weide!” (Come, lead me, / my soul longs / for green pastures). Minchem notes the continuing pastorale illusions, the textual sense of "leading out" and "individual longing" with special musical setting to fit the Ziegler text: no cadences in a major key, "sighing" motives, and structurally no clearly defined middle section with a shortened, rewritten reprise of the opening section (music, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt-e9TcuL8o).
3. Close Textual Connections Between Movements (Peters, p. 115 ff): No. 3, tenor recitative with basso continuo. “Wo find ich dich?” (Where may I find you?). Following the two opening movements emphasizing the pastoral Good Shepherd theme, this concise traditional tenor recitative is the pivotal point leading to the exegis involving the remaining four closely-related movements, with Jesus emerging as the True Shepherd. As Minchem relates: "Although it is generally believed that Bach did not particularly like von Ziegler's texts, it may be that some of her passion was infectious. The short tenor recitative is both ardent and deeply felt. The initial cries----where are you?----Where do you hide?----are genuinely distressing and are immediately followed by the mournful sighing of “Ich sehne mich” (I pine away, bar 4). But in the final two bars the mood changes. "The last line of text declaims----Come now, the dawn of this long awaited day. In order to convey this Bach contrives another of his end-of-recitative U turns. Minor becomes major and we skip rapidly into C, the key of the following tenor aria. For now the new day dawns and the tenor sees the true Shepherd coming. His voice, overflowing with love and humility is immediately recognized but it does not entirely dissipate the natural anger vented at those who still doubt. The range of expression and meaning, conveyed almost entirely by melodic means and within a mere six bars, is remarkable."
4. Bach's extensive musical reworking of previously-composed aria: BWV 175/4, Tenor trio pastorale: “Es dünket mich, ich seh dich kommen” (It seems to me, I see you coming). As Peters summarizes (p.113): "Alfred Dürr has observed [Cantatas of JSB, 2005:35] the uniqueness of Bach's parody technique in the Ziegler cantatas, explaining that the new texts were not structured after the model of the old as was common; that is, Ziegler did not write the texts with the music to be parodied in mind. Bach, therefore, substantially altered the musical form of three [BWV 68/2, 4, and BWV 175/4] of the four arias [other, BWV 74/2] to accommodate the new text structures." Minchem finds the special form of this bouree (pastorale) suite is similar to the alto aria, with "no clear-cut middle section nor . . . traditional recapitulation." "It does seem as if Bach, although clearly drawing upon established forms, is feeling his way towards more integrated 'through composed' structures. It may even be that von Ziegler's imaginative texts were instrumental in guiding him gently in this direction, despite his reservations." While Bach expanded the aria with 30 additional measures "to fit a longer text," Minchem observers: "These late borrowings may be taken as further evidence of the fact that Bach might have been tired, losing interest in the genre, trying to keep up with impossible deadlines or finding difficulties in working with a new collaborator; or, indeed, a combination of all four reasons!"
5. BWV 175/5, alto-bass accompanied recitative [strings and basso continuo]). Minchem suggests that the two voices represent the "alto (playing the role of narrator) and b(the authoritative voice of the pastor," beginning with the alto's cautionary declamation (Gospel, John 10:6b): “Sie vernahmen aber nicht, was es war, das er zu ihnen gesaget hatte.” (But they did not understand what he had said to them.) And the bass' didactic explanation (lines 3-5): “O! Törin, merke doch, wenn Jesus mit dir spricht, / Daß es zu deinem Heil geschicht.”(O foolish reason, realise that when Jesus speaks to you, / that is done for your salvation.). Besides its richness of poetic language, Peters emphasizes (p.114f) that the setting of this movement is unique in Bach's vocal music with two separate voice parts using separate biblical and poetic texts, "with the dictum stated first by alto in simple recitative and the bass responding with the poetic text in accompanied recitative." Peters notes (p.116f) that Ziegler's published version has two separate movements but that Bach, seeing the close relationship between the two texts, combined them into one recitative. "Bach employed the recitative as a flexible genre which served to state a Gospel dictum, to present a commentary on that dictum, and to introduce the ensuing aria."
6. Bass da-capo aria, two trumpets and basso continuo. Peters' finds (p. 118): "The text of this aria elaborates upon the theme of "Jesus speaking" through its opening command to hear Jesus words: “ Öffnet euch, ihr beiden Ohren, / Jesus hat euch zugeschworen, / Daß er Teufel, Tod erlegt.” (Open, both of you ears, / Jesus has sworn to you / that he will vanquish the devil and death.). Minchem comments on the structure of the three arias in Cantata BWV 175: "In the alto aria the joint images of leading out and yearning continue throughout the entire movement. Similarly, there is a single logic to the tenor aria, that of recognizing and appreciating the approaching form of Jesus. The stanza for the bass aria, however, clearly has two sections, the first being the call to listen and the second a recognition of the blessings poured upon all dutiful Christians." The second section is replete with theological elements of Justification and Theology of the Cross: “Gnade, Gnüge, volles Leben / Will er allen Christen geben, / Wer ihm folgt, sein Kreuz nachträgt.” (Grace, sufficiency, abundant life, / he will give to all Christians, / to whoever follows him, bears his cross after him.).>>
Tauler Sermon Influence
The possible influence of medieval author Johannes Tauler’s sermons is discussed in Smaill’s respose (18 March 2011). <<One possibility is that the Ziegler text has been influenced by the mystical writings of the mediaeval divine Johannes Tauler (d.1361), whose works have been almost continually in print in Germany since his death (possibly he holds the record). Here is my take on the similarities, and the contrasts:
Tauler’s ideas seem at work in BWV 175, one of the five so-called “Hirten-Kantaten”, in which the image of Christ as Shepherd is set by Bach. The case in question, BWV 175, “Er rufet seinen Schafen mit Namen”, is for the 3rd day of Pentecost. Tauler’s sermon is for the same day. Cantata BWV 175/1 “He calls his sheep by name And leads them out.” Sermon “The keeper of the door now calls forth his own sheep and the Shepherd too/ Who is the Word of the eternal Father, calls them by their name and leads them out” Now this could be dismissed as a simple coincidence in the following of the Gospel (John 10: 1-10).
It is the way in which the thesis develops that indicates influence between the von Ziegler text and Tauler’s sermon, or at least the tradition in which the sermon was written: Cantata BWV 175/5, “They understood however, not what it was, / Ah yes! We humans are often / To deaf persons to be likened: / When our deluded reason does not understand / What He did say. / Oh fool! Note, indeed, when Jesus with thee speaks / That it is done for thy salvation.” Now the Gospel account has no analysis of the failings of human understanding in the context of the Good Shepherd parable, in which Jesus protect the sheep against thieves and robbers; instead it goes on to recount the stoning by the Jews at Jerusalem of Jesus for blasphemy. Tauler’s gloss is as follows: Sermon. There are those who rely on their own skills and subtle reasoning to enter by that door. And who is the thief who steals there? It is a treacherous thorn in human nature, an abominable parasite; it is man’s despicable tendency to seize everything, to refer everything to himself.
The libretto states that Jesus has slain the devil and death; Tauler’s image is that the thief and the robber stab each other. The Chorale calls for a different life for the true Christian, not hearing false preachers. By contrast, here Tauler refers in conclusion to the image of the pastures of Heaven found in the Prophet Joel; this imagery is found in the other four Shepherd Cantatas, BWV 104, 112, BWV 184 and 85.
To these parallels can be added the related image of the “Menschen als Schafen und vom Paradies als einer Lebenweide reden” (per Werthemann, “Die bedeutung der alttestamentlichen Historien in Johann Sebastian Bachs Kantaten”), in BWV 161, 27 and 95, all for the 16th Sunday in Trinity. The source is also Psalm 23 in its role as an Old Testament premonition of the Saviour as Good Shepherd, and Ezekiel 34:14. Add the “Jagdkantate”, BWV 208, (“Schafe konnen sicher weiden”) and we can establish that Bach had a particular liking for pastoral imagery, and he responds with pastorale rhythms.
In conclusion: the metaphysical interpretation of the Gospel for this day has a long tradition and the coincidence of the reference to reason versus faith in the Good Shepherd shows that the distrust of reason is not a reaction to Enlightenment ideas, but precedes this tension but several centuries. Bach and Ziegler are not reacting to anything new in the setting of BWV 175!>>
Ziegler/Bach Collaboration
The relationship between Bach and Ziegler and the Peters’ analysis is explored in Smaill’s commentary (March 18, 2011): << AFAIK the most extensive analysis of the relationship between Bach and Ziegler is in Mark Peter's "A Woman's Voice...". In the section " Bach's compositional procedures in the Ziegler Cantatas" BWV 175 is discussed. Unique for Peters is the two-voiced Recitative BWV 175/5 which is not really a normal duet (the voices do not twine, but alternate).
Bach's setting occurs three years before the publication of Ziegler's poems but that has not stopped a very open debate as to which comes first. Dürr (Ibid.: 370) notes that Bach mangles the Ziegler text, destroying the rhyme scheme. The tendency of Ziegler to refer to the voice of Christ is given full rein in BWV 175, including the unusual use of the Tenor in 175/1.
The Vox Christi settings in Ziegler are quite different from all the 6 previously set VC movements (BWV 134, BWV 155, BWV 158, BWV 173, BWV 184 and BWV 199 -these are not settings of biblical quotations ) and use woodwind (BWV 183/1, BWV 175/1). The subsequent VC settings (BWV 28/3 and BWV 32/2) revert to the Weimar-style - Bass voice, resolving into an arioso.
So what can we conclude? Certainly Bach is quite experimental in the Ziegler settings after the straightjacket of the Chorale cantata sequence, which I believe he concluded at 40 quite deliberately with the "Kelch -chorale" "Wie schon leuchtet der Morgenstern", (BWV 1) just as he finishes the Church year with its sister, "Wachet Auf", (BWV 140) the two often referred to as the "King and Queen of Chorales" and found symbolically linked elsewhere - the Compenius organ in Helsingborg is one site where they are the centerpiece of the symbolical structure of the decoration, for example (analysed by Joel Speerstra). I doubt Bach plodded along at this point but had premeditated much of the innovation in the Ziegler works beforehand.
With discussion on the profundities of their religious meaning in some literary circle with Ziegler? Hardly to be discussed over coffee. In private in the Thomasschulle, he a married man? Think of the scandal! Or in solitary mode, poring over her early drafts and altering them? It's easier to envisage the last. Perhaps she was ultimately displeasedwith the mutilation of her texts and thus the collaboration ended?
Or - and Peters argues the case well - Bach set exactly what she had written, which Ziegler herself under Gottsched's influence later revised? Not one of Ziegler's writings found in two separate printings has the same text: she always altered and improved. Such an analysis solves the problem of the collaboration scenario set out above; the texts were simply handed over and Bach did not change any of it.>>
“Follow,” “Lead” Doctrinal Emphases
A key theological principle linked to the image of the Good Shepherd and Luther’s Doctrine of Justification and Theology of the Cross is the concept of Conformity to Christ (Nachfolgung Christi) in his sufferings, often using the terms to follow (folgen) and to lead (leiten). Particularly influential was Tauler’s pre-Reformation writing, as emphasized in Eric Chafe’s recent study of Johanine Theology.12 In Cantata 175, the reassuring B section of the da-capo trumpet aria closes with the promise that all who follow Jesus and “bear his cross after him” will find “grace, sufficiency, abundant life.” One of the key arias in the St. John Passion, repeated on Good Friday 1725, is the soprano aria, “Ich folge dir gleichfalls” (I follow you with eager steps, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiSdFGjCOuQ), as Peter follows Jesus to the temple. The pastorale opening of Cantata 175 begins with the Gospel motto, “He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out” (John 10:3), followed by the pastorale alto aria dictum, “Come, lead me, my soul longs for green pastures.” Here is the iconic response of the follower, also known as the disciple or apostle, to the Good Shepherd of Psalm 23, the Lord God who leads the sheep “beside the still waters” and “in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”
At the time of the composition of the Ziegler cantatas in the spring of 1725, which constitute the beginning of Bach’s third, non-chorale cantata cycle, Bach was probably beginning his collaboration with Picander on the St. Matthew Passion, following their creation of the Easter Oratorio. While Picander would also provide Bach with profane drammi per musica, many to be transformed through parody into other secular uses or as sacred oratorios, Picander also would provide Bach with multiple use sacred parodies for special occasions, including, possibly the soprano aria, wedding Cantata 120a/3, “Leit, o Gott, durch deine Liebe” (Lead, o God, through thy love), Search EarthLink: Cantata 120 YouTube, BWV 120/1).
Cantata 175: Holy Spirit Emphasis
Throughout Cantata 175 are the only explicit references to the Holy Spirit of the three 1725 Pentecost Cantatas” (BWV 74, 68, 175), says Chafe (Ibid.: 538), characterizing the life of the Spirit as “another life” (ander Leben, closing chorale) given by God in grace through his word. Cantata 175 “was conceived as a point of completion,” anticipated in Exaudi Cantata 183 a week prior. All three Ziegler Pentecost festival cantatas “emphasize that the Holy Spirit is a gift from God,” uniting the Trinitarian concept. The Pentecost experience is “a progression from the external word of scripture to the internal word of Spirit, from history to faith.” The indwelling of Father and Son (Cantata 74) becomes joy over the spiritual incarnation of Jesus (Cantata 68). In Cantata 175, “the word, given to the disciples by Jesus himself, is now given to the believer through the spirit,” the image of the Good Shepherd (Cantata 85) merging into the Holy Spirit.
Cantata 175 reaffirms the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep, a parable of Jesus’ Passion commemorated on Good Friday. The personal encounter of the shepherd calling the sheep by name and leading them fourth (Gospel John 10:1-5), that Jesus’ original listeners, the Pharisees, do not understand (verse 6 Recitative No. 5), prompts Jesus to explain that he is the “door” through which all find salvation, (Cantata 175/6-7). “The qualities that run through this sequence of movements” (No. 1-5) “are the personal hidden, quiet, and loving tones that characterize the shepherd,” says Chafe (Ibid.: 539f). “The theme of seeing Jesus, which runs throughout the Farewell Discourse, is reinterpreted in terms of the inner voice of the Spirit.”
The recitative (No. 5) is Ziegler’s turning point, suggesting the failure to understand Jesus’ words is a general quality of human nature found in Jesus’ good shepherd parable told to the Pharisees as well as the contemporary community. The bass response (No. 5b), “Ah yes! We men are often like the deaf,” suggests that the reliance on reason is a form of spiritual deafness and the believer is urged to accept Jesus’ promise to overcome death and evil through grace (justification) and the full life for those who take up Jesus’ cross and follow him. The overt tones of Christus Victor in the classic bass trumpet aria (No. 6) emphasize the true way of the cross, rather than the theology of glory and the “cheap grace” of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The closing chorale (No. 7) represents the congregation’s direct address to the Spirit, “Now, honoured spirit, I follow you.”
Cantata 175 unites the Johannine portrait of Jesus Christ as Christus Victor and good shepherd with the incarnate Word through the shepherd’s voice calling the sheep and the word given by the spirit as the “morning star,” referring to Jesus as the incarnate Alpha and Omega. The underlying Johannine theme of Light and Darkness (John 1:5 and 3:19) Ziegler brings out in Cantata 176, the last in her series, for Trinity Sunday festival closing the de tempore first half of the church year focusing on Jesus Christ. Meanwhile, Ziegler in Cantata 175 refers to many Johannine themes of cantata settings of the previous weeks, Chafe observes (Ibid.: 531). First is the seeing of Jesus (beginning on Easter Sunday), then in seen glory from afar in Ascension Cantata 128. Jesus’ “hiddeness” is echoed in Jubilate Cantata 103, Ziegler’s first in her mini-series of nine texts, which suggests that the believer will die but is answered in the trumpet aria, “Erholet euch, betrübte Sinnen”(Recover yourselves, my troubled senses), the other victorious trumpet aria in the series. The need to find Jesus is emphasized most at Pentecost, especially through the image of the good shepherd as well as the Christus Victor theme which runs throughout the season. The “theme of discipleship, carried over into the Christian community, is virtually omnipresent,” says Chafe (Ibid.: 541). Another Johannine concept is the theme of misunderstanding found in the bass response (No. 5b). It “serves the double purpose of prompting further discourse from Jesus and emphasizing the split between all that is received through faith, the spiritual content that comes through Jesus from the world ‘above’ and the inability of the world ‘below,’ due to the reliance on reason” and understanding” which is unmediated, like grace, says Chafe (Ibid.: 545).
The contrasting soft instruments also are found in Cantata 175. Most notable is the return of the pastorale recorders, first found in the Easter Oratorio in Peter’s symbolic aria, “Sanfte soll mein Todeskummer” (Gentle should be the sorrow of my death), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_hIDGRbdfM. The rare violoncello piccolo also makes its last appearance, in Cantata 175 and is best known is the preceding Pentecost Monday Cantata 68, “Mein gläubiges Herze” (My faithful heart), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImPY64vmy4M
In the trumpet aria, the “ability to hear and understand Jesus’s promise [of eternal life] is linked to faith in Jesus’s overcoming the world,” the theme first found in Ziegler’s Jubilate Cantata 103 which served Luther as the key to understanding John’s Gospel. Cantata 175 “completes he message of P” with the basic theology the same as the Easter Oratorio, while the perspective shifts from victory over death to Jesus return as the good shepherd and the Holy Spirit,” Chafe concludes (Ibid.: 547).
Cantata 175 Provenance:
The condition of the Cantata 175 surviving autograph score and the various parts suggests the busy schedule and reliance on previous materials, says Thomas Braatz Provenance commentary (June 17, 2007), based on NBA KB I/14 (Ibid.: 188-222), BCML Cantata 175 Discussion Part 2, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV175-D2.htm. <<After a descriptions of the hasty composing score and the copy session of the parts (see below), is Bach’s revision (correction of the parts): ("In the present set of parts [this refers to the original set of parts], J. S. Bach, who normally revises and tends to add things to them, appears only as the probable writer of the figured bass [of the transposed continuo part]. And yet, it is quite possible that some of the phrasings were written by him. On the other hand, the number of additional marks of articulation when comparing the parts with the score is remarkably small, all of which would make it appear that the increased workload for Pentecost [three Feast Days are involved] could have kept him generally from revising the parts, or did not allow him to go beyond the insignificant beginning he made in the 1st recorder part (phrasing markings up to Mvt. 2, m 23). "
Autograph Score (Facsimile, Bach Digital), D B Mus. ms. Bach P 75; Provenance: J. S. Bach - C. P. E. Bach - Sing-Akademie zu Berlin - BB (now Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin Preußischer Kulturbesitz) (1855). Parts set, D B Mus. ms. Bach St 22; Parts: S, A, T, B, Tromba I, Tromba II, Flauto dolce I, Flauto dolce II, Flauto dolce III, Violino I, Violino II, Viola, Violoncello piccolo, Basso continuo (transposed); Copyists, Kuhnau, Johann Andreas (1703–after1745) = Main copyist AlBach, Wilhelm Friedemann (1710–1784); Bach, Johann Heinrich (1707–1783); Meißner, Christian Gottlob (1707–1760); Anon. IIe; Anon. L 104; Bach, Johann Sebastian; Provenance, J. S. Bach - ?Friedemann - Voß-Buch - BB (now Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preußischer Kulturbesitz) (1851). Doublets: (Violino I, Violino II, Violoncello piccolo, Basso continuo); Provenance: J. S. Bach - C. P. E. Bach - Sing-Akademie zu Berlin - BB (now Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preußischer Kulturbesitz) (1855).
Pentecost Tuesday Cantata Distribution
While Bach generally provided cantatas for each of the services in the three extant cycles, occasionally missing an early Trinity Time Sunday when he focused instead in the first cycle on the feasts of John the Baptist (June 24) and the Visitation of Mary (July 2), the Leipzig cantor left only two works from Cycles 1 and 3 for the Easter three-day festivals second and third days and for Pentecost Tuesday. Omitted was any chorale cantata since Bach ceased to compose any in the spring of 1725, leaving his second cycle incomplete. In the 1750 estate division, for the Easter Tuesday cantatas, Friedemann received the Cantata 175 parts set which survives and Emmanuel the score and doublets. For Cantata 184 in the first cycle, Friedemann received the score and Emmanuel the parts set, both also surviving.
FOOTNOTES
1 Cantata 175 BCW Details & Discography, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV175.htm. Score Vocal & Piano, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV175.htm ; Score BGA, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV175.htm. References: BGA XXXV (Cantatas 171-180, Afred Dörffel, 1888), NBA I/14 Alfred Dürr, Pentecost Tuesday 1963: 188), Bach Compendium BC A 89, Zwang K 126.
2 See BCW Article, “Royal Court at Köthen: Serenades,” in Bach’s Dramatic Music: Serenades, Drammi per Musica, Oratorios, William L. Hoffman (August 2008), http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Articles/HoffmanBachDramaII.htm#P3.
3 Martin Petzoldt, Bach Kommentar: Theologisch Musikwissenschaftlicke Kommentierung der Geistlichen Vokalwerke Johann Sebastan Bachs; Vol. 2, Die Geistlichen Kantaten vom 1. Advent bis zum Trinitatisfest; Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart (Kassel: Bärenreiter, 2007: 1044).
4 Alfred Dürr, Cantatas of J. S. Bach, revised and translated by Richard D. P. Jones (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005: 370)
5 See W. Gillies Whittaker, The Cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach (London: Oxford University Press: 1958: II:57).
6 Charles S. Terry, Bach’s Chorals. Part I: 2 The Hymns and Hymn Melodies of the Cantatas and Motetts (Cambridge University Press, Vol. 2, 2017: Cantata CLXXV), http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/2056.
7 Günther Stiller, Johann Sebastian Bach and Liturgical Life in Leipzig, ed. Robin A. Leaver (St. Louis MO: Concordia Publishing, 1985: 241).
8 Anne Leahy, J. S. Bach’s “Leipzig” Chorale Preludes, ed. Robin A. Leaver, Contextual Bach Studies No. 3 (Lanham Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2011: 4).
9 Eric Chafe, Chapter 8, Tonal Allegory in the Vocal Music of J. S. Bach (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991: 239).
10 See BCML Cantata 175 Discussion Part 4 (March 17, 2011), http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV175-D4.htm, quoting at length Mark A. Peters' A Woman's Voice in Baroque Music: Mariane von Ziegler and J. S. Bach (Ashgate, 2008). Julian Mincham's essay is particularly helpful to understand the unusual textual treatment: BCW, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV175.htm).
11 Richard D. P. Jones, The Creative Development of Johann Sebastian Bach, Volume II: 1717-1750. “Music to Delight the Spirit” (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013: 163).
12 Eric Chafe, J. S. Bach’s Johannine Theology: The St. John Passion and the Cantatas for Spring 1725 (Oxford University Press, 2014: 532ff). |
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Aryeh Oron wrote (June 25, 2017):
Cantata BWV 175 - Revised & updated Discography
The Solo Cantata BWV 175 "Er rufet seinen Schafen mit Namen" (He calls his own sheep by name) was composed by J.S. Bach in Leipzig for Whit Tuesday [3rd Day of Pentecost] of 1725. The cantata is scored for alto, tenor & bass soloists; 4-part Chorus; and orchestra of 2 trumpets, 3 flute dolce (recorders), 2 violins, viola, violoncello piccolo solo & continuo.
The discography pages of BWV 175 on the BCW have been revised and updated. See:
Complete Recordings (11): http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV175.htm
Recordings of Individual Movements (9): http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV175-2.htm
The revised discography includes many listening/watching options as part of the recording details. When you click a link to video/audio, a new window will open above the discography page and the video/audio will start to play.
I also put at the BCW Home Page: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/
2 audios & 2 videos 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 175 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/BWV175-D5.htm
Enjoy, |
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