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William L. Hoffman wrote (September 29, 2016):
Michaelfest: Cantata 19, “Es erhub sich ein Streit” Intro. & Bach Family Music
Bach’s Chorus Cantata BWV 19, “Es erhub sich ein Streit” (There arose a strife, Rev. 12:7), with its defeat of Satan and evil, was the third in a series, and the pinnacle of his extended, militant celebratory music for the Feast of Michael and All-Angels, the most important event in later Trinity Time, opening the annual Fall Fair in Leipzig. The 20-minute work includes a monumental opening chorus in da-capo motet fugal form and passepied-menuett style with biblical dictum from the day’s Epistle, Rev. 12:7. Cantata 19 is only the top of an angelic fortress the Bach Family constructed in the tradition of Lutheran composers, particularly with the unparalleled works of uncle Johann Christoph Bach and sons Johann Christoph Friedrich and Carl Philipp Emmanuel.
The seven-movement symmetrical work in Bach’s favorite chorus cantata structure features a full orchestra with oboes, strings trumpets and drums, set to an original strophic text of Bach’s favorite librettist, Picander.1 The musical sermon closes with a setting of the popular hymn "Freu dich sehr, o meine Seele" (Greatly rejoice, o my soul) with obbligato brass. In between are two memorable arias: (no. 3), soprano with oboes “Gott schickt uns Mahanaim zu” (God send us to his [hosts], and (no. 5), tenor in 6/8 siciliano-style free-da capo with high trumpet canto, “Bleibt, ihr Engel, bleibt bei mir!” (Stay, you angels, stay with me!), with chorale melody trope, Martin Schalling's “Herzlich lieb hab ich dich, o Herr" (From my heart I hold you dear, o Lord), a special Bach use that Picander particularly exploited in the St. Matthew Passion and the Christmas Oratorio. Bach sets two typical, proclaiming male-voice recitatives, (no. 2), bass secco “Gottlob! der Drache liegt.” (God be praised! the dragon lies vanquished), and (no. 4), tenor with strings, that affirms God’s love and protection over “Was ist der schnöde Mensch, das Erdenkind?” (What is despicable humanity, the child of earth?). Cantata 19 may have been repeated for the Michaelfest in 1732 following the royal visit of Augustus Strong in August for his nameday and the congratulatory Cantata BWV Anh. 11, “Es lebe der König, der Vater im Lande” (Long life to the King now, the nation's true father), to a Picander text that opens with an 8-voice chorus that later became the contrafaction, Osana in excelsis, in the B Minor Mass.
The following is a summary overview of Cantata 19 by Nicholas Anderson in Oxford Composer Companions: J. S. Bach.2 <<"Es erhub sich ein Streit" (BWV 19) was first performed in 1726 and is the second of three complete surviving cantatas sung at Leipzig on the Feast of St Michael and All Angels (September 29th). Bach's text was a poem by Christian Friedrich Henrici, better known by his pen-name of Picander. Picander's poem describes in colourfully picturesque terms the fight and the victory of St. Michael and his angels over Satan, personified by the dragon of hell. The story, which is contained in the Epistle for the day, appealed to 18th century imagination and particularly, perhaps, to that of Bach all of whose settings are rich in depictive imagery.
The Cantata begins with a masterly fugal chorus scored for Bach's standard four-part vocal texture with three trumpets, drums, two oboes which double the violins, a taille (cor anglais) doubling the viola, and continuo. It depicts, with confrontational vigour, the conflict between Heaven and Hell whose fiery occupant is "the raging serpent, the infernal dragon" of the text. The two arias which follow, each prefaced by a recitative, proclaim St. Michael's victory, as well as expressing the need for God's protection and a strong faith. The first is for soprano accompanied by two oboes d'amore, the second for tenor - a lyrical piece in 6/8 rhythm - with a single trumpet intoning the melody of Martin Schalling's chorale melody, “Herzlich lieb hab ich dich, o Herr" (From my heart I hold you dear, o Lord). Following a brief soprano recitative the Cantata ends with a verse from the 17th century hymn, "Freu dich sehr, o meine Seele". Its associated melody is sumptuously accompanied by the full instrumental arsenal heard in the opening chorus.>>
Cantata 19 Movements, scoring, incipits, key, meter:3
1. Chorus motet-style pure da-capo fugue, no orchestral introduction [SATB; Tromba I-III, Timpani, Violino I e Oboe I all' unisono, Violino II e Oboe II all' unisono, Viola e Taille all' unisono, Continuo]: A. imitation, “Es erhub sich ein Streit” (There arose a strife); B. free-polyphony, “Die rasende Schlange, der höllische Drache / Stürmt wider den Himmel mit wütender Rache.” (The raging serpent, the dragon of hell / storms against heaven with furious revenge); ritornelli “Aber Michael bezwingt” (But Michael conquers), ritornelli, “Und die Schar, die ihn umringt / Stürzt des Satans Grausamkeit” (and the host which surrounds him / overthrows Satan's cruelty); dal segno to A.; C Major; 6/8 passepied-menuett style.
2. Recitative secco [Bass; Continuo]: “Gottlob! der Drache liegt.” (God be praised! the dragon lies vanquished); “Der unerschaffne Michael / Und seiner Engel / Heer hat ihn besiegt.” (The uncreated Michael / and his host of angels / have conquered him.); “Dort liegt er in der Finsternis / Mit Ketten angebunden, / Und seine Stätte wird nicht mehr / Im Himmelreich gefunden.” (There he lies in the darkness / bound with chains, / and his place is no more / found in the kingdom of heaven.); “Wir stehen sicher und gewiß, / Und wenn uns gleich sein Brüllen schrecket, / So wird doch unser Leib und Seel / Mit Engeln zugedecket” (We stand safe and sure, / and even when his roar terrifies us, / then still our body and soul / are protected by angels.); e minor; 4/4.
3. Aria two-part with ritornelli and 13 mm intro. [Soprano; Oboe d'amore I/II, Continuo]: A. “Gott schickt uns Mahanaim zu; / Wir stehen oder gehen, / So können wir in sichrer Ruh / Vor unsern Feinden stehen.” (God sends us to Mahanaim; / whether we stand or go, / we can in safety and peace / stand before our enemies.); B. “Es lagert sich, so nah als fern, / Um uns der Engel unsers Herrn / Mit Feuer, Roß und Wagen.” (Encamped both near and far / around us is the angel of our Lord / with fire, horse and chariot.); dal segno introduction; G Major; 4/4.
4. Recitative secco [Tenor; Violino I/II, Viola, Continuo]: “Was ist der schnöde Mensch, das Erdenkind? / Ein Wurm, ein armer Sünder.” (What is despicable humanity, the child of earth? / A worm, a wretched sinner.); “Schaut, wie ihn selbst der Herr so lieb gewinnt, / Daß er ihn nicht zu niedrig schätzet / Und ihm die Himmelskinder, / Der Seraphinen Heer, / Zu seiner Wacht und Gegenwehr, / Zu seinem Schutze setzet.” (See, how the Lord himself falls in love with him, / that he does not value him too lowly / and for him places the children of heaven / the host of Seraphim / to watch and fight on his behalf, / to protect him.); e minor to b minor; 4/4.
5. Aria free da-capo, with ritornelli (and Chorale) [Tenor S.3; high Tromba (canto, “Herzlich lieb”), Violino I/II, Viola, Continuo]: repeated “Bleibt, ihr Engel, bleibt bei mir!” (Stay, you angels, stay with me!); B. repeat, “Führet mich auf beiden Seiten, / Daß mein Fuß nicht möge gleiten!” (Guide me on both sides, / so that my foot may not slip!); “Aber lernt mich auch allhier / Euer großes Heilig singen / Und dem Höchsten Dank zu singen!” (But teach me even here / to sing of your great holiness / and to sing thanks to the Highest!); e minor; 6/6 sicilano (angel) style.
6. Recitative secco [Soprano; Continuo]: “Laßt uns das Angesicht / Der frommen Engel lieben / Und sie mit unsern Sünden nichtn / Vertreiben oder auch betrüben.” (Let us love the sight / of the holy ang/ and let us not with our sins / drive them away or even grieve them.); “So sein sie, wenn der Herr gebeut, / Der Welt Valet zu sagen, / Zu unsrer Seligkeit / Auch unser Himmelswagen.” (So they may be, when the Lord bids us / to say farewell to the world, our heavenly chariot / also to our life of bliss.); C to F Major; 4/4.
7. Chorale plain [SATB; Oboe I e Violino I col Soprano, Oboe II e Violino II coll'Alto, Taille e Viola col Tenore, Tromba I-III, Timpani, Continuo]: “Laß dein' Engel mit mir fahren / Auf Elias Wagen rot / Und mein Seele wohl bewahren, / Wie Lazrum nach seinem Tod.” (Let your angel travel with me / on Elias' red chariot / and preserve my soul / like Lazarus after his death.); “ Laß sie ruhn in deinem Schoß, / Erfüll sie mit Freud und Trost, / Bis der Leib kommt aus der Erde / Und mit ihr vereinigt werde.” (Let my soul rest in your bosom / fill it with joy and consolation / until my body comes from the earth / and is united with it.); C Major; ¾.
St. Michael Festival: Defeat of Satan
The Feast of St Michael is based on the Epistle, Revelation of St. John 12:7-12), the defeat of satanic forces and their evil, observes Bach scholar Klaus Hofmann in his 2009 liner notes to the Masaki Suzuki BIS complete cantata recordings.4 <<Michaelmas (the Feast of St Michael and All Angels), the day commemorating the Archangel Michael on 29th September each year, was celebrated with particular splendour in Bach’s era. Unusually, on this day it is the epistles rather than the gospels that are the focus of the church service: the visionary depiction of the archangel and his host’s victorious struggle against the ‘great dragon’, ‘that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan’, from the Revelation of St John (12:7–12). This popular episode, often portrayed in the visual arts, was a widely used subject in music as well. Many of those who attended the church service in 1726 will have been looking for ward to this cantata with particular anticipation.
Bach did not disappoint them. In the opening movement, which summarizes the events in words by an unknown poet, the choir immediately enters the strife; there is no instrumental introduction to prepare the listener for what is to come. Hammering repeated notes and wild, long coloraturas characterize this martial music. The fugal opening and the overall structure tell us that this movement is in the style of a motet. Except in some brief interludes, the strings and oboes support the almost constant choral singing; trumpets and timpani are added, as ‘military” instruments.
The two arias – which, like the intervening recitative, go back to an earlier devotional text by Bach’s ‘poet in residence’, Christian Friedrich Henrici, known as Picander (1700–1764) – strike a gentler note. Despite its partly warlike content, the soprano aria ‘Gott schickt uns Mahanaim zu’ (‘God sends us Mahanaim [=two camps]’) acquires a certain charm from its accompaniment with two oboi d’amore, and in another way this applies also to the tenor aria ‘Bleibt ihr Engel, bleibt bei mir’ (‘Stay, ye angels, stay with me!’), which is set as a siciliano [6/8] in the rocking rhythm familiar from the Sinfonia from the Christmas Oratorio, a metre that Albert Schweitzer once referred to as the ‘Engels rhythmus’ (‘angelic rhythm’). A special feature of a kind that could have occurred only to Bach is the cantus firmus that the trumpet introduces into the aria: Bach’s listeners would have been aware that this was the chorale melody ‘Herzlich lieb hab ich dich, o Herr’ (From my heart I hold you dear, o Lord), and that the instrumental quotation was an allusion to the third strophe: ‘Ach Herr, lass dein lieb Engelein / am letzten End die Seele mein / in Abrahams Schoßtragen…’ (‘Oh Lord, may your dear little angels / carry at the end my soul / to Abraham’s bosom’). The final chorale (Freiberg 1620) takes up this idea [“Freu dich sehr, o meine Seele” (Greatly rejoice, o my soul), S. 9 “Laß dein’ Engel mit mir fahren” (Let your angel travel with me)]. “Trumpets and timpani conclude the cantata with festive splendour.5
© Klaus Hofmann
The official record of Bach Michaelfest compositions and performance dates are: 1724, chorale Cantata BWV 130, "Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir"1 (Lord God, we all praise you); 1726, chorus Cantata BWV 19, "Es erhub sich ein Streit" (There was a war); 1728, chorus Cantata BWV 149, "Man singet mit Freuden vom Sieg" (Songs are sung with joy of victory, Picander text), and 1723-30), eight-voice motet, BWV 50, "Nun ist das Heil und die Kraft" (Now is salvation and strength). Apocryphal chorus Cantata BWV 219/TVWV 1:1328, Siehe, es hat uberwunden der Lowe (Behold, the lion has triumphed (Hamburg, 1723, Neumeister text), Georg Philipp Telemann, no record of Bach performance but possible 1723 and 1725 (recording, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ao0E48q0i2o.
Other works appropriate for the Michael Festival that Sebastian Bach possibly presented include: chorus Cantata BWV 148, Bringet dem Herrn seines Names” (Bring to the Lord honor of His Name), Trinity 17 9/19/1723 (Picander text source), possible repeat for Mchaelfest 1723; solo soprano Cantata BWV 51, “Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen! (Shout for joy to God in every land!), per ogni tempo (for any time) and the 15th Sunday after Trinity (c.1730); Johann Christoph Bach cantata "Es erhub sich ein Streit" (There was a war; as early as 1723); Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel Cantata No. 61, "Wer ist, wie der Herr unser Gott, der sich so hoch gestetzet hat?" (Who is like unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high), 1735 [(Schmolck String Cycle, not extant] Psalm 113:5 Laudate pueri (Praise ye the Lord, Roman vespers); and Stölzel, Cantata No. 61, no incipit (Schmolck Names of Christ Cycle, as early as 1736).
Michaelfest Liturgy, Motets, Chorales6
The Readings (Lessons Proper) for the Feast of Michael and All Angels are: Epistle, Revelation (Offenbarung) 12: 7-12 War in heaven; Gospel: Matthew 18: 1-11, Who humbles himself shall be exalted, found at BCW http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Read/Michael.htm. Liturgy (Mass Proper and Vespers) Introit: Psalm 103, Benedic, anima mea (Bless the LORD, O my soul), includes verses 19-22: "19 The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all. 20 Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word. 21 Bless ye the Lord, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure. 22 Bless the Lord, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the Lord, O my soul." Possible sources for motets include Heinrich Isaac (1450-1517), Motet No. 10, "Benedic Anima mea Domino (1484, 4v.), and Claudin de Sermisy (1495-1562), "Bendic, anima mea" (1535, SATB).
Gradualied chant (between Epistle and Gospel) is found in the <Liber usualis>,< Benedicte Dominum omnes angelieus>, on-line at http://quilisma-publications.info/Liber%20Usualis%20(Full).htm. Pages 1500-1599, scroll down to 1528/9.
Vespers Service Order: 1. Antiphona Ad Vesperas: Veni, Sancte Spiritus;2. Antiphona Ad Psalmos: Dum Praeliaretur Michael; 3. Psalm 110: Dixit Dominus; 4. Psalm 113: Laudate Pueri Dominum; 5. Psalm 117: Laudate Dominum; 6. Gloria Patri; 7. Antiphona Ad Psalmos: Dum Praeliaretur Michael; 8. Lectio: Und Es Erhub Sich Ein Streit; 9. Hymnus (Alternatim) Christe Sanctorum; 10. Antiphona Ad Magnificat: Factum Est Silentium; 11. Magnificat Octavi Toni (Alternatim); 12. Antiphona Ad Magnificat: Factum Est Silentium
13. Salutatio& Collecta; 14. Benedicamus; 15. Postludium Super Veni Creator Spiritus [Hieronymus Praetorius: Vespers for St. Michael's Day]
CHORALES and CHANTS
In Gottfried Vopelius' <Das Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch> (NLGB) of 1685, music for thFeast of Michael and All Angels lists the following music:
Communion Hymn, No. 158, "Dicimus grates tibi" (Thanks unto Thee), Philipp Melanchthon's Latin setting of the 11-stanza hymn paraphrase of Revelation 12-7-12, the angels' defeat of satanic forces in heaven and the voice of victory.
Communion Hymn, No. 159, "Laßt uns von Hertzen" (Let us from hearts), Melanchthon's vernacular German translation of "Dicimus grates tibi" in 11 stanzas, set to the old German melody, Zahn 966, NLGB SATB setting, composer unknown. Bach did not set this chorale and no text could be found.
Hymn of the Day, No. 160, "Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir" (Lord God, we all Thank you) Paul Eber 12 stanzas, Zahn melody 368. Paul Eber's German paraphrase of Melanchthon's Latin setting was "generally accepted as the hymn of the day for the Festival of St. Michael" "in all the Leipzig and Dresden hymn schedules," says Günther Stiller in JSB and Liturgical Life in Leipzig (St. Louis MO: Concordia Publishing, 1984: 247).
Pulpit Hymn, No. 161, "Es stehn für/vor Gottes Throne" I stand before God's throne); Ludwig Humbold 1594, 7 stanzas, Zahn melody 4298, Johannes a Burgk 1594 (Muhlhausen), SATB setting, composer unknown. Bach plain chorale setting in g minor, BWV 309. It is listed in the Orgelbüchlien for the Michael and All Angels Festival (OB 58) but not set. An organ chorale prelude may be by Bach, BWV deest, Emans NBA/KB IV/10: 65, three-part harmony with pedal, 37 measures in A minor/Major.
BWV 19: Picander Stophic Poem Source
Cantata 19 “text is derived from a strophic poem for St. Michael’s Day of 1724-25 by Picander,” Sammulung Erbaulicher Dedanken (Collection of Edifying Thoughts), Leipzig 1724-25, says Alfred Dürr in Cantatas of J. S. Bach.7 This is the source of Cantatas BWV 19 and 148 and Oratorio Passion, BWV Anh. 169, text only in the manner of Brockes, influencing BWV 244). The BCW Picander (1700-64) Short Biography is found at http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Lib/Picander.htm. The original strophic poem paraphrase involves the “first two movements was newly written, and the concluding chorale, the ninth verse of the hymn Freu dich sehr, o meine Seele” – was added afresh for the cantata version.” The third movement [soprano aria] “was adopted literally from the original poem, the fourth [tenor recitative with strings] is a somewhat freer madrigalian rendering of the first strophe, and the sixth (soprano recitative) was more radically altered.”
Cantata 19, Alfred Dürr Commentary, (with some of my own additions), Thomas Braatz (December 11, 2002), BCW http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Guide/BWV19-Guide.htm. <<Bach may well have paraphrased the Picander text himself or asked Picander to do this for him – there is no hard and fast evidence pointing either to one or the other possibility. The text of the two, newly added mvts. at the beginning of this cantata has a fairly direct connection with the Epistle to be read on this feast day: it speaks of the archangel Michael’s victory over Satan. Rather unusual is the newly constructed phrase, “Gott schickt uns Mahanaim zu” [“God sends to us Mahanaim”]; for even though “Mahanaim” means something like ‘two armies,’ it is really used to designate the place where Jacob caught sight of God’s ‘army’/’camp’/’host’ of angels. Here this name is used to designate the ‘host’ of angels. The notion that angels are camped around us can be found in Psalm 34:8 [Dürr’s reference must be incorrect here – does anyone know what the correct reference is?], while “Feuer, Roß und Wagen” probably refer to how Elisha was saved from imprisonment which threatened him by the heavenly hosts (2 Kings 6:17.) The beginning of the 4th mvt. refers to a passage from Psalms 8:4-5 “Was ist der Mensch, daß du seiner gedenkst”, which Psalms 144:3 does as well in order to point toward God’s love which is expressed in the protection offered to human beings by the angels. In mvts. 5 – 7 a request is made for angels to provide further protection and guidance at the end of life; the angels, in carrying forth a human soul, are compared to Elijah’s experience (2 Kings 2:11) of being taken up into heaven in a whirlwind.
The introductory choral mvt. is one of the most monumental opening mvts. in all of Bach’s cantatas. It is a classical musical setting of a ‘classical’ text which his very talented uncle, Johann Christoph Bach, an organist in Eisenach, had already composed as a very impressive choral mvt. (we know that Bach had performed this work consisting of 22 individual parts in Leipzig where the listeners marveled at the grand effect it created.) In this cantata (BWV 19), Bach does not use the exact words of the biblical text, a part of the Epistle reading, but rather as a madrigal-type transformation of the text, and, for this reason, he does not choose the motet-like sequences that he would usually prefer when setting direct quotations from the Bible, but instead chooses a pure Da capo form: A fugally constructed choral setting interspersed with occasional, independent instrumental sections embraces a middle section which is partly homophonic, but also, at times, freely polyphonic, surrounded again by a mainly independent instrumental section. The festive inclusion of trumpets, kettledrums and oboes doubling the string parts enhances the impression that this mvt. can make upon the listener, but the choir is the most dominant element even beginning the mvt. without a preceding ritornello and having only short pauses throughout the mvt. Without an introductory sinfonia, the possibility for ‘Choreinbau’ is lost so that this mvt. comes closer to the principles governing the motet style, not so much in the matter of “Formaufbau” [“overall sequencing of the parts that make up the mvt.”], but rather in regard to “Satzstruktur” [“the structural elements within the mvt.]
Mvt. 2 is a simple secco recitative, after which follows a soprano aria using 2 obbligato Oboi d’amour, which blend and become one with the solo voice. Already in the introductory ritornello, but also later, there are word-painting elements that become recognizable: there are long, held notes on “stehen” [“stand”] and on “Ruh” [“rest”]; there are moving 16th-note figures on “gehen” [“go”]; nevertheless, it is remarkable that, despite all this word-painting, there is great unity in all of the thematic material which does not even change much in the 2nd half of the mvt.
The 2nd recitative (mvt. 4), in contrast to the 1st recitative, has instrumental parts (strings) that are completely written out, and yet, the vocal part resembles the 1st recitative. There is no arioso effect, nor are there any coloraturas.
There is no doubt that the following aria for tenor (mvt. 5) is one the highest achievements among all of Bach’s aria compositions. The siciliano-like dotted rhythm, which Albert Schweitzer referred to as the “rhythm of angels,” dominates the entire mvt. The melodiousness of this mvt. is in stark contrast to the opening, very turbulent mvt. of the cantata. This aria is, at the same time, based on a chorale which is presented by the trumpet, one line at a time. The church-goer in Bach’s time and place would have no difficulty recognizing the chorale melody, “Herzlich lieb hab ich dich, o Herr,” and even making the connection with the 3rd verse, which is the only one that ties in with the text that the tenor is singing:
There is no doubt that this chorale text and melody had a very special place in Bach’s heart. The most important occurrence of this chorale using this 3rd verse as well is in Bach's SJP BWV 245/40. Bach performed this passion a number of times during his lifetime making changes in it for each performance. This final mvt. has a history of being performed one year, only to be removed again for the next performance, and then taking its original position again for the subsequent performance, etc. The SJP, in its penultimamvt., has a comparable concluding mvt. to the one that concludes the SMP. However, for some reason that we can only surmise, Bach refused to give up on placing this chorale as the last mvt. for the SJP.>>
“This is what is known about this chorale, ‘Herzlich lieb hab ich dich, o Herr”:
a) the text was written by Martin Schalling (1532-1608) with two dates given (probably printed editions in which it was first found) 1569 and 1571. Schalling was born in Straßburg (Alsace), was a pupil of Melanchthon, and later a pastor in Regensburg, Amberg and Vilseck, then court preacher in Amberg, a general superintendent of the Lutheran region of the Upper Palatinate, due to his theological views he was driven from his post as pastor 4 times, in 1585 he became the pastor at the Frauenkirche in Nürnberg and became blind toward the end of his life;
b) the music/melody evolved as follows: in its 1st incarnation the melody by Matthias Gastritz appeared in “Kurtze vnnd sonderliche Newe Symbola etlicher Fürsten,” Amberg, 1571; it was later modified by Bernhard Schmid in “Zwey Bücher einer Neuen Künstlichen Tabulatur auf Orgel und Instrument,” Straßburg, 1577 – [this is the melody that remained associated with the chorale text, “Herzlich lieb hab ich dich, o Herr,” a chorale that still appears in German Lutheran hymnals up to the present day.
“There are 4 Bach settings of this chorale (not including the unusual one in the tenor aria of this cantata): BWV 245/40 – the most famous instance as the final mvt. of the SJP (3rd verse of chorale); BWV 174/5 [Pentecost Monday 1729, Picander text] – the final chorale (1st verse) of the cantata, “Ich liebe den Höchsten von ganzem Gemüte”; BWV 149/7 [Michaelsfest 1728/29 Picander Text] – the final chorale (3rd verse) of the cantata, „Man singet mit Freuden vom Sieg“ – this version is remarkable in that 3 trumpets enter unexpectedly for the final cadence of the chorale; BWV 340 – as the number indicates, this is one of the orphaned 4-pt. chorale settings, very likely for a cantata that has been lost. We do not even know which verse was sung.”
Michaelfest in Leipzig8
With the end of the summer approaching in his first year of service in 1723, Leipzig cantor Johann Sebastian Bach, required to present cantatas during the main Sunday and festivals, faced a major test: composing music for the most popular civic event, the Feast of Michael and All Angels, during the six-month Trinity Time, on Wednesday, September 29. One tradition required particularly festive music to inaugurate the opening of the annual St. Michael Fall Trade Fair (Messe), near the equinox, when esteemed visitors and local dignitaries gathered for the main morning service at the main church of St. Nicholaus, followed by vespers in the afternoon.
Following another tradition of St. Michael's fairs traced back to the 12th century, the flourishing cosmopolitan trade center had endowed its largest church with extensive pew boxes for the community's leading citizens and guests at gala special services. These involved such major events during Bach's tenure as thanksgiving services for the Saxon Court, sacred observances of Reformation milestones such as the 200th anniversary of the Augsburg Confession in 1730, and municipal activities such as the annual installation of the new governing Leipzig Town Council on a Monday in late August following St. Bartholomew's Day.
The particularly festive music for the Feast of St Michael and All Angels also entailed important traditions. Beginning with Martin Luther's Reformation in 1519, he and his followers created special hymn music for the main and vesper services. The festival lesson is based on the Epistle narrative and victory song (Revelation, 12:7-12) of the defeat of Satan and his evil forces by the warrior-leader Archangel Michael, their casting out from heaven, and the triumph of human salvation.
The Reformation's leading theologian, Philipp Melanchthon, in 1539 set 11 hymn verses in Latin as a paraphrase of the original Latin text of the Epistle, >Dicimus grates tibi> (Lord God, to thee we all give praise), using the associated chant melody, followed by his own 11-verse German vernacular paraphrase, "Laßt uns von Hertzen" (Let us from hearts), to an old German melody. Ironically, Melanchthon, who had abhorred the Roman Catholic practice of the veneration of saints and relics, eventually advocated and instituted liturgical observances of the Marian Feasts and saints John the Baptist and the Archangel Michael. Subsequently, in 1554, Paul Eber composed a 12-verse setting of Melanchthon's Latin hymn, "Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir" (Lord God, we all Thank you).
Interestingly, while this and other associated St. Michael's Day Reformation chorales were sung, the most important music at the service and vespers until Bach's time were the German baroque vocal concerto settings of Luther's vernacular German translation of the Epistle narrative, Revelation Chapter 12: (7) "Es erhub sich ein Streit im Himmel" (There was a war in heaven) and the song, (10b) "Nun ist das Heil und die Kraft und das Reich unsers Gottes geworden" (Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God). In particular were motet-style multi-voice works of Heinrich Schütz, Tobias Zeutschner, Matthias Weckmann, Hieronymus and Michael Praetorius, Michael Altenberg, Andreas Hammerschmidt and, most notably, Johann Christoph Bach, Sebastian's second cousin and most significant ancestor. In addition, Sebastian's son Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach composed two Michael's Day Epistle cantatas, one in association with his brother Emmanuel using the latter's music and music from Sebastian's Magnificat, BWV 243.
Michaelfest Lutheran Music, Texts
Sebastian Bach, as did members of the Bach Family, presented significant works on the Feast of St Michael. The impetus for all Bach's Michaelfest music was steeped in German musical tradition that used biblical texts set as motets or vocal concerti and imaginative poetic paraphrase through Lutheran hymns. Following cousin Johann Christoph's musical lead, Sebastian Bach's synthesis of Michaelfest original poetry produced four cantatas, BWV 130, 19, 149, and 50. Subsequently, sons Johann Christoph Friedrich and Carl Philipp Emanuel would produce more Michaelfest music in the late 18th century gallant style, with texts of Buekeburg poet Johann Gottfried Herder in 1770.
The Feast of Michael and All-Angels became the Lutheran Reformation core expression of religious freedom as found in the Revelation motets and poetic chorales. Poetically from Renaissance theologian Philipp Melanchthon in 1539 to Enlightened poet Johann Gottfried Herder in 1770, musically from Heinrich Schütz and the Praetorius brothers on the cusp of the Baroque era to the final three generations of the Bach Family. The latter contributed sacred concertos/cantatas for Michaelmas with Sebastian influenced by the monumental work of his cousin Johann Christoph (1642-1703) and the compositions of his second-youngest son, Johann Christoph Friedrich (1732-95), who in turn was influenced by his father. Further, J.C.F and his older brother Carl Philipp Emanuel (1714-88) produced a pasticcio that reflects Enlightenment stylistic transition and interpretation of the meaning of the angelic heavenly victory of the sacrificial Blood of the Lamb.
Following his chorale cantata setting of the Luther canticle of praise, "Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir" (Lord God, we all praise you), BWV 130, for the Feast of Michael and All Angels in 1724, Bach in 1726 turned to the battle dictum, "Es erhub sich ein Streit" (There was a war) beginning the biblical Epistle reading from Revelation 12:7-12, for his next (third) cycle Cantata BWV 19, presented in 1726. Building on popular German tradition, Bach began utilizing various related themes melding praise and thanksgiving with the heavenly victory of the angelic forces over Satan and the forces of evil, thereby redeeming mankind. Collaborating with the poet Picander in Cantata 19 and the next Cantata, BWV 149, "Man singet mit Freuden vom Sieg" (Songs are sung with joy of victory), in 1728, Bach sought texts set to similar uplifting music. In addition, Bach probably composed the eight-voice motet, Cantata 50, "Nun ist das Heil und die Kraft" (Now is salvation and strength), that begins without an orchestral introduction.
Bach's final cantata for the Feast of St Michael and All Angels, BWV 149, "Man singet mit Freuden vom Sieg" (Songs are sung with joy of victory, Psalm 118:15-16) probably was composed in 1728 in collaboration with poet Picander. It was his most extensive expression of the significance of this festival. Bach's three previous festival presentations had utilized the essential elements of the Epistle text, Revelation 12:7-12 (Cantata 50), the popular Paul Eber chorale of praise to God, chorale Cantata 130, “Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir” (Lord God, we all praise you), and an earlier Picander poetic expression of the heavenly canticle of praise (Cantata 19). Bach's latest work became the culmination of the Lutheran two-century musical and textual tradition as well as the meaning and significance of the Book of Revelation text.
Cantata 149 displays numerous musical and textual similarities to its predecessor of 1726, Cantata 19, "Es erhub sich ein Streit" (There was a war), opening only with this dictum from the Epistle reading. The comparison is found in John Eliot Gardiner's Bach Pilgrimage 2000 Recording notes.9 "The fact that Picander had a hand in the text of both this cantata (BWV 19) and the last which Bach composed for this day, BWV 149 `Man singet mit Freuden vom Sieg', accounts for certain similarities, particularly in the inner movements. The reference to God sending `horse and chariot' as well as providing a host of supportive angels occurs in both the soprano aria with two oboes d'amore in BWV 19 (no. 3) and in the alto recitative of BWV 149. Even if the soprano aria BWV 149 No. 4 is no match for the ravishing tenor aria in BWV 19 with its imploring gestures, describing the watchfulness of the guardian angels, the underlying idea is basically the same. What separates `Man singet mit Freuden vom Sieg' from the other cantatas for St Michael's day is its tone of voice. For example, its opening chorus is festive rather than combative, while using the same apparatus of trumpets, drums, oboes and strings as all the others. This is as we might expect in a movement cleverly recycled by Bach from the closing chorus of his `Hunt' cantata (BWV 208) composed in 1713, his first `modern' cantata in that it employed both recitatives and da capo arias.”
Bach had begun in 1723 possibly with musical underpinnings of the Epistle (Revelation 12:7-12) describing the Angels' metaphoric victory over evil in heaven and the canticle of Praise to God. These were found in Johann Christoph Bach's 40-year-old motet style "Es erhub sich ein Streit" (Rev. 12:7-11) as well as Verse 10b alone in Cantata 50, "Nun ist das Heil.” In 1724, Sebastian presented chorale Cantata 130 that makes general references to the biblical lesson of the day as a tribute to the angels' protection of mankind. In 1726, Bach returned to and built on the dictum to open Cantata 19, based on the Epistle battle in Heaven that begins with a militant chorus fantasia using only Verse 7. He then presented music with the sentiments of joy found previously in the chorale, "Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir," celebrating and affirming divine intervention, protection, and salvation for mankind.
Music for the Feast of Michael and All Angels -- festive, intricate, militant, and sometimes bellicose -- came to dominate the Michaelmas works of German baroque composers, including the Bach Family, as contrasted to the chorale-based music of the earlier Lutheran Reformers focusing on the hymn of praise, "Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir," also based on the Epistle for that feast day. For basic information on the Michaelmas Feast, see Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michaelmas.
Cantata 19 Brass Emphasis
Cantata 19 has a sepecial, unique empohasis on use of brass instruments, as Gardiner notes (Ibid). <<All Bach's music written for St Michael's day is immense in concept and sustained bravura. One senses that he was spurred on, inspired even, by the presence of a virtuosic group of trumpeters, the municipal Stadtpfeifer of Leipzig under their `Capo' Gottfried Reiche, just as Berlioz was a century or so later by the newly-available cornets à pistons and saxhorns. In BWV 19 Es erhub sich ein Streit Bach uses his brass instruments in highly contrasted ways: at one extreme obliging the listener to experience the scale and significance of these apocalyptic encounters in the opening chorus, at the other, in the E minor tenor aria (No.5), evoking the ever-watchful protection afforded by the guardian angels wheeling around in the stratosphere. Alfred Dürr explains that when they heard the trumpet play the chorale melody of `Herzlich lieb hab ich dich, O Herr' `the church-goers of Bach's day, familiar as they were with the text, could be in no doubt that the third verse of the hymn was intended: "Ah Lord, at the end of my life let Your dear angel carry my soul into Abraham's bosom"'. With unobtrusive skill Bach introduces this melody in counterpoint to the siciliano rhythms and the singer's tender plea `Bleibt, ihr Engel, bleibt bei mir!' (`Stay, ye angels, stay by me!').
Like "Nun ist das Heil," BWV 19 opens without instrumental preamble. But here it is the `war in heaven' itself which is described, not the victory celebration, and it is constructed as a monumental choral fugue with the singers as the main combatants. They lead the doubling instruments (strings and three oboes) into the fray with a ferocious confrontational swagger and impel the trumpets to follow in their wake. It is only when they pause for the first time in thirty-seven bars that the instruments really find their voice (a four-bar Nachspiel). But that is only the `A' section of an immense da capo structure. The `B' section starts out with the advantage tilted in favour of the `raging serpent, the infernal dragon' - another seventeen bars of `furious vengeance' dominated by the choir. As the singers catch their breath again, the orchestra advances the story, ending with a tell-tale hemiola revealing this to be the turning-point in the battle. Back come the choir, on their own now and in block harmony while the continuo rumbles on, to announce Michael's victory. But it doesn't end there: for the next twenty- five bars Bach shakes his kaleidoscope to give us a gleeful account of the final moments of the battle, the repulse of Satan's last attack by Michael's inner guard and a lurid portrayal of Satan's cruelty - a slow, screeching chromatic descent in the sopranos - before the whole battle is relived again from the beginning.>>
Christoph Bach's Michaelmas Cantata
Sebastian's angelic interest probably had been cultivated at the annual Bach Family gatherings in Eisenach or nearby Arnstadt or Erfurt, where his second cousin, Johann Christoph Bach (1642-1703), was the church organist. Johann Christoph's best-known composition is his cantata setting of all but the final verse (12) of the St. Michael's Epistle (Rev. 12:7-12), "Es erhub sich ein Streit im Himmel" (There was a war in heaven). Sebastian performed this festive, militant, 22-voice motet at least once in Leipzig, preserving the only surviving copy, and he "may have been inspired by it to write his Cantatas No. 19 ("Es erhub sich ein Streit"), and No. 50 ("Nun idal Heil")," says Karl Geiringer in The Bach Family.10
Geiringer’s companion, Music of the Bach Family: An Anthology (Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 1955: 30), contains the first publication of the full score, originally composed about 1680. Geiringer also suggests that Sebastian "may have learned the rudiments of organ playing from J. Christoph before he left Eisenach at the age of 10" (Anthlogy, Ibid.: 29), when his father, Johann Ambrosius, died. In all likelihood, Ambrosius as an Eisenach Stadtpfeifer knew well the trumpet parts in first cousin Christoph's Michaelmas cantata.
Revelation Text
The full text of the Christoph Bach cantata is the Michaelmas Epistle, Revelation (Offenbarung) 12:7-12, of the war in heaven (narrative), 7-10a, and the canticle of praise, 10b-12, in Martin Luther’s 1545 published translation of the King James Version translation (see BCW, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Read/Michael.htm. “Und es erhob sich ein Streit im Himmel: Michael und seine Engel stritten mit dem Drachen; und der Drache stritt und seine Engel, 8 und siegten nicht, auch ward ihre Stätte nicht mehr gefunden im Himmel. 9 Und es ward ausgeworfen der große Drache, die alte Schlange, die da heißt der Teufel und Satanas, der die ganze Welt verführt, und ward geworfen auf die Erde, und seine Engel wurden auch dahin geworfen. 10 Und ich hörte eine große Stimme, die sprach im Himmel: Nun ist das Heil und die Kraft und das Reich unsers Gottes geworden und die Macht seines Christus, weil der Verkläger unserer Brüder verworfen ist, der sie verklagte Tag und Nacht vor Gott. 11 Und sie haben ihn überwunden durch des Lammes Blut und durch das Wort ihres Zeugnisses und haben ihr Leben nicht geliebt bis an den Tod. 12 Darum freuet euch, ihr Himmel und die darin wohnen! Weh denen, die auf Erden wohnen und auf dem Meer! denn der Teufel kommt zu euch hinab und hat einen großen Zorn und weiß, daß er wenig Zeit hat.” (7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 10a And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, 10b. Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. 11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. 12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
Details of Christoph’s Sacred Concerto
Scoring: SATBB chorus concertante, SATBB chorus ripieno; 2 violins, 4 violas, 4 trumpets, timpani, continuo (bassoon and organ). Manuscript score, Petrucci download, http://petrucci.mus.auth.gr/imglnks/usimg/5/5a/IMSLP117948-PMLP239099-JCBach_EsErhubSichEinStreit.pdf; published scores, Carus-Verlag (http://www.carus-verlag.com/30567) and Hänssler No. 49. Movements: Part 1, 1. Sonata (2 violins, 2 violas, continuo); 2. Solo (2 basses, continuo): 7. es erhub sich ein Streit im Himmel . . . (add trumpets and timpani) Und der Drache stritt und seine Engel (6 measure instrumental interlude); 3. Choruses, tutti orchestra: 7. es erhub sich ein Streit im Himmel . . . . Part 2, 1. Concertante (SATBB), strings, continuo: 8. auch ward ihre Stätte; nicht mehr funden im Himmel; 2. Solo (2 basses, continuo): 9 Und es ward ausgeworfen der große Drache, die alte Schlange, die da heißt der Teufel und Satanas; 3. Tutti ensemble: der die ganze Welt verführt, und ward geworfen auf die Erde, und seine Engel wurden auch dahin geworfen. Part 3. 1. Sinfonia (tutti ensemble); 2. Solo (B, continuo): 10a Und ich hörte eine große Stimme, die sprach im Himmel: 3. Tutti ensemble: 10b Nun ist das Heil und die Kraft und das Reich unsers Gottes geworden und die Macht seines Christus worden; 4. Concertante (SATBB), strings, continuo: (text altered): "weil der Verkläger unserer Brüder verworfen ist, der sie verklagte Tag und Nacht vor Gott" becomes "weil der verworfen ist, der sie verglaget Tag und Nacht für Spott."; 5. Tutti ensemble: Und sie haben ihn überwunden (trumpets tacet, antiphonal choruses), durch des Lammes Blut und durch das Wort ihres Zeugnisses; 6. Concertante (SATBB), strings, continuo: und haben ihr Leben nicht geliebt bis an den Tod; 7. Tutti ensemble (antiphonal choruses): Rev. 12:12 Darum freuet euch, ihr Himmel und die darin wohnen (omit remainder).11
Christoph Friedrich’s Cantata
Johann Christoph Friedrich, the "Bückeburg Bach," Sebastian’s second youngest child and a prolific composer in the gallant style, like Christoph, also set the full Revelation text (12:7-12) for both the battle and the song of salvation, unlike his father, Sebastian, who used only the dictum (Rev. 12:7), "Es erhub sich ein Streit" (And there was war in heaven), in Cantata BWV 19, setting Picander's paraphrased description of the battle. Friedrich's work, "Michaels Sieg: Der Streit des Guten und Bösen in der Welt," BR F 4, Wf XIV/5 [Sü II/8] (Michael's victory: the struggle between good and evil in the world), uses a text of the Bückeburg (later Weimar) Court poet Johann Gottfried Herder (1744-1803), Herder's text includes original poetry as well as the biblical verses alternating with the melody of the Lutheran call-to-battle hymn, "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott (A mighty fortress is our God), in a rondo-like construction in three parts involving the battle plan, battle, and victory.12
This information is found in Geiringer's "The Bach Family” (Ibid: 401). The opening battle is a chorus, "Wie wird uns werden?" (What will become of us?). The following victory song is set in the three remaining movements, an accompagnato recitative and coloratura aria in the Italian style and the closing chorus, "Nun ist da Heil," which includes the melody of “A mighty fortress.” The work was presented in Hamburg in 1778, probably on St. Michael's Day. Geiringer offers a comparison of the melody “Nun ist das Heil” in the Sebastian and Christoph Friedrich choruses. While both are composed in ¾ time beginning with repeated notes, Sebastian’s setting shows the “inadequacy of the later version,” says Geiringer.
Johan van Veen’s biography of Christoph Friedrich from the CPO liner notes of J.C.F. Bach’s sonatas and trios is found at http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2008/Jan08/Bach_7770872.htm. A more detailed biography from the Bach-Archiv Leipzig is found at http://www.bach-leipzig.de/en/bach-archive/johann-christoph-friedrich-bach.
Christoph Friedrich and his much older brother, Emmanuel, collaborated in 1785 in Hamburg on another Michael's Day "Michaelis-Cantata," SW XIV/6 [Sü II/9], a pasticcio, also involving a probable Herder text, with father Sebastian's closing five-part chorus, Sicut locust est fugue, from the Magnificat, BWV 243, in a German contrafaction. Emmanuel contributed the basso continuo accompaniment and the first 15-measures of his four-voice German Sanctus setting, "Heilig" (Holy, German), Wq. 218 (H 827), introducing the fugue. Friedrich contributed three numbers from "Michaels Sieg" and three newly-composed movements, the work ending with the chorus "Heilig" and the Sicut locust est fugue.
Earlier, Emanuel has compose and first performed his “Heilig” in “an arrangement of his father’s cantata Es esich ein Streit (BWV 19) as the Michelmas Quartlalstück for 1776,” says Paul Corneilson, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: The Complete Works (2005-) (Los Altos CA: Packard Humanities Council), http://cpebach.org/pdfs/introductions/V-FS-Heilig-Intro.pdf. The double-choir “Heilig,” says Corneilson, “was incorporated into several other works for Hamburg including three other Quartlalstücke: Wenn Christus seine Kirche schützt [protects], based on the cantata Michaels Sieg (WF XIV/5) by Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach, in 1778 . . . . ”
Emanuel spoke of his father's performance of Christoph Bach's cantata in a letter dated Sept. 20, 1775, to Johann Nicolaus Forkel, Bach's first biographer (1802), Emanuel says: "This composition in 22 parts is a masterpiece. My blessed father performed it once in a church in Leipzig and everybody was surprised by the effect it made. I have not enough singers here [in Hamburg], or else I would produce it sometime" (quoted in Geiringer, Ibid.: 57).
In Emanuel's estate catalog of 1790 were found listings (Page 82) of the parts set of Friedrich's "Michaels Sieg" cantata, the parts set of the pasticcio "Michaelis-Cantata" with Emanuel's "Heilig" in a manuscript bearing the initials of its two authors (JCFB and CPEB). The catalog lists the Altbachisches Archiv collection parts sets beginning (Page 84), Emmanuel inherited from Sebastian, along with the 22-part Christoph Bach "Es erhub sich ein Streit." Also found in Emanuel's estate catalog as well was Emmanuel's own copy of the score and parts set of Christoph Bach's "Es erhub sich ein Streit," "in the hand of his [Emanuel's] principal Berlin copyist, doubtless for a performance there, though the occasion is unknown," says Daniel Melamed in J. S. Bach and the German motet.13 Also, Emmanuel owned both the score and parts set of Cantata 19.
The 1750 estate division of Sebastian’s Michaelmas cantatas shows that two of the four works, BWV 50, “Nun ist das Heil,” and BWV 149 (Picander text, ?Fredemann inheritance) survive in score copies after 1750 while chorale Cantata 130 went to Friedemann (score) and Anna Magdalena parts and Cantata 19 score and parts to Emanuel, “who added two new arias of his own and also a recitative,” says Thomas Braatz in BCW Cantata 19 Provenance, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Ref/BWV19-Ref.htm. Thus, it is quite possible that Emmanuel also performed his father’s Cantata 19 in Hamburg during a Michaelfest.
Postscript. Information on Michaelmas music from the Reformation to Bach’s works as well as the liturgy and contemporary chorales is found at BCW “Musical Context of Bach Cantatas: Motets & Chorales for Feast of St. Michael and All Angels,” http://www.bach-cantatas.com/LCY/M&C-Michael.htm. Information related to Michael and All-Angels, including historical chorales and Reformation celebrations with Michaelmas music and the influence of John Milton’s “Paradise Lost,” are found in the BCML Discussion of Cantata 50, Part 3, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV50-D3.htm.
FOOTNOTES
1Cantata 19 BCW Details & Discography, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV19.htm. Score Vocal& Piano [2.31 MB], http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Scores/BWV019-V&P.pdf, Score BGA [3.10 MB], http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BGA/BWV019-BGA.pdf, Autograph Score (Facsimile), http://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00000884. References, BGA II (Cantatas 11-20, Maurice Hauptmann 1753), NBA: KB I/30 (Michaelfest cantatas, Marianne Helms 1974), BachCompendium BC A 180, Zwang K 152. A new lecture-concert with Helmust Rilling is available, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkgo8Mo3unM.
2 Nicholas Anderson in Oxford Composer Companions: J. S. Bach, ed. Malcolm Boyd (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999: 161f), found at BCW Cantata BWV 19 Commentary, Aryeh Oron wrote (December 1, 2002), http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Guide/BWV19-Guide.htm.
3Cantata 19 Picander text revision with Francis Browne English translation, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/BWV19-Eng3.htm.
4Klaus Hofmann liner notes, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Pic-Rec-BIG/Suzuki-C46c[BIS-SACD1851].pdf; BCW Recording details, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Performers/Suzuki-Rec3.htm#C46.
5The full Schalling three stanza, 13-line text and Francis Browne’s English translation are found at BCW: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/Chorale006-Eng3.htm. The full Christoph Demantius 1620 Psalm 42 setting of 10 stanzas eight lines, and Francis Browne’s English translation are found at BCW http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/Chorale030-Eng3.htm. “Freu dich sehr, o meine Seel” text and melody information and Bach’s uses are found at BCW, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/CM/Freu-dich-sehr.htm.
6 Source materials: BCW Motets & Chorales for St. Michael, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/LCY/M&C-Michael.htm, contributor Douglas Cowling.
7 Alfred Dürr, Cantatas of J. S. Bach, revised and translated by Richard D. P. Jones (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005: 699).
8 Source materials: Cantata 19, BCML Discussions Part 3 (Week of February 20, 1713), http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV19-D3.htm.
9Gardiner liner notes, BCW http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Pic-Rec-BIG/Gardiner-P07c[sdg124_gb].pdf; http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Performers/Gardiner-Rec2.htm#P7.
10 Karl Geiringer, The Bach Family Seven Generations of Creative Genius (London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1954: 57).
11References: Altbachisches Archiv (ABA), http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altbachisches_Archiv (Max Schneider ed.; Breitkopf& Härtel, Leipzig 1935, 1966). Recordings: 1. Cantus Cölln, 2. Rosenmüller Ensemble, 3. Musica Antiqua Köln:1. Recording information, BCW |
