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Cantata BWV 208
Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd!
Cantata BWV 208a
Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd!
Discussions - Part 5 |
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Continue from Part 3 |
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Discussions in the Week of June 10, 2018 (4th round) |
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William L. Hoffman wrote (June 9, 2018):
Bach's First Modern Cantata: Hunt Cantata 208
Bach's Hunt Cantata 208, "Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd! (What pleases me is above all the lively hunt!), composed in 1713, is Bach's most distinguished early work in several respects. It was his first "modern" cantata in the Italianate operatic form with alternating madrigalian poetic da-capo arias and choruses as well as plain recitatives. Cast as a pastoral static opera, it was his first profane congratulatory work for nobility in the serenade and table-music format and has a distinguished history. It was repeated for at least two other notables (with name/title changes Nos. 5, 6, 8, 12, 15) and thus was Bach's first work to be recycled with text changes for a different occasion: Weimar Duke Ernst August's birthday, 19 April 1716, and Saxon Elector Friedrich Augustus II name day, 3 August 1742, Bach's last known profane, celebratory presentation (BWV 208a. https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000263). It is a remarkable work showing Bach's early mastery of Italian concerto and opera form while laying the groundwork for his mature vocal music (see below, "Cantata 208: Notes on Music").
The 40-minute, 13 movement work has seven arias and six recitatives (including dialogue), plus two ensemble choruses (Nos 11, 15) that frame the finale with a lovers' duet (Diane, Endymion) and arias of Pales and Pan. The characters are Diana (goddess of the hunt, Soprano I), Pales (goddess of the flocks, Soprano II), Endymion (Diana's lover and a shepherd, Tenor), and Pan (god of the shepherds, Bass), see below "Cantata 208: Notes on Plot, Text." It is scored for the pastoral orchestra of pairs of hunting horns, recorders and oboes, plus taille (hunting oboe), bassoon, strings and continuo, with distinct scoring in the arias and tutti choruses.1 Although not found in the surviving score (https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00000866), the work could have begun with the earliest version of Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F Major, the extended Sinfonia, BWV 1046a (https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00002019), see below, "Cantata 208 Provenance." The Masaaki Suzuki recording begins with the Sinfonia (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Performers/Suzuki-Rec5.htm#S2, see "Liner Notes"), as well as Helmut Rilling's recording (Allegro only, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwc_cy8Fl_s). The text by Saxe-Weimar court poet Salomo Franck (1659-1725, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Lib/Franck.htm) is a typical homage static opera based on classical mythological, praising the interests and qualities of its honoree. It was published in Franck's Geist- und Weltlicher Poesien Zweyter Theil (Jena, 1716).
Cantata 208 was premiered on Monday, 27 February 2013 at the Jägerhof in Weißenfels, a former hunting lodge, for the birthday of Duke Christian of Saxe-Weißenfels (1682-1736, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Was_mir_behagt,_ist_nur_die_muntre_Jagd,_BWV_208), whose court was a center of artistic and literary life with an opera, a fine orchestra and music library that was a beacon for composers, performers, and distinguished guests (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Tour/Weissenfels.htm, and see below, "Cantata 208 Genesis, Ingredients"). In 1725 there, Bach presented his second milestone Shepherd's Cantata BWV 249a, “Entfliehet, verschwindet, entweichet, ihr Sorgen” (Flee now, vanish, yield now, you sorrows), Picander text with mythological characters, and the virtual parody as the Easter Oratorio (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Vocal/BWV249-Gen5.htm). In 1729, Bach visited the court for the Duke's birthday, Cantata 208 probably was reperformed, and Bach was named honorary Capellmeister (see below, "Bach's Secular Works: Significance, Reception").
By far, the best known movement is the soprano (Pales) aria (No. 9), "Schafe können sicher weiden" (Sheep can safely graze), played at weddings, also in instrumental versions (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYjqnlc7MRw). While Bach did not reuse "Sheep may safely graze," two other arias were parodied in his 1725 Pentecost Monday Cantata 68, "Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt" (God so loved the world, John 3:16), to a text of Mariane von Ziegler: No. 7, Pan Bass aria, "Ein Fürst ist seines Landes Pan! (A prince is the Pan of his country!, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jq9De9qcopc), became No. 4, "Du bist geboren mir zugute" (You have been born for my benefit, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jq9De9qcopc); and No. 13, Pales aria, "Weil die wollenreichen Herden" (While the flocks rich in wool), became No. 2, "Mein gläubiges Herze" (My faithful heart), a heavily modified free-da-capo setting (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kViKJ1gfsZw). Pales aria, "Weil die wollenreichen Herden," closes with an optional ritornello setting, BWV 1040, found in BWV 68/2 (https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00001222, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txRegb3R9r8).
In 1728 or 1729, Bach parodied the Cantata 208 closing da-capo chorus (No. 15), "Ihr lieblichste Blicke, ihr freudige Stunden" (You loveliest glances, you joyful hours), as the opening chorus in the Michaelmas Cantata 149, "Man singet mit Freuden vom Sieg" (Songs are sung with joy of victory, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIyiSIUcMXY; details, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV149-D4.htm, paragraph beginning "Bach’s lively opening chorus . . .). Also, the chorus was parodied again to close the 1740 Town Council Cantata, BWV Anh. 193, "Herrscher des Himmels, König der Ehren" (Ruler of heaven, king of all honor; by Z. Philip Ambrose), text only surviving, with No. 7, "Es falle ietzt auf uns dein himmliches Feuer" (The heavenly fire still falls on us), while the Cantata 208 Pales aria (No. 13) text is possibly parodied as No. 5, "Dancke Gott, daß er in Segen" (Thank God, that he in blessing).
Cantata 208 (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV208.htm) movements, scoring, text, key, meter;
German Text and Francis Browne English translation, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/BWV208-Eng3P.htm):
1. Recitative secco, arioso [Soprano I, continuo]. Diana: "Was mir behagt, / Ist nur die muntre Jagd! / Eh noch Aurora pranget, / Eh sie sich an den Himmel wagt, / Hat dieser Pfeil [Adagio] schon angenehme Beut [Presto] erlanget!" (What pleases me / is above all the lively hunt! / Before the Goddess of Dawn shines, / before she dares to appear in sky / this arrow has already got fine booty!); F to B-flat Major, 4/4.
2. Aria binary A-A1; ritornello opening, complex [Soprano I, Corno da caccia I/II, Continuo]: Diana: A. "Jagen ist die Lust der Götter, / Jagen steht den Helden an!" (Hunting is the gods’ delight / Hunting suits heroes!); A'. "Weichet, meiner Nymphen Spötter, / Weichet von Dianen Bahn!" (Out of the way, my mocking nymphs, / Out of Diana’s way.); F Major; 6/8 bouree style.
3. Recitative secco, arioso; canon direction [Tenor, Continuo]: Endymion: "Wie? Schönste Göttin? Wie? / Kennst du nicht mehr dein vormals halbes Leben? / Hast du nicht dem Endymion / In seiner sanften Ruh / So manchen Zuckerkuss gegeben? / Bist du denn, Schönste, nu / Von Liebesbanden frei? / Und folgest nur der Jägerei?" (What, most beautiful goddess, what? / Do you know no more what was once half your life? / Have you not to Endymion / in his gentle rest / given many sweet kisses? / Are you, fairest, now / free from love’s bonds? / And do you follow only the hunt?); d minor; 4/4.
4. Aria da capo; ostinato form; ritornello complex [Tenor, Continuo]: A. Endymion: "Willst du dich nicht mehr ergötzen / An den Netzen, / Die der Amor legt?" (Will you no more take pleasure / in the snares / that Love sets?); B. "Wo man auch, wenn man gefangen, / Nach Verlangen, / Lust und Lieb in Banden pflegt." (There once people are caught by their desire / they care for love and pleasure in their bonds.); d minor; 4/4.
5. Recitative (Dialogue, Duet in canon), secco, arioso [Imitation trio: Soprano I, Tenor; Continuo): Diana: "Ich liebe dich zwar noch! / Jedoch / Ist heut ein hohes Lieht erschienen, / Das ich vor allem muss / Mit meinem Liebeskuss / Empfangen und bedienen! / Der teure Christian, / Der Wälder Pan, / Kann in erwünschtem Wohlergehen / Sein hohes Ursprungsfest itzt sehen!" (I do indeed still love you! / But / today an exalted light has appeared / which before everything else I must with my loving kiss / embrace and serve! / Our dear Christian, / the Pan of the forests, / in the prosperity we desired for him / can now see his great birthday festival!); Endymion: "So gönne mir, / Diana, dass ich mich mit dir / Itzund verbinde / Und an "ein Freuden-Opfer" zünde." (Then grant to me, / Diana, that with you I / may join / and kindle a joyous offering.); Beide (Both): "Ja! ja! wir tragen unsre Flammen / Mit Wunsch und Freuden itzt zusammen!" (Yes indeed! Let us bring our flames / along with our good wishes and joy!); B-flat to C Major; 4/4.
6. Recitative secco [Bass, Continuo]: Pan: "Ich, der ich sonst ein Gott / In diesen Feldern bin, / Ich lege meinen Schäferstab / Vor Christians Regierungszepter hin, / Weil der durchlauchte Pan das Land so glücklich machet, / Dass Wald und Feld und alles lebt und lachet!" (I, who am usually a god / in these fields, / I lay down my shepherd’s crook / before Christian’s ruling sceptre, / since this most noble Pan makes the country so happy
that forest and field and everything lives and laughs!"; a minor to G Major; 4/4.
7. Aria, complex concerto-ritornello with Vokaleinbau [Bass; Oboe I/II, Taille, Continuo]: Pan: "Ein Fürst ist seines Landes Pan! / Gleichwie der Körper ohne Seele / Nicht leben, noch sich regen kann, / So ist das Land die Totenhöhle, / Das sonder Haupt und Fürsten ist / Und so das beste Teil vermisst." (A prince is the Pan of his country! / Just as the body without the soul / cannot live nor move / so is that country a grave for the dead / that is without its head and prince / and in this way is lacking its best part.); C Major; 4/4 gigue style.
8. Recitative secco, arioso [Soprano II, Continuo]: Pales: "Soll denn der Pales Opfer hier das letzte sein? / Nein! Nein! / Ich will die Pflicht auch niederlegen, / Und da das ganze Land von Vivat schallt, / Auch dieses schöne Feld Zu Ehren unsrem Sachsenheld / Zur Freud und Lust bewegen." (Should Pales’ offering be here the last? / No, no! / I shall also lay my duty down before him / and while the whole country resounds with “Vivat”, / this beautiful field also / to honour our hero of Saxony / I shall stir up to joy and delight."; F Major to minor; 4/4.
9. Aria da capo, ritornello structure, pulsating bass [Soprano II; Flauto traverso I/II, Continuo]: A. Pales: "Schafe können sicher weiden, / Wo ein guter Hirte wacht." (Sheep can safely graze / where a good shepherd watches over them.); B. "Wo Regenten wohl regieren, / Kann man Ruh und Friede spüren / Und was Länder glücklich macht." (Where rulers are ruling well, / we may feel peace and rest / and what makes countries happy."; B-flat Major; 4/4.
10. Recitative secco [Soprano I; Continuo]: Diana: "So stimmt mit ein / Und lasst des Tages Lust vollkommen sein!" (Then join in our song / and let the day’s delight be complete!); F Major; 4/4.
11. Chorus da capo; A. fugue permutation, B 2 homophonic; internal ritornello (13mm); instrumental doubling [SATB; Corno I/II, Violino I/II, Violino I e Oboe I all' unisono, Violino II e Oboe II all' unisono, Viola e Taille all' unisono, Violoncello e Fagotto all' unisono, Violone grosso, Continuo]: A. Tutti: Diana, Pales, Endymion, Pan; "Lebe, Sonne dieser Erden" (Live, sun of this earth); B. "Weil Diana bei der Nacht / An der Burg des Himmels wacht, / Weil die Wälder grünen werden, / Lebe, Sonne dieser Erden." (while Diana in the night / keeps watch on the fortress of heaven, / while the forests grow green, / live, sun of this earth.); F Major; 4/4.
12. Aria free da-capo (Duet, parallel voices); tri-partite reprise structure A-B-A1 [Soprano I, Tenor; Violino solo, Continuo]: A. Diana, Endymion: "Entzücket uns beide, / Ihr Strahlen der Freude, / Und zieret den Himmel mit Demantgeschmeide!" ((Enchant us both, / you rays of joy, / and adorn the heavens with diamond jewellery!"; B. "Fürst Christian weide / Auf lieblichsten Rosen, befreiet vom Leide!" (May Prince Christian feast on / the loveliest roses, freed from sorrow.); F Major; 3/4.
13. Aria, framing ritornelli; Piu Presto [Soprano II, Continuo]: Pales: "Weil die wollenreichen Herden / Durch dies weitgepriesne Feld / Lustig ausgetrieben werden, / Lebe dieser Sachsenheld!" ( While the flocks rich in wool / through this widely honoured field / are joyfully driven, / long live this hero of Saxony!); F Major; 3/4 pastorale style; addendum: trio miniature concerto-ritornello from Pan's theme (violin, oboe, continuo), placement uncertain, BWV 1040.
14. Aria da capo [Bass, Continuo], A. Pan: "Ihr Felder und Auen, / Laßt grünend euch schauen, / Ruft Vivat itzt zu!" (You fields and meadows / appear and show how green you are, / shout out “Vivat”!); B. "Es lebe der Herzog in Segen und Ruh! / May the Duke live in blessing and peace!); F Major; 3/8 gigue character.
15. Chorus da capo [SATB; Corno I/II, Oboe I/II, Taille, Fagotto, Violino I/II, Viola, Violoncello, Violone, Continuo]: Tutti: Diana, Pales, Endymion, Pan; A. "Ihr lieblichste Blicke, ihr freudige Stunden, / Euch bleibe das Glücke auf ewig verbunden! / Euch kröne der Himmel mit süßester Lust! (You loveliest glances, you joyful hours, / may happiness forever remained linked to you / May heaven crown you with sweetest delight!); B. "Fürst Christian lebe! Ihm bleibe bewusst, / Was Herzen vergnüget, / Was Trauren besieget!" (Long live Prince Christian! May he always know / what pleases the heart / what conquers sorrow!
Cantata 208: Notes on Plot, Text
The plot, says Konrad Küster is as follows:2 <<At first, only Diana, the goddess of hunting (a sport for which the duke had an extraordinary passion), appears "on stage" . . . and praises hunting as the passion of gods and heroes. Then Endymion appears; he feels rejected by his beloved Diana who at the moment is concerned only with hunting. Endymion expresses his feelings in another recitative-aria pair. Then Endymion and Diana join together in a short dialogue about the reasons for her behaviour, in which Diana explains that today her action is focused on Duke Christian's birthday. At once Endymion accepts this excuse, and they both decide to join in the Duke's celebration. The recitative-aria pattern is repeated with the appearances of Pan and Pales, who, unlike Diana and Endymion, praise the duke unreservedly. A short recitative for Diana leads to the first "chorus" (strictly speaking, an ensemble; the upper parts are for two sopranos, and there is no alto part). This is followed by a succession of arias without recitatives. First Diana and Endymion fulfill their promise to serenade the duke in a duet; then Pales and Pan each sing another aria, and the work ends with another "chorus." >>.
Duke Christian on 12 May 1712 married Luise Christine of Stolberg-Ortenberg. Franck added a second stanza for the couple in the closing chorus (No. 15), that was sung in succeeding performances in Weißenfels but is usually omitted today. It is found in Z. Philip Ambrose’ English translation on-line with notes (NA, http://www.uvm.edu/~classics/faculty/bach/BWV208.html); German text, https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000261?XSL.Style=detail). BWV 208(c), 2/23/29, "Die Anmut, das Glück bedeine (The charm extended, the luck served). Text: "Das Glücke bediene / Den Herzog und seine / Luise Christine! / Sie weiden in Freuden auf Blumen und Klee, / Es prange die Zierde der fürstlichen Eh, / Die andre Dione, / Fürst Christians Krone!" (The charm extended, the luck served / the Duke and his Louise Christine, / They relaxed in joys amid flowers and Klee / Is pilloried the ornament on the / Princely marriage of the other Dione [Diana], / Prince Christian's Crown!). Cantata 208 may have been a gift of Bach's employer, William Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Weimar, for his neighbouring ruler who was an avid and noted hunter.
Cantata 208 with a revised text possibly by Johann Elias Bach, was presented for the name day of Dresden monarch August III, August 3, 1742, with a new title, “Verlockender Götterstreit, BWV 208a” (https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000263?XSL.Style=detail. The text of Pales' recitative (No. 8), was revised to change the reference from Duke Christian to King August: "Mein Opffer soll gewißlich nicht / Das lezte seyn. / Nein! nein! / Ich wills zu deinen Füßen legen; / Denn da das ganze Land von vivat schallt, / Soll dieses schöne Feld / Dir, großer König, Fürst und Held, Zu Ehren sich bewegen." (My offering shall surely not / The last be. / No! No! /. I will at your feet lie / Then when the whole country "long live" resounds / Shall this beautiful field / Thee, great king, prince, and hero / To glory stir you.); recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baGrzOY1bmI, 13:18 8. Récitatif (Soprano 2), Mein Opfer soll gewißlich nicht das letzte sein).
Cantata 208: Notes on Music
The significance of Cantata 208, particularly involving its ingredients, is found in Richard D. P. Jones' first volume on Bach's "Creative Development."3 In 1713, Bach was mastering both the Italian style of the instrumental concerto and the new operatic style of the libretto, as conceived in the German cantata form of Erdmann Neumeister in 1700. A miniature drama as a pastoral play set to music, "like countless operas and cantatas of the period," says Jones (Ibid.: 245), Cantata 208 showed a remarkable development for Bach during the early Weimar years beginning in 1708, far beyond the mere imitation of Handel's Italian secular cantatas (1706-10, also for nobility, https://www.discogs.com/Handel-Italian-Secular-Cantatas/release/5194128) while laying the groundwork for Bach's mature vocal works in a distinctly German style.
Building on his earlier cantatas using brief choruses and arias set to biblical and chorale texts, the Neumeister and Meiningen 1704 court mixed type madrigalian verse appealed to Bach's both progressive and conservative instincts, offering "a fruitful and satisfying accommodation between past and present, between the traditional forms of Lutheran Church music and the up-to-date forms of the Italian opera," says Jones (Ibid.: 243). The polarity of the new recitative and aria Fortspinnung ritornello, statement and interpretation, increased a sense of subjectivity and expressiveness, with a wider range of personal drama and emotion. Now, Bach in Cantata 208 has achieved the "modern cantata style suddenly manifest in full, executed to perfection, and graced with a charmingly youthful freshness of invention," says Jones (Ibid.: 245), as well as a virtuoso show-piece for singer and obbligato instrument.
The music begins with a deliberate differentiation between the sophisticated, operatic lovers Diana and Endymion and the folk-like, rustic pastoral gods Pan and Pales in their paired recitatives and arias and their duets. Bach's handling of recitatives, found nowhere else before, is "remarkably assured," as the plain-spoken recitation becomes embellished arioso on key words, "a dual structure that will become characteristic of Bach's recitatives during the Weimar and Cöthen years," he says (Ibid. : 246). In the four da-capo repeat arias, the B section structure is "far more extended" than previously, giving scope for freer treatment of the text. The selective, non-da capo arias range from Diana's bi-partite (A-A1) first aria (No. 2) to Pales singular continuo ritornello framing aria (no. 13), to Pan's most complex concerto-ritornello complex with vocal insertion (No. 7), a techniques Bach fully exploits in his Leipzig sacred cantata choruses. The first duet of the lovers Diana and Endymion (No. 5) begins as a recitative dialogue and becomes a duet in Canon with arioso embellishments. Their second duet (No. 12) is a tri-partite aria (free-da capo-like) reprise structure (A-B-A1) "that will prove highly fruitful in later years," says Jones (Ibid.: 247). The two tutti choruses, both da-capo, involve in the first (No. 11) a fugal-homophonic "fusion that will often occur in Bach's future vocal works," and the closing hoophonic chorus (No. 15) "is perhaps the most richly inventive movement in the whole work," he says (Ibid.: 248), showing illustrating Bach's mature Fortspinnung type (see recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baGrzOY1bmI, "SHOW MORE" for queing miovements 1-15). Within a few months, Bach began composing new church cantatas: elaborate joyous two-part chorus BWV 21, "Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis in meinem Herzen" (I had much affliction in my heart), per ogni tempo (for anytime) and sorrowful soprano solo BWV 199, "Mein Herze schwimmt im Blut" (My heart swims in blood) for the 11th Sunday after Trinity.
Other Commentaries
Insight into Bach’s Cantata 208 and the courts at Weimar and Weißenfels is found in Marva J. Watson, “The Historical Figures of the Birthday Cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach” (Master’s Thesis, 2010), BCW Articles, http://bach-cantatas.com/Articles/Historical-Figures-Watson.pdf: see Chapter 2, ”Duke Christian of Saxe-Weißenfels” and “The Birthday Cantata for Duke Christian,” p. 13ff.
Cantata BWV 208 provided the model and impetus for a series of Bach birthday serenades in Köthen as well as serenades and the more formal “drammi per musica” in Leipzig [See BCW Article, “Bach’s Dramatic Music: Serenades, Drammi per Musica, Oratorios,” (see http://bach-cantatas.com/Articles/HoffmanBachDramaII.htm, " Bach’s Calling Pursued: Mühlhausen and Weimar").
Cantata 208 Genesis, Ingredients
The genesisof Cantata 208 and its contents are explored in Klaus Hofmann 2012 liner notes to the Massaki Suzuki recording (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Pic-Rec-BIG/Suzuki-S02c[BIS-SACD1971].pdf). << Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd What Gives Me Pleasure Is Only The Lively Hunt, BWV 208 Bach’s ‘Hunt’ Cantata is his earliest surviving secular cantata. It takes us to 1713 and Weimar, where the composer had worked since 1708 as court organist, and from Weimar it immediately takes us onwards to Weißenfels, where the birthday of Duke Christian of Sachsen-Weißenfels (1682–1736) was celebrated on 23rd February of each year. In fact the celebrations were not confined to that day alone, but went on for days or even weeks – and, as the Duke was passionate about hunting, the celebrations were always associated with hunt gatherings. This cantata was heard at the birthday celebrations in 1713 ‘after a hunting contest at the Prince’s hunting lodge, as musique de table’ – at least according to a volume of poetry published in 1716 by Salomo Franck (1659–1725), author of the cantata’s text, who was employed at the Weimar court. The performance probably took place after the festive programme at Weißenfels; in the court records for this day we find the remark: ‘Pleasure hunt... In the evening a banquet in the hunting lodge’.
The cantata’s outline was fine-tuned for its position in the festive programme. The preceding ‘hunting contest’ provided the poet with a keyword from which he developed a modest dramatic plot in which four divinities from ancient mythology appear, offering birthday congratulations. It is set in motion by Diana, goddess of the hunt, who avows her zeal for hunting and – with a hint of a flattering sideways glance towards the Duke – declares the hunt to be the domain of the gods and goddesses. Next Endymion arrives, Diana’s lover, with the gift of eternal youth. He feels neglected and remonstrates with Diana, but she explains to him that on this day she must devote herself entirely to the Duke. Thereupon they decide to bring the Duke a ‘tribute of joy’. Pan, the goat-footed god of the forests and fields, appears and, as a sign of his subservience, places his shepherd’s crook before the Duke, paying him the compliment that, as ‘durchlauchter Pan’ (‘illustrious Pan’) (thus in a sense a princely fellow-god) he imbues the country with joy and happiness. Indeed – as he continues, in exaggerated terms – a country without its prince would be like a lifeless body without a soul. Pales, the goddess of shepherds and fields, joins the ranks of well- wishers, praising the Duke’s abilities as a ruler with the image of a good shepherd in whose care the sheep safely graze, i.e. his subjects live happily in peace and calm. Diana calls for everyone to shout ‘Vivat’, and everyone joins in: ‘Lebe, Sonne dieser Erden’ (‘Live, sun of this earth’). This concludes the main part of the plot. In a sort of concluding tableau, Diana and Endymion (as a duet), Pales and Pan (each with a solo aria) all convey their congratulations one more time, before joining together in the finale to sing of the ‘freudigen Stunden’ (‘joyful hours’) and future happiness.
Bach has done his bit to endow the scenario with variety and rich tonal colours. The aria portraying Diana’s arrival is accompanied by two hunting horns – symbols of princely rank as well as of the Duke’s passion for hunting – which later also play a prominent role in the cantata’s two tutti movements. Although Endymion’s first aria is backed by continuo alone, the continuo writing itself features an agile, skillful basso ostinato, which illustrates Love’s ‘traps’ (as described in the text) with intricate rhythms and melodies. In Pan’s first aria, he is allocated a trio of oboes which, with its fanfare-like opening ritornello, alludes to the princely rank of the celebrant. Pales, in her first aria, is accompanied by recorders – typical shepherds’ instruments. Moreover, Bach strikes a folk-like tone: the two recorders move simply in thirds and sixths; the pedal-point-like beginning from the basso continuo alludes to the sound of bagpipes; and the vocal part has the character more of a song than of an aria. The congratulatory chorus ‘Lebe, Sonne dieser Erden’, intoned by all the singers, begins in the manner of a canon for communal singing, but then makes way for the instruments in a songful, homophonic middle section that contrasts with the polyphonic, concertante opening. In their duet, Diana and Endymion display unity through the constant parallel writing of their vocal lines, accompanied by the sweeping arabesques of a solo violin. Virtuosic continuo writing characterizes Pales’ second aria, whilst that of Pan features dance-like rhythms. The final chorus is imbued with charm and harmony. In the process, a leading role is given to the two horns. A signal-like horn motif is heard at the beginning and runs through the entire instrumental writing – which, however, is dominated throughout by the lively interplay of the two horns, three oboes and strings (plus bassoon). The predominantly homophonic vocal writing strikes a cheerful, gracious tone; only in passing does Bach briefly emphasize the words ‘was Trauren besieget’ (‘what conquers sadness’) with a darkening of the harmony.
Bach must have valued this work highly: he had it performed on at least two subsequent occasions in honour of other people, with minor adjustments to the text. He also used ‘parody’ versions of various movements in sacred cantatas, for example in 1725, when he incorporated Pan’s first aria, and – in extensively modified form – Pales’ second aria into the cantata Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt (BWV 68: movements 4 and 2). Similarly, in 1728 he used the finale of the birthday cantata as an introductory chorus in the cantata Man singet mit Freuden (BWV 149); much later, in 1740, he reused the same movement as the final chorus of the election cantata "Herrscher des Himmels, König der Ehren (BWV Anh. 193 – now lost).">>
© Klaus Hofmann 2012
Cantata 208 Provenance
Production Notes "At the 1750 estate division, "it appears that all the materials associated with any given work of this sort [secular cantatas] were bequeathed to a single heir, in contrast to the procedure followed for the cycles of cantatas," say the authors of the Bach Compendium (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Ref/IndexRef-BC-G.htm),4 where the manuscript scores and parts sets were divided usually between the two oldest sons, Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl Philipp Emanuel. Emanuel received virtually all of the second group of miscellaneous vocal works and they were listed individually in his 1790 Estate Catalogue (BWV 206, 211, 204, 201, 207, 212, 210, 213-215). The extant score (P-42, https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00000866) (and possibly the now lost parts) of Cantata 208 apparently went to Friedemann, then to Georg Poelchau, then to BB (now Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin Preußischer Kulturbesitz, 1841). Bach student Christoph Friedrich Penzel copied the score in 1756 (https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00004592), as well as the Sinfonia, BWV 1046a in 1760, which is extant (Provenance: C. F. Penzel - J. G. Schuster (1801) - F. Hauser (1833) - J. Hauser (1870) - BB (now Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preußischer Kulturbesitz; 1904). Emanuel's inheritance is found in the Carl Ludwig Hilgenfeldt's Johann Sebastian Bach's Leben, Wirken, and Werke (Leipzig: Hofmeister, 1850).
About 1860 the othersecular cantatas began surfacing and Cantata 208 was published in 1881 by the Bach Gescellschaft as Vol. XXIX, ed. Paul Graf Waldersee, with Cantatas BWV 209-11, 194, 134a (frag.), 210a, and 240. Masaaki Suzuki's "Production Notes for Cantata 208 examines the score and related materials: <<The only surviving material in connection with this cantata is the full score in the composer’s own hand in the collection of the National Library in Berlin; the parts used for the original performances are no longer extant. On the final page of the score is inscribed a separate instrumental movement (BWV 1040), thought to be related to the aria ‘Weil die wollenreichen Herden’ (No. 13). When that aria was adapted for use in the church cantata BWV 68 in 1725, the instrumental section was included as a postlude, and it seems likely therefore that it should be included here too. Until recently there were no other known examples of Bach using such an instrumental ritornello as the postlude to an aria, but a very similar case – Alles mit Gott, BWV 1127 – was discovered in Weimar in 2005.
The next question we need to consider is that of who sang the choral movements (11 and 15). The instrumentation of both movements is indicated in Bach’s own manuscript of the full score, but there are no indications in the vocal parts. However, since the first and second vocal parts are both written in the soprano clef, one might imagine that they were sung by the sopranos who took the two solo roles of Diana and Pales. The problem is that the tessitura of the second part (c' to d'') is much lower than that of the solo movement sung by Pales (e' to a flat''), making it unlikely that this part would have been taken by the same soloist who sang the role of Pales. Instead it falls within the typical range employed by Bach in alto parts, and on purely musical grounds it is thus natural to assume that it was sung by other singers. Taking the extra-musical context into consideration, there is nothing intrinsically strange about letting the people present – or indeed a larger assembly of gods – praise Duke Christian, and we have therefore decided to add members of the BCJ choir to these movements. As an opening of this disc, we have chosen to perform the Sinfonia BWV 1046a/1, from the earlier version of Brandenburg Concerto No. 1. This movement has exactly the same orchestration as the ‘Hunt’ Cantata and may well have been performed together with that work at the time.>>
© Masaaki Suzuki 2012
Other Weimar Secular Music. Besides wedding Cantata 202, Bach may have composed another birthday and another wedding cantata in Weimar – all to Salamo Franck texts: Bach’s most popular solo soprano wedding Cantata BWV 202, “Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten” (Vanish Now, Ye Mournful Shadows), probably was composed at Weimar, says Alfred Dürr (Bach Cantatas: 893f). Surviving in a score from 1730 with antiquated notation, its secular libretto appears to be by Franck and its musical style has Weimar features in its recitatives and arias. No specific wedding occasions in Weimar, Köthen, or Leipzig, have been found. Bach also may have set Franck’s texts to two Weimar Court cantatas (no music survives) for the wedding of Ernst August, January 24, 1716, titled “Diana, Amor, Apollo, Ilmene,” and a birthday cantata for his new Duchess Eleonore from Köthen, on May 18, 1716, titled “Amor, die Treue und die Beständigkeit,” says Christoph Wolff.5
Bach's Secular Works: Significance, Reception
An overview of the secular cantatas is provided in the Bach Compendium "Preliminary Remarks." An "unusually high proportion of works for which no material has survived," other than the texts which suggest a large number of missing occasional works with parodied movements, shows a broad spectrum and includes a number of works between 1725 and 1740 described as drammi per musica, scenically conceived with allegorical characters that resemble an act of a morality opera. Most of these works were commissions for the Leipzig music director from a variety of sources — courts, education, and civic and bourgeois groups. The most important performing ensemble was the "Bachisches Collegium Musicum" and ad-hoc groups students, amateurs and Bach's students. They perfromed at various locales, mostly notably the Zimmerman Coffee House/ Garden next to the Grimma Gate, the Market Place of the three annual fairs, the houses of nobility and the bourgeoise, and the Thomas School where Bach was cantor.
The significance of Bach's secular works and the reception history prejudices are described in Bach scholar Klaus Hofmann's 2012 introduction to the Maasaki Suzuki first recording of these works. "Alongside Bach’s production of church music – around 200 cantatas, the oratorios, masses and motets – his secular vocal works occupy a modest place in his output. Today we know of the existence of some fifty secular cantatas, but only about half of these have survived in performable condition. The original total of such works was probably significantly larger, but it seems that the secular cantatas in particular had a habit of going astray. They were occasional pieces, mostly tailored especially to the situation that engendered them – und thus (unlike the church cantatas) they could not be performed again in unaltered form in other circumstances. Thus, for Bach’s heirs, they were of little practical interest.
"Their close association with a unique festive occasion, with specific people, the conventions of the time and historical circumstances is a further reason why Bach’s secular cantatas have to this day remained overshadowed by his sacred works. In addition, modern listeners are often unfamiliar with the context (especially the mythological context) of the subject matter – which once would have been common knowledge. Furthermore, an important role is played by a prejudice dating back to the nineteenth century: the belief that Bach’s true artistry manifested itself in his church music, whilst his secular compositions were from an artistic point of view merely by-products of minor importance.
"This narrow-minded view has, however, long been disproved. In Bach there is no difference in quality be- tween sacred and secular music. Bach always approached the challenges inherent in commissioned works of a secular nature with the same artistic vigour that we find in his church music. All of the surviving secular cantatas testify to this, including the two works on this recording" (BWV 208, BWV 134a). Most challenging to the sense and sensibility of most listeners is the text, which seems archaic, obsequious, quaint, and embarrassing. Likewise, the sacred texts, without the classical allusions and excepting the chorale stanzas, may seem similarly irrelevant in today's society, but essential to the music to which they were set so skillfully.
FOOTNOTES
1 Cantata 208 BCW Details, Discography, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV208.htm; Score BGA, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BGA/BWV208-BGA.pdf; References BGA XXIX (Secular Cantatas, Paul Graf Waldersee, 1881); NBA KB I/35, Alfred Dürr, Festmusiken für die Fürstenhäuser von Weimar, Weißenfels und Köthen, https://www.baerenreiter.com/en/shop/product/details/BA5023_01/, Miniature score Bärenreiter (Dürr 1964), https://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/sheet-music/products/7090497--bach-js-cantata-no-208-was-mir-behagt-bwv-208-urtext; Breitkopf, Bernhard Todt: 9790004173596, Bach Compendium BC G 1, Zwang W 1.
2 Commentary, Peter Bloemendaal wrote (February 19, 2005), <<I like to share with you Konrad Küster's elucidating article on this week's Hunting Cantata as published in the Oxford Composer Companions: J. S. Bach (Oxford University Press, . Konrad Küster is professor of musicology at Freiburg University and an expert on Bach's Thuringian period. In 1996 he published "Der junge Bach".>> See also, Aryeh Oron wrote (February 21, 2005): BWV 208 - Dürr's Commentary, Cantata BWV 208 and Weissenfels; http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV208-D3.htm.
3 Richard D. P. Jones, The Creative Development of Johann Sebastian Bach, Vol. 1: 1695-1771, Music to Delight the Spirit (Oxford University Press, 2007: 244ff).
4 Hans-Joachim Schulze, Christoph Wolff; Work Group G: Secular Cantatas for Court, Nobility and Bourgeoisie, "Preliminary Remarks," in Bach Compendium: Analytisch-bibliographisches Repertorium der Werke Johann Sebastian Bachs (Frankfurt, Edition Peters, 1986-89: 1449; https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bach-Compendium).
5 Christoph Wolff, Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician, Updated ed. (New York: W. W.Norton & Company, 2013: 177).
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To Come: Weimar solo soprano wedding Cantata BWV 202. |
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