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Cantata BWV 1135=Anh 199
Siehe, eine Jungfrau ist schwanger
Discussions - Part 1 |
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Discussions in the Week of March 20, 2016 (4th round) |
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William L. Hoffman wrote (March 20, 2016):
Annunciation Cantatas BWV 182 and Anh. 199: Intro.
The incarnation of Jesus at the Feast of the Annunciation and his triumphal entry in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, showing true God and True Man, crossed paths for Bach at least twice and initially produced his first regular service cantata on March 25, 1714, BWV 182 "Himmelskönig, sei willkommen" (Heavenly King, be welcomed). It was premiered in the small Weimar Schlosskirche court chapel, on March 25, 1714, when the Feast of the Annunication fell on Palm Sunday. It was Bach's most-often repeated cantata, documented reperformances at least five times: 1717-23 (twice, not in Weimar), March 25, 1724 (Annunciation, Saturday), March 21, 1728 (Palm Sunday), and after 1728.
Probably set to an unpublished text of court poet Salomo Franck, the original Cantata 182 Palm Sunday work in eight movements lasting a half hour features an opening instrumental sinfonia, two da-capo style choruses to open and close as well as three internal arias in succession (nos. 4-6), a single recitative-arioso paraphrasing biblical text as a Vox Christi (no.3), and a motet chorale fugue fantasia on Paul Stockman's Passion 1636 narrative hymn, “Jesu Leiden, Pein und Tod" (Jesus, suffering, pain and death).1 Bach set the penultimate Stanza 33, "Jesu, deine Passion/ Ist mir lauter Freude," (Jesus, your passion/ is for me pure joy") 1636. It is found in the NLGB as No. 77 under Passion hymns of "Jesus suffering and death." The melody (Zahn 6288) is by Melchior Vulpius (1609), "Jesu Kreutz, Leiden und Pein" (Jesus' Cross, Suffering and Pain).
Serendipity marked Bach’s only opportunity in Leipzig to repeat Cantata 182, since Palm Sunday was part of the Lenten season closed time. The exception was the Marian fixed Feast of Annunciation on March 25 when Bach in 1724 as part of Service Cycle 1, again was able to present two cantatas, before and after the gospel sermon. Before the sermon, Bach premiered lost Annunciation Cantata BWV Anh 199, "Siehe, eine Jungfrau ist schwanger" (Behold, a virgin is pregnant). Now contrast in form could be greater then these two works:
Cantata 182 has no formal structure while Cantata BWV Anh. 199 is one of 10 balanced structures using Alfred Dürr’s third group of six-movement musical sermon with opening biblical dictum (usually) chorus and closing plain chorale flanking aria-plain chorale-recitative-aria. These works fell between during de tempore (Ordinary Time), Septuagesimae to Ascension Feast (plus Reformation). The other distinction in the first cycle was that these two cantatas were part of Bach’s 15 “double” offerings that constitute a mini-cycle of six two-part cantatas (BWV 75, 76, 21, 147, 186, and 70) and nine double-headers (BWV 24+185, 179+199, 63+238, 181+18, 22+23, A199+182, 31+4, 172+59 and 194+165).
Initially, in the confines of the court chapel, Bach produced a simple five-part chamber music scoring of recorder, violin concertante with violin di ripieno, two violas and continuo with violoncello. For first Leipzig performance in 1724, Bach expanded the orchestra with a solo violin, oboe, and strings. It appears that in 1714, Bach may have simply repeated the opening chorus at the end in double-da-capo style and later composed a new closing joyous chorus, “So lasset uns gehen in Salem der Freuden” (So let us go in the Salem of joy). While the initial recorder in the sinfonia suggests the coming Passion, Bach in the first Leipzig revival for the Feast of the Annunciation strengthened the continuo group,” observes Nicholas Anderson in his essay on Cantata 182 in Oxford Composer Companions: J. S. Bach.2 In “the second, probably in 1728, he added an oboe” that “can be felt particularly in the instrumental Sonata. . . .”
Finally, Bach had achieved his calling of a “well-ordered church music to the glory of God,” stated in his resignation letter of 1708 in Mühlhausen, observes Eric Chafe in the chapter “The Way of the Cross: Cantatas 182 and 12,” in Tears into Wine: J. S. Bach’s Cantata 21 in Its Musical and Theological Contexts.3 Cantata 182 opening sinfonia (a miniature French overture in the Italian style) suggests “a new beginning” showing “Jerusalem, in its multiple meanings,” with Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week, “for the Passion is directed toward his coming to the church, to the hearts of the faithful, and at the end of time. . . .” The eschatological interpretation of Jesus in Jerusalem “connects up with the final chorus that refers to “Salem” or “Zion,” the other names for Jerusalem.
The merger of Palm Sunday and the Feast of the Annunication, particularly when they both occurred on March 25, enabled Bach to create music that explores the richness and uniqueness of Jesus Christ through the study of Christology, focusing on the dual nature of incarnation and passion. Central to this concept are the two paradoxical Martin Luther-affirmed doctrines of Jesus' nature in the gospels as Son of God (fully divine) and Son of Man (fully human). These embrace the three states of Christ in the kenosis (emptying) parabola (descent-ascent) hymn of Phillippians 2:5-11 or Col. 1:15-20: pre-incarnational glory, death, and resurrection, says noted theologian Cornelius Plantinga Jr. in the article "Christus Paradox" (Calvin College, Grand Rapids MI, nd). Other paradoxical images include Jesus as lamb and shepherd, prince and slave, steward and servant.
Palm Sunday coincided with the Feast of the Annunciation, March 25, three times when Bach presented service cantatas: 1714, Cantata BWV 182; 1725, Chorale Cantata BWV 1, "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern" (How brightly shines the morning star); and 1736, when it appears Bach performed Stözel’s lost two-part Annunciation cantata, "Er soll Nazarener heißen" (He shall be called Nazarene, Matthew 2:23).
Bach’s first use in Leipzig of Cantata 182, "Himmelskönig, sei willkommen" (Heavenly King, be welcomed), with its incipit double meaning of welcoming Jesus into the world and Jerusalem, took place on the Feast of the Annunciation, on Saturday, March 25, 1724, just over a week before Palm Sunday on April 2. Because Leipzig tradition forbid any figural music during the “closed” Lenten period, except for the Marian Feast of Annunciation on the fixed date of March 25, Bach was able to piggy-back Cantata 182 on a double-bill with a new (lost) Annunciation Cantata BWV Anh 199, "Siehe, eine Jungfrau ist schwanger" (Behold, a virgin is pregnant). The music is lost but the surviving text shows music with two popular Annunciation chorales: verse 2 of Otto Niccolai’s 1699 "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern" (How brightly shines the morning star), wedding hymn of the human Soul and the divine Jesus, and verse 7 of Luther’s 1524 Christmas nativity hymn "Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ" (Praise be to you, Jesus Christ).
The double bill of Cantata BWV Anh. 199 and BWV 182 was presented at the early main service of the Thomas church, before and after the sermon on the Annunciation Gospel, Luke 1:26-38 (Gabrielprophesies to Mary and Elizabeth) by Pastor Christian Weise Sr. (1671-1736), possibly the librettist of Cantata BWV Anh. 199, with the music by tradition repeated at the afternoon main vesper service at the Nikolaikirche, records Martin Petzoldt in Bach Commentary, Vol. 1.4
The Readings for "Mariä Verkündigung" (Feast of Annunciation of Mary) are: Epistle: Isaiah 7:10-16 (Behold, a virgin shall conceive; Gospel: Luke 1:26-38 (Gabriel prophesies to Mary, Elizabeth). The German text of Luther’s translation 1545 and the English Authorised (King James) Version 1611 are found at BCW, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Read/Annunciation.htm. The Palm Sunday Readings are: Epistle: Philippians 2:5-11 (The humility of Christ) or 1 Corinthians 11:23-32 (The Last Supper); Gospel: Matthew 21:1-9 (Christ’s entry into Jerusalem). The German and English texts are found at BCW http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Read/Palm.htm.
Cantata 182 Weimar Origins
“Bach's concertmaster promotion dated from March 2, 1714, two days before Oculi Sunday, so that the fourth Sunday following his new appointment fell on March 25,” says Christoph Wolff in Bach: The Learned Musician.5 <<It was this double feast of Palm Sunday and Annunciation for which Bach prepared the inaugural cantata to be performed in his new capacity: "Himmelskönig, sei willkommen," BWV 182, scored for four voices (SATB), recorder, violin, two violas, violoncello, and continuo (violone and organ). The concurrence that year of Palm Sunday and the Marian feast, a rarity in the liturgical calendar, provided an incentive for the ambitious overall design of the piece. Consisting of eight movements, with ten-part scoring for the tutti movements, it permitted Bach to make a major artistic statement and, at the same time, to show the court capelle at its best.
The poetic makeup of the libretto links it to Salomo Franck, the secretary of the ducal consistory in Weimar, who was to publish two annual cycles of cantata texts, for 1715 and 1717. The text draws on Psalm 40: 8,9 for the recitative (no. 3) and on Paul Stockmann's 1633 Passion hymn "Jesu Leiden, Pein und Tod" for the penultimate movement (no. 7). In a typically Lutheran reinterpretation, the Marian feast of the Annunciation is given a Christological focus: instead of honouring Mary, it venerates Christ as the true King of Heaven. Through the sacred poetry of the cantata, the piece becomes an effective and expressive musical sermon on the Palm Sunday gospel (Matthew 21: Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem), lauding Christ the healer of the world (no. 4), admonishing the faithful to meet him properly (no. 5), praying "Let me not abandon, Lord, the banner of thy cross" (no. 6), foreshadowing Christ's Passion and its meaning (no. 7), and culminating in the anticipation of the believers' entry into the eternal Jerusalem, "the Salem of gladness" (no. 8) The Sonata is designed in overture manner and, by featuring a concerted violin-recorder duo accompanied almost exclusively by plucked strings, creates a distinct ensemble sound that draws immediate attention to the unfolding musical score and, no less important, insures that the leading role of the new concert master would not be lost on the audience.>>
Two versions of Cantata BWV 182 exist: the Weimar shorter one in B-Flat Major for Palm Sunday and the longer one in G Major in Leipzig for the Feast of Annunciation. Of the documented six performances, the first three involve the Weimar setting and the last three in Leipzig. The NBA KB I/8.1-2 [p. 123, Christoph Wolff, 1998] indicates how different parts and different arrangement/selection of movements from this cantata BWV 182 resulted in at least six different performances during Bach's lifetime [Cantata BWV 182, Details, BCW http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV182.htm]:
1st performance: March 25, 1714 - Weimar (B-Flat Major version]
2nd performance: 1717-1723 - Weimar (undatable, possibly performed away from the Weimar Court Chapel)
3rd performance: 1717-1723 - Weimar (undatable, possibly performed away from the Weimar Court Chapel)
4th performance: March 25, 1724 - Leipzig [G Major version]
5th performance: March 21, 1728 - Leipzig (and possibly another performance using this particular arrangement later on in Leipzig)
6th performance: After 1728 with the date being uncertain - Leipzig (again using the 1728 version).
The second and third performances of Cantata BWV 182 between 1717 and 1723 are still not documented but collateral evidence suggests that its music may have been performed at sacred services in the Köthen Court St. Agnes Church, required annually on December 10, Prince Leopold's birthday, and January 1 New Year's festival. Meanwhile, Bach presented newly-composed secular serenades for the court presentations on the same dates and these are documented. Further, surviving parts show that Bach reperformed all or sections of Weimar sacred Cantatas BWV 21, "Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis" (second version), and BWV 172, "Erschallet, ihr Lieder, erklinget, ihr Saiten (C Major version). Like Cantata BWV 182, these two works are among Bach's most elaborate cantatas, and also may have served as works for his 1719 probe for the position of organist at Jakobikirche in Hamburg that Bach declined. This is documented in Stephen Daw's Appendix C, "List of music attributed to Bach's Köthen period (December 1717 to May 1723) on positive documentary and/or historical grounds" (pp. 217ff) in Friedrich Smend's <Bach in Köthen> (St. Louis MO: Concordia, 1985.
Cantata 182 Movements, Socring, Incipits, Keys, Meters:6
1. Sonata Grave, 5-part writing [Flauto, Violino concertante, Violino di ripieno, Viola I/II, Continuo e Violoncello.]; G Major Weimar, B-Flat Major Leipzig; 4/4.
2. Chorus da-capo, A. fugue with homophonic closing, B. two-part vocal canon [SATB; Flauto, Violino, Viola I/II, Violoncello, Continuo]: A. “Himmelskönig, sei willkommen, / Laß auch uns dein Zion sein!” (King of heaven, welcome, / let us also be your Zion!; B. Komm herein, / Du hast uns das Herz genommen.” (Come within, / You have taken our hearts from us.); G Major/B-flat; 4/4
3. Recitative secco/Arioso Vox Christi [Bass; Continuo e Violoncello]: Siehe, ich komme, im Buch ist von mir geschrieben; deinen Willen, mein Gott, tu ich gerne.” (See, I come, in the Book it is written of me: your will , my God, I do gladly.); C/Eb; 4/4.
4. Aria free da-capo [Bass; Violino, Viola I/II, Continuo]: A. Starkes Lieben, / Das dich, großer Gottessohn, /
Von dem Thron / Deiner Herrlichkeit getrieben” (Mighty love / by which you, great Son of God, / from the throne / of your glory were driven); B. “Daß du dich zum Heil der Welt / Als ein Opfer vorgestellt” (so that for the salvation of the world / you presented yourself as a sacrifice); C/Eb; 4/4.
5. Aria da-capo [Alto; Flauto solo, Continuo): A. “Leget euch dem Heiland unter” (Put yourselves beneath the Saviour); B. “Tragt ein unbeflecktes Kleid / Eures Glaubens ihm entgege” (Wear an unspotted robe / of your faith to meet him); e/g; 4/4.
6. Aria free da- capo [Tenor; Continuo e Violoncello]: A. “Jesu, laß durch Wohl und Weh / Mich auch mit dir ziehen!” (Jesus, through weal and woe / let me go with you!); B. Schreit die Welt nur "Kreuzige!" / So laß mich nicht fliehen” (If the world cries only "Crucify," / do not let me flee}; b/d; 3/4.
7. Chorale motet fugue with canto, Pachebel stytle [SATB; (Flauto, Violino, Viola I/II, Violoncello, Continuo): “Jesu, deine Passion / Ist mir lauter Freude” (Jesus, your passion / is for me pure joy); G/Bb; 2/2.
8. Chorus da-capo [SATB; Flauto, Violino, Viola I/II, Violoncello, Continuo]: A. “So lasset uns gehen in Salem der Freuden” (So let us go in the Salem of joy); B. “Er gehet voran / Und öffnet die Bahn.” (he goes before / and opens the way); G/Bb; 3/8 gigue style.
Note on the text: “The librettist has not been identified, but the Weimar court poet, Salomo Franck, has often been cited as a possible author. The text, which draws on Psalm 40 (vv.8-9), as well as incorporating a strophe of Paul Stockmann’s hymn ‘Jesu Leiden, Pein und Tod’ (1633), is closely related to the appointed Palm Sunday Gospel, in particular in the part of it which describes Christ’s entry into Jerusalem. (Information from Oxford Composer Companions: J. S. Bach: 221)
Paul Stockman Passion Chorale
<<Francis Browne wrote (February 17, 2005): BWV 182/7, ‘Jesu deine Passion ist mir lauter Freude.’ In next week's cantata Bach uses in the seventh movement a chorale ‘Jesu deine Passion ist mir lauter Freude. “This, I have discovered, is the 33rd (and penultimate) strophe of a hymn by Paul Stockmann ‘Jesu Leiden, Pein und Tod’ which Bach used also in BWV 159 ‘Sehet, wir gehn hinauf gen Jerusalem’ and three times in the Saint John Passion (four times in the 1725 version).
In his discussion of the background of Bach's Passion settings Christoph Wolff mentions ' the traditional practice under which the congregation sang rhymed Passion paraphrases in the form of the twenty three stanza hymn by Sebald Hayden “O Mensch, beweine dein Sünde” gross of 1525 or the twenty four stanzas of Paul Stockmann's ‘Jesu Leiden, Pein und Tod of 1633' (p290, Johann Sebastian Bach, The Learned Musician).
Whether the hymn is 24 or 34 stanzas it is not included in the 900 pages of my Evangelisches Gesangbuch and it is not included in sites that usually have most of the texts of the hymns used by Bach.>> (BCML Cantata 182 Discussions, Part 2, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV182-D2.htm)
The same stanza and melody, “Jesu deine Passion ist mir lauter Freude,” is found in the soprano canto insertion into the bass aria, "Himmel reiße, Welt erbebe" (Heaven tear, world shake; in the 1725 second version of the St. John Passion, BWV 245a(=245II/11(a) from Bach's1717 Weimar/Gotha Passion, as well as the closing pain chorale (No. 5) in the 1726 Estomihi Cantata BWV 159. Other uses are the St. Luke Passion, BWV 246, and the St. Mark Passion, BWV 247/21(S.8). The full NLGB texts and translations of Stockman’s and Haydn’s Passion chorales will found in this week’s BCML St. John Passion Discussion.
Annunciation Chorale Usages7
Bach's Feast of Annunciation chorale usages and associations embrace connecting hymns related to similar thematic events in the church year. This is because there were no chorales assigned specifically to the Feast of the Annunciation in Bach's Leipzig hymn book, <Das Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch> (NLGB) of 1682. In Bach's time in Weimar and Leipzig, the strongest associated Annunciation hymns, based on Dresden as well as other hymnbooks, were:
1. "Jesu Leiden, Pein und Tod" (Jesus suffering, pain and death), Paul Stockman's 33-stanza 1636 Passion hymn of "Jesus Suffering and Death" with the dual nature of Incarnation and Passion, that in Bach's time was sung on Palm Sunday preceding Holy Week and Good Friday and found in Bach presentations of the Passions of John, Luke, and Mark, BWV 245-47. Another related Passion chorale is "Herr Jesu Christ, wahr' Mensch und Gott" (Lord Jesus Christ, truly man and God) set as Chorale Cantata BWV 127 for Estomihi Sunday, February 11, 1725, the work that preceded Bach's Chorale Cantata BWV 1 for Annunciation on March 25.
2. "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern" (How brightly shines the morning star), Otto Niccolai's 1599 <omne tempore wedding hymn of the human Soul and the divine Jesus under the hymnbook heading "God's Word and the Christian Church," that is Bach's most versatile chorale in cantatas for Advent, Ascension, Trinity 20, and Pentecost and now is associated with Christmas.
3. "Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ" (Praise be to you, Jesus Christ), Martin Luther's 1524 Christmas hymn that Bach used in Christmas Cantatas BWV and the Christmas Oratorio.
4. "Herr Christ, der einge Gottes Sohn" is a Catechism Justification chorale (NLGB No. 231 (Zahn melody 4297a). Bach's uses of only of Stanzas 1 and 5 are in Cantata BWV 22/5 (S.5, Estomihi), Chorale Cantata BWV 96 (S.1, 5; Trinity 18), BWV 132/6 (S.5, Advent 4), and BWV 164/6 (S.5, Trinity 13). See BCW, "Musical Context of Bach Cantatas, Motets & Chorales for 13th Sunday after Trinity" [ http://www.bach-cantatas.com/LCY/M&C-Trinity13.htm.
Bach’s Annunciation Performance Calendar
Bach's Annunciation performance calendar is a fascinating study of his motives, methods, and opportunities for music he presented on the Feast of the Annunciation. It shows eight different cantatas involving only two original, surviving works, BWV 182 (double duty for Palm Sunday, six performances) and Chorale Cantata BWV 1, with one lost cantata (Anh. 199), and a Picander text for Annunciation 1729 that Bach did not set, Cantata P-27, "Der Herr ist mit mir" (The Lord is with me/on my side, Psalm 118:6). Meanwhile, there are five works of colleagues with strong Annunciation associations: a lost Johann Ludwig Bach cantata probably presented in 1726, "Ich habe meinen Konig eingesetzt auf Zion, meinem heiligen Berg." (I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion, Psalm 2:6); a Johann Friedrich Fasch work probably presented in 1732, two Gottfried Heinrich Stözel cantatas performed in the second half of the 1730s, and a Georg Philipp Telemann piece once attributed to Bach and possibly performed by him with no established date, BWV Anh 156 "Herr Christ der einge Gottessohn" (Lord Jesus Christ, God's only son), is catalogued TVWV 1:732.
G. H. Stözel's two cantatas cycles were probably performed by Bach in the second half of the 1730s. On Annunciation, March 25, 1736, Bach probably performed a Stözel two-part cantata, "Er soll Nazarener heißen" (He shall be called Nazarene, Matthew 2:23), for the "Fest Mariae Empfängnis" (Festival of Mary's Immaculate Conception), that is not extant, as part of the cycle "Saitenspiele testeddes Hertzens" (Music Playing of the Heart), text by Benjamin Schmolck, with two chorale settings not identified. Again on March 25, perhaps 1737, Bach also may have performed a Stözel two-part cantata, "Ich habe dich zu Lichte der Heiden gemacht" (I have made thee the light to the heathens, Isaiah 49:6) from the cantata cycle "Das Namenbuch Christi," (Book of Names of Christ), using a Schmolck text. No musical source with the presumed chorales is extant.
The diversity of music for the Annunciation and Conception of Jesus, with appropriate biblical and poetic texts and popular chorales, suggests that while Bach left little original music, he did present acceptable works of well-known colleagues that explored various facets of this crucial, allowed Lutheran Marian festival that fell during the austere Leipzig closed period of Lent. Themes and teachings range from the Messianic pr, Jesus' conception and birth, and Christ's Passion and death, to the dual nature, the so-called Christus Paradox of truly man and truly God embodied in Christian belief. Other themes are the "Wedding of the Soul and Jesus" and the importance of the Nicene Creed passage that begins the affirmation of Jesus Christ.
1714-03-25 So (Palmsonntag) - Cantata BWV 182 Himmelskönig, sei willkommen (1st performances, Weimar)
1724-03-25 Sa - Cantata BWV Anh 199 Siehe, eine Jungfrau ist schwanger 1st performance, Leipzig; Music lost) (?) Cantata BWV 182 Himmelskönig, sei willkommen (4th performance, Leipzig)
1725-03-25 So (Palmsonntag) - Cantata BWV 1 Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern (1st performance, Leipzig)
1726-03-25 Mo - J.L. Bach: Cantata Ich habe meinen Konig eingesetzt, JLB (1st performance, Leipzig; lost)
1727-03-25 Di – no performance documented
1729-03-25 Fr -- Picander P-27, "Der Herr ist mit mir" (The Lord is with me, Psalm 118:6), text only
1732-03-25 Di - J.F. Fasch: Cantata Gottes und Marien Kind (1st performance, Leipzig)
1736-03-25 So (Palm Sunday) - Stözel "Er soll Nazarener heißen" (lost)
?1737-03-25 Do - Stözel "Ich habe dich zu Lichte der Heiden gemacht" (lost)
Vocal works with no definite date
(Weimar Years) - Cantata BWV 182 Himmelskönig, sei willkommen (2nd & 3rd performances, Weimar)
(After 1728) - Cantata BWV 182 Himmelskönig, sei willkommen (6th performance, Leipzig)
(?) - G.P. Telemann: Cantata BWV Anh 156 Herr Christ der einge Gottessohn, TVWV 1:732 (not known if performed by J.S. Bach)
Lost Cantata BWV Anh. 199
Cantata BWV Anh 199, "Siehe, eine Jungfrau ist schwanger" (Leipzig, 1724? [double bill with BWV 182] survives only in the text; the music is lost [Details, BCW, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWVAnh199.htm. Only the printed text survives, along with the text of Cantata BWV 22 for Quinquagesima Estomihi Sunday (February 20, 1724) in the collection of S. W. Dehn (1799-1856), found in Leningrad in 1938. It is quite possible that the librettist was the same as for Cantata 22, which originally served as the first part of Bach's successful Leipzig probe in early 1723. The poet has been designated as "Author A" by Albert Schweitzer and could be St. Thomas Pastor Christian Weiss Sr., Bach's probe host. The full text is found in Wolf Hobohm's "Neue `Texte zu Leipziger Kirchen-Musik" (<Bach Jahrbuch> 1973: 16-17).
The opening dictum, "Behold, a virgin is pregnant, is from Isaiah 7:14, "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel." It is found as an alto recitative (No. 8) in Handel's "Messiah."
1. Chorus, "Siehe, ein Jungfrau ist schwanger, und wird einen Sohn gebähren, dein wird sie heissen Immanuel."
2. Aria, "Ihr frohen Lippen reget euch!" (Ye joyful lips, raise yourselves)
3. Chorale: Ei meine Perl', du werte Kron',
Wahr'r Gottes- und Mariensohn,
Ein hochgeborner König!
Mein Herz heißt dich ein Lilium,
Dein süßes Evangelium
Ist lauter Milch und Honig.
Ei mein Blümlein,
Hosianna, himmlisch Manna,
Das wir essen,
Deiner kann ich nicht vergessen!
Ah my pearl, my precious crown,
true son of God and Mary,
a king of most noble birth!
My heart calls you a lily,
your sweet gospel
is pure milk and honey.
Ah my dear flower,
hosanna, heavenly manna,
that we eat,
I cannot forget you!
[Philipp Nicolai: verse 2 of "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern" (details, see below, Cantata BWV 1);
English translation Francis Browne, BCW Chorale: Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern - Text & English Translation.]4. Recitative, "Wir Menschen waren weyland tod in Sünden" (We mortals were previously dead in sins)
5. Aria, "Nur, der Immanuel/ Schafft, daß das Freuden-Oel" (Only Emmanuel makes the oil of joy)
6. Chorale
Das hat er alles uns getan,
Sein' groß' Lieb' zu zeigen an.
Des freu' sich alle Christenheit
Und dank' ihm des in Ewigkeit.
He has done all this for us
to show his great love,
at this all Christendom rejoices
and thanks him for this in eternity.
[Martin Luther: verse 7 of "Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ" (Praise be to you, Jesus Christ) (Mvt. 6), NLGB No. 16, Christmas (Zahn melody 1947); other Christmas usages: Cantata BWV 64/2 (S.7, Xmas 3), 91/6=64/2 alternate setting (S. 7, Xmas 1), 248/28; also BWV 604 (OB), 697 (Kirnberger), 722-23 (Misc.).]
Feast of the Annunciation/Conception/Incarnation
Since the Reformation, the three special Marian Festivals honoring the Virgin Mary, Jesus' mother, were celebrated as festivals of Jesus Christ and were observed with festive main service music during Bach's Leipzig tenure. In particular, the Lucan Gospel readings are part of the Vespers evening and Compline night prayer services of the Canonical Hours or Offices. The Feast of the Purification of Mary (Mariä Reinigung, February 2) became the Feast of the Presentation of the baby Jesus in the Temple (Darstellung [status of] Jesu) concluding with Simeon's canticle (Luke 2:29-32): "Now, Lord, let thy servant depart" (<Nunc dimittis>). The Feast of Gabriel's Annunciation to Mary (Mariä Verkündigung," March 25) became the Feast of the Conception of Jesus (Luke 1:31) (born nine months later on December 25), "And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS." The Feast of Mary's Visitation (Mariä Heimsuchung, July 2) to her sister, Elizabeth, became the Magnificat (Luke 1:46), the Canticle of Praise, "My soul doth magnify the Lord."
Previous BCW Discussion on Annunciation THE ANNUNCIATION OF THE LORD - 25 MARCH – SOLEMNITY Ed Myskowski (BCW) wrote (March 26, 2007): The First Joyful Mystery of the Rosary. Today the Church [RC] celebrates that day when the Archangel Gabriel requested Our Lady to be the Mother of God. Mary accepts and declares herself to be the handmaid of the Lord.
The Annunciation is one of the three most ancient feasts of Our Lady (with Purification and Visitation). The feast probably dates from the Council of Ephesus in 431, when Our Lady was proclaimed the Mother of God. This proclamation was because of a heresy which denied Mary's Divine Motherhood. It was also the Council of Ephesus which added the following words to the Hail Mary: "Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death, Amen."
This feast has been known by many names over the years including: "the Feast of the Incarnation," "the beginning of the Redemption," "the Conception of Christ" and "the Announcing of the Christ." <end quote>
BCW, Events in the Church Year, Part 3.
Lukan Series of Announcements, Canticles of Praise
"Annunciation" means "announcement." The term in the readings refers specifically to the so-called Marian Feast of the Annunciation, March 25, in the Catholic tradition, the announcement of the Incarnation of the Virgin Mary. The term annunciation, or announcement, also is applied to various announcements or activities and related canticles of praise in the first two chapters of the Gospel of Luke. Specifically, the Catholic Bible, Catholic Church Extension, contains the following sequence: Gabriel's Announcement of the conception of John the Baptist to his father, Zechariah (1:11-21); Gabriel's announcement six months later (March 25) to Mary of the conception of Jesus to (1:26-38); Mary's immediate Visitation to Elizabeth, wife of Zechariah Canticle (1:46-56) and < Magnificat>; Zechariah's prophetic Canticle on the birth of John the Baptist (June 24, 1:67-79); the Angel's Announcement to the Shepherds of the Birth Jesus (Christmas, December 25, 2:8-14); and Jesus' Presentation (announcement, February 2, 40 days after Christmas) in the Temple with Simeon's Canticle, 2:22-32.
While Mary's Visitation to Elizabeth and <Magnificat> occurred immediately after her conception (March 25), the event originally was celebrated on July 2. Here is the dating: "The old date of July 2 goes back to 1389 when Pope Urban VI established it as a feast to be kept throughout the Western Church. It was moved to May 31 in 1969 by Pope Paul VI in the revision of the calendar. The date chosen was May 31st, which was already the minor commemoration of Mary as Queen of the Apostles. It would round out the month of May, which is particularly set aside for devotion to the Virgin. It would also bring the celebration in line with the timing of Christmas (six months before) and Annunciation (three months after) for Mary and for Elizabeth, it would coincide with the conception (six months after) and nativity (three months before) of John the Baptist," says Father Timothy Matkin, "Timoetheos Prologizes.”
Incarnation and Passion
Cantata BWV 182, BCW Discussion (Part 3) in the Week of May 23, 2010, Douglas Cowling wrote (May 23, 2010): The juxtaposition of the themes of the Incarnation and the Passion inspired Bach's imagination, not unlike the 17th century English mystic, John Donne [1572-1631] who wrote a poem, "The Annunciation and Passion," on the occurrence of Good Friday and the Annunciation: " ... this doubtful day /Of feast or fast, Christ came, and went away" (See BCML Cantata 182 Discussion, Part 3, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV182-D3.htm).
Apostles, Nicene Creeds
While the concept of the Immaculate Conception and the Veneration of the Virgin Mary remain conflicting issues among Christians, the basic principle is established and affirmed in the two Christian Creeds generally affirmed by Catholics and mainstream Protestants.
+The Apostles Creed says, "I believe . . . in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord: Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, Born of the Virgin Mary"; and . . . .”
+The Nicene Creed says: "I believe . . . in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God,/ Begotten of his Father before all worlds,/ God of God, Light of Light,/ Very God of very God,/ Begotten, not made, / Being of one substance with the Father, / By whom all things were made; / Who for us men, and for our salvation came down from heaven,/ And was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, / And was made man . . ."
In Latin, the last part of the Nicene Creed text above reads: "Et incarnatus est de Spiritu sancto ex Maria virgine. Et homo factus est" (And was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man). In Bach's setting of the Nicene Creed in the <B-Minor Mass>, this passage is a five-part chorus in old motet style but the source of the presumed contrafaction has not been found. Bach harmonized Luther's original, vernacular setting of the Creed, "Wir glauben all an einem Gott (We all believe in One God) the second stanza (Jesus Christ), plain chorale BWV 437, with 32 measures in D Major in his complex style of the 1730s with full voicing, elaborate rhythm and chromaticism. The relevant text is: "Von Maria, der Jungfrauen, ist ein warer Mensch geboren durch den heiligen Geist" (Of Mary, the virgin, he is true man born through the Holy Spirit).
FOOTNOTES
1 Details Cantata BWV 182, BCW http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV182.htm. Score Vocal & Piano [2.63 MB], http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Scores/BWV182-V&P.pdf; Score BGA [3.19 MB], http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BGA/BWV182-BGA.pdf. References: BGA: XXXVII (Cantata 181-190, Alfred Dörffel, 1891); NBA KB 1/28.2 (Annunciation, Matthias Wendt/Uwe Wolf, 1995), NBA KB I/8.2 (Palm Sunday, Christoph Wolff, 1998); Bach Compendium BC A 53, A 172; Zwang K 10.
2 Anderson essay, Oxford Composer Companions: J. S. Bach, ed. Boyd, Malcolm (New York: Oxford University P ress: New York, 1999: 220f).
3Chafe, Tears into Wine (New York: Oxford University Press, 2015:474-507).
4 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: 659f).
5 Wolff, Bach: The Learned Musician (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2000: 156f).
6 German text and Francis Browne English translation and “Note on the text,” BCW http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/BWV182-Eng3.htm.
7 Material source, BCW Chorales and Motets for Feast of Annunciation of Mary, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/LCY/M&C-Annunciation.htm.
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To Come: St. John Passion |
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Discussions in the Week of March 5, 2017 (4th round) |
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William L. Hoffman wrote (March 3, 2017):
Annunciation Cantata BWV Anh. 199, "Siehe, ein Jungfrau ist schwanger
The significance of Bach’s lost Annunciation Cantata BWV Anh. 199, "Siehe, eine Jungfrau ist schwanger" (Behold, a virgin is pregnant), is manifold. Presented on a first-cantata cycle double-bill in 1724, it marks the second work in a mini-cycle series of 10 chorus cantatas with the special form of two plain chorales and two arias with only one recitative, libretto possibly by Bach’s pastor Christian Weise Sr. This Cantata Anh. 199 also may have inaugurated St. Thomas Pastor Weise’s first emblematic series of annual sermons while inspiring Bach to create a textual mini-series of Easter Season cantatas emphasizing Johannine theology of Christus Victor, presented in the second cycle in the Spring of 1725 in lieu of chorale cantatas.
Having just completed his first version of the The St. John Passion, BWV 245, during Lent 1724, Bach was able to compose Cantata Anh. 199 on a double-bill with a revised reperformance of Cantata BWV 182 "Himmelskönig, sei willkommen" (Heavenly King, be welcomed), Bach’s most performed musical sermon.
Except for the internal and closing chorale, the music is lost but the surviving text shows two popular Annunciation chorales: Movement No. 3, verse 2 of Otto Niccolai’s 1599 "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern" (How brightly shines the morning star), wedding hymn of the human Soul and the divine Jesus, and Movement No. 6, verse 7 of Luther’s 1524 Christmas nativity hymn "Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ" (Praise be to you, Jesus Christ). Besides the opening dictum, probably a chorus setting of Isaiah 7:14, the Epistle for this Marian feast, the work continues with an aria, “Ihr frohen Lippen reget euch!” (Ye joyful lips, bestir yourselves!); chorale, “Ey! mein Perle, du werthe Cron (Oh, my pearl thou and precious crown); Recitative: “Wir Menschen waren weyland tod in Sünden” (We mortals formerly were dead in error); aria, “Nur der Immanuel / Schafft, daß das Freuden-Oel” (Only Immanuel / Doth make the oil of joy); and chorale, “Das hat er alles uns gethan” (This hath he all for us now done).1
The double bill of Cantata BWV Anh. 199 and BWV 182 was presented at the early main service of the Thomas church, before and after the sermon on the Annunciation Gospel, Luke 1:26-38 (Gabriel prophesies to Mary and Elizabeth), by Pastor Christian Weise Sr. (1671-1736), possibly the librettist of Cantata BWV Anh. 199, with the music by tradition repeated at the afternoon main vesper service at the Nikolaikirche, records Martin Petzoldt in Bach Commentary, Vol. 1.2 The Readings for "Mariä Verkündigung" (Feast of Annunciation of Mary) are: Epistle: Isaiah 7:10-16 (Behold, a virgin shall conceive; Gospel: Luke 1:26-38 (Gabriel prophesies to Mary, Elizabeth). The German text of Luther’s t1545 and the English Authorised (King James) Version 1611 are found at BCW, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Read/Annunciation.htm. The Introit Psalm is Psalm 40, Expectans expectavi (I waited patiently for the Lord, KJV), found at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+40&version=KJV.
Lost Cantata BWV Anh. 1993
Cantata BWV Anh 199, "Siehe, eine Jungfrau ist schwanger" (Leipzig, 1724? [double bill with BWV 182] survives only in the text; the music is lost [Details, BCW, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWVAnh199.htm. Only the printed text survives, along with the text of Cantata BWV 22 for Quinquagesima Estomihi Sunday (February 20, 1724) in the collection of S. W. Dehn (1799-1856), found in Leningrad in 1938.
The full text of Cantata Anh. 199 is found in Wolf Hobohm's "Neue `Texte zu Leipziger Kirchen-Musik’," Bach Jahrbuch 1973: 16-17). This libretto book, possibly Bach’s first, has seven other works, beginning with the 2nd Sunday after Epiphany 1724: BWV 155, 73, 81, 83 (Purification), and the “Gesima” Sundays BWV 144, 181, and 22.FN It is quite possible that the librettist was the same as for Cantata 22, which originally served as the first part of Bach's successful Leipzig probe in early 1723. The poet has been designated as "Author A" by Albert Schweitzer and could be St. Thomas Pastor Christian Weise Sr., Bach's probe host.
While Cantata 182 has no formal structure, Cantata BWV Anh. 199 is the second of 10 balanced structures using Alfred Dürr’s third group of six-movement musical sermons with opening biblical dictum (usually) chorus and closing plain chorale flanking aria-plain chorale-recitative-aria.5 These works fell during de tempore (Ordinary/Proper Time), beginning with Septuagesimae Sunday with Cantata 144. Then during Easter Season they are Easter Monday, BWV 6; 1st Sunday after Easter (Quasimodogeneti), BWV 42, and Easter 2 (Misericordias Domini), BWV 85; then the 4th to the 6th Sunday after Easter (Cantate, Rogate, Exaudi), BWV 166, 86, and 44); and Ascension Day, BWV 37, plus Reformation Day, BWV 43.
The other distinction in the first cycle was that Cantatas 182 and Anh. 199 were part of Bach’s 15 “double” offerings that constitute a mini-cycle of six two-part cantatas (BWV 75, 76, 21, 147, 186, and 70) and nine double-headers (BWV 24+185, 179+199, 63+238, 181+18, 22+23, Anh. 199+182, 31+4, 172+59 and 194+165). The Estomihi 1723 probe piece, BWV 22 and 23, was a two-part cantata, subsequently divided into two and reperformed, probably individually.
Cantata BWV Anh. 199 Movements, Texts (English translation © Copyright Z. Philip Ambose):
[1. Dictum], ?Chorus: “Siehe, eine Jungfrau ist schwanger, und wird einen Sohn gebähren, den wird sie heissen Immanuel.” (Lo now, there a virgin is pregnant and will bring forth a son then, and she will call him Immanuel. Is. 7:14).
[2.] Aria, “Ihr frohen Lippen reget euch! / Laßt dem Immanuel zu Ehren / Ein Freuden-volles Danck-Lied hören, / Sagt, daß uns Menschen bloß zu gut / An sich genommen Fleisch und Blut, / Der, dem auch ist kein Engel gleich, / Ihr frohen Lippen reget euch.” (Ye joyful lips, bestir yourselves! / To give Immanuel due honor / Let joyful songs of thanks now echo; / Say that to us men for our good / He hath now taken flesh and blood, / To whom there is no angel like. / Ye joyful lips, bestir yourselves!).
[3.] Choral ?Plain, BAR Form : A. “Ey! mein Perle, du werthe Cron, / Wahr Gottes und Marien Sohn, / Ein hochgebohrner König!” (Oh, my pearl thou and precious crown, / Of God and Mary the true Son, / A king born of the mighty!); A’. “Mein Hertz heist dich ein Lilium, / Dein süsses Evangelium / Ist lauter Milch und Honig.” (My heart calls thee the lily's bloom, / Thy soothing Evangelium / Is purest milk and honey.); B. “Ey mein / Blümlein, / Hosianna, / Himmlisch Manna, / Das wir essen, / Deiner kan ich nicht vergessen.” (Oh, my / Blossom, / Oh, hosanna, / Heav'nly manna, / Which we've eaten, / By me thou art not forgotten.).
[4.] Recitative: “Wir Menschen waren weyland tod in Sünden, / Und wusten nicht, wo aus noch ein. / Doch nunmehr hat des Höchsten Krafft / Durch den Immanuel / Und Leben, Heyl und Trost verschafft, / So daß wir auch in Hoffnung seelig seyn. / Und dieses macht, / Daß wir anitzo sind bedacht / Ein Freuden-Opffer anzuzünden.” (We mortals formerly were dead in error / And did not know where we should turn. / But henceforth hath the Highest's pow'r / Through this Immanuel / To us brought life and strength and health, / So that we may in hope find grace and bliss. / And this is why / We here presently intend / A sacrifice of joy to kindle.).
[5.] Aria: “Nur der Immanuel / Schafft, daß das Freuden-Oel / In unsern Glaubens-Tempeln brennt, / Denn das (= daß) uns nichts von Gott mehr trennt, / Weil unsre Sünde abgethan, / Und uns Gott schreibt zum Seegen an, Macht der Immanuel.” (Only Immanuel / Doth make the oil of joy / Within our tempels' faith to burn, / For that us nought from God divides / Now that our sin hath been put off, / And God hath us for bliss inscribed, / This did Immanuel.).
[6.] Choral ?plain: “Das hat er alles uns gethan, / Sein grosse Liebe zu zeigen an, / Des freu sich alle Christenheit, / Und danck ihm des in Ewigkeit.” (This hath he all for us now done / His great love to show alone. / Rejoice then all Christianity, / Give thanks for this eternally.).
Johannine Passion and Cantatas
While the record is still obscure, circumstantial and collateral evidence suggests that Bach conceived the idea of a Johannine mini-cycle possibly as early as Christmas 1723 during the first cycle and looking ahead to the Easter Season. A “decidedly Johannine view of the incarnation – as God’s descent in human form to save man and to bring joy through His defeat of the Devil – in clear anticipation of the message of his John Passion,” began with the three-day Christmas Festival, December 25-27, says John Eliot Gardiner.6 “In three thrilling Christmas Cantatas – BWV 63, 40, and 64 – Bach gives strong emphasis throughout to John’s description of Jesus as Christus Victor,” particularly since the third day of Christmas also is celebrated as the Feast of John the Evangelist and Gospel writer, using the alternative Johannine Gospel readings John 1:1-14, Prologue, or John 21:20 -24: Jesus on John (see BCW, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Read/Christmas3.htm
Bach’s grand design in the first cycle took shape as he looked forward to the completion of this cycle musically and textually with the projected Johannine Passion and the Farewell Discourses central to the Easter Season with its Gospel readings from John in Bach’s time from the 1st Sunday after Easter to the Trinity Sunday Festival, excepting Ascension Day (Mark 16:14-20). 7 In 1724, Bach began the pre-Lenten “Gesima” Sundays with new chorus Cantata 144 on Septuagesima (February 6), followed by a double bill of Weimar Cantata BWV 18 and new Cantata 181 on Sexagesima, with Cantatas 22 and 23 on Quinquagesima. Then Bach during Lent completed the John Passion and probably composed Cantata Anh. 199 for Annunciation (March 25), with the John Passion presented on Good Friday (April 7).
Council Conflict, Easter Season Plans Changed
During the Lenten period, Bach ran afoul of his employer, the Leipzig Town Council. Initially, he had the text of his John Passion printed with the location listed as the St. Thomas Church, despite being informed of the tradition of alternating the annual Passion performance with the Nikolaicirche. On Monday, April 3, the council forced Bach to relocate the performance and reprint the Passion libretto book (Bach Dokument BD II, no. 179).
It also is possible that the council pietist falso complained about the nature of his church texts and Bach began to solicit alternate Easter Season texts. It appears that Bach initially, commissioned the unknown librettist (?Weise) for chorus works for Easter Monday to the 6th Sunday after Easter, excepting Easter Sunday and the 3rd Sunday after Easter (Exaudi) when he reperformed Weimar Cantatas 31 and 12, respectively. At the same time, Bach seems to have commissioned Leipzig poet Mariane von Ziegler to write the cantata librettos for the 10 days of the 4th Sunday after Easter to Trinity Sunday, as a Johannine mini-cycle.
Due to unexpected, changing circumstances, Bach was forced to improvise his Easter Season plans. The printed text book for Easter Sunday to the 2nd Sunday after Easter shows that Bach presented Cantata 31 but substituted parodied Cöthen Cantatas 66 and 134 for Easter Monday and Tuesday, respectively, and Cantata 67, for the 1st Sunday after Easter and Cantata 104 for the 2nd Sunday after Easter.
Then, Bach proceeded for the 4th to the 6th Sundays after Easter (Cantate, Rogate, Exaudi) with new, planned chorus Cantatas 166, 86, and 44 and for Ascension Day, BWV 37. For Pentecost Sunday Bach reperformed Weimar Cantata 172 Cantata 59, and for Trinity Sunday Weimar Cantata 165 and parodied Cöthen Cantata 194, as well as Cöthen parodied Cantatas 173 and 184 for Pentecost Monday and Tuesday, respectively.
The next year, Spring 1725, Bach presented his Easter Oratorio, BWV 249, and followed with his delayed chorus Cantata BWV 6 and a lost cantata for Easter Monday and Tuesday, respectively, observes Eric Chafe in “The Post-Easter cantatas of 1724 and 1725.”8 These were followed by previously-planned Cantata 42 and 85 for the next two Sundays after Easter, respectively then the 10 Ziegler Cantatas (85, 103, 108, 87, 128, 183, 74, 68, 175, and 176)
Feast of the Annunciation
The Feast of the Annunciation of a fixed-dated festival coinciding with the spring equinox (March 25) and the beginning of the Easter Season determined from ancient times, observes Chafe (Ibid.: 57, Footnote 7). Annunciation celebrates both the Passion and the conception of Jesus, nine months before his birth, December 25, and his death at age 33. The Lutheran Church core Theology of the Cross (theologia crucis) focused on the liturgical span from Lent through Passiontide and Easter to Pentecost and Trinity Sundays, observes Chafe (Ibid.: 65). This theology centers on the paradox “that Jesus’s divinity was revealed in his carnation and ignominious death on Good Friday [true God and true man], an expression of the antithesis of faith and experience,” says Chafe. “In Jesus’s resurrection and ascension, the coming of the Spirit [Pentecost] and the final revelation of the Trinity, however, the season increasingly represented what Luther called God’s “proper” work, brought to its completion in the final events of Jesus’s life and thereby articvulation more directly the hopes of the present-day congregation,” says Chafe.
The merger of Palm Sunday and the Feast of the Annunication, particularly when they both occurred on March 25, enabled Bach to create music that explores the richness and uniqueness of Jesus Christ through the study of Christology, focusing on the dual nature of incarnation and passion. Central to this concept are the two paradoxical Martin Luther-affirmed doctrines of Jesus' nature in the gospels as Son of God (fully divine) and Son of Man (fully human). These embrace the three states of Christ in the kenosis (emptying) parabola (descent-ascent) hymn of Phillippians 2:5-11 or Col. 1:15-20: pre-incarnational glory, death, and resurrection, says noted theologian Cornelius Plantinga Jr. in the article "Christus Paradox" (Calvin College, Grand Rapids MI, nd). Other paradoxical images include Jesus as lamb and shepherd, prince and slave, steward and servant.
Palm Sunday coincided with the Feast of the Annunciation, March 25, three times when Bach presented service cantatas: 1714, Cantata BWV 182; 1725, Chorale Cantata BWV 1, "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern" (How brightly shines the morning star); and 1736, when it appears Bach performed Stözel’s lost two-part Annunciation cantata, "Er soll Nazarener heißen" (He shall be called Nazarene, Matthew 2:23).
The incarnation of Jesus at the Feast of the Annunciation and his triumphal entry in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, showing true God and True Man, crossed paths for Bach at least twice and initially produced his first regular service cantata on March 25, 1714, BWV 182 "Himmelskönig, sei willkommen" (Heavenly King, be welcomed). It was premiered in the small Weimar Schlosskirche court chapel, on March 25, 1714, when the Feast of the Annunication fell on Palm Sunday. It was Bach's most-often repeated cantata, documented reperformances at least five times: 1717-23 (twice), March 25, 1724 (Annunciation, Saturday), March 21, 1728 (Palm Sunday), and after 1728.
Lutheran Church Dates, Dates of "Mariä Verkündigung" (Feast of Annunciation of Mary), including dates when Palm Sunday occurred on March 25, Dates of "Mariä Verkündigung" (Feast of Annunciation of Mary, and Bach’s Performance Calendar, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/LCY/Maria-Verkundigung.htm.
Feast of the Annunciation/Conception/Incarnation
Since the Reformation, the three special Marian Festivals honoring the Virgin Mary, Jesus' mother, were celebrated as festivals of Jesus Christ and were observed with festive main service music during Bach's Leipzig tenure. In particular, the Lucan Gospel readings are part of the Vespers evening and Compline night prayer services of the Canonical Hours or Offices. The Feast of the Purification of Mary (Mariä Reinigung, February 2) became the Feast of the Presentation of the baby Jesus in the Temple (Darstellung [status of] Jesu) concluding with Simeon's canticle (Luke 2:29-32): "Now, Lord, let thy servant depart" (<Nunc dimittis>). The Feast of Gabriel's Annunciation to Mary (Mariä Verkündigung," March 25) became the Feast of the Conception of Jesus (Luke 1:31) (born nine months later on December 25), "And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS." The Feast of Mary's Visitation (Mariä Heimsuchung, July 2) to her sister, Elizabeth, became the Magnificat (Luke 1:46), the Canticle of Praise, "My soul doth magnify the Lord."
Previous BCW Discussion on Annunciation THE ANNUNCIATION OF THE LORD - 25 MARCH – SOLEMNITY Ed Myskowski (BCW) wrote (March 26, 2007): The First Joyful Mystery of the Rosary. Today the Church [RC] celebrates that day when the Archangel Gabriel requested Our Lady to be the Mother of God. Mary accepts and declares herself to be the handmaid of the Lord.
The Annunciation is one of the three most ancient feasts of Our Lady (with Purification and Visitation). The feast probably dates from the Council of Ephesus in 431, when Our Lady was proclaimed the Mother of God. This proclamation was because of a heresy which denied Mary's Divine Motherhood. It was also the Council of Ephesus which added the following words to the Hail Mary: "Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death, Amen." This feast has been known by many names over the years including: "the Feast of the Incarnation," "the beginning of the Redemption," "the Conception of Christ" and "the Announcing of the Christ."
Lukan Series of Announcements, Canticles of Praise
"Annunciation" means "announcement." The term in the readings refers specifically to the so-called Marian Feast of the Annunciation, March 25, in the Catholic tradition, the announcement of the Incarnation of the Virgin Mary. The term annunciation, or announcement, also is applied to various announcements or activities and related canticles of praise in the first two chapters of the Gospel of Luke. Specifically, the Catholic Bible, Catholic ChurExtension, contains the following sequence: Gabriel's Announcement of the conception of John the Baptist to his father, Zechariah (1:11-21); Gabriel's announcement six months later (March 25) to Mary of the conception of Jesus to (1:26-38); Mary's immediate Visitation to Elizabeth, wife of Zechariah Canticle (1:46-56) and < Magnificat>; Zechariah's prophetic Canticle on the birth of John the Baptist (June 24, 1:67-79); the Angel's Announcement to the Shepherds of the Birth of Jesus (Christmas, December 25, 2:8-14); and Jesus' Presentation (announcement, February 2, 40 days after Christmas) in the Temple with Simeon's Canticle, 2:22-32.
While Mary's Visitation to Elizabeth and <Magnificat> occurred immediately after her conception (March 25), the event originally was celebrated on July 2. Here is the dating: "The old date of July 2 goes back to 1389 when Pope Urban VI established it as a feast to be kept throughout the Western Church. It was moved to May 31 in 1969 by Pope Paul VI in the revision of the calendar. The date chosen was May 31st, which was already the minor commemoration of Mary as Queen of the Apostles. It would round out the month of May, which is particularly set aside for devotion to the Virgin. It would also bring the celebration in line with the timing of Christmas (six months before) and Annunciation (three months after) for Mary and for Elizabeth, it would coincide with the conception (six months after) and nativity (three months before) of John the Baptist," says Father Timothy Matkin, "Timoetheos Prologizes.”
Incarnation and Passion
Cantata BWV 182, BCW Discussion (Part 3) in the Week of May 23, 2010, Douglas Cowling wrote (May 23, 2010): The juxtaposition of the themes of the Incarnation and the Passion inspired Bach's imagination, not unlike the 17th century English mystic, John Donne [1572-1631] who wrote a poem, "The Annunciation and Passion," on the occurrence of Good Friday and the Annunciation: " ... this doubtful day /Of feast or fast, Christ came, and went away" (See BCML Cantata 182 Discussion, Part 3, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV182-D3.htm).
Apostles, Nicene Creeds
While the concept of the Immaculate Conception and the Veneration of the Virgin Mary remain conflicting issues among Christians, the basic principle is established and affirmed in the two Christian Creeds generally affirmed by Catholics and mainstream Protestants.
+The Apostles Creed says, "I believe . . . in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord: Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, Born of the Virgin Mary"; and . . . .”
+The Nicene Creed says: "I believe . . . in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God,/ Begotten of his Father before all worlds,/ God of God, Light of Light,/ Very God of very God,/ Begotten, not made, / Being of one substance with the Father, / By whom all things were made; / Who for us men, and for our salvation came down from heaven,/ And was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, / And was made man . . ."
In Latin, the last part of the Nicene Creed text above reads: "Et incarnatus est de Spiritu sancto ex Maria virgine. Et homo factus est" (And was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man). In Bach's setting of the Nicene Creed in the <B-Minor Mass>, this passage is a five-part chorus in old motet style but the source of the presumed contrafaction has not been found. Bach harmonized Luther's original, vernacular setting of the Creed, "Wir glauben all an einem Gott (We all believe in One God) the second stanza (Jesus Christ), plain chorale BWV 437, with 32 measures in D Major in his complex style of the 1730s with full voicing, elaborate rhythm and chromaticism. The relevant text is: "Von Maria, der Jungfrauen, ist ein warer Mensch geboren durch den heiligen Geist" (Of Mary, the virgin, he is true man born through the Holy Spirit).
Annunciation Chorale Usages
Bach's Feast of Annunciation chorale usages and associations embrace connecting hymns related to similar thematic events in the church year involving the Marien feasts, the “Gesima” Sundays, and Palm Sunday. This is because there were no chorales assigned specifically to the Feast of the Annunciation in Bach's Leipzig hymn book, <Das Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch> (NLGB) of 1682. In Bach's time in Weimar and Leipzig, the strongest associated Annunciation hymns, based on Dresden as well as other hymnbooks, were:
1. "Jesu Leiden, Pein und Tod" (Jesus suffering, pain and death), Paul Stockman's 33-stanza 1636 Passion hymn of "Jesus Suffering and Death," NLGB No. 77, Passion chorales, with the dual nature of Incarnation and Passion, that in Bach's time was sung on Palm Sunday preceding Holy Week and Good Friday and found in Bach presentations of the Passions of John, Luke, and Mark, BWV 245-47. Another related Passion chorale is "Herr Jesu Christ, wahr' Mensch und Gott" (Lord Jesus Christ, truly man and God) set as Chorale Cantata BWV 127 for Estomihi Sunday, February 11, 1725, the work that preceded Bach's Chorale Cantata BWV 1 for Annunciation on March 25.
2. "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern" (How brightly shines the morning star), Otto Niccolai's 1599 omne tempore wedding hymn of the human Soul and the divine Jesus under the hymnbook heading "God's Word and the Christian Church," NLGB No. 313, that is Bach's most versatile chorale in cantatas for Advent, Ascension, Trinity 20, and Pentecost and now is associated with Christmas. German text and Francis Broiwne English translation, see BCW http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/Chorale015-Eng3.htm.
3. "Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ" (Praise be to you, Jesus Christ), Christmas NLGB 16, Martin Luther's 1524 Christmas hymn, NLGB 16, that Bach used in Cantata BWV 64/2 (S.7, Xmas 3), 91/6=64/2 alternate setting (S. 7, Xmas 1), 248/28; also melody inBWV 604 (OB), 697 (Kirnberger), 722-23 (Misc.).
4. "Herr Christ, der einge Gottes Sohn" is a Catechism Justification chorale, NLGB No. 231(Zahn melody 4297a). Bach's uses of only of Stanzas 1 and 5 are in Cantata BWV 22/5 (S.5, Estomihi), Chorale Cantata BWV 96 (S.1, 5; Trinity 18), BWV 132/6 (S.5, Advent 4), and BWV 164/6 (S.5, Trinity 13). See BCW, "Musical Context of Bach Cantatas, Motets & Chorales for 13th Sunday after Trinity" [ http://www.bach-cantatas.com/LCY/M&C-Trinity13.htm].
Bach's Annunciation Cantata Calendar
While only three original Bach cantatas for the Annunciation Feast are known, Bach also presented works of other composers on this service date, including cantatas of Gottfried Heinrich Stözel and Johann Friedrich Fasch, and possible Johann Ludwig Bach and Geirg Philipp Telemann.
1. Cantata BWV 182 "Himmelskönig, sei willkommen" (Heavenly King, be welcomed) was premiered in Weimar, on March 25, 1714, when the Feast of the Annunication fell on Palm Sunday. It was Bach's most-often repeated cantata, documented reperformances at least five times: 1717-23 (twice, not in Weimar), 1724, 1728, and after 1728. Details are found at BCW, Cantata BWV 182, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV182.htm.
2. Cantata BWV Anh 199, "Siehe, eine Jungfrau ist schwanger" (Behold, a virgin is pregnant) which was introduced in Leipzig probably at Annunciation, March 25, 1724 (Tuesday) on a double bill with a new version of Cantata BWV 182. The music is lost but the surviving text shows music with two popular chorales, "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern" (How brightly shines the morning star) and "Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ" (Praise be to you, Jesus Christ). Details are found at BCW, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWVAnh199.htm.
3. Chorale Cantata BWV 1, "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern" was introduced at on March 25, 1725 (Palm Sunday), when the Feast of Annunciation again fell on Palm Sunday). Detailsare found at BCW, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV1.htm
4. A presumed J. L. Bach Cantata, "Ich habe meinen Konig eingesetzt auf Zion, meinem heiligen Berg." (I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion, Psalm 2:6), for the Feast of the Annunciation, is not extant. The biblical dictum is the opening Old Testament chorus in the Rudolstadt cantata cycle text (1704/26). Psalm 2, is best known for four movements in Handel's< Messiah>: No. 40, bass aria, "Why do the nations so furiously rage together" (Verses 1-2); No. 41, chorus, "Let us break their bonds asunder" (Stanza 3); No. 42, tenor recitative, "He that dwelleth in Heaven" (Stanza 4); and No. 43, tenor aria, "Thou shalt break them" (Stanza 9). A Stözel cantata with the same dictum, "Ich habe meinen Konig eingesetzt," was composed in 1713 for Advent Sunday but the music is not extant
J. L. Bach probably set the Rudolstadt text and Sebastian performed the cantata since it would have been the seventh in 12 consecutive cantatas Bach presented in 1726, beginning with the Feast of the Purification (February 2), JLB-9, "Mache dich auf werde mich" (Change yourself, become light). Sebastian also performed Cantatas JLB-17, "Siehe, ich will meinen Engle senden" for the Feast of John the Baptist (June 24), and JLB 13, "Der Herr wird ein Neues im Lande erschaffen" for the Feast of the Visitation (July 2).
[4a. There was no cantata presented on Annunciation, Tuesday, March 25, 1727, since Bach was completing the music for the first performance of his St. Matthew Passion on Good Friday, April 11.]
5. Picander Cycle Cantata P-27, "Der Herr ist mit mir" (The Lord is with me/on my side, Psalm 118:6) was appropriate for the Feast of the Annunciation, March 25, 1729 (Friday). It closes with No. 6, the Christmas chorale, "Lobt Gott, ihr Christen allzugleich" (Praise God, you Christians, all together, Stanza 1). No performance of any music is documented.
6. Johann Friedrich Fasch's Cantata Fwv D:G 3, "Gottes und Marien Kind" (God's and Mary's Child) probably was performed by Bach on Tuesday, March 25, 1732. The extant source is score copy of Johann Ludwig Dietel (Bach Main Copyist F), according Andreas Glöckner, "Neuerkenntnisse zu JSBs Auffürungskalendar 1729-35" (New Knowledge of JSB's Performance Calendar), <Bach Jahrbuch 1981>: 67).
7-8. G. H. Stözel's two cantatas cycles were probably performed by Bach in the second half of the 1730s. On Annunciation, March 25, 1736, Bach probably performed a Stözel two-part cantata, "Er soll Nazarener heißen" (He shall be called Nazarene, Matthew 2:23), for the "Fest Mariae Empfängnis" (Festival of Mary's Immaculate Conception), that is not extant, as part of the cycle "Saitenspiele testeddes Hertzens" (Music Playing of the Heart), text by Benjamin Schmolck, with two chorale settings not identified. Again on March 25, perhaps 1737, Bach also may have performed a Stözel two-part cantata, "Ich habe dich zu Lichte der Heiden gemacht" (I have made thee the light to the heathens, Isaiah 49:6) from the cantata cycle "Das Namenbuch Christi," (Book of Names of Christ), using a Schmolck text. No musical source with the presumed chorales is extant.
9. Telemann Cantata BWV Anh 156 "Herr Christ der einge Gottessohn" (Lord Jesus Christ, God's only son), formerly attributed to Bach, is catalogued TVWV 1:732. It is not known if it were performed by J.S. Bach.
Cantata Anh. 199 Provenance
Like Bach’s funeral and Trinity Time Cantata BWV Anh. 209, “Liebster Gott, vergisst du mich” (“Dearest God, will you forget me?), the music of Annunciation Cantata 209 is lost, except for the two plain chorales. Since Cantata Anh. 199 was composed during Bach’s first cycle on a double bill, it is probable that it was part of the third-cycle distribution in 1750 between Emmanuel and Friedemann. The pattern shows that the five pre-Lenten cantatas’ scores and parts sets together were generally alternated between the two, with Emmanuel receiving both works for Purification (Cantata 82) and Quinquagesima (Cantata 22), and Friedemann receiving Cantata 18 for Sexagesima, while Septuagesima Cantata 84 score went to Emmanuel and the parts set to Friedemann (both survive).
Therefore, Friedemann probably received the score and parts set for Cantata BWV Anh. 199, which were lost, as were other original materials, particularly the score of 15 chorale cantatas. The original scores and part sets of 10 other cantatas were lost, surviving in copies made by students or associates: 143,145,146, 148-150, 157-159, and 161.
Of the nine double-headers cited above (BWV 24+185, 179+199, 63+238, 181+18, 22+23, Anh. 199+182, 31+4, 172+59 and 194+165), particularly noteworthy are the three pre-Passion double-cantatas presented successively in 1724: Sexagesima, BWV 23 and 22, Quinquagesima, BWV 22 and 23; and Annunciation, BWV Anh. 199 and 182. Like the other seven duple cantatas, Bach kept one in the first cycle and the other went to the third cycle and ultimate distribution. Likewise placed in the third cycle were the Easter Season cantatas delayed one year from the first cycle to the second cycle three by an unknown librettist, possibly Weise (BWV 6, 42 and 85), plus the 10 Ziegler-texted works from the 3rd Sunday after Easter until Trintyfest.
Given these cantata-distribution patterns, it appears possible that Bach while completing his initial St. John Passion at Lent 1724 established two plans involving the Easter Season: an initial cycle which involved back-up parodied-cantatas and a Johannine mini-cycle. The methodical and intentional Bach did not let the Johannine-texts go to waste. In 1725, he presented a second version of the John Passion with opening and closing chorale choruses and an added chorale aria, then ended his chorale cantata cycle by setting and presenting the 13 Johannine cantatas and placing them in his third cycle. In 1726 Bach composing his second, Matthew Passion, now had the freedom and opportunity to substitute cantatas of Meiningen cousin Johann Ludwig, presenting virtually-successive works from the Feast of the Purification until Pentecost Sunday and never having to compose works then for the third cycle.
FOOTNOTES
1 Cantata BWV Anh. 199 Details, BCW http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWVAnh199.htm; music lost, only anonymous text survives. Sources: original print (SSB St. Petersburg); Wolf Hobohm “Neue Texte zur Leipziger Kirchenmusik,” Bach Jahrbuch 1973: 16f; Werner Neumann Sämtliche von J. S. Bach vertonte Texte (complete texts composed by Bach), 1974: 159, 427; BCW http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/BWVAnh199-Ger5.htm. References: BWV 1999: Anh. I 199.
2 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: 659f).
3 Source material, BCW “Motets and Chorales for the Feast of Annunciation of Mary,” http://www.bach-cantatas.com/LCY/M&C-Annunciation.htm.
4 See William Scheide, “Zum Verhältnis von Textdrucken und musikalischen Quellen der Kirchenkantaten Johann Sebastian Bachs” (The Relationship Between the Printed Text Books and the Musical Sources of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Church Cantatas), Bach Jahrbuch 1976: 79-94.
5 Alfred Dürr, Cantatas of J. S. Bach, revised and translated by Richard D. P. Jones (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005: 27f).
6 Gardiner, Bach: Music in the Castle of Heaven (New York: Alfred A Knopf, 2013: 308).
7 While today’s three-year Lection uses the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, John’s gospel is still used exclusively instead on the Sundays after Easter, the 2nd and the 3rd to the 6th Sundays after Easter as well as Pentecost Sunday
8 Chafe, J. S. Bach’s Johannine Theology: The St. John Passion and the Cantatas for Spring 1725 (Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 2014: 41-52). |
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Charles Francis w(March 4, 2017):
William L. Hoffman wrote:
< The significance of Bach’s lost Annunciation Cantata BWV Anh. 199, "Siehe, eine Jungfrau ist schwanger" (Behold, a virgin is pregnant), is manifold. Presented on a first-cantata cycle double-bill in 1724, it marks the second work in a mini-cycle series of 10 chorus cantatas with the special form of two plain chorales and two arias with only one recitative, libretto possibly by Bach’s pastor Christian Weise Sr. This Cantata Anh. 199 also may have inaugurated St. Thomas Pastor Weise’s first emblematic series of annual sermons while inspiring Bach to create a textual mini-series of Easter Season cantatas emphasizing Johannine theology of Christus Victor, presented in the second cycle in the Spring of 1725 in lieu of chorale cantatas. >
There's a piece with the same title by Johann Rosenmüller (1619 – 1684) who studied at the University of Leipzig. A manuscript of it from around 1690 can be downloaded from IMSLP:
http://imslp.org/wiki/Siehe,_eine_Jungfrau_ist_schwanger_(Rosenm%C3%BCller,_Johann) |
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Charles Francis wrote (March 4, 2017):
Also, he was organist at the Nikolaikirche Leipzig from 1651. |
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