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William L. Hoffman wrote (November 28, 2021):
Bach was most fortunate to have been involved in the bicentenary of the Protestant Reformation as observed throughout Lutheran Germany, first with the 31 October to 2 November 1717 for the three-day festive observance of the beginning of the Reformation involving Martin Luther's posting of his 95 theses of church reform, through the Augsburg Confession of 1730 in Leipzig and in the 1739 acceptance in Saxony of the Lutheran confession as celebrated in Leipzig. Robin A. Leaver's Bach Studies,1 Chapter 14, "Bach's Clavierübung III"; BCW, describes the last and most auspicious of the celebrations of the 1739 jubilee year,2 while the 1717 observance is explored in Leaver's related final Chapter 15, "Bach and the anniversaries of the Reformation," which covers Bach's Reformation cantatas, historical background, Reformation Cantata 63, 1717 Reformation bicentenary, and Cantata 50 as a Reformation work. The three-day special festival for Observance of the 200th Anniversary of the Augsburg Confession3 was conducted in three services on June 25-27, 1730, with parodies of Bach festive New Years and Town Council cantatas, respectively BWV 190.2, "Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied"; BWV 120.3, "Gott, man lobet dich in der Stille"; and BWV 1139.2=Anh. 4 Anh. 4a, "Wünschet Jerusalem Glück," including music that would be recycled in the Missa Gloria, BWV 232I e. v., in 1733, the services alternating at St. Nicholas and St. Thomas churches. It was the first of several special services for which Bach provided music (see BCW).
Reformation: Historical Background
The Augsburg Confession special event of 1730 is cited in Leaver's Introduction to Chapter 15 (Ibid.: 328), as well as the annual Reformation festival on 31 October for which Bach in Leipzig composed Cantatas BWV 79 and 80, as well as other cantatas, BWV 63 and 50, also appropriate for the festival, says Leaver (Ibid.: passim).4 In his first section of Chapter 15, "Historical background" (Ibid.: 328-33), Leaver describes the beginning of the Reformation in 1517 with Luther's emphasis on the authority of Scripture rather than the Catholic Church. Initially, the anniversaries were observed on various days of the year, according to the Lutheran Kirckenordnungen (church orders) promulgated by Luther colleague, Johannes Bugenhagen, says Leaver (Ibid.: 328f), notably on the Trinity Sunday festival.5 The Reformation centenary of 1617 established an annual Reformation major three-day festival of 31 October to 2 November, says Leaver (Ibid.: 329), based on Saxon Elector Johann Georg in his "Instruction and Ordnung," with appropriate chorales and "special music by Heinrich Schutz and Michael Praetorius,"6 says Leaver (Ibid.: 330). Lutheran materials "became the model for later observances of Reformation anniversaries," Leaver observes (Ibid.; 331), notably Leipzig in 1639 and Halle in 1641, with a liturgy c31 October 1660 and other observances.
Weimar Reformation Day Cantata BWV 63a; 1717 Reformation Bicentenary
"Although there is no specific Reformation cantata by Bach dating from his Weimar years is known," says Leaver beginning the next Chapter 15 section, "A Weimar Reformation Day cantata?" (Ibid.: 333-37), "there is one that may well have been originally composed for such an annual celebration; Cantata 63, Christen, ätzet diesen Tag In Metall und Marmorsteine!" (333, Christians, engrave this day in metal and marble stone!),7 "performed in the Weimar court chapel on Christmas Day 1714." For the Reformation bicentenary in Halle in 1717, with a different form of the libretto which Leaver cites (Ibid.: 334f), followed by a prehistory of Bach's Halle probe, 10 December 1713 and Leaver's hypothesis that an earlier version Leaver designates BWV 63a was performed in Halle on Reformation Day, 31 October 1714 (Ibid.: 336). In the next section, "The bicentenary of the Reformation, 1717" (Ibid.: 337-39), Leaver describes the preparations for the 1717 bicentenary in Lutheran Germany and cites an extensive historical account of orthodox theologian Ernst Salomon Cyprian.8 Leaver also cites Reformation publications and suggests (Ibid.: 338): "It therefore seems likely that the attention given the Reformation bicentenary in 1717 may have influenced Bach to obtain these volumes himself," as well as other publications (Ibid.; 339), concluding that the bicentenary "must therefore have been of great interest to Bach" while he experienced "a significant transitional point in his life."
Cantata 50: Weimar Reformation Jubelfest 1717
In the final portion of Chapter 15 (Ibid.: 339-51), Leaver gathers extensive documentation to support his hypothesis that Bach's double-chorus motet Cantata 50, Nun ist das Heil und die Kraft (Now is the salvation and the strength," Rev. 12:10), was performed at the Weimar ducal chapel duuring the three-day festival, 31 October to 2 November 1717. Leaver lists "Vespers on the eve of the Celebration, 30 October" 2017 (Ibid.: 339), followed by the liturgy for the "First day of the Festival" and the following two days (Ibid.; 340), with "at least three cantatas performed," as well as "other music, in connection with the bicentenary of the Reformation in 1717."9 Bach responsibilities as Weimar concertmaster beginning in 1714 (to compose monthly church cantatas) and the subsequent diminution of his compositional output and estrangement from the court in 1717 are outlined in Leaver (Ibid.: 340f,), as well as Bach's search for other opportunities at Gotha, Dresden, and Cöthen. Meanwhile Bach "could not have been unaware of the extensive preparations that were then being made for the Jubelfest," Leaver says (Ibid.: 341), and the "implication is that he must have participated in some way in the Jubelfest celebrations at the Weimar Court" (Ibid.: 342). One possible composition could have been Bach's iconic Reformation festive chorale prelude setting of Luther's 1529 German Te Deum, "Herr Gott, dich loben wir" (Lord God, we praise thee), BWV 725 (YouTube), says Leaver (Ibid.: 342f). Cantata 50 10 "may well have originated in Weimar as part of the celebrations of the bicentenary of the Reformation, given its permutation fugue which "suggests a pre-Cöthen origin" and "it emphatic grandeur [that] implies a special event," says Leaver (Ibid.: 343). The cantata's Reformation connections to Michaelmas Leaver summarizes,11 while its text is "highly appropriate" for the bicentenary (Ibid.; 345).
Angelic Choirs, Cantata 50
Textual and musical examples of heavenly and earthly choirs with Bach connections Leaver cites as follows (Ibid.: 345-47): Martin Moller's O Jesu süß, wir dein gedenkt (Jesus sweet, we remember you), stanza 16 Hymnary.org; Cyriakus Schneegaß' Das neugeborne Kindlein (BCW, stanza 2, BWV 122), Philipp Nicolai's Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (Wake up, the voice calls us), Stanza 3, Gloria sei dir gesungen (May gloria be sung to you), BCW; Cantata 122/3, BCW; Johann Mentzer's O daß ich tausend Zungen hätte, stanza 15 Hymnary.org; Cantata 25/5 (sic., BWV 30/2b, BCW); Friedrich Werner, Himmels Weg, "Vergnügte man sich hier (see Leaver Routledge Research Companion . . . Bach, Routledge: 184). These "references to heavenly and earthly choirs," says Lea(Ibid.: 347), "can be traced back to Jesus' birth (Luke 2:14) when the angels sing "Gloria in excelsis Deo," the Greater Doxology (Assembly of Bishops). Visually, a notable example is "the title page woodcut" of Michael Praetorius' Syntagma Musicum (1614-20, Wikipedia), which Leaver describes (347-49) and "is also the ground plan of the double chorus fugue, BWV 50" (Ibid.: 349). Textual and musical details of Cantata 50 Leaver discusses in the closing pages (Ibid.: 349-51). He concludes: "Luther's Reformation was not simply a question of theology alone: it was as much to do with how that theology was expressed in practice, and especially in worship. Given the monumental nature of Bach's double chorus fugue, it seems more likely to have been composed for the Reformation Jubelfest in 1717, rather than as part of a cantata for an annual celebration of St. Michael's Day."
ENDNOTES
1 Robin A. Leaver, Bach Studies: Liturgy, Hymnology, and Theology (Abingdon UK: Routledge, 2021); Amazon.com.
2 Jubilee year 1739, historical source is Carl Gottlob Hofmann, Ausführliche (Detailed) Reformations-historie der Stadt und Universität Leipzig: zur freudigen Erinnerung des andern Leipziger Jubel-Jahrs ans Licht gegeben (brought to light for the joyful reminder of the other Leipzig jubilee year [1639]; Leipzig: Breitkopf, 1739), Amazon.com; facsimile, Google Books; includes Luther's vesper sermon (350-66) at the Pleissenburg castle in Leipzig, 23 May 1539, in which the true Christian church observes the Ten Commandments, prays the Lord's Prayer, Baptism is understood, forgiveness assured, the Sacrament administered, and "the Trinitarian faith is confessed," says Leaver (Ibid.: 312), advocating "the Trinity of God and the substance of the teaching of the catechism" (Ibid.: 313), suggesting that the sermon "strongly influenced" Bach's 1739 Clavierübung III.
3 200th anniversary Augsburg confession repertory: BWV 190.2, Bach Digital; BWV 120.3, Bach Digital; and BWV 1139.2=Anh. 4a, Bach Digital.
4 Cantatas appropriate for the Reformation festival as used by Bach can be found at BCW; this festival now is being accepted as part of Bach's annual cycle (see MDR) while Emanuel's 1790 estate catalog did not, BCW: "Reformationfest Manuscript Estate Division."
5 Trinity Sunday Festival: beginning the second half of the church year (omnes tempore) on the life and teachings of the church, with thematic patterns in Bach's Gospels involving parables, miracles and teachings of Jesus Christ (see BCW: "Thematic Patterns in Bach's Gospels").
6 "Special Music": Michael Praetorius (1571-1621, BCW); see Leaver and Paul McCreesh liner notes (7-10), "Michael Praetorius: Mass for Christmas Morning" c1620, YouTube.
7 Cantata 63: music, YouTube; text, BCW; Bach Digital, Bach Digital; diisccusion, "Cantata 63, Genesis, Text Sources," (BCW), with various critical perspectives.
8 Ernst Salomon Cyprian biography, Wikipedia.
9 In a footnote (#38: 340), Leaver says: "And there would have been another cantata celebrating the birthday of [governing] Duke Wilhelm Ernst of Saxe-Weimar on 30 October." Perhaps this is Cantata 208.2, Was mir behagt, Ist nur die muntre Jagd! (What pleases me is above all the lively hunt), which in other documentation was presented for the birthday of Weimar Duke Ernst August (see Wikipedia), possibly on 19 April 1716 (see also BCW).
10 Cantata 50: music, YouTube; text, Rev. 12:10, BCW; Bach Digital, Bach Digital, Bach Digital; discussion, BCW.
11 See "Cantata 50: Three Generations of Bach Family Michaelmas," BCW.
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To come: Addendum, Robin A. Leaver, "Eschatology, theology, and music: death and beyond in Bach's vocal music," Part III, Theology, in Bach Studies from Dublin, ed. Anne Leahy & Yo Tomita. |
