Events in the Church Year
Discussions - Part 7

Continue from Part 6

Sundays & Holidays in the Lifetime of J.S. Bach

Aryeh Oron wrote (March 8, 2010):
On January 16, 2006, Douglas Cowling wrote:
"I know this is a huge request, but I would love to see lists of the Lutheran Church Year from 1685 - 1750 showing the dates of variable feasts such as Easter and the weekdays upon which fixed feasts such as Christmas fell.
This would be an invaluable resource in determining Bach's compositional calendar. For example in some years, depending on the day of the week which Christmas fell on, Bach might write a cantata for the Sunday after Christmas or one for the Sunday after Circumcision/New Year. Or the number of cantatas required between Epiphany and Lent or between Trinity Sunday and the last Sunday after Epiphany (the six parts of the Christmas Oratorio clearly reflect the weekday pattern of Dec 25 to Jan 6 in a particular year)."
Following this request and a recent discussion on the BCML, I have created a calendar of the Lutheran Church Year (LCY) for the Sundays & Holidays in the Lifetime of J.S. Bach (1685-1750).
See: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/LCY/index.htm

There is a page for every Year with dates of all the events in the LCY.
There is a page for each Event in the LCY with a list of all the Years/dates in which this event occurred.
There is also a table with the Events in German/English and the corresponding Bach's works.
See: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/LCY/Table.htm

I am in a process of adding the vocal works performed by J.S. Bach to the Year/Event pages.
So far I have covered the Events from New Year's Day to Sexagesima.
See, for example the page of Septuagesima, which contains this week's Cantata BWV 84:
http://www.bach-cantatas.com/LCY/Septuagesimae.htm
For easy reference, this page is also linked from the main page of Cantata BWV 84:
http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV84.htm

I was greatly helped by Dr. Georg Fischer from south-west Germany in preparing the calendar. I am sincerely grateful to him for his willing to contribute the data which was the basis for this calendar.

Please send me your comments and/or inform me of any error you find.

Douglas Cowling wrote (March 8, 2010):
Aryeh Oron wrote:
< Following this request and a recent discussion on the BCML, I have created a calendar of the Lutheran Church Year (LCY) for the Sundays & Holidays in the Lifetime of J.S. Bach (1685-1750).
See: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/LCY/index.htm >

Wow in excelsis!!

Wir danken dir!!

Evan Cortens wrote (March 8, 2010):
Aryeh Oron wrote:
< Following this request and a recent discussion on the BCML, I have created a calendar of the Lutheran Church Year (LCY) for the Sundays & Holidays in the Lifetime of J.S. Bach (1685-1750).
See: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/LCY/index.htm >
Wow, this is awesome! Thanks Aryeh!

Ed Myskowski wrote (March 8, 2010):
Douglas Cowling wrote:
< Wow in excelsis!!
Wir danken dir!! >
I second both (makes four?)

Sundays & Holidays in the Lifetime of J.S. Bach - Phase 2

Aryeh Oron wrote (March 13, 2010):
Last week I informed you of the addition of a calendar of the Lutheran Church Year (LCY) for the Sundays & Holidays in the Lifetime of J.S. Bach (1685-1750).
See: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/LCY/index.htm

There is a page for every Year with dates of all the events in the LCY.
There is a page for each Event in the LCY with a list of all the Years/dates in which this event occurred.
There is also a table with the Events in German/English and the corresponding Bach's works.
See: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/LCY/Table.htm

I am glad to inform me that I have just finished the second phase of this project. I have added Performances of vocal works by J.S. Bach to the calendar, including both works from his own pen and by other composers.
- Event pages contain now all the vocal works performed by J.S. Bach on this Event.
- Year pages contain only vocal works, of which definite performance date/s by J.S. Bach are known.

See, for example:
Year 1726 page, with many works by J.L. Bach: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/LCY/1726.htm
Sexagesima Sunday page, the cantatas of which would be discussed in the next few weeks, starting with BWV 18: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/LCY/Sexagesimae.htm
Another interesting Event page is Good Friday: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/LCY/Karfreitag.htm

The Event & Year pages in the calendar list only vocal works associated with the events in the LCY and performed by J.S. Bach. Vocal works associated with other events (such as weddings, town council, secular events, etc.) are not listed. However there are two complementary chronological lists on the BCW:
Vocal works performed by J.S. Bach: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Date.htm
Works of other composers performed by J.S. Bach: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Other/Work-Perform.htm

The Year & Event pages would gradually be linked from the work pages and from other pages on the BCW.
See, for example, the main page of Cantata BWV 18: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV18.htm

I have a small request:
I would like to add to the Event pages descriptions of all the events, including:
- Meaning of the name.
- Meaning of the event.
- How the event is celebrated in the Lutheran Church, and especially how was it celebrated in J.S. Bach's time.
- Date of the event and how is it calculated.
- Other important information.

I know that the BCML has many members with good knowledge of this field. Any member wishing to contribute is asked to send me a message OFF-LIST.

Douglas Cowling wrote (March 13, 2010):
Aryeh Oron wrote:
< I am glad to inform me that I have just finished the second phase of this project. I have added Performances of vocal works by J.S. Bach to the calendar, including both works from his own pen and by other composers.
- Event pages contain now all the vocal works performed by J.S. Bach on this Event.
- Year pages contain only vocal works, of which definite performance date/s by J.S. Bach are known. >
This is a terrific resource, and, as far as I know, the only place where all of this information has been drawn together. I reiterate my belief that this site is not just an informal forum, but a significant reference tool for professional and amateur alike.

Bravo Aryeh!

Bach's Classification of Sundays

Continue of discussions from: Magnificat BWV 243 - General Discusssions Part 6 [Other Vocal Works]

Douglas Cowling wrote (October 26, 2010):
William Hoffman wrote:
< Don't forget the Hasse, Caldara and Zelenka Magnificats, as well as theGerman Magnificats such as Bach's Cantata BWV 10 and (G.M. Hoffmann's) BWV Anh. 21,"Meine Seele erhebt den Herren," and BWV 189, "Meine Seele ruhmt und preis," for Visitation. I wonder if the German Magnificats could have been subsituted for Latin Magnificats at Festival and Marian Vespers. >
Although Luther abandoned the Catholic calendar's ranking of Sundays and festivals according to their importance, it's clear that Bach and his contemporaries used some sort of system which indicated the music and personnel required. The consistent use of Latin indicates that St. Thomas and St. Nicholas considered themselves in the collegiate tradition proposed by Luther's "Formula Missae" while St. Peter's, which had the least sophisticated music and was served by Bach's Choir IV, exemplifies the more common "German Mass" tradition.

I'm guessing, but we could posit the following schema:

Class 1) The Three-Day festivals of Christmas, Easter and Pentecost and their related festivals

Music: usually with large-scale scoring (trumpets or horns)
Cantata
Concerted Missa (Kyrie & Gloria) in Latin
Concerted Credo (?) or Latin plainchant (followed by "Wir Glauben")
Concerted Sanctus in Latin
Concerted Magnificat in Latin

Class 2) Festivals (e.g. Michelmas, Marian festivals)
Cantata
Concerted Missa (Kyrie & Gloria) in Latin
Concerted Credo (?) or Latin plainchant (followed by "Wir Glauben")
Concerted Sanctus in Latin
Concerted Magnificat in Latin or German

Class 3) Non-Festival Sundays (Sundays after Epiphany, Easter and Trinity)
Cantata
Polyphonic Motet-style Missa (Kyrie & Gloria) in Latin (e.g. Palestrina)
Credo in Latin plainchant (followed by "Wir Glauben")
Polyphonic Motet-style Sanctus in Latin or German (e.g. Schein & Schütz)
Polyphonic Motet-style Magnificat in Latin or German (e.g. Schein & Schütz)

Class 4) Weekdays (and Sundays at St. Peter's)
No Cantata
Chorale versions of Kyrie in German
(Chorale version of Gloria in German on Sundays)
(Chorale version of Credo in German on Sundays)
Chorale version of Sanctus in German
Chorale version of Magnificat in German

I'm guessing that the Credo was occasionally sung in concerted settings.
Most of the Marian cantatas are not written for "festal" scoring of trumpets or horns. Hoffman's delightful German Magnificat could well have been the liturgical setting of the canticle at Vespers. Cantata BWV 10 uses a paraphrase and couldn't be sung officially as the canticle. It's also noteworthy that Bach didn't restrict festal scoring to Classes 1 and 2 above.

The Musical Context of Bach's Cantatas: Motets and Chorales - Trinity Sunday

Douglas Cowling wrote (April 6, 2011):
See: Motets & Chorales for Trinity Sunday [LCY]

Motets and Chorales for the First Sunday after Trinity

Douglas Cowling wrote (April 17, 2011):
See: Motets & Chorales for 1^st Sunday after Trinity

Ed Myskowski wrote (April 18, 2011):
Douglas Cowling wrote:
< THE MUSICAL CONTEXT OF BACH'S CANTATAS:
MOTETS AND CHORALES FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
[...]
4) CHORALES for Pulpit and Communion Hymns:
"Weltliche Ehe und zeitliche Gut"
"Es war einmal ein reicher Mann" [lyrics based on introit text]
"Ach Gott vom Himmel sief darein" (Luther)
[used in Cantata BWV 2 for Trinity 2]
http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/Chorale026-Eng3.htm
"Kommt her" >

Note also the link to chorale melody, via the referenced BCW page: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/CM/Ach-Gott-vom-Himmel.htm

Thanks for all the information from Doug, and Will Hoffman, putting the cantata performances in context.

Palm Sunday , April 17, 2011

Ed Myskowski wrote (April 18, 2011):
I wrote, a bit carelessly, <Trinity season is underway>, in conclusion to my introduction for our current discussion topic: BWV 75, Trinity 1.

Apologies for any unintentional disrespect to folks who follow the real time church calendar. Thanks to Brian McCreath (Bach Hour, www.99.5allclassical.org) for the reminder. Brian continues the long-standing (38 years +/-) Boston tradition of a weekly cantata broadcast. He took the initiative to orient the weekly selection to the church calendar, from his predecessors cycling of works in BWV sequence, five times around, I believe.

If you think about it a bit, the liturgical sequence creates a lot more work, to make sure that no works are omitted. I trust someone is keeping score?

Assigning Bach Cantatas to particular Sundays in the Lutheran Church year

Bruce Simonson wrote (May 5, 2011):
So, here I go, stepping into deep waters, from off of a long pier, with a blind-fold on.

Just curious, in a chicken-vs-egg kind of way, how were the decisions made to associate a particular religious cantata with a particular sunday in the church year?

Seems there are two obvious options:

A) The autograph cover of the cantata specifically names a particular Sunday, or

B) The text matches the pericope for a particular Sunday.

The great shoulders upon which I stand, in these deep waters, must have used one, or the other, or both, of these, or possibly other methods which don't occur to me right off the bat.

Questions:

1) Are there other ways of nailing down the Sunday for which a cantata has been associated?

2) It seems that (A) above should be given much more weight. Is there a way of knowing (summarized in handy list would be great!) of knowing how the associations were made?

BTW, I think this is on-topic for chasing down and focusing discussion on the upcoming Trinity sunday cantatas (as well as others), and I hope others will agree that the question has some merit.

Anyway, can someone on the list send me a life-line while I struggle to keep afloat, treading water in these deep waters?

Evan Cortens wrote (May 6, 2011):
Bruce Simonson wrote:
< So, here I go, stepping into deep waters, from off of a long pier, with a blind-fold on.
Just curious, in a chicken-vs-egg kind of way, how were the decisions made to associate a particular religious cantata with a particular sunday in the church year?
Seems there are two obvious options:
A) The autograph cover of the cantata specifically names a particular Sunday, or
B) The text matches the pericope for a particular Sunday. >
Off the top of my head, I would say that when the attribution is definite, it's on the basis of a specific mention in the title page/heading of that particular Sunday or feast. While Bach rarely gives a date/year on his scores, he almost always gives a liturgical occasion. It's only in the rare event that this information is missing that folks speculate on the basis of the pericope. Often the connection with the Epistle/Gospel is a thematic one rather than a literal one, and so such attributions can be tenuous.

Kim Patrick Clow wrote (May 6, 2011):
Bruce Simonson wrote:
< Questions:
1) Are there other ways of nailing down the Sunday for which a cantata has been associated? >
Music was kept in wrapper sheets for easy identification and shelving: (title, instrumentation, and the particular holiday all clearly marked). Here's an example from the period (in this case, an Advent cantata by Gottfried Stoelzel: http://i.imgur.com/pMfWU.jpg

Bruce Simonson wrote (May 6, 2011):
Kim Patrick Clow wrote:
< Music was kept in wrapper sheets for easy identification and shelving: (title, instrumentation, and the particular holiday all clearly marked). Here's an example from the period (in this case, an Advent cantata by Gottfried Stoelzel: http://i.imgur.com/pMfWU.jpg >
Thank you, Kim. This helps. Imminently sensible way to maintain a workable music library.

These cover sheets, were they typically in the composer's hand, or handled "by the librarian" ... if there was difference? In particular, was this practice used for Bach's music, and are the examples that survive in Bach's hand? Do we know?

Kim Patrick Clow wrote (May 6, 2011):
Bruce Simonson wrote:
< These cover sheets, were they typically in the composer's hand, or handled "by the librarian" ... if there was difference? In particular, was this practice used for Bach's music, and are the examples that surin Bach's hand? Do we know? >
Varies greatly by composer, but they'd need to keep things pretty tidy too, it had to be easier to find things if it was organized is my guess. But typically the wrapper sheet or the designation on the first page would be by the composer or a copyist(s) in his inner circle. One frustrating case where a sinfonia was literally ripped out of a unidentified Bach cantata is the BWV 1045 I think, we have no way of knowing what feast day this was for, or civic holiday it was written for because the wrapper sheet is gone, and the title across the top margin by Bach is a very generic title (I think it's "Concerto"). I can't recall the specifics, but it's one of my favorite Bach pieces, and criminal that someone literally ripped this music out of an Bach manuscript. Why they didn't save the entire piece is beyond me ;)

Bruce Simonson wrote (May 6, 2011):
Kim Patrick Clow wrote:
< ... typically the wrapper sheet or the designation on the first page would be by the composer or a copyist(s) in his inner circle. >
Thanks. Brings to mind the next question, perhaps niggling and unascertainable.

Are current methods of chirography sufficiently sophisticated to determine if the "wrapper" was prepared in advance of the service, or if it was made "after the music was performed, collected from the musicians, and prepared for the shelves"?

PS: I shall have to look up BWV 1045. Anything recommended by a reader/contributer to this list is invariably worth the effort.

Kim Patrick Clow wrote (May 6, 2011):
Bruce Simonson wrote:
< Are current methods of chirography sufficiently sophisticated to determine if the "wrapper" was prepared in advance of the service, or if it was made "after the music was performed, collected from the musicians, and prepared for the shelves"? >
Well, paper studies, ink analysis, handwriting all play a part of dating the paper and music. Entire careers are dedicated to that ;) Alan Tyson has done amazing studies with Mozart's piano concertos showing Mozart would work on a concerto with great gaps of time between starting it, and finishing it. I think in Bach's case, these studies are important for dating any surviving performance materials.

Evan Cortens wrote (May 6, 2011):
[To Kim Patrick Clow] Speaking about Bach specifically, very often the wrappers that survive today were prepared by CPE Bach after his father's death. There is of course no way to know whether or they replaced a pre-existing wrapper. Emanuel, it seems, was very keen to keep his father's music in order.

Douglas Cowling wrote (May 6, 2011):
Bach's knowledge of the Lectionary

Evan Cortens wrote:
< While Bach rarelygives a date/year on his scores, he almost always gives a liturgical occasion. It's only in the rare event that this information is missing that folks speculate on the basis of the pericope. >
Bach's knowledge of the prescribed texts was extraordinary. He knew that Cantata BWV 70a, "Wachet Betet," that was written for Advent 2 in Weimar, could be reworked for Trinity 26 in Leipzig because the respective Gospels, Luke 21 and Matthew 25 both present visions of the Second Coming of Christ.

The most brilliant is the reworking of the Weimar "Himmelskonig sei Willkommen" (BWV 182) which was originally written for the Annunication, the entrance of Christ into the world through conception. On the year that the feast fell on Palm Sunday, Bach links the Coming of the Incarnation with the Entry in Jerusalem and the Coming of the Passion. Brilliant libretto and brilliant music.

Ed Myskowski wrote (May 6, 2011):
Douglas Cowling wrote:
< Bach's knowledge of the prescribed texts was extraordinary. He knew that Cantata BWV 70a, "Wachet Betet," that was written for Advent 2 in Weimar, could >be reworked for Trinity 26 in Leipzig because the respective Gospels, Luke 21 and Matthew 25 both present visions of the Second Coming of Christ. >
The pragmatic economy of finding an alternative use for an Advent work, not appropriate for the Leipzig music calendar, only adds to our admiration for Bachs attention to these details!

Psalms in Bach's services

Bruce Simonson wrote (May 6, 2011):
Still trying to get a handle on this scripture as part of the cantata thingy.

Several sources seem to indicate that singing and/or reading Psalms were not part of the normal order of service in Bach's (Leipzig) time.

If I am not mistaken, an order of service is presented in Wolff's "Learned Musician", and there is Robin Leaver's "Bach's Organ Music in the Context of the Liturgy" - an article in the recent Westfield Center's "Keyboard Perspectives, vol 3" (my copy arrived yesterday), and certainly Douglas Cowling has posted carefully on this topic.

Yet, where is the Psalm for the day? Was there one? (There is one now in Lutheran (and Catholic) services, typically, but how about then?)

Back-story:

If Psalms were not explicitly part of the service, then well, after Juneau's recent performance of BWV 187 (I know, it's a cantata for Trinity VII, and not due for a bit ... but please bear with me!), it is clear to me that this cantata is very explicitly about Old and New Testament texts, on the topic of "the propensity to be anxious" (to simplify one aspect of the matter). In particular, this cantata's texts are Psalm 104:27-28, and Matthew 6:31-32.

What I find interesting here, are several things:

a) The pericope for Trinity VII on the Bach Cantata website calls out Mark 8: 1-9 (definitely related, but not the same as the Matthew passage).

b) The Psalm 104 passage is totally on the mark.

The questions that I have, I guess, are:

i) Who substituted Matthew for Mark in BWV 187, for Trinity VII?

ii) Who was smart enough to recognize the appropriateness of Psalm 104 for use in BWV 187?

iii) Does this type of thing happen a lot?

End of Back-story.

More generalized questions:

1) Were spoken and/or musicked Psalms a part of the services, in Bach's Leipzig?

2) When were parallel texts substituted in for the pericope, and by whom?

3) Am I starting to be annoying?

Douglas Cowling wrote (May 6, 2011):
Bruce Simonson wrote:
< Yet, where is the Psalm for the day? Was there one? (There is one now in Lutheran (and Catholic) services, typically, but how about then?) >
The current 3-year lectionaries in the Catholic, Lutheran and Anglican churches are quite different from the 1-year cycle which was maintained before the post-Vatican II reforms and was familiar to Bach. For instance, the new lectionaries have three readings: Old Testament, Epistle and Gospel. The Revised Common Lectionary provides for the singing or reading of a psalm between the first two readings, although it's worth noting that portions of the psalms have always been the source of the Propers of the Catholic mass: Introit, Gradual, Alleluia, Offertory and Communion.

If we look at the pattern of worship in Leipzig, we can see how the psalms were sung by Bach's choirs.

On Sundays and feasts days, a small choir of scholarship boys from the St. Thomas School sang Matins (Morning Prayer) at 5 am in St. Nicholas Church. This was an abridged version of the Roman Matins and included 3 or 4 psalms chanted in Latin to Gregorian chant with their introductory antiphons.

At the principal mass at 7 am when the cantata was sung, Luther's Formula Missae was followed, and Bach's choir sang a Latin motet instead of the psalm-based Introit (it's significant that nearly all of the motets have psalm texts). The Gradual and Alleluia chants between the two readings were replaced by Hymn of the Season (e.g. "Christ Lagin Todesbanden" during the Easter season). Thus there were no psalms at the mass/eucharist chanted or sung in polyphonic settings.

At the office of Vespers at 1 pm, most Lutheran churches sang a psalm in German on the pre-Reformation model of Roman Vespers. Praetorius, Schütz and Schein (Bach's predecessor) all composed huge collections of nearly all 150 psalms. The Lutheran historian, Robin Leaver, is not sure if Bach's choir followed the traditional pattern and sang a setting of a psalm at Vespers -- the Leipzig rite had many unique features. Bach may have had Schein's published psalm collections in the library.

During the daily services alternating between St. Thomas and St. Nicholas, metrical chorale versions of the psalms may have been sung as well.

Bruce Simonson wrote (May 6, 2011):
Douglas Cowling wrote ...
< ... at length about the use of Psalms in Bach's Leipzig services. >
Excellent, Doug, thank you much.

To follow up, you wrote:
< On Sundays and feasts days, a small choir of scholarship boys from the St. Thomas School sang Matins (Morning Prayer) at 5 am in St. Nicholas Church. This was an abridged version of the Roman Matins and included 3 or 4 psalms chanted in Latin to Gregorian chant with their introductory antiphons. >
Was there any way to predict in advance which Psalms would be used for a particular Sunday of the church year, or on feast days?

My memory may not be reliable on this point, but wasn't there a prescribed ordering of the psalms for Vespers, that guaranteed none would be missed, in a tradition that went "way" back, in the Catholic church, at least? And certain Psalms brought into play in particular festivals, like the "Lauda" Psalms?

Where I'm going is, did Bach pick the Psalm(s), or were they part of the established scripture for the day? Do we know?

Douglas Cowling wrote (May 6, 2011):
Bruce Simonson wrote:
< Where I'm going is, did Bach pick the Psalm(s), or were they part of the established scripture for the day? Do we know? >
The original Benedictine cursus was to sing all 150 psalms in the course of one week. The contemplative monastic orders disappeared at the Reformation, and somewhere Luther probably produced a simplified ordo or schedule for the recitation of the psalms through the year. I've never seen one, but I wouldn't be surprised if some of the psalm allusions in the cantata texts echoed the psalms prescribed in the daily office.

If I recall, "Lobe den Herrn" was sung at Christmas, which might suggest that Bach's festive motet with text from the psalm might have been intended for that season. Bach's training as a choirboy would have meant daily immersion in both the Latin and German psalters.

Motets and Chorales for Trinity 2 cont'd

Douglas Cowling wrote (May 17, 2011):
Thomas Braatz forwarded a link to an important dissertation on the Bodenschatz collection of motets which Bach used every Sunday: http://etd.ohiolink.edu/send-pdf.cgi/Chaney%20Mark.pdf?osu1180461416

"FOUR MOTETS FROM THE FLORILEGIUM PORTENSE" by Mark Allen Chaney
(Thesis, Ohio State, 2007)
[Abstract below]

It gives much background to the collection which arguably was the most important body of works performed by Bach's choirs. I would recommend the Introduction as a good overview of the relationship of polyphonic motets to the Lutheran liturgy. It also provides modern editions of four works previously unpublished:

Bodenschatz: Quam pulchra es
Valcampi: Senex puerum
Roth: Lieblich und schön seyn
Gumpelzhaimer: Iubilate Deo

The Gumpelzhaimer is an especially fine double-choir motet.

And to amend my previous posting:

THE MUSICAL CONTEXT OF BACH'S CANTATAS:
MOTETS AND CHORALES FOR THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
See: Motets & Chorales for 2^nd Sunday after Trinity [LCY]

*****************************************************
Abstract:

In 1618, a German clergyman and musician named Erhard Bodenschatz published a collection of 115 motets under the title Florilegium Portense. A second volume of 150 pieces appeared three years later. Both collections contain motets of five to eight voices mostly in Latin, though a few are in German. They contain works of Hassler, Lasso, Gabrieli, and a host of lesser-known composersóas well as several pieces by Bodenschatz himself.

The purpose of the collection was to provide a repertory of motets of high quality for practical liturgical use. The collection includes music by both German and Italian composers, and the style of the music ranges from Palestrina-like counterpoint to Venetian polychoral style. Both volumes were published with a figured basis generalis to facilitate performance with organ accompaniment in the Baroque practice that was just then in its infancy. The Florilegium Portense is an important collection because it was so widely used throughout central Germany; it was still being reprinted a century after its first publication.

There is very little published scholarship on the Florilegium Portense. There is no modern edition of the collection, and although some of the pieces are available in various Gesamtausgabe and Denkm‰ler editions, most of the music remains unedited. The purpose of this project is to explain the significance of this collection, to briefly summarize the style of the music it contains, and to offer a modern edition of four motets from the collection that have not previously been published.

BWV 21: Bach's Chorales & Hymns for Trinity 3

Douglas Cowling wrote (May 30, 2011):
Ed Myskowski wrote:
< This week we continue the Trinity season with BWV 21, the first of two works for the 3^rd Sunday after Trinity (Trinity 3, Trinity +3, or Trinity III are frequent shorthand). >

*****************************************************
THE MUSICAL CONTEXT OF BACH'S CANTATAS:
MOTETS AND CHORALES FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
See: Motets & Chorales for 3^rd Sunday after Trinity [LCY]

Early Trinity Time Cantatas

William Hoffman wrote (July 6, 2011):
Reflections on Bach's Early Trinity Time Cantatas

While Bach authorities express amazement at his incredible compositional output during Christmastime and Eastertime, the beginning of the second half of the church year of Ordinary Trinity Time and the beginning of the new academic term at the Thomas School in Leipzig was a watershed period. The Thomas Church and School cantor took stock of available music resources and planned the coming year of musical performances at all the main church services in Leipzig. To do this, he needed competent musicians as well as skillful poetic texts and appropriate chorales fit for his cantatas as "musical sermons" commenting on the assigned Gospel and Epistle lessons, the basis of the pastor's preached sermon following the cantata.

It all began on May 30, 1723, the First Sunday After Trinity, when Sebastian Bach directed his first required Sunday main service cantata, BWV 75, <Die Elenden sollen essen, daß sie satt werden> (The poor shall eat as much as they want, Psalm 22:26). There followed some 58 more cantatas for all the Sundays (except eight in the closed seasons of Advent and Lent) as well as major three-day feasts of Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost, and numerous one-day Marian and saints feasts. The record shows that Bach met these requirement with original works for two successive years or annual cycles, while producing a major oratorio at Good Friday Vespers.

To meet his personal and creative goal of a "well-organized church music to the glory of God" Bach was both demanding and ambitious while continually observing various Lutheran and other traditions in this unique German community -- a beacon of orthodox spiritual reawakening, commercial pros, and enlightened university education. Although lacking a university education himself, the calculating Bach produced works of unparalleled quality and diversity. The first year was a test period, yielding a heterogeneous cycle, adapting some 20 previous sacred works for the particular needs and circumstances in Leipzig while creating 38 cantatas in various forms with new texts not found in publications of well-known librettists Erdmannn Neumeister, Salomo Franck and the like. Bach focused the second, homogenous cycle on chorale melodies and texts used as large-scale opening fantasia choruses and harmonized closing four-part chorales, with chorale text paraphrases set as internal arias and recitatives, with occasional troped chorale verses usually intoned by sopranos, or the hymn melody played obbligato by a solo instrument.

A major shift occurred towards the end of the second, chorale cantata cycle in the spring of 1725, as Bach broadened his perspectives. He resumed other compositional forms, especially keyboard studies, secular cantatas, and instrumental collections. He began utilizing so-called parody technique leading to large-scale oratorios, Passions and celebratory birthday cantatas. He turned increasingly to the new "gallant" style involving popular dance forms while beginning to experiment in older techniques such as motets and extended fugues. Cautiously, he secured visibility with music publications, commissions for the upper class and Saxon Court, collaboration with fellow musicians and composers, and participation in learned societies. Some of these changes are revealed in his third and probably final, incomplete cantata cycle. Built around old religious libretti and a sprinkling of other published texts, these works were generally for small ensemble, often using sinfonias from existing instrumental movements or other recycled material from choruses and arias. Meanwhile, he presented 18 cantatas of his cousin Johann Ludwig Bach. Wherever possibly, he involved his eldest sons and wife, Anna Magdalena, not only as copyists but also as performers and composers.

Besides exhibiting diversity and new interests, Bach was both an experimenter and an adherent of tradition and practice, particularly in his early Trinity Time cantatas. Some of the key trademarks of his cantatas are found here. From the beginning, Bach created various diverse forms of cantatas, including extended two-part works and double-bill cantatas before and after the sermon. He was not content with a perfunctory opening chorus, alternating da-capo arias and short recitatives with biblical quotations, and a closing chorale; nor did he produce endless perfunctory solo cantatas for one voice. Bach utilized musical forces and keys and tonalities appropriate to the less-celebratory Trinity Time with its few feast days. He selected non-festive Trinity Time chorales using familiar melodies with either didactic texts found in the Lutheran Catechism and devotional books or comforting Psalm and communion hymns. Bach spun engaging melodies for the human voice, often with equally poignant solo obbligato instruments in duets and trios; he created engaging symbolic vocal duets for the Soul and Jesus; and his recitatives could be at turns dramatic, reflective, and compelling. Dance style infused many of his arias as well as choruses.

There are a few general and specialized studies of Bach's Trinity Time cantatas. The basic understanding of the works, their forms and features, is found in the late Alfred Dürr's omnibus, definitive <The Cantatas of J. S. Bach> (Oxford University Press, 2005). The book features a very informative overview Introduction, and covers each cantata by Church Year event, from Advent to Trinity Time to the festivals, as well as incidental works.

The Bach scholar William H. Scheide (b. 1914) has spent many years studying the first cantata cycle, in addition to his revelatory <Bach Jahrbuch> writings on the Johann Ludwig Bach cantatas. Here is the only description of his manuscript: "Sizeable through they are, these varied contributions pale in bulk alongside Scheide's regrettably still unpublished monumental study of the first cantata <Jahrgang>, "Bach Achieves His Goal," modestly referred to by its author as "B-A-G." Treating virtually every aspect of Bach's cantata production - calendrical and liturgical considerations, textual and musical forms, theological content, scoring, performance, etc. -- from the time of his arrival in Leipzig until mid-1724, the multi-volume typescript has become something of a legend in its time, thanks not least to the author's generous granting of access to fellow -scholars. It is the present editors' hope to see its status as an "underground classic" changed to that of a widely circulated standard work." Editors Paul Brainard and Ray Robinson wrote this in their "Foreward" to <Essays in Honor of William H. Scheide> (Bärenreiter / Hinshaw), published in 1993 but originally planned for Scheide's 75th birthday in 1889.

Sadly, there are no major studies of Bach's cantatas by cycle, genre, use, or type, only a scattering of essays. The best insight into the Trinity Time Cantatas in particular are found in American author Eric Chafe's two studies of tonal allegory. <Tonal Allegory in the Vocal Music of JSB> (University of California Press, 1991) has a general look at the cantatas in Weimar and some 40 in Leipzig, a surprising number for Trinity Time, as well as other chapters on the St. John and St. Matthew Passions. The topic of tonal allegory may seem a bit arcane but is very applicable in Chafe's second book, <Analyzing Bach Cantatas> (Oxford University Press 2000). Much of the focus here is on Trinity Time cantatas: BWV 9, Trinity +6, as a chorale cantata; BWV 21, Tr. +3, individual movements; BWV 60, Tr.+24; book summary, BWV 77 Tr.+13, the 10 Commandments (theology, individual movements). Also there are studies in of the influence of modal chorales such as Luther's Catechism "Dies sind" die heilge Gebot (BWV 77), "Durch Adams Fall" BWV 21 (modal) & BWV 109 Tr. +21 (I believe, modal), "Ach Gott, vom Himmel" BWV 2 (Chorale Cantata 2, Tr. +2, modal) "O grosser Gott BWV 46 (modal) (Tr. +10).

Turning briefly to tonality in the first four Trinity Sunday cantatas, the emphasis moves from the celebratory, festive Trinity Sunday and First Sunday After Trinity in the sharp keys of G and D to the flat, poignant side and often in the minor, from C Minor (3 flats) to A Minor (no accidentals). At the same time, it is interesting that Bach begins using chorales in Phrygian mode rather than keys. Wikipedia: "The two chorales [closing Parts 1 and 2] in Johann Sebastian Bach's cantata Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes, BWV 76 [Trinity +2, Cycle 1, 1723], elaborate the Phrygian mode of the original melody, by Matthaeus Greiter (c. 1490-1552) (Braatz 2006)," BCW: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/CM/Es-woll-uns.htm. The rest of Cantata 76 is in the key of C Major and E Minor, gravitating to the sharp of center.

Of special interest is Bach's Cycle 2 Chorale Cantata 135, "Ach Herr, mich armen Sünder" (Trinity +3), which has both ends, the opening chorale fantasia and closing plain chorale, in Phyrigian mode while the inner recitatives and arias trend toward the flat side minor of D and G Minor. By the time Bach reaches the Fourth Sunday After Trinity in the first two cycles, Cantatas 24 and 185 double bill and Chorale Cantata 177 (belatedly composed in 1732 to fill a gap), he is firmly in flat keys.Cantata 185 is a repeat from Weimar, like the two-part Cantata BWV 21 for the Third Sunday in Trinity firmly in flat keys and performed the week before the double bill. Interestingly, the repeat Cantata 185 originally was in the key of F-Sharp Minor in Weimar but Bach simply transposed it up a half step to G Minor in Leipzig to accommodate it to its companion Cantata BWV 24 and its predecessor (BWV 21).

Also interesting is the fact Bach composed no Cycle 1 Cantatas for the Fifth, Sixth, and 18th Sundays After Trinity in 1723. He focused instead on composing cantatas for feast days: John the Baptist (BWV 167 in G Major with solo trumpet), the Visitation of Mary (BWV 147), Weimar expansion with solo trumpet in C and G Major), and an undetermined cantata for St. Michael's (Sept. 29). Reformation Day coincided with the 23rd Sunday After Trinity, October 31, 1723. Bach never filled these gaps in Cycle 1. On the other hand, the third cycle, began after Bach's first hiatus from composing weekly cantatas at Trinity Time (last half of 1725), has only one new early Trinity Time Cantata, BWV 39, for the First Sunday After Trinity (June 23, 1726), in B-Flat Major. Instead, Bach substituted cantatas of cousin J. L. Bach for the two feast days, June 24, and July 2, finally composing Cantata 88 for the Fifth Sunday After Trinity (July 21, 1726).

Besides the desire and need to provide cantatas for the two early Trinity Time feast days in 1723 (Bach had no Weimar cantatas available since he was unable to compose feast day works except when they fell on Sundays), Bach would have had to provide a double bill or a two-part cantata for the Fifth and Sixth Sundays After Trinity. He was only able to continue this practice every Sunday, begun with the First Sunday After Trinity, through the Seventh Sunday After Trinity, when he composed two-part Cantata BWV 186, <Ärgre dich, o Seele, nicht>, with 11 movements. He was able to resume this provision on eight more occasions (four feast days) in Cycle 1: BWV 179 and 199 for Trinity +11; 2-part BWV 70 for Trinity +26); BWV 63 and 238 for Christmas Day; BWV 181 and 18 (Weimar repeat) for Sexagesimae Sunday; BWV 22 and 23 for Quinquagesimae Sunday; BWV 182 (Weimar repeat from Palm Sunday) and Anh. 199 for Annunciation; BWV 31 and 4 (Weimar repeats) for Easter Sunday; BWV 172 (Weimar repeat) and 59 for Pentecost Sunday; and BWV 194 (Cöthen) and 165 (Weimar repeat) for Trinity Sunday.

Bach scholar Christoph Wolf suggests that these seven two-part cantatas and seven double bills, totaling 21 church pieces involving 11 previously-composed works, may constitute a proto cantata cycle ("Wo bleibt Bachs fünfter Kantatenjahrgang?" [Where is Bach's Fifth Annual Cantata Cycle?], <Bach Jahrbuch 1982, p 151f [Kleine Beitrage - Brief Contributions]). Bach would compose no two-part chorale cantatas but take up the form again in Cycle 3 (1726) to Rudolstadt texts (BWV 43, 39, 88, 187, 45, 102, 35, 17) for, respectively, Ascension Day and seven Trinity Time Sundays (+1, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14), alternating them with cantatas of J. L. Bach.

For Trinity Time, three basic new cantata forms are found in the first annual cycle, Alfred Dürr describes in <The Cantatas of J. S. Bach> (p. 27), beginning with the Eight Sunday after Trinity. Cantata Form No. 1 (bible words, recit., aria, recit., aria-chorale) is found in the 8th to 14th and 21st -22nd Sundays After Trinity (BWV 136, 105, 46, 179, , 69a, 77, 25, and 109). Cantata Form No. 2 (biblical words., recit., chorale, aria, recit., aria, chorale), is found in BWV 48 for the 19^th Sunday After Trinity. Form No. 3 (biblical words, aria, chorale, recit., aria, chorale) is not found in any Sundays after Trinity. Other forms are found in BWV 138 (Tr.+15, chorale cantata), 95 (Tr.+16, chorale cantata), ?148 (Tr.+17, after Picander), no. Tr.+18 composed, 162 (Tr. +20, Weimar repeat), 109 (Tr.+21, closing chorale chorus), 89 (Tr.+22, solo, no opening chorus), no Tr.+23 cantata, 60 (Tr.+24, opening chorale adaptation), 90 (Tr.+25, solo, no opening chorus), 70 (Weimar repeat, two-part; Tr. +26).

Multiplicity of cantata forms and chorales play an important part in Bach's first cantata cycle, with two chorales in cantatas in Dürr Form 2 as well as opening and closing chorale choruses and chorale adaptations. Having experimented in so many forms with more chorales, it was logical for Bach to pursue an original, homogeneous chorale cantata cycle for the next church year.

Despite three cantata forms, we have a paucity of Trinity Time cantatas, especially in comparison with the first half of the church year, <de tempore>, focusing on the major, festive events in the life of Jesus Christ, from his birth at Christmas to the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost. During most of Trinity Time Bach seems to have paced himself, especially during the later Trinity period when again he had to compose festive cantatas, for St. Michael's Day, September 29, when the Fall Leipzig Fair took place, and Reformation Day, October 31, about a month prior to the beginning of the new Church Year on the First Sunday in Advent

Some important essays on individual Trinity Time cantatas are found in:

Chafe's "Bach First Two Leipzig Cantatas (BWV 75, 76): A Message for the Community," in "A Bach Tribute: Essays in Honor of William H. Scheide (Bärenreiter / Hinshaw), published in 1993 but originally planned for Scheide's 75th birthday in 1889.

Robert L. Marshall, <The Music of JSB: The Sources, the Style, the Significance> (Schirmer Books, 1989), especially Cantata 78 (Tr.+14), "On Bach's Universality, Chapter 4"; Cantata 105 (Tr. +9), Compositional Process, Chapters, 7 and 8.

Calvin R. Stapfert, <My Only Comfort: Death, Deliverance and Discipleship in the Music of Bach (Eerdmans Publishing, 2000), especially Cantata 77 (Tr. +13), and 140 (Tr. +27), under theme of "Discipleship."

Gerhardt Herz also has a mongraph on Cantata 140 (Norton Critical Score, 1972), with the exemplary essay "A New Chronology of Bach's Vocal Music" (especially the cantatas).

Motets & Chorales for Trinity 4

Douglas Cowling wrote (June 12, 2011):
See: Motets & Chorales for 4^th Sunday after Trinity [LCY]

Motets & Chorales for Trinity 5

Douglas Cowling wrote (July 18, 2011):
See: Motets & Chorales for 5^th Sunday after Trinity [LCY]

Motets & Chorales for the Sixth Sunday after Trinity

Douglas Cowling wrote (July 25, 2011):
See: Motets & Chorales for 6^th Sunday after Trinity [LCY]

Motets & Chorales - Summer Saints Days with Cantata

Douglas Cowling wrote (July 26, 2011):
The Musical Context of Bach's Cantatas:
Motets & Chorales for Summer Saints Days (June-August)
Cantata Required
FEAST OF THE BIRTH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST (June 24)
FEAST OF THE VISITATION OF MARY (July 2)

Sources:

* BACH'S HYMN BOOK:
Jürgen Grimm, "Das neu [?] Leipziger Gesangbuch des Gottfried Vopelius
(Leipzig 1682)",
Berlin: Merseburger, 1969.
ML 3168 G75

* BACH'S MOTET COLLECTION:
Otto Riemer, "Erhard Bodenschatz und sein Florilegium Portense"
Schünigen: Kaminsky,1927
ML 410 B67R4

Dissertation on Bodenschatz Collection (downloadable): http://etd.ohiolink.edu/view.cgi/Chaney%20Mark%20A.pdf?osu1180461416

NOTES:

* The Feasts of the Birth of John the Baptist (June 24) and the Visitation of Mary (July 2) were both celebrated as principal festivals which could displace the Sunday observance. Both required the performance of a cantata and a concerted Latin Missa and Sanctus.

* FEAST OF THE BIRTH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST (June 24)

* Note: The prescribed hymns include the Latin plainsong hymn as well as the Latin canticle which may have been used at Matins.

1) MOTETS for Introit, Before Sermon at mass and vespers for Choir II, and During Comm:

i) "Benedicam Dominum" (8 voices) - Andrea Gabrieli (1532-1585)
Biography: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Gabrieli

Text: Psalm 34:1-6
"I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. 2 My soul will boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. 3 Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together. 4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. 5 Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. 6 This poor man called, and the LORD heard him; he saved him out of all his
troubles."

Comparison Sample: "Magnificat for 12 Voices" - A. Gabrieli: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAoHi48Gkfs

ii) "Omnes Gentes" (8 voices) - Heinrich Steuccius (1579-1645)
biography: http://tinyurl.com/3b5nn5j

Text: Psalm 47:
"O clap your hands together, all ye people : O sing unto God with the voice of melody. For the Lord is high, and to be feared : he is the great King upon all the earth. He shall subdue the people under us : and the nations under our feet. He shall choose out an heritage for us : even the worship of Jacob, whom he loved. "

Comparison Sample: "Omnes Gentes" - Giovanni Gabrieli: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_8H8AJvGy4

iii) "Et tu Puer" (8 voices) - Caspar Vicentius
Caspar Vicentius (1580-1624)

Flemish composer. He was civic organist of Speyer in c1602-1615, and after a period in Worms became organist of Würzburg Cathedral in 1618. He edited the first three volumes (1611-13) of the motet collection Promptuarium musicum with Abraham Schadaeus and compiled the fourth (1617) himself; the motets include 25 of his own, which are mainly conservative in style.

Edition of Motets: http://tinyurl.com/3cpmqwy

Text: Luke 1:76-79
" And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
77 to give his people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
78 because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
79 to shine on those living in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace."

2) HYMN OF DAY (de tempore)
"Gott de Vater wohn uns bei"

3) CHORALES for Pulpit and Communion Hymns:
"O Lux beata Trinitas"
Sample http://www.amazon.de/Vespers-hymn-lux-beata-trinitas/dp/B001S3IXY8

"Herr Christ der einige Gottes Sohn"
http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/Chorale114-Eng3.htm

"Gelobet seist du Herr Gott Israel"

"Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel"

"Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam"
http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/Chorale106-Eng3.htm
Sample: [track 37] http://preview.tinyurl.com/3tehwtt

* FEAST OF THE VISITATION OF MARY (July 2)

* NOTES:

Hymns include the Latin Magnificat and Preface for concerted Latin Sanctus.

Motet is prescribed generally for "feasts of Mary"

1) MOTETS for Introit, Before Sermon at mass and vespers for Choir II, and
During Communion:

i) "Ecce tu Pulchra" (8 voices) - Borsarus ?

Text: Song of Songs 1:14
"Behold, you are beautiful, my love! behold, you are beautiful!
Your eyes are of doves."

2) HYMN OF DAY (de tempore)
"Meine Seel erhebt den Herrn" [German Magnificat]
http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/Chorale109-Eng3.htm

3) CHORALES for Pulpit and Communion Hymns:
"Herr Christ der einigen Gottes Sohn"
http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/Chorale114-Eng3.htm

"Nun freut euch lieben Christen gemein"

4) LATIN PREFACE FOR SANCTUS

Motets & Chorales for the Seventh Sunday after Trinity

Douglas Cowling wrote (August 8, 2011):
See: Motets & Chorales for 7^th Sunday after Trinity [LCY]

Motets and Chorales for Trinity 8

Douglas Cowling wrote (August 28, 2011):
See: Motets & Chorales for 8^th Sunday after Trinity [LCY]

BCW: Musical Context of Bach Cantatas: Motets & Chorales for Events in the Lutheran Church

Aryeh Oron wrote (September 11, 2011):
Based on the important contributions of Douglas Cowling and William Hoffman I have created pages in the LCY section on the BCW dedicated to Musical Context of Bach Cantatas: Motets & Chorales (M&C) for Events in the Lutheran Church Year (LCY).
Each Event in the LCY will have a M&C page discussing the Motets & Chorales associated with this Event.
This material has been presented so far in various pages of the BCW. I thought it would be more convenient for members of the BCML and visitors of the BCW to have it all in one stop shop in connection with the LCY pages.

So far I have created pages for Trinity Sunday to Trinity 8 containing the material of Doug and Will. All are linked from the table: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/LCY/M&C-Table.htm
Each M&C page is also linked from the corresponding LCY page.
See for example: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/LCY/M&C-Trinity8.htm
Linked from: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/LCY/8.So.n.Trin..htm
In due time I intend adding links to these pages from more pages on the BCW.

The M&C page of the 8th Sunday after Trinity has now links from the three Bach Cantatas composed for this Event, including this week's Cantata BWV 45.
See: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV45.htm [Event]

I hope you would find this addition useful.

THE MUSICAL CONTEXT OF BACH'S CANTATAS: Trinity 9

Douglas Cowling wrote (September 17, 2011):
See: Motets & Chorales for 9^th Sunday after Trinity [LCY]

Garison Keillor on Michaelmas

Douglas Cowling wrote (September 29, 2011):
An interesting look at the Michelmas customs brought to the New World by Lutherans. Did Anna Magdalena have a roast goose with all the trimmings today?

Garrison Keillor: "Writer's Almanac" (September 29, 2011)

In the Christian world, today is Michaelmas, feast day of the archangel Michael, which was a very important day in times past, falling near the equinox and so marking the fast darkening of the days in the northern world, the boundary of what was and what is to be. Today was the end of the harvest and the time for farm folk to calculate how many animals they could afford to feed through the winter and which would be sold or slaughtered. It was the end of the fishing season, the beginning of hunting, the time to pick apples and make cider. Today was a day for settling rents and accounts, which farmers often paid for with a brace of birds from the flocks hatched that spring. Geese were given to the poor and their plucked down sold for the filling of mattresses and pillows. Michaelmas was the time of the traditional printer's celebration, the wayzgoose, the day on which printers broke from their work to form the last of their pulp into paper with which to cover their open windows against the coming cold < the original solution for those who could not afford glass yet had more than nothing < and the advent of days spent working by candlelight. In the past, the traditional Michaelmas meal would have been a roast stubble goose < the large gray geese that many of us only get to admire at our local state and county fairs. Today, when most poultry comes from the grocery store iparts and wrapped in plastic, a roast goose can be a difficult luxury to obtain, but any homey, unfussy meal is a fine substitute < especially with a posy of Michaelmas daisies or purple asters on the table. In folklore, it is said that when Michael cast the Devil from Heaven, the fallen angel landed on a patch of blackberry brambles and so returns this day every year to spit upon the plant that tortured him. For this reason, blackberries would not be eaten after today, and so folks would gather them in masses on Michaelmas to put into pies and crumbles and preserves. And they would bake St. Michael's bannocks, a large, flat scone of oats and barley and rye, baked on a hot griddle and then eaten with butter or honey or a pot of blackberry preserves. Whether you recognize Michaelmas or not, you can still greet what comes with the symbols of today: gloves, for open-handedness and generosity; and ginger to keep you warm and well in the coming cold.

© 2011 American Public Media
480 Cedar Street, Saint Paul, MN 55101
USA

George Bronley wrote (September 29, 2011):
[To Douglas Cowling] Very interesting, however I am happly to get my food from Tesco (just round the corner.

Lutheran Nuns

Douglas Cowling wrote (December 10, 2012):
A interesting video clip of Lüne Abbey: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LOvvJ0slEfA

And photo gallery for Isenhagen Abbey: http://www.kloster-isenhagen.de/fotos.html

The nuns choir is not unlike the original arrangement of choir stalls in St.Nicholai where Bach's choirboys sang Matins in the early morning.

Table of liturgical calendar events for Bach's life?

Kim Patrick Clow wrote (May 23, 2013):
I know on the Bach cantata website, there is a table of all the feast days and occurrence of Sundays within specific liturgical seasons-- e.g. when was Pentecost Sunday for say 1723, or 1734 ? Or 1 Advent in 1720. What about Easter in 1743?

I can't seem to find that section of the website now. So any link would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance ;)

Kim Patrick Clow wrote (May 23, 2013):
Found it! :-)
http://www.bach-cantatas.com/LCY/Index-Bach.htm

Lutheran Church Year - 2016-2020

Aryeh Oron wrote (December 15, 2015):
Following a request from Norway, I have created a page of the Lutheran Church Year (LCY) for the years 2016-2020.
The page includes the dates of each event in the LCY and the corresponding Bach works. See:
http://www.bach-cantatas.com/LCY/Lutheran-2016-2020.htm
Linked from the main page of the LCY on the BCW, which contains an explanation:
http://www.bach-cantatas.com/LCY/index.htm

I hope the page would help directors of cantata series, ensembles and performers planning the schedule of cantata performances in the forthcoming years and also planning the discussions in the BCML.

BCW: Lutheran Church Year 2021-2025

Aryeh Oron wrote (March 16, 2020):
Following several requests, I have created pages of the Lutheran Church Year (LCY) for the years 2021-2025. I have changed the concept of the previous presentation and decided to present each year in a separate page, to make it easier to use.

The pages include the dates of each event in the LCY and the corresponding Bach works. See:
https://www.bach-cantatas.com/LCY/Lutheran-2021.htm
https://www.bach-cantatas.com/LCY/Lutheran-2022.htm
https://www.bach-cantatas.com/LCY/Lutheran-2023.htm
https://www.bach-cantatas.com/LCY/Lutheran-2024.htm
https://www.bach-cantatas.com/LCY/Lutheran-2025.htm
Linked from the main page of the LCY on the BCW, which contains an explanation:
https://www.bach-cantatas.com/LCY/index.htm

I hope the pages would help directors of cantata series, ensembles and performers planning the schedule of cantata performances in the forthcoming years.
I wish you all good health and that the ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease will soon be over.

Anandgyan wrote (March 17, 2020):
[To Aryeh Oron] Really Aryeh,

You are a giant amongst us.

I am forever grateful to your Bach's music passion.

Let's wash our hands to this epidemic and enjoy the silence, the noise and the music.

But yeah, yeah, yeah,
good health to you too.

L'Chaim!

Armagan Ekici wrote (March 17, 2020):
[To Aryeh Oron] I've been listening to the cantatas according to church year for the past two years and I'm using your pages intensely, many many thanks.

Health and music to all of you.