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William L. Hoffman wrote (October 5, 2018):
During the closed Lenten period in Leipzig, Bach was unable to present figural (multi-voice) music during the main services, most notably the polyphonic settings of the Introit psalm motets found in Erhard Bodenschatz's Florilegium Portense collection. No weddings were permitted. Designated Lenten chorales and Passion hymns were presented during the main service but since Lent was a fasting period, no communion chorales were permitted and the organ was silent except for the main service on Palm Sunday. The exception for figural music was the Marian Feast of Annunciation on March 25, especially when it fell on Palm Sunday. During the succeeding Holy Week, figural music was presented on Maundy Thursday (Grünen Donnerstag) for First Communion during the main service, and at Good Friday (Char-Freitag), at the afternoon Vespers service. "The last three Sundays and festival days of Lent, namely Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday, had an especially rich liturgical structure," says Günther Stiller. 1
Previously, Bach observed the Lenten period of fasting, sacrifice and reflection in Weimar where figural music was appropriate for the main service. There, Bach established his template of church-year music, with his Orgelbüchlein (Little Organ Book) a listing of 164 chorales played as organ preludes (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orgelbüchlein, "Lent, BWV 618-624" (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Topics/Oculi-Cantatas.htm):
21. BWV 618 — O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig; BWV 401(PC), BWV 656 (a)(18); BWV 1085(MC), 1095(NC), Emans 152 (D); BWV 244/1(soprano), SBCB44 (Z6283).
22. BWV 619 — Christe, du Lamm Gottes (Agnus Dei); BWV 23/4(EC)=BWV245/40a, BWV233a, SBCB39 (Z58).
23. BWV 620 — Christus, der uns selig macht; BWV 245/15,37(PC), BWV 283=?BC D1(PC), SBCB40-41,42-43 (Z5283), BWV 747(MC), Emans 46(MC)-D.
24. BWV 621 — Da Jesus an dem Kreuze stund (Seven Last Words); BWV 1089(PC), SBCB46 (Z 1706), Emans 48(MC); = “In dich hab, ich gehoffet her.”
25. BWV 622 — O Mensch, bewein dein Sünde groß; BWV 244/29, BWV 402(PC), SBCB54-55 (Z8303; BWV 622 variant(Emans 153), Anh. 61(MC)-D; = Es sind doch selig alle.”
26. BWV 623 — Wir danken dir, HJC, dass du für uns gestorben; BWV 1096(NC); See OB 149, 6283, "Christe, der du bist Tag und Licht."
27. BWV 624 — “Hilf, Gott, daß mir's gelinge” (Z4329); BWV 343(PC), SBCB45 (also Praise & Thanks, Easter).
Another template is found in the Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch (NLGB) of 1682 which includes chorales for the Lenten services and Good Friday vespers Bach presented in Leipzig and found in Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch of 1682 (NLGB Nos. 61-88, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gottfried_Vopelius#p._125: 122-272). In the omnibus Schmelli Gesangbuch of 1736, Passiontide chorales are found in various topical sections throughout (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_and_arias_by_Johann_Sebastian_Bach).
Bach's Leipziger Gesangbuch lists in the Lenten fasting period until Palm Sunday (NLGB: 1105ff, https://books.google.com/books?id=UmVkAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA1105#v=onepage&q&f=false, scroll down to "In Der Fasten-Zeit bis auf Palmarum") and under the Passion rubric "Von Leiden und Sterben" (NLGB 61-88, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gottfried_Vopelius: 122-272) as well as the Evening Song, "Christe, der du bist Tag und Licht" (NLGB No. 205) and its Latin source, Christe qui lux es et dies. “Christe, der du bist Tag und Licht" (Christ, you are the day and light) is a Martin Luther Catechism evening song composed in 1526 and set to the early Latin hymn Christe qui lux es et dies with the associated melody (Zahn 343). The text was published in Wittenberg in 1525 (seven-stanzas, EG 469, EKG 354), attributed to Wolfgang Mueslin (1526) and published in Joseph Klug's Geistliche Lieder, 1543. The English hymn version is “O Christ, who art the light and day.” This hymn, "Christe, der du bist Tag und Licht” is found in the NLGB No. 205 (based on Psalm 4, Hear me when I call, O God, KJV), Catechism Evening Song, which also is a Passion hymn, attributed to Martin Luther (1529), published in Wittenberg 1533 and Valentin Bapst (1545). It is found in the Schemelli as No. 430.
About 1700, Bach set this melody, Christe qui lux es, as a Neumeister organ chorale prelude, BWV 1096 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X05kd-j8iWg), possibly by Johann Pachelbel. Bach also set this hymn as a liturgical plain chorale, BWV 274 in g minor (http://www.bach-chorales.com/BWV0274.htm, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ercIuO6Rads (Rilling vol. 85, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Vocal/BWV250-438-Rilling.htm). The melody also is listed but not set in the Orgelbüchlein, No. 149 (Evening Song, http://www.orgelbuechlein.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/NOB-149-chorale.pdf). The melody is related to the anonymous 1535 Passion melody, "Wir danken dir, Herr Jesu Christ, dass du für uns gestorben" (We thank you, Lord Jesus Christ, that you have died for us). About 1714, Bach set the same melody "Wir danken dir . . . ," in the Weimar Orgelbüchlein organ chorale prelude OB 26, BWV 623, as a Passion hymn (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtW-g67ra-k).
For the five Lenten Sundays, the NLGB lists for Invocavit, "Vater unser im Himmelreich" (Lord's Prayer); for Reminiscere and Oculi, "Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ," "Wenn wir in höchsten Nöten sein,” "Gott der Vater wohn uns bei," "Erbarm dich mein, o Herre Gott," and "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott"; for Laeteri and Judica, "Herr Jesu Christ, wahr Mensch und Gott," "Herr Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht," and "In dich hab ich gehoffet Herr." German composers with cantatas for Lent involved music consistently presented at the Gotha Court (Christian Friedrich Witt, Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel, Wolfgang Carl Briegel, and Georg Benda), as well as Georg Philipp Telemann in Frankfurt and Hamburg and Christoph Graupner in Darmstadt. In Weimar, it is assumed that Kapellmeister Johann Samuel Drese and his son, Johann Wilhelm, alternated with Bach in the presentation of the Sunday cantatas each month between 1714 and 1717, with Bach as court organist presenting chorale preludes.
Invocavit (lst Sunday in Lent)
The first 1st Sunday in Lent is known as Invocavit or Quadregesima Sunday, the former for the Introit Psalm 91:15 (He shall call upon me, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+91%3A15&version=KJV) and the latter designating the 40th day of Lent (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadragesima_Sunday). The readings in Bach's time were 2 Corinthians 6:1-10 (We then, as workers together with him, kjv https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Corinthians+6%3A1-10&version=KJV), and the Gospel, Matthew 4:1-11 (Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness, kjv https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+4%3A1-11&version=KJV), the former referring to both the catechumen and the believers engaged in the Lenten fast, and the latter to Jesus' temptation in the wilderness of 40 days, says Paul Zeller Strodach,2 while the Introit is "a song of trusting faith." The appropriate Hymn if the Day in the NLGB (No. 175) is Luther's Catechism chorale, "Vater unser im Himmelreich" (Lord's Prayer, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vater_unser_im_Himmelreich, which Bach set as plain chorale, BWV 416 (http://www.bach-chorales.com/BWV0416.htm), and as chorale preludes BWV 636 (Baptism, Orgelbüchlein), BWV 682-3 (Catechism, Clavierübung III) and BWV 737 (miscellaneous chorales), further information, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/NVD/BWV669-689-Gen1.htm: "“Vater unser im Himmelreich.”
Remniscere (2nd Sunday in Lent)
The 2nd Sunday in Lent is called Reminiscere (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Topics/Lent-Cantatas.htm), for "remembering," from the Introit Psalm 25:6, "Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy loving-kindnesses (kjv)," from Psalm 25, Ad te, Domine, levavi (O my God, I trust in thee, kjv https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+25&version=KJV. It is a reference to Misericordias Domini or the 2nd Sunday after Easter. It means the "Goodness (literally "tender mercies") of the Lord." It comes from the incipit of Psalm 89, "Your love, O Lord, for ever will I sing." The 2nd Sunday after Easter is also called "Good Shepherd Sunday," referring to its Gospel of John 10: 12-16, "I am the Good Shepherd" (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+10%3A11-16&version=KJV).
The pulpit readings for Reminiscere in Bach's single lectionary were the Epistle, 1 Thes. 4:1-7 (plea for Purity), urging the Christian "to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more," says Strodach (Ibid: 121). The Gospel is Matt. 15:21-28 (Jesus heals Canaanite woman's daughter. Her plea (Mat. 15:22b, "Have mercy on me, O God" Miserere mei, in German is "Erbarm dich mein, o Herre Gott," also found in Psalm 51, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+51&version=KJV, and Bach's contrafaction setting, "Tilge, Höchester, meine Sünden" (Cancel, Highest, my sins, http://www.uvm.edu/~classics/faculty/bach/TilgeHochster.html), BWV 1083 (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Vocal/BWV1083-Gen2.htm), composed in the 1740s. Today's three-year common lectionary uses John's Gospel in Lent, which is shared today and in Bach's time for the 4th and 5th Sundays in Lent.
"Erbarm dich mein, o Herre Gott"
One the designated hymns for Reminiscere in the NLGB is the Erhard Hegenwald (16th c.) paraphrase setting of Penitential Psalm 51, "Erbarm dich mein, o Herre Gott, nach deiner großen Barmherzigkeit" (Have pity on me, O Lord God, according to thy great mercy). It was published in 1524 in the Erfurt Enchiridion, set to the Johann Walther? melody (Zahn 5851, http://imslp.org/wiki/Erbarm_dich_mein%2C_o_Herre_Gott_(Walter%2C_Johann)), as a five eight-line stanza Bar form liturgical Psalm hymn texts (http://matthaeusglyptes.blogspot.com/2009/11/erbarm-dich-mein-o-herre-gott.html). Hegenwald was a student at Wittenberg University and his hymn was known by Luther. The melody is reminiscent of "Es woll' uns Gott genädig sein" May God be gracious to us," the Luther/Matthias Greiter 1524 hymn, says Charles S. Terry.3 It is found in the NLGB as No. 256 (Psalm Hymn), also designated hymn for the Sundays in Trinity 3, 11, 14, and 22). It is listed in the Orgelbüchlein as No. 68 (Passiontide, Peintence), source Witt's Gotha Hymnal 1715, No. 258, but not set. It is found in Schmelli No. 70, Repentance Song.
Besides the aria "Erbarme dich, mein Gott" in the St. Matthew Passion (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_tXqQlFdcQ), Bach set "Erbarm dich mein, o Herre Gott" as an early Miscellaneous chorale, BWV 721 in f-sharp minor (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpEX4YF_NFU), authenticity questioned, says Peter Williams (https://www.classicalarchives.com/work/812141.html), and a plain chorale, BWV 305 in e minor (http://www.bach-chorales.com/BWV0305.htm, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhPC2G8_9eM). The Neumeister Collection includes a setting of Fredrich Wilhelm Zachow (Thomas 58), No. 76, eschatological hymn (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImFeJrkFqC8, LV 18).
Oculi (3rd Sunday in Lent)
In Bach's time, the 3rd Sunday in Lent, called Oculi from Introit Psalm 25:15, "Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord (kjv)" was a momentous time in the middle of Passiontide as Bach was able in Weimar to present two solo cantatas for this Sunday, BWV 54, "Widerstehe doch der Sünde" (Stand firm against sin), and BWV 80a, "Alles was von Gott geboren" (All that is born of God, 1 John 5:4), music that firmly helped to established his goal of a "well-ordered church music." Bach produced two intimate, striking church cantatas, BWV 54 a three-movement alto solo work with a two striking arias, and BWV 80a, a substantial four-voice work which includes a Bach chorale trope in the opening bass aria and closing with a plain chorale setting of the same Luther hymn, "A Mighty Fortress is our God," which was transformed into a hybrid chorale Cantata by 1740. Both works did not become part of Bach's church-year cantata cycles but were available for copying in 1761 by the Leipzig published Breitkopf in the fall catalogue.
The Oculi Sunday readings show Bach's close attention to Luther's sentiments, source is the Common Service Book with Hymnal (United Lutheran Church in America, Philadelphia 1917: 73f) "Oculi" means "look." It is alluded to in the initial Introit, "Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord." The name of the 3rd Sunday in Lent, Oculi, comes from the first word of the Introit Psalm 25:16, "Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord, kjv" Psalm 25, Ad te, Dominum, levavi (Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+25&version=KJV). The 3rd Sunday in Lent is variously named as Dies scrutinii (day of scrutiny), Dominica abrennunciationis (Lord's day of the renunciation), and Dom. exorcisimi (Lord's day of the exorcism)
The succeeding Collect asks God to "look upon the hearty desires of the humble servants, and . . . be our defence against our enemies." TEpistle, "Living in the Light," Ephesians 5:1-9, warns in verse 6: "Let no man deceive you with vain words." The Gradual affirms that "When mine enemies are turned back: they shall fall and perish at Thy presence." The Gospel, "Jesus and Beelzebub," Luke 11:14-28, is Christ's explanation of casting out devils. The most salient Gospel verses are Luke 20-22: "But if I with the finger (Word) of God cast out devils, no doubt the Kingdom of God is come upon you. When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his good are in peace: but when a stronger than he shall come upon him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils."
There is no closing chorale in Lehms' text for Cantata 54 in E-flat Major. A possibly is plain chorale BWV 353 in g minor (http://www.bach-chorales.com/BWV0353.htm), says Martin Petzoldt,4 found in the Dresdener Gesangbuch 1725 , No. 287, Johann Rist 1662 melody (Zahn 6804), "Jesu, der du meine Seele" (Jesus, it is by you that my soul, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/CM/Jesu-der-du-meine-Seele.htm); Bar Form text stanza 16, "Jesum nur will ich lieb haben" (Only Jesus I shall hold dear); Martin Jahn 1661 "Jesu meiner Seele Wonne" (Jesus, delight of my so), http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/Chorale023-Eng3.htm. The same stanza to the Johann Schoop 1642 melody, "Werde munter mein Gemüte" (Be alert , my soul), closes chorus Cantata BWV 147, "Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben" (Heart and mouth and deed and life), Feast of the Visitation 1723. The Bach Stiftung adds a closing four-part chorale (Mvt. No. 4) not in the Lehms Cantata 54 libretto: Martin Jahns’ text, “Jesum nur will ich liebhaben” (Only Jesus I shall hold dear), BWV 360 in B-flat Major (http://www.bach-streaming.com/stand-steadfast-against-transgression-bwv-54-video.html, http://www.bach-chorales.com/BWV0360.htm).
Laeteri and Judica
The 4th and 5th Sundays in Lent before the final Palm Sunday and Holy Week of the Passion focus on John's Gospel in Bach's single lectionary as well as in today's three-year lectionary, although the readings are different. In Bach's day the Gospel of John readings involved Jesus affirming his identity through the miracle of the feeding of the 5000 with bread and fish (John 6:1-15) on Leateri Sunday, and in his confrontation with the Pharisees saying, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I AM (John 8:58) on Judica Sunday. This was a "pattern that centers on Jesus's divine identity and his manifesting his glory in the form of 'signs' (miracles) of highly symbolic character," says Eric Chafe,5 "associated with the discourse in which Jesus identifies himself as the 'bread of life'" (John 6:25-59, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+6%3A25-59&version=NIV). These were two of the Jesus "I am" proclamations, that culminated in his final acknowledgement during his Passion where his identity was the central issue, when asked if he was Jesus of Nazareth.
The 4th Sunday in Lent, Laeteri, emphasizes "Rejoice," from Introit Psalm 122:1, "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord" (kjv) in Bach's time as well as the gospel of John, still used in today lectionary but with different Gospel readings. The Johannine emphasis during Lent is on Jesus' life on earth as the mid-point in the Great Parabola of descent (anabasis) through incarnation in his kenosis (emptying, Phil. 2:5-11, http://www.crivoice.org/kenosis.html) and the ascent or "lifting up" (catabasis) in glory referred to in today's lectionary Gospel B (John 3:14). His "lifting up" is "the root of the connection between [the St. John Passion] "Herr unser Heerscher" and "Es ist vollbracht"; it is bound up with Jesus's descent/ascent character, hiss coming, from above and oneness with the Father, to whom he ultimately returns," says Chafe (Ibid.: 331).
The Sunday is a time of joy from "Laetare Jerusalem" ("Rejoice, O Jerusalem"), which is from Isaiah 66:10: "Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her" (NRSV). Introit Psalm 122 is a psalm of trust, full kjv text https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+122&version=KJV. Midway in the six-week Lenten period, Laeteri (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laetare_Sunday) signifies a change from sorrow to three-fold joy as a moveable feast through the day's Collect "comfort of God's grace," the Epistle (Galatians 4:21–31, Two Covenants) of the true freedom of the "children born after the spirit," and the Gospel refreshment in the "giving of the bounteous Christ," says Strodach (Ibid.: 121). Laeteri Sunday also is known as "Refreshment Sunday" for the Gospel, John 6:1-15, the Miracle of the Feeding of the 5000 with bread and fish (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+6%3A1-15&version=KJV).6
Because of the Laeteri and Judica Sundays emphasis on affirmation (see https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/BachCantatas/conversations/messages/39495), Bach's NLGB prescribed the following chorales: Hymn of the Day, "Herr Jesu Christ, wahr Mensch und Gott" (Lord Jesus Christ, true man and God, NLGB 338, Death & Dying); and the Communion/Pulpit Hymns, "O Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht" (O Jesus Christ, my life's light, NLGB 374, Death & Dying), "In dich hab ich gehoffet, Herr" (In you I have placed my hope, Lord, NLGB 254, Psalm 31), and "Christe, der du bist Tag und Licht" (Christ, you are the day and light, NLGB 205 Catechism evening song).
The 5th Sunday in Lent, also known as "Passion Sunday," Judica, takes its name from the first word of the Introit Psalm 43, Judica me, Deus (Judge me, O God), a prayer to God in time of trouble (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+43-45&version=KJV). The two readings in Bach's time in the one-year lectionary were Hebrews 9:11–15 (Heavenly Sanctuary) and John 8:46–59, Jesus last words in debate with the Pharasees, "Before Abraham was, I am."7 The Gospel (John 8:46-59 is not found in today's three-year lectionary.
FOOTNOTES
1 Günther Stiller, Johann Sebastian Bach and Liturgical Life in Leipzig, trans. Hebert J. S. Bouman, etc.; ed. Robin A. Leaver (St. Louis MO: Concordia, 1985: 58ff).
2 Paul Zeller Strodach, The Church Year: Studies in the Introits, Collects, Epistles, and Gospels (Philadelphia PA: United Lutheran Publication House, 1924: 107ff).
3 Charles Sanford Terry, Bach’s Chorals, vol. 3 The Hymns and Hymn Melodies of the Organ Works Cambridge University Press, 1921, http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/2057, 157).
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: 640, 645).
5 Eric Chafe, J. S. Bach's Johannine Theology: The St. John Passion and the Cantatas for Spring 1725 (Oxford University Press, 2014: 102).
6 Laeteri readings: Epistle (Galatians 4:31-31), English kjv 1612 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+4%3A21-31&version=KJV) Luther German 1545 (https://newchristianbiblestudy.org/bible/german-luther-1545/galatians/4/); and Gospel (John 6:1-15), https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+6%3A1-15&version=KJV, https://newchristianbiblestudy.org/bible/german-luther-1545/john/1/); Luther Gospel sermon, http://www.martinluthersermons.com/sermons37.html.
7 Judica readings, Epistle (Hebrews 9:11-15), English, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+9%3A11-15&version=KJV; German, https://newchristianbiblestudy.org/bible/german-luther-1545/hebrews/9/. Gospel (John 8:46-59), English, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+8%3A46-59&version=KJV; German, https://newchristianbiblestudy.org/bible/german-luther-1545/john/8/); Luther's Sermon, http://www.martinluthersermons.com/sermons38.html). |
