Leipzig University Occasional Joy, Sorrow Music
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Leipzig University Occasional Joy, Sorrow Music

William L. Hoffman wrote (August 16, 2018):
Bach's calling for a "well-regulated church music to the glory of God," annunciated in his 1708 resignation letter to the Mühhausen Town Council, began to be fulfilled in Leipzig as cantor and music director during the first five years as he composed three cycles of core church cantatas (known as musical sermons). He also began to essay other musical forms of the Good Friday Passion and feast day oratorios, Latin Mass movements, motets of sorrow and joy, chorales/sacred songs, and the miscellaneous heterogeneous category of occasional music of homage both sacred and profane, of joy and sorrow. In 1725 as Bach began to compose his third cycle and the great St. Matthew Passion, he also expanded the boundaries of musical expression while venturing into the civic environment of institutions of learning, governance, culture and entertainment, as well as special services of thanksgiving. The most accessible venue and gateway for Bach was through Leipzig University where learned teachers advanced the Age of Enlightenment. In response Bach composed 20 homage works associated with the university, involving orations, weddings, memorial services, birthdays, teaching promotions and congratulatory works primarily for the Dresden Court as well as Leipzig notables with allegiance to the court.

Drammi per Musica

Often composed as drammi per musica, these occasional vocal works were considered spiritual in that the texts, primarily by Picander, addressed human qualities used in service to God by profane and sovereign institutions and individuals that were ordained through God. Two other characteristics of this special music were the use of more contemporary styles such as dances, operatic characteristics, and gallant simplicity, and the opportunity to adapt this music from one special profane occasion to another as well as for special sacred application. The landmark, extended works were the 1725 Shepherds Cantata, BWV 249a, parodied with new text underlay for two other profane occasions as well as the Easter Oratorio, and Bach's first designated drammi per musica, Cantatas BWV 205 and 207 for celebrations associated with the University of Leipzig (https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/BachCantatas/conversations/messages/39590). These three works were the foundation for Bach's major parodies and the beginning of a grand design to create music through parody to meet the needs for all types of sacred services as a well-regulated church music). These included music of joy and sorrow for memorials, weddings, and other special occasions as well as music for a christological cycle of feast day oratorios, Latin Mass movements, and chorales and sacred songs for the church year. Also in 1725, Bach composed a multi-purpose homage Cantata 36c, "Schwingt freudig euch empor" (Soar up joyfully on high), which he parodied as both a profane work serving another university professor (BWV 36b) as well as an Advent Sunday festive cantata in the 3rd cycle.

"Festival music for Leipzig University celebrations" was a project to record music associated with Bach, says David Timm, University Music Director.¹ "The student chorus ensemble also used Bach, and especially for the university setting: For academic celebrations of the Alma Mater Lipsiensis he wrote on behalf of or on behalf of university members numerous appointment, birthday, name day and funeral music, including the tribute cantatas for the Saxon count polish dynasty." With the students of the Collegium musicum, Bach performed the collection under his direction as 'Festmusiken zu Leipziger Universitätsfeiern' in the Neue Bach edition (https://www.baerenreiter.com/en/shop/product/details/BA5016_41/). Of the total of 20 cantatas for festivals (ceremonies), "twelve are completely present and can be performed immediately. In seven cantatas, the university holds the texts documented in the 'Acta Lipsiensum Academica'. Bach's music is considered lost, and in the case of the so-called "Latin Birthday" (BWV Anh. 20) both music and text are missing; only a contemporary mood report on the performance of 1723 is available. However, there is a presumption that the text template goes back to Ovid," says Timm (see below, "2. BWV 1155=Anh. 20 [Latin Birthday Ode]").

In the spring of 1729, besides taking the direction of the Collegium musicum, Bach became the Leipzig literary agent for publications of Johann David Heinrich, Dresden Court capellmeister and cousin Johann Gottfried Walther, and pursued publication of his Clavierübung I: Partitas, BWV 825-30, Opus 1, 1731. At the height of his conflict with the Town Council, in August 1730, Bach submitted his "Short But Most Necessary Draft for a Well-Appointed Church Music." He argued that musical style and taste had changed, German musicians must know various national musical idioms, and that Leipzig need the quality of playing established at the Dresden Court, says Robert L. Marshall.² The council, which showed little interest in music, failed to respond to Bach's accounting of the "minimum means he needed to performed an adequate sacred music in the churches" as Leipzig music director, says Klaus Eidam.³

Bach's profane cantatas, particularly the drammi per musica, played a central role in his compositional growth and transition from sacred to universal music, says Marshall (Ibid. 73), undergoing two periods of synthesis and fusion, first in the formative years at Weimar and Cöthen (1708-1717) where he perfected the various national styles of Italian instrumental ritornello and vocal operatic forms, including dances, balanced against archaic motets and cantus firmus. The second synthesis/fusion occurred beginning about 1729 with Cantata 201, the Contest between Phoebus and Pan, where Bach learned the new styles from the Dresden Court (Ibid.: 33f): simple melodies with snappy syncopations (Lombard style) and mixtures of longer and shorter note values; rich harmonic rhythm and change; supportive bass including ostinato; and extended ritornello (interlude) episodes with balanced, dance-like phrases. A universal music style began to evolve in this pre-Classical period, known as common practice from the Italians and with "sophisticated harmonic and contrapuntal techniques inherited from the Germans, above all from Bach," says Marshall (Ibid.: 79). Bach was the forerunner, perfecting his art for two decades. The focus was the extended mini-opera cantatas in two groups: works of homage to University of Leipzig professors and other events, including the 1727 Funeral Ode, and a dozen congratulatory cantatas for the Dresden Court which provided progressive music found in the B Minor Mass as well as sacred feast day oratorios..

Bach Leipzig University Observances

Chronologically listed are all the works of Bach, which he created on behalf of the University, individual university members or for university events. "This includes the homage music for the Saxon dynasty, which - if not in front of Apel's house on the market - was usually performed in the Zimmermannische Kaffeehaus or its coffee garden in front of the Grimmaischer Tor. Italic works are currently not performable," says Timms (Ibid.).

1. BWV Anh.195, "Murmelt nur ihr heitern Bäche" (Just murmur, cheerfully streams (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWVAnh195.htm; congratulations on the installation of Johann Florens Rivinus to the Professor of Law on 9 June 1723; text, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/BWVAnh195-Ger5.htm, http://www.uvm.edu/~classics/faculty/bach/XXVI.html. The homage serenade was probably presented in a torchlight ceremony in front of the family home. The music, performed by the Collegium musicum on a student commission with students attending, is lost and all that survives is the text by an unknown poet, probably a university colleague (text in Acta Lipsiensium Academica, 1723, https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00001506?lang=en. The Rivinius family also was honored with another cantata (see below, "6. BWV 36b, "Die Freude reget sich" in 1735.

2. BWV 1155=Anh. 20 [Latin Birthday Ode] (no title), http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWVAnh20.htm; birthday music for Duke Frederick II of Saxony-Gotha on 9 August 1723; no text extant. Most of the university's "larger academic ceremonies took place" in the main auditorium, "including the quarterly orations," says Christoph Wolff.⁴ The oration was "accompanied by an exquisite music" of Bach, says a press account (BD II: 156). The text and music are lost but "the evidence suggests that Bach tended to be called on for particular important and ceremonial occasions," says Wolff. A report cites Bach as "summus artifex" and that the odes "fit the occasions so perfectly" that "everyone admired them." Bach also set a Gottsched ode as Cantata 198 in 1727, recently discovered is "Alles mit Gott und nichts ohn' ihn," BWV Anh. 1127, for Duke Wilhelm Ernst of Saxe-Weimar (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alles_mit_Gott_und_nichts_ohn%27_ihn,_BWV_1127). As a regional musical source, Bach also began renting out Cantatas 36, 16 and 97 to student Johann Wilhelm Koch at Ronneburg (1732-44), reports Wolff (Ibid.: xxix).

3. BWV 205, "Zerreißet, zersprenget, zertrümmert die Gruft" (Tear Asunder, Smash, Lay Waste to the Vault), subtitle ‘Aeolus Appeased"; name day cantata for Prof. August Friedrich Müller on 3 August 1725; text (Picander) http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/BWV205-Eng3.htm; details, https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/BachCantatas/conversations/messages/39590, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKTe4au1ggk.

4. BWV 207, "Vereinigte Zwietracht der wechselnden Saiten" (United discord of alternate strings), congratulations to Gottlieb Kortte (1698-1731) to the professor of law on 11 December 1726; text http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/BWV207-Eng3.htm; details, https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/BachCantatas/conversations/messages/39590, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0ypkKbOdRI. Bach also may have composed a second cantata, in this case congratulatory serenade, for a Leipzig University law professor. “Erschallet mit doppelter Anmut und Schöne“ (Resound With Double Charm and Beauty), BWV deest, was presented on September 12, 1729, for the name day of Gottlieb Kortte. So far, no direct connection can be made to Bach, who presented the dramma per musica (congratulatory serenade), Cantata BWV 207, Vereinigte Zwietracht der wechselnden Saiten (United discourse of varying strings) for Korte’s installation in 1726.

Cantata 36 Multi Use Parody Festivals

5. BWV 36c, "Schwingt freudig euch empor" (Soar up joyfully on high) (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV36-D4.htm; birthday cantata for a teacher, possibly for Johann Heinrich Ernesti, Thomas school rector and prof. poetry, on his 75th birthday on March 12, 1727 (or possibly April or July 1725); text (probably Picander), http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/BWV36c-Eng3.htm. It was the first of five versions in progressive dance style, three for profane occasions (BWV 36 a to c), and two for the first Sunday in Advent (1725, 1731). The text of BWV 36c contains sacred overtones seeking God's blessings for the teacher's gifts, expressions of love, and thanksgiving. Ernesti's main interests were theology and poetry and he was a distinguished teacher and administrator. He was married to the daughter, Regina Maria (1676-1749), of the distinguished Leipzig theologian Johann Benedict Carpzov II (1639-1699) and the Ernesti family served as godparents to Bach's family. "Ernesti and Bach seem to have had a close (personal) relationship," says Martin Petzold.⁵ Meanwhile Ernesti, who died in 1729, was unable to make improvements at the Thomas School and the Town Council showed no interest. Still, "we owe wonderful works [Cantata BWV 36c and Motet BWV 226] to Ernesti's and Bach's closeness both in professional and family that have lost none of their uniqueness by today," says Petzoldt.

6. BWV 36b, "Die Freude reget sich" (Now gladness doth arise); another Leipzig professor was honored a decade later, 27 July 1735 or 31 October 1735, in the parody, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV36b.htm, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zda4DBzow8), for a member of the distinguished Leipzig family of Johann Florens Ravinius or his brother Andreas Florens Rivinius, who served a second term as vice-chancellor. The text, possibly by Picander, is https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000050?XSL.Style=detail, English translation http://www.uvm.edu/~classics/faculty/bach/BWV36b.html. New music involves recitatives nos. 2, 4, and 6, and closing chorus with recitatives (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zda4DBzow8). A complete recording of BWV 36b is found at https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=https://vkjk.de/artikeldetails/kategorie/orchesterwerke-cds/artikel/festmusiken-zu-leipziger-universitaetsfeiern.html&prev=search, Trachs 14-21). The troping in the final gavotte-style chorus (no. 9 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jvyj1IsseiQ) with solo recitatives is unique in Bach, an ensemble technique also found in Italian opera closings, and is replicated in the St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244/77 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w56uNYW-NHU; in the Christmas Oratorio (recitatives only), BWV 248/64, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2LJk_X2FbI&list=PLvIfJZ1Nz4UnQoENxkLyVAcWQFSUsjL6d&index=25&t=0s), and in Cantata 201/12 (six characters).⁶

The Rivinius family of jurists and theologians had resided for a long time in Leipzig, most notably related to the Johann Olearius family (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Lib/Olearius.htm). Johann Florens Rivinius (1681-1755) was educated at the universities of , Wittenberg and Utrecht, says Petzoldt (Ibid.: 14). He assumed a professor's chair on the juridical faculty in Leipzig on 9 June 1723 and the lost homage cantata "Murmelt nur ihr heitern Bäche," BWV Anh. 195, is attributed to Bach. In 1735 Johann Rivinius, lawyer and judge at the Leipzig superior court, published a collection of his dissertations and disputations and stood as godfather for Johann Christian Bach. The libretto of BWV 36b has linguistic traits associated with the poetry school of Johann Christoph Gottsched (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Christoph_Gottsched), particularly Johann Christian Günther. The libretto begins with the good fortune of the Rivinius house and this "happy hour" and gives divine affirmation thanksgiving in nos. 3-6. The original Cantata 36c version may have been repeated on the birthday of St. Thomas rector Johann Matthias Gessner, 9 April 1731, suggests Christoph Wolff (Ibid.: xxiv).

Cantata 36 Versions: Provenance:

Bach treasured the various versions of Cantata 36 because many of the materials were retained and then distributed to his family. The first version, BWV 36c score is extant, score P-43 (https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00000868), Provenance: J. S. Bach – ?Friedemann – G. Poelchau – Berlin, Königliche Bibliothek (1841) – now Berlin, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Musikabteilung. This score was available for copy in the Breitkopf 1761 catalogue (https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00004425). The second version, BWV 36a, no music extant but can partly be reconstructed on the basis of BWV 36c; libretto printed, Picander 1727. Advent Cantata 36, score copy B 106, Christoph Nichelmann c/1730/31; C. Nichelmann – J. P. Kirnberger – Berlin, Amalien-Bibliothek – Joachimsthalsches Gymnasium (1788) – BB (now Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Musikabteilung), Amalienbibliothek (1914); 1731 score P 45 (https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00000878) and parts set St. 82 (https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00002409); copyists: Krebs, Johann Ludwig Krebs, Gottfried Theodor Krauß, Sebastian; score and parts set Provenance: J. S. Bach – C. P. E. Bach – G. Poelchau (1805) – Berlin, Königliche Bibliothek (1841) – now Berlin, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Musikabteilung. Third profane version, BWV 36b, 9 parts St 15 (SATB fl, str, Bc; https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00002321); copyists Sebastian, Johann Wilhelm Machts; Provenance, same as BWV 36c.

Memorial Ode BWV 198, Motet BWV 226

In the late 1720s, Bach composed two works as homage for memorial services under the auspices of the University of Leipzig: Funeral Ode BWV 198, "Laß, Fürstin, lass noch einen Strahl" (Let, Princess, let one more ray, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOEbPrjuKXA), for Saxon electress Christiane Eberhardine on 17 October 1727, and Motet BWV 226, "Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf" (The spirit comes to help our weakness, Rom.8:26), to commemorate the remembrance of Johann Heinrich Ernesti, Thomas School Rektor and Prof. Poetry on 21 October 1729. Both services were held in the University Paulinerkirche. Materials from Cantata 198 were parodied for the Funeral Cantata, BWV 1143=244a, "Klagt, Kinder, klagt es aller" (Cry, children, cry to all the world), March 23-24 1729 in Cöthen and for the St. Mark Passion, BWV 247, at Good Friday 1731. The tri-partite Motet BWV 226 is the only such figural work with a date and purpose determined [Discussions in the Week of October 3, 2016 (4th round), http://www.bach-cantatas.com/VD/BWV226.htm).

In both cases, there were concerns in advance regarding the location and program. Bach as Leipzig music director provided music for the festivals at the Paulinerkirche and in the case of the Funeral Ode had received the commission from a Leipzig student, to a commissioned text of Gottsched while in the Ernesti memorial service, both the Thomas School and university authorities sought the venue which by compromise went to the university church with Thomas Pastor Christian Weise preaching the sermon and Bach as Thomas cantor furnishing the music.

In 1727, Bach had just completed his third church year cycle of heterogeneous cantatas and the first version, possibly for single chorus, of the St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244, on Good Friday. Bach set the Gottsched poetic text as a memorial cantata for the special service with Italianate orchestra of pairs of recorders, oboes d'amore, violas da gamba, and lutes. There is a putative reconstruction of the service, which also is chronicled, by the Ricercar Consort, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Performers/Ricercar.htm#C9 (details http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV198-D6.htm, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laß,_Fürstin,_laß_noch_einen_Strahl,_BWV_198). For the funeral of Prince Leopold of Cöthen in 1729, Bach used the core music along with arias and choruses from the St. Matthew Passion. In 1731, Bach used the two choruses and three arias in the St. Mark Passion.

In the funeral sermon's Praeloquium, Pastor Weise describes Ernesti's choices of biblical texts and sayings, cited in the recording liner notes (Ibid.: 13). Ernesti's inspiration was Psalm 108, "O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory" (kjv https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+108&version=KJV) and the sermon was based on Romans 8:26-27, "The spirit comes to help our weakness," presented in the motet before the sermon. Ernesti also cited the following: the inscription on Christ's cross, "Jesus of Nazareth" (John 19:18) as comfort in dying; his name Earnest for his preaching method, based on his father-in-law, Johann Benedict Carpzov II; his Lutheran orthodoxy; and the first and third verses of Martin Luther's hymn, “Komm, Heiliger Geist, Herre Gott” (Come, Holy Spirit, Lord God), and “Du heilige Brunst, süßer Trost” (You sacred warmth, sweet consolation), recording http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Performers/Unger.htm, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqubzmSF2Qg).

Governor von Flemming, Poet Johann Christoph Gottsched

In 1725, two notable figures moved to Leipzig and and a strong influence on Bach's music: Governor Count Joachim Friedrich von Fleming (1665-1740) from Dresden, who took up residence in the Pleissenburg Castle (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV212-D3.htm, "Picander-Bach Flemming Tributes"), whom Bach met through Picander, and the noted poet Johann Christoph Gottsched (1700-1766, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Christoph_Gottsched), at the University of Leipzig, whom Bach probably met through the poetess Mariane von Ziegler (1695-1760, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christiana_Mariana_von_Ziegler). Bach composed three parody serenades for Flemming's birthday. The first was The Festival of Genius,BWV 249b, "Verjaget, zerstreuet, zerrüttet, ihr Sterne" (Dispel them, disperse them, destroy them, ye heavens), composed in 1726 (http://www.uvm.edu/~classics/faculty/bach/BWV249b.html), and the second, Cantata BWV 210a, “O angenehme Melodei” (O pleasing melody, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSssmrUCoxM), is a soprano solo homage serenade, 1729-30 with repeats for him and other unknown patrons of science and art (through text revisions) between 1738-1740 (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV210-D3.htm, http://www.uvm.edu/~classics/faculty/bach/BWV210a.html.

In 1731, Bach composed parody festive chorus cantata BWV 1160=Anh. 10, “So kämpfet nur, ihr muntern Töne“ (So battle now, ye courageous sounds, https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00001318?lang=en), Picander German text and Z. Philip Ambrose English translation and notes, http://www.uvm.edu/~classics/faculty/bach/VII.html). The opening and closing free da-capo choruses survive as parodies: Christmas Oratorio, Part 6, "Herr, wenn die stolzen Feinde schnauben" (Lord, when our arrogant enemies snort with rage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DdJeG7rW1c), and No. 7, "Lebe und grüne, grosser Flemming" (Live long and flourish, mighty Flemming) began in 1729 as the closing gavotte-style chorus (no. 15), "Labt das Herz, ihr holden Saiten" (Refresh our hearts, lovely strings,mhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Npi_8gjYIHc) in Cantata 201, the Contest Between Phoebus and Pan. Booth choruses were double parodies: BWV 248/54 also was parodied to open the sacred c1734 Cantata BWV 248a (no title) and the closing chorus of BWV 201/15 possibly was parodied to close the 1734 Cantata BWV Anh. 19, "Thomana saß annoch betrübt" (https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00001327?lang=en), No. 9, "Himmel, streue deinen Seegen" (Heaven, cast abroad thy blessing), welcome to Johann August Ernesti, as new rector of St. Thomas school, 21 November 1734.

Bach composed two cantatas to Gottsched texts: Funeral Ode, BWV 198 of 1727 (see below, "Memorial Ode BWV 198, Motet BWV 226), and Cantata BWV 1161=Anh. 13, 28 March 1738, Willkommen! Ihr herrschenden Götter der Erden in honour of the royal couple (Augustus III and Maria Josepha), and for the forthcoming marriage of princess Maria Amalia with Charles of Sicily, NBA I/37, text by Gottsched, J. C. in Riemersche Chronik, Bach Digital 1321, http://www.uvm.edu/~classics/faculty/bach/XV.html.

FOOTNOTES

¹ David Timm, https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://unichor.uni-leipzig.de/index.php%3Fpage%3Dfestmusiken&prev=search.
² Robert L. Marshall, The Historical Significance: "Bach the Progressive: Observations on his later Works," and "On Bach's Universality, " The Music of Johann Sebastian Bach: The Sources, the Style, the Significance (New York: Schirmer Books, 1989: 25, 70, 74).
³ Klaus Eidam, The True Life of Johann Sebastian Bach, trans. Hoyt Rogers (New York: Basic Books, 2001: 222.
⁴ Christoph Wolff, see two sections, "Music Director at the University" (311-19), and "Professional Colleagues and University Students" (319-331), Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician, Updated Ed. (New York: W. W. Norton, 2013: 314).
⁵ Cantata BWV 36b liner notes, Festmusiken zu Leipziger Universitätsfeiern, 2009, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Performers/Timm-D.htm#C2.
⁶ Cantata 201/12 recitative, https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&ei=XzRnW4bvEJHGjgTHsJbYBw&q=Cantata+201+Wie%2C+Midas%2C+bist+du+toll%3F++YouTube&oq=Cantata+201+Wie%2C+Midas%2C+bist+du+toll%3F++YouTube&gs_l=psy-ab.12...4504.7058.0.9631.2.2.0.0.0.0.163.277.0j2.2.0....0...1c.1j2.64.psy-ab..0.0.0....0.v6dQ2zic6Ek.

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To Come: At least a dozen cantatas for the Dresden Court.