Cantatas for Lent Sundays
Discussions

2nd Sunday in Lent, Michael Bach Cantata, Readings, Chorales

William L. Hoffman wrote (March 2, 2018):
As Bach experienced the Second Sunday of Lent (Reminiscere) in Leipzig, several factors enabled him to provide well-ordered church music. Beginning in Weimar where there was no closed Lent season, 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; missing chorales settings, http://www.orgelbuechlein.co.uk/the-missing-chorales/). Another template is found in Das neu Leipziger Gesangbuch (NLGB) of 1682 which includes chorales for the Lenten services Bach presented in Leipzig (NLGB Nos. 61-88, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gottfried_Vopelius#p._125). In the omnibus Schmelli Gesangbuch of 1736, Passiontide chorales are found in various topical sections throughout.

An important thread are the chorale settings of Johann Michael Bach (1648-1694), father of Sebastian's first wife, Maria Barbara (1684-1720), and Michael Bach's cantata/motets, notably "Liebster Jesu, hör mein Flehen" (Dearest Jesus, hear my pleading), for Reminiscere, which Sebastian may have performed and survives possibly through his Alt-Bachisches Archiv collection of music of the Bach Family. Michael Bach's dramatic dialogue with closing chorale is based on the Reminiscere Gospel, Matt. 15:21-28 (Jesus heals Canaanite woman's daughter). That gospel reading now is found in the three-year lectionary for the 7th Sunday after Trinity, Year A, where two Bach cantatas are fitting, BWV 51, "Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen!" (Shout for joy to God in every land!, Psalm 66:1), and BWV 152, "Tritt auf die Glaubensbahn" (Step forward on the way of faith, Psalm 119:32) in Lenten service readings that embrace the Gospel of John. In addition, in 1729, Bach's librettist Picander, set two stanzas of Johan Heermann's chorale, "Treuer Gott, ich muß dir klagen" (Faithful God, I must lament to you), which Bach did not set (see below, "Picander Reminiscere Chorales"). Passiontide cantatas of Bach's contemporaries Georg Philipp Telemann, Christoph Graupner and Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel were performed during Lent and Bach in 1735-36 presented a Stölzel cycle which included works for Lent that Bach may have presented in the progressive University Pauliner Kirche or the New Church.

The 2nd Sunday in Lent is called Reminiscere, 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). Psalm 25 in Bach's time also was the Introit Psalm for the 3rd Sunday after Trinity, and also is known as a “Prayer about God’s reign, grace, and protection,” says Martin Petzoldt in Bach Kommanter, Vol. 1, Trinity Sundays.¹ Psalm 25 is the Introit Psalm for the 1st Sunday in Lent, Invocavit, in the current lectionary.

The pulpit readings 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."² 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. The Gospel, Matt. 15:21-28, is found in the current lectionary for the 13th Sunday after Pentecost, Year A, with the most appropriate Cantata, BWV 51, "Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen!" (Shout for joy to God in every land!), says John S. Setterlund.³ The corresponding passage, Mark 7:24-30 is found this Year B for the same 13th Sunday after Pentecost, with Cantata 35, "Geist und Seele wird verwirret" (Soul and spirit are thrown into confusion). Today's common lectionary has the Reminiscere Gospel, Mark 8:31-38, Jesus Foretells His Passion, with the appropriate Bach Cantatas 56, "Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen" (I would gladly bear the cross-beam) and 22, "Jesus nahm zu sich die Zwölfe" (Jesus took the twelve to himself).

Today's 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. For example for the 2nd Sunday in Lent in Year A, usually Matthew's Gospel, the reading is John 4:5-26, the unique Discourse with the Woman of Sumaria. For the coming 3rd Sunday in Lent, the gospel is John 2:13-22, Cleansing of the Temple. Meanwhile, the current lectionary for the five Sundays in Lent in its First Reading from the Common Testament relates the five covenants of God with the people of Israel: Lent 1, Genesis 9:8-17 (First Covenant, All creatures live, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+9%3A8-17&version=KJV; and Lent 2, Genesis: 17:1-7, 15-16 (Second Covenant, Abraham and all descendants, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+17%3A1-7%2CGenesis+17%3A15-16&version=KJV).

"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.⁴ 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).⁵

A chorale prelude setting (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVPkWfvPJg4) of Heinrich Bach (1615-1692), father of Michael Bach, may be the work of Johann Heinrich Buttstädt, says Karl Geiringer.⁶ Johann Christoph Bach (1642-1703), Michael's older brother, composed a set of 44 chorale preludes, including "Erbarm dich mein, o Herre Gott," http://imslp.org/wiki/44_Choräle_zum_Präambulieren_(Bach,_Johann_Christoph). It is known in English as "Show pity, O Lord, Forgive (https://hymnary.org/text/show_pity_lord_o_lord_forgive_is_not).

Two Bach colleagues set the chorale "Erbarm dich mein o Herre Gott": Georg Philipp Telemann in the Missa sopra (Kyrie-Gloria), "Missa Erbarm dich mein o Herre Gott," TWV 9:6,⁷ and Christoph Graupner, "Erbarm dich mein o Herre Gott," GWV 1163/24, for the 22nd Sunday after Trinity 1724. Telemann composed Reminiscere Cantata "Der Reichtum macht allein beglückt," TWV 1:313 (Harmonischer Gottes-Dienst, Hamburg 1726). while Graupner composed numerous cantatas for Reminiscere (1712-44, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cantatas_by_Christoph_Graupner#GWV_1121. Also, Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel composed Reminiscere Cantatas "Er wird sitzen und schmelzen, und das Silber reinigen" (1713), and "Ich danke dir Herr dass du zornig bist gewesen (1738). The former was part of the "String Cycle," which Bach presented in 1735-36 and may have been performed on 26 February 1736, possibly in the progressive University Pauliner Kirche or at the New Church.

Michael Bach Reminiscere Cantata

Johann Michael Bach Reminiscere vocal concerto, "Liebster Jesu, hör mein Flehen" (Dearest Jesus, hear my plea (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCzA8F_S510, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlRfoi-RDz8), "has the character of a dialogue between Christ (bass), the Canaanitish woman (soprano) and three disciples (alto and two tenors), with the strings reinforcing the voices (two violins, Christ; two violas, Canaanitish woman; bass, disciples)," says Geiringer (Ibid.), while all the voices and instruments unite in the closing chorale. The score survives in a late 17th century manuscript from an unknown hand. A 1686 inventory from the Ansbach court lists 12 large-scale vocal concertos of Michael Bach.⁸ The provenance of this score has not been determined when it was published in 1935 as part of the Alt-Bachisches Archiv, edited by Max Schneider. "The form of the epic [vocal] dialogue in which Hammerschmidt, Ahle, and other 17th century composers excelled, apparently did not appeal to Michael," showing "a stiff formalism not to be found in his other works," says Geiringer (Ibid.: 44).

Meanwhile, Bach seems to have respected Michael Bach's work⁹ for its inventiveness in such forms as this proto-cantata with a text by an unknown author paraphrasing the Reminiscere Gospel, Matt. 15:21-28 (Jesus heals Canaanite woman's daughter), as well as Michael Bach's chorale prelude settings. "Liebster Jesu, hör mein Flehen" has three distinct settings (first two repeated repeated): opening, woman's request (mm. 12-26, opening sonata repeated), vocal-instrumental, middle sound image, duple time; disciples intercession (mm. 27-37), "Laß sie, Jesu, doch von dir" (Let her, Jesus, come to you), vocal, middle sound image, duple time; and Christ's responses (mm. 38-76), "Ich bin nicht gesandt denn nur den Verlornen (I have not been sent than only to the lost), (mm. 88-101) "Nimmt man der Kinder brot" (When you take bread away); vocal-instrumental, extreme sound image, triple time; woman's response (mm. 102-116), "Jesus, laß mich Gnaden finden" (Jesus, let you grace be shining"); and Jesus' final response (mm, 117-154), "Doch, Weib, dein Glaub ist groß / die Hoffnung fest gericht't, / so weich von deinen Kind / der Böse wicht!" (Yet, woman, your faith is strong, your hope most firmly stands / so will your child be freed / from Satan's power!; translation, Vernon & Jutta Wicker).

The music begins with a short (11 mm) opening sonata (repeated), has brief internal instrumental ritornelli, and closes (mm. 155-208) with a tutti chorale setting of Poliander's 1525 Psalm 103 paraphrase, "Nun lob, mein Seel, den Herren" (Now praise, my soul, the Lord), Stanza 3, "Wie sich ein Vat'r erbarmet / Über sein' junge Kinderlein" (As a father feels compassion / for his little children), the word "Vat'r" changed from "Mann" (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/Chorale136-Eng3.htm), as text found in the NLGB No.261, Psalm setting (https://books.google.com/books?id=UmVkAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA686#v=onepage&q&f=false). Sebastian set Poliander's hymn (Stanza 3) as a Chorale trope aria with poetic text, “Gott, nimm dich ferner unser an” (God, in future take us to yourself), in the joyous Motet, BWV 225, “Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied [Sing to the Lord a new song, Psalm 1491b; http://www.bach-cantatas.com/VD/BWV225.htm, "2. Aria (poetic trope)"]. It is found in the Orgelbüchlein as No. 86, Communion Psalm, but not set, and in the Schmelli Gesangbuch as No. 819, Praise & Thanks Song.

A Johann Michael Bach collection of 72 chorale preludes, "including Erbarm dich mein, o Herre Gott" and "Nun lob mein' Seel' den Herren," were part of a manuscript owned by Ernest Ludwig Gerber, later lost, while 26 survive, mostly in the Neumeister Collection: Ach Gott vom Himmel, sieh darein; Ach Herr, mich armen Sünder; Ach wie elend ist unsre Zeit; Allein Gott in der Höh' sei Her; Allein zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ; An Wasserflüssen Babylon; Auf meinen lieben Gott; Christe, der du bist Tag und Licht; Christ lag in Todesbanden; Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam; Da Jesus an dem Krueze stand; Der Herr ist mein getreuer Hirt; Der Tag, der ist so freundenreich; Dies sind die heil'gen zehn Gebot'; Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt; Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott; Erbarm dich mein, o Herre Gott; Erhalt uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort; Es spricht der Unweisen Mund wohl; Es woll' Gott genädig sein; Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ; Gott der Vater wohn' uns bei; Gott hat das Evangelium; Gott Vater, der du deine Sonn'; Herr Christ, der ein'ge Gottessohn; Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir; Ich hab' mein' Sach' Gott heimgestellt; Ich ruf' zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ; In dich hab' ich gehoffet Herr; Jesus Christus unser Heiland, der den Tod; Jesus Christus unser Heiland, der von uns Bicinium; Komm Gott Schöpfer, heiliger Geist; Komm heiliger Geist, Herr Gott; Kommt her zu mir, spricht Gottes Sohn; Lob sei Gott in des Himmels Thron; Mag ich Unglück night widerstahn; Meine Seele erhebt den Herren (Magnificat peregrini toni); Nun freut euch, lieben Christen g'mein; Nun komm der Heiden Heiland; Nun lasst uns Gott dem Herren; Nun lob mein' Seel' den Herren; O Lamm Gottes unschulding; O Mensch, bewein' dein' Sünde gross; Vater unser in Himmelreich; Von Himmel hoch, da komm' ich her; Warum betrübst du dich, mein Herz; Was mein Gott will, das gescheh' allzeit; Wenn mein Stündlein vorhanden ist; Wenn wir in höchsten Nöten sein; Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern; Wir glauben all' an einen Gott; Wo Gott der Herr nicht bein uns hält; Wo Gott zum Haus nicht giebt sein' Gunst; Treuer Gott, ich muss dir klagen.

Two NLGB Reminiscere Chorales

Two other important choralesfor Reminiscere in Bach's NLGB are the Hymn of the Day, "Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ" (I call to Thee, Lord Jesus Christ, Psalm 17:6a), and the pulpit/communion hymn. "Wenn wir in höchsten Nöten sein" Three also were designated hymns for the 1st Sunday in Lent (Invocavit): "Gott der Vater wohn uns bei," "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott"; and "Christe, der du bist Tag und Licht." "Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ" (I call to Thee, Lord Jesus Christ) is the Johann Agricola 5-stanza 1529 proto hymn on Christian Life and Conduct in 5 nine-line stanzas (https://hymnary.org/text/ich_ruf_zu_dir_herr_jesu_christ). The text originally was published as a broadsheet with melody in 1529 among Luthers’ reformers and then in Joseph Klug’s Geistliche Lieder (Wittenberg, 1535 with the associated melody (Zahn 7400). The Agricola BCW Short Biography is found at http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Lib/Agricola.htm. It is found in the NLGB as No. 235, Christian Life & Conduct, and is one of the most ubiquitous Trinity Time chorales, assigned as the Hymn of the Day for the 2nd, 19th and 21st Sundays after Trinity and as a communion hymn on the Sundays after Trinity +5, +6, +8, and +22, as well as Septuagesimae and Sexagesimae Sundays before Lent. The text is found in the Schmelli Gesangbuch as No. 549, Christian Life & Conduct.

Bach chose "Ich ruft zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ" as the subject of Chorale Cantata BWV 177 (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV177-D4.htm), for the Fourth Sunday after Trinity, presented in 1732, and as a chorale prelude in the Orgelbüchelin, No. 91 (Christian Life & Conduct), BWV 639, as well as a plain chorale, BWV 1124, in G Major (http://www.bach-chorales.com/BWV1124.htm, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqyZ7W5XKyE. The Neumeister Collection of organ chorale preludes has two settings of "Ich ruf zu dir Herr Jesu Christ," Nos. 44-45, under the heading “Christian Life & Experience,” by Johann Michael Bach, JMB App. 29, 30, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_x1rdY3sfs). It was popular in English in the 19th century as "Lord, hear the voice of my complaint," by Catherine Winkworth (https://hymnary.org/text/lord_hear_the_voice_of_my_complaint_to_t).

"Wenn wir in höchsten Nöten sein." Two closely associated chorales related to the theme of “Death and Dying” (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Topics/Chorale-Devotion.htm) with similar text form are Paul Eber's "Wenn wir in höchsten Nöten sein" (When we are in utmost need, https://hymnary.org/person/Eber_Paul) and “Vor/Für deinen Thron tret ich hiermit” (Before thy throne I now appear). "Wenn wir in höchsten Nöten sein" in seven stanzas was created in the mid-16th century Reformation and is found in the NLGB as No. 277 (Zahn 394), "Cross, Persecution and Tribulation.” “Vor deinen Thron tret ich hiermit” (Fischer-Tümpel II: 409-10, EKG 486) was written a century later in 15 stanzas involving Trinitarian addresses, thanksgiving and eternal life. Although not found in the NLGB, it was a representative devotional hymn in Bach’s time. Michael Bach set "Wenn wir in höchsten Nöten sein" as a three chorale variations (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1ptvvRXvCc) in the style of Samuel Scheidt.¹⁰ It is widely known as Bach’s so-called “death-bed chorale,” which began as the brief Weimar Orgelbüchlein chorale prelude (Ob. 100), "Wenn wir in höchsten Nöten sein," BWV 641 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPMeBNU9fes). This was expanded to a “Leipzig” chorale prelude, BWV 668(a), (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52RdshARXdg). It is found in the Schmelli Gesangbuch as No. 637, Present Cross & Suffering. In English it is known as "When in the hour of utmost need," by Catherine Winkworth (http://www.lutheran-hymnal.com/lyrics/tlh522.htm).

Weimar Orgelbüchlein Chorale Preludes

Bach listed 13 chorale incipits for Passiontide in his Orgelbüchlein, Ob. 21-33, eventually setting the first seven preludes, BWV 618-624 in Weimar. It is possible that he performed these during Lent 1714-17, as he did with Of the remaining six, Ob. 28-33, Bach in Leipzig composed a fragment of Ob 29, "O Traurigkeit, o Herzeleid," as well as a plain chorale, BWV 404. For the other incipits which Bach did not set in Weimar as preludes, Bach composed plain chorale and organ chorale prelude settings except for Ob 30, Batholomäus Gesius'¹¹ or Nikolaus Selneccer's ?1568 Passiontide Psalm 42 paraphrase, "Allein nach dir, Herr Jesu Christ, verlanget mich" (Alone for Thee, Lord, I am longing, Zahn 8544 or 8541), listed in the NLGB, No. 360 Death & Dying), Bach source http://www.orgelbuechlein.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/30-Allein-nach-dir.pdf. Written in one long, uniquely-structured Bar Form stanza (http://matthaeusglyptes.blogspot.com/2010/12/allein-nach-der-herr-jesu-christ.html), it is particularly appropriate for Holy Week although Bach did not set it. There also is a Johann Crüger 1649 setting of the text, http://www.johann-crueger.de/kritische-ausgaben/MuCruegJ1649_150.pdf. A setting attributed to Michael Praetorius is questionable, Gesamtausgabe der musikalischen Werke. (ed. F. Blume, Wolfenbuttel, G. Kallmeyer, 1928, http://www.worldcat.org/title/musae-sioniae-teil-viii-1610/oclc/812244509). A related Bach Cantata is BWV 150, "Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich" (For you, Lord, is my longing), now dated to the 3rd Sunday after Trinity 1707 (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV150-D6.htm). "Allein nach dir, Herr Jesu Christ, verlanget mich" is not found in the 1736 Schmelli Gesangbuch.

Orgelbuchlein Lenten chorales (Ob. 21-27, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isIsX4ReRGY): O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig, BWV 618; Christe, du Lamm Gottes, BWV 619; Christus, der uns selig macht BWV, 620; Da Jesus an dem Kreuze stund BWV 621; O Mensch, bewein´ dein´ Sünde groß, BWV 622; Wir danken dir, Herr Jesu Christ, dass du für uns gestorben" (We thank you, Lord Jesus Christ, that you have died for us), BWV 623; and Hilf, Gott, dass mer´s gelinge BWV 624. Those incipits not set as chorale preludes in the Orgelbuchlein are: Ob 28. O Jesu, wie ist dein Gestalt (Zahn 8360), BWV 1094(NC); Ob 29. O Traurigkeit, o Herzeleid (Zahn 1915), BWV Anh. 200 frag.) BWV 404(PC); Ob 30. Allein nach dir, HJC, Verlanget mich; Ob 31. O(Ach) wir armen Sünder (“Ehre sei dir, Christe, der du Leides Not); BWV 407(PC), SBCB52-53 (Zahn 8187), BWV 1097(NC); see OB 5, BWV 603; Ob 32. Herzliebster Jesu, was hast du verbrochen; BWV 1093(NC); BWV 244/3,46(PC), BWV 245/17, SBSC48 (Zahn 983), Emans 105, 103(PC)-D; Ob 33. Nun gibt mein Jesus gute Nacht (340c); cf. So gibst du nun, mein Jesu, gute Nacht (Zahn 849); BWV 412(PC), BWV 501. For Bach's settings of Passiontide chorales, including those listed in the Orgelbuchlein, see http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Vocal/BWV245-Gen7.htm, "Passion Chorales."

Picander Reminiscere Chorales

In the Picander cycle of 1728-29,Cantata P-23, "Ich stürme den Himmel mit meinem Gebethe," for Reminiscere, 13 March 1729, closes with the Johann Heermann ¹² 1630 12 eight-line stanza "Treuer Gott, ich muß dir klagen" (Faithful God, I must lament to you), Stanza 5, "Lass mich Gnade für dir finden" May I who am full of sorrow." It is found in the LKGB as No. 297, "Cross, Persecution & Challenge), while the melody is “Freu dich sehr, o meine Seele” (Rejoice much, O my soul), Louis Bourgeoise Psalm 42 setting (Geneva Psalter 1551), also known as "Wie nach einer Wasserquelle (As for a water source), "based on a 15th c. melody (Zahn 6543) (NLGB 358, Death & Dying). The 3rd stanza also is set as a plain chorale in the apocryphal 1730 St. Luke Passion, BWV 246, No. 29, just before Jesus' arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane. Bach used Stanzas 6 and 7 to close Part 1 in Cantata BWV 194, "Höchsterwünschtes Freudenfest" Most greatly longed for feast of joy), for Trinityfest 1724, 1726, and 1731. Bach also used the hymn’s final Stanza 12, “Ich will alle meine Tage / Rühmen deine starke Hand” (All my days I shall / praise your mighty hand) close Cantata 25, "Es ist nichts Gesundes an meinem Leibe" (There is nothing healthy in my body, Psalm 38:3), for the 14th Sunday after Trinity 1723. The melody and its variants such as "Ach wann werd ich dahin kommen" (Zahn 6543) also are set to various texts in other Bach cantatas (music, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXF5MxbyKxM). Apocryphal Bach organ chorale prelude settings include BWV Anh. 50, 52 and 53, as well as BWV 743 and BWV 1119. Stanza 8 of Heermann's chorale, "Gott, Gross über alle Götter!" (God, great beyond all gods), closes the cantata for the previous Sunday in the Picander Cycle, Invocative, March 6, Cantata P-22, "Weg, mein Herz, mit den Gedanken." "Treuer Gott, ich muß dir klagen" is not listed in the Orgelbuchlein but is found in the Schmelli Gesangbuch as No. 62, Repentance Song.

FOOTNOTES

¹ Petzoldt, Bach Kommentar: Die geistlichen Kantaten des 1. Bis 27. Trinitas-Sontagges, Vol. 1; Theologisch Musikwissenschaftlicke Kommentierung der Geistlichen Vokalwerke Johann Sebastan Bachs, Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart (Kassel: Bärenreiter, 2004: 69).
² Reminiscere Readings, 1 Thes. 4:1-7, English kjv 1619, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Thessalonians+4%3A1-7&version=KJV; German, Luther 1545, https://newchristianbiblestudy.org/bible/german-luther-1545/1-thessalonians/4/). Gospel, Matt. 15:21-28, English, KJV, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+15%3A21-28&version=KJV), German Luther, https://newchristianbiblestudy.org/bible/german-luther-1545/matthew/15/).
³ John S. Setterlund, Bach Through the Year: The Church Music of Johann Sebastian Bach and the Revised Common Lectionary (Minneapolis MN: Lutheran University Press, 2013: 171).
⁴ 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).
⁵ Other composers settings include Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck organ chorale toccata (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK6VvUKAOv4); Miochael Praetorius, double chorus http://www.michael-praetorius.de/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/02.028-Erbarm-dich-mein-o-Herre-Gott-à-12.pdf; Heinrich Scheidemann, chorale prelude, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=878WiENB65M; Henrich Schütz vocal Psalm setting, SWV 447 (http://imslp.org/wiki/Erbarm_dich_mein,_o_Herre_Gott,_SWV_447_(Schütz,_Heinrich), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mmxSFnAfbs); Samuel Scheidt, vocal concerto, SWV 148 https://itunes.apple.com/be/album/scheidt-concertuum-sacrorum/id315871747; Andreas Hammerschmidt, vocal setting, IAH-14 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvMETAlvtqg; Dietrich Buxtehude, Cantata, BuxWV Anh.9 (1), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQUfZyQ0znw; Johann Pachelbel chorale prelude, P. 109, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5to5HaD1NZM; J. Nicolaus Hanff (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Lib/Hanff-Johann-Nicolaus.htm, chorale prelude, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4Bgcx_yvMM; Andreas Armsdorff, chorale prelude, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgbP7qGoteQ); and Bach student Johann Ludwig Krebs 1744 chorale partita, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHoBP0euI7g).
⁶ Karl Geiringer, The Bach Family: Seven Generations of Creative Genius (New Yorkl: Oxford University Press, 1954: 28).
⁷ Telemann, "Missa Erbarm dich mein o Herre Gott," (http://www.edition-baroque-shop.de/WebRoot/Store2/Shops/15508506/57C1/D392/EC9B/4FB8/3E1C/C0A8/2BBA/01E8/eba6098.pdf, http://imslp.org/wiki/Missa_sopra_%27Erbarm_dich_mein_o_Herre_Gott%27,_TWV_9:6_(Telemann,_Georg_Philipp)).
⁸ Cited in Stephen Rose, "The Alt-Bachisches Archv," in The Routledge Research Companion to Johann Sebastian Bach, ed. Robin A. Leaver (London & New York: Routledge, 2017: 222).
⁹ Johann Michael Bach biography, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Lib/Bach-Johann-Michael.htm. "Liebster Jesu, hör mein Flehen,"BDW 8798 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altbachisches_Archiv#Liebster_Jesu,_hör_mein_Flehen,_ABA_II,_6, https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00008798?lang=en); Recording https://www.classicalarchives.com/work/128030.html; music, Alt-Bachisches Archiv ABA II: 6, Das Erbe Deutsche Musik, vol. 2, Cantatas ed. Max Schneider, 1935 (Wiesbaden: Breitkpf & Härtel, 1966); Recording (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmVhAqZ3dsY); Hänssler Ed. 30.622, ed. Hans Bergmann (Neuhausen-Stuttgart: Hänssler-Verlag, 1985, https://books.google.com/books/about/Liebster_Jesu_hör_mein_Flehen.html?id=3FcJAQAAMAAJ); Carus Ed. 30.622, ed. Hans Bergmann (Leipzig: Carus-Verlag 1985, https://www.carusmedia.com/images-intern/medien/30/3062200/3062200n.gif).
¹⁰ Karl Geiringer, Music of the Bach Family: An Anthology (Cambridge MAS: Harvard University Press, 1955: 54, 57f).
¹¹ Batholomäus Gesius (1555-1613/21), http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Lib/Gesius.htm; Nikolaus Selneccer (1532-1592) http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Lib/Selnecker.htm; Bach source http://www.orgelbuechlein.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/30-Allein-nach-dir.pdf, http://matthaeusglyptes.blogspot.com/2010/12/allein-nach-der-herr-jesu-christ.html.
¹² Johann Heerman (1585-1647 http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Lib/Heermann.htm); "Treuer Gott, ich muß dir klagen," German text and Francis Browne English translation (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/Chorale032-Eng3.htm); text and melody information (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/CM/Freu-dich-sehr.htm), also details, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV220-D.htm, “Freu dich sehr, o meine Seele”). "Picander cycle of 1728–29 - Wikipedia," https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picander_cycle_of_1728–29, https://archive.org/stream/bub_gb_GSJLAAAAcAAJ#page/n136/mode/1up.

—————

To Come: Third Sunday in Lent (Oculi), Cantatas BWV 54 and 80a, other appropriate Bach cantatas, Lenten chorales (continuing discussion).

Oculi Sunday: Bach Cantatas 54, 80a

See: Cantatas for Oculi Sunday

4th, 5th Sundays in Lent, Judica Cantata BWV 209a

William L. Hoffman wrote (March 15, 2018):
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,¹ "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, tpo 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 Paul Zeller Strodach.² 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).³ In today's three-year lectionary, the Gospel (John 6:1-15) is found in this Year's B for the 10th Sunday after Pentecost (11th after Trinity), and the most appropriate Bach cantata is BWV 21, Part 1, "Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis in meinem Herzen; / aber deine Tröstungen erquicken meine Seele." (I had much affliction in my heart, / but your consolations restore my soul.), for any time, 1714, says John S. Sutterlund.⁴ In today's three-year lectionary, for Year B the Gospel is John 3:13-21, God so loved the world (), and the most appropriate cantata is BWV 68, "Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt" (God so loved the world), for Pentecost Sunday 1725 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_mvjRXDjuA), he says (Ibid.: 43).

Today's Laeteri lectionary begins with the first reading, God's fourth covenant, Numbers 21:8 (kjv), "And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live." This is repeated in today's John's Gospel, 3:15 (kjv): "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up."

German composers with cantatas for Laeteri that were consistently presented at the Gotha Court and in Hamburg included Christoph Graupner in Darmstadt with "Alle Fülle aller Segen," GWV 1123/22 (1722); "Befiehl dem Herrn deine Wege," GWV 1123/36 (1736), and "Aus Gottes reichen Allmachtshänden" (1744); Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel in Gotha, "Jesus von Nazareth war ein Prophet, mächtig von Taten und Worten" (String Cycle, ?Leipzig 11 March 1736), "Ich bin arm und elend" (c1750), and "Danke für alles dem der dich geschaffen (c1760); Johann Philipp Käfer in Baden, "Siehe des Herren Auge" (d.1728); Wolfgang Carl Briegel, "Evangelische Gespräche" (Gotha 1660), and Georg Benda "Du öffnest deine Hand, L.541" (Gotha c1780). In Picander's published cantata cycle of 1728-28, on Laeteri Sunday, 27 March 1728, the cantata was "Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten" (Whoever lets only the dear God reign), with the closing chorale, "Dein Seel lebend, bewahr dein Leib" (text, https://archive.org/stream/bub_gb_GSJLAAAAcAAJ#page/n139/mode/1up).

Because of the Laeteri Sunday emphasis on affirmation, Bach's Das neu Leipziger Gesangbuch of 1682 prescribed the following chorales appropriate for Passiontide: 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). These also were the same designated chorales for the 5th Sunday in Lent, Judica, in the NLGB.

5th Sunday in Lent, Judica

T5th 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."⁵ The Gospel (John 8:46-59 is not found in today's three-year lectionary. Other composers with Judica cantata settings were Christoph Graupner (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cantatas_by_Christoph_Graupner#GWV_1124) and Stölzel's "Ich bin der Weg, die Wahrheit und das Leben" (?Leipzig 18 March 1736), and "Ich bin der Weg, die Wahrheit und das Leben" (Gotha 1738). The Bach music most appropriate for Judica would have been his setting of the Jesus "I am" concept in his St. John Passion, best exemplified by the opening chorus and the initial turba choruses (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5lhr7VRdL8).

Today's Year B three-year lectionary Gospel for Judica is John 12:20-33 (Son of Man glorified; servanthood, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3%3A13-20&version=KJV). The Epistle is Hebrews 5:5-10 (Jesus glorified, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+5%3A5-10&version=KJV). The First Reading is God's fifth and final covenant, Jeremiah 31:31-34 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah+31%3A31-34&version=KJV). The Psalm reading is penitential Psalm 51, Miserere mei, Deus (Have mercy on me, O God). Bach's most appropriate setting for this Sunday is the motet, BWV 1083, "Tilge, Höchester, meine Sünden" (Blot out, Highest, My Sins), was composed in Leipzig 1746/47 as a transcription of Pergolesi's Stabat Mater, in a paraphrase of Psalm 51 (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Vocal/BWV1083-Gen2.htm, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHCoKWZLXKA). It was appropriate for Lent and Good Friday Services.

Bach Judica Cantata?

A possible parody setting of a cantata for Judica in the Picander cycle, 3 April 1729, is "Böse Welt, schmäh immerhin" (Evil world, degrading anyhow), based on BWV 209 by adaptation of Gustav Adolf Theill, published in 1983 (https://www.worldcat.org/title/bose-welt-schmah-immerhin-kantate-zum-sonntag-judica-nach-bwv-209/oclc/159405685, recording, https://www.apesound.de/en/LP/Classics/Johann-Sebastian-Bach-1685-1750-Verschollene-Kantaten-Vol-2-LP.html). Solo soprano Cantata BWV 209, "Non sa che sia dolore" (He does not know what sorrow is, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV209.htm), which has similar affections. Theill, who also restored the lost St. Mark Passion, suggested that both Italian sacred cantatas BWV 209 and 203 may have involved German sacred works in similar form with mature music for pre-Lenten and Lenten time that were subsequently parodied. Cantata 209 original text and Francis Browne English translation and "Note on the text" (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/BWV209-Eng3.htm). The five movements are an opening sinfonia, and pairs of recitatives and da-capo arias. The Picander text closes with the plain chorale "Mir hat die Welt trüglich gericht't" (The world has judged me deceitfully), Stanza 5 of the NLGB Passiontide hymn "In dich hab' ich gehoffet, Herr" (In you I have placed my hope, Lord), which Bach also set as plain chorales in the Passions, BWV 244/38 and possibly BWV 247/5.

Bach's two original profane cantatas in Italian have appealing music despite uncertain origins. says Klaus Hoffmann in his 2016 liner notes to the Masaaki Suzuki BIS cantata recording (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Performers/Suzuki-Rec5.htm#S7). << The texts of Bach’s secular cantatas, like those of his sacred cantatas, are usually in German. The two surviving Italian cantatas associated with his name – Non sa che sia dolore [BWV 209] and Amore traditore [BWV 203] – are striking exceptions, and have long been regarded with skepticism by Bach biographers and researchers. As both of the cantatas have only survived as copies, we do not have documentary verification of Bach’s authorship. Moreover, stylistic considerations should be taken into account. The two pieces, however, are very different cases, and researchers have thus approached them with varying levels of interest.

The problem of Non sa che sia dolore has been occupying Bach researchers for a good hundred years, although they have so far failed to provide definitive clarification concerning its authenticity and the circumstances of its composition. A particular incentive for examining this work is provided by the text –which is by no means an unproblematic one. Although its meaning is partly obscured by poetic images and allusions, it nevertheless allows the outline of the work’s motivation and purpose to emerge: the cantata is a farewell to a young scholar who is in the process of taking leave of his existing life and friends, and who can count on finding important patrons when he reaches the end of his journey, in Ansbach in Franconia.

Who might this young scholar have been? One of the more recent hypotheses has suggested Lorenz Christoph Mizler (1709–78), founder of the ‘Sozietät der musikalischen Wissenschaften‘ (‘Corresponding Society of the Musical Sciences’) that is often associated with his name – and of which Bach became a member in 1747. Mizler came from near Ansbach, and had studied in Leipzig where he became a pupil of Bach’s. When he took his Master’s degree in 1734, he dedicated his dissertation (published the same year) to four prominent musical figures, one of whom was Bach. After that he left Leipzig, and his departure might have provided the impulse for the cantata. Many details of the text and also the prominent role played by the transverse flute in the cantata would be suitable for Mizler, who was himself an enthusiastic flautist.

And who could have written the cantata’s text? Several linguistic details reveal that the author was not Italian but German, and that writing the text caused him some problems. For assistance he helped himself liberally to Italian literature: he turned in the introductory verses to the classical poet Giovanni Battista Guarini (1538 –1612) and in the rest of the work to the opera librettist Pietro Metastasio (1698–1782). He evidently had a thorough literary education. Here, too, the evidence seems to point in one direction: to Johann Matthias Gesner (1691–1761), then headmaster of the Thomasschule in Leipzig who, when he had been headmaster of the grammar school in Ansbach in 1729–30, had already become aware of Mizler, and had become his mentor and patron.

Admittedly, all of these are no more than hypotheses, speculative attempts to assign the cantata a place in Bach’s life and personal environment, on the basis of its text. But the music, too, is difficult to categorize. In terms of format, a solo soprano cantata with an opening concertante movement for flute and two da capo arias introduced by recitatives is by no means unusual. It is also unproblematic to believe tBach was the composer of the sinfonia and recitatives. What is surprising, however, is the relative modernity of the arias, which prove to be strongly influences by the stylistic world of Italian opera and cantata writing. But perhaps the music’s Italianità can be understood as a wholly intentional correlation with the Italian text. Despite all the efforts of Bach scholars, Non sa che sia dolore has remained an enigma. Perhaps one day a fortunate source discovery will shed further light on the matter. Until then, however, the music can captivate its audiences and, with its beauty tinged with mystery, lead them into the world of fantasies. © Klaus Hofmann 2016

Epiphany 6 Cantata

For the rarely-occurring 6th Sunday after Epiphany, Picander's 1728-29 cycle cantata "Valet will ich dir geben" (I want to bid you farewell) for that Sunday, which did not take place in 1729 but did on 14 February 1734 (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/LCY/6.So.n.Epiph..htm), Bach may have set the text, later a parody of Cantata BWV 203, "Amore traditore" (Treacherous love, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV203-D3.htm, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcmPJXErRH8), a bass solo of two d-capo arias and one recitative (text and Francis Browne English translation, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/BWV203-Eng3.htm). The Picander text with two da-capo arias (https://archive.org/stream/bub_gb_GSJLAAAAcAAJ#page/n128/mode/1up) closes with the chorale "Dar wird sein das Freudenleben" (There will be the joyful life), Stanza 4 of "Alle Menschen müßen sterben" (Everybody must die, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/Chorale132-Eng3.htm), which Bach set as a plain chorale, BWV 262 in D Major (http://www.bach-chorales.com/BWV0262.htm, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1_Hi3fqTdI) to the associated melody "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). Cantata 203 was listed in the Breitkopf catalogue in 1764 and attributed to Bach but survives in a copy dating later to 1840 (https://www.bach-digital.de/servlets/solr/select?sort=worksort01+asc&fl=*%2Cscore&q=%2BobjectType%3A%22work%22+%2Bcategory%3A%22BachDigital_class_00000006%5C%3A0001%22+%2Bcategory%3A%22BachDigital_class_00000005%5C%3A0001%22+%2Bwork01%3A%22BWV+203%22+%2Bwork02%3A%22Amore+traditore%22&mask=search_form_work.xed&version=4.5&start=0&fl=id&rows=1&XSL.Style=browse&origrows=25

Although its origins also are obscure its authenticity also is questioned, observes Hofmann. <<This short solo cantata for bass and harpsichord, comprising just three movements, has survived in a composite manuscript from the eighteenth century, which was still available when the Bach-Gesellschaft’s complete edition was prepared in 1862 but has subsequently disappeared. In that manuscript the cantata was definitively labelled as a work ‘di Giov. Seb. Bach’. Nonetheless, doubts as to its authenticity are legitimate. These have nothing to do with the quality of the music. It is a very typical Italian chamber cantata, and its text is equally typical: the monologue of a disappointed lover, who takes Amor, the god of love, to task, accuses him of betrayal and deception, and defiantly refuses to be a suffering slave to unrequited love. The form of the cantata follows an established pattern: two da capo arias are linked by a recitative. The first aria has as its basis a basso continuo ritornello, which frames and sub-divides the movement. Above its ostinato motifs the vocal line roams freely, sometimes alluding to them by means of imitation.

A special feature of the second aria is that the harpsichord is used not as a continuo instrument with a chordal accompaniment (as it had been previously) but in a virtuoso, concertante role. Here the musical activity takes place on two almost totally separate levels. The singer presents something akin to a vocal minuet, at a moderate tempo and with a relatively simple metrical scheme, without extended coloraturas, progressing to a large extent in two- and four-bar groups typical of dance music. In sharp contrast, however, the harpsichord plays an extremely lively part with toccata-like figurations and, at times, full chords. This is the work of a very idiosyncratic composer.

If the cantata had not already been linked to the name of Bach, nobody would have thought of ascribing it to him. Stylistically it does not really fit anywhere in his output. One might at best imagine that his link to the piece was as an arranger rather than a composer. Perhaps the cantata was originally for another, higher vocal range, and was arranged for bass voice at a later stage, possibly by Bach. Or perhaps the concertante harpsichord part was added by an arranger in place of a normal, chordal continuo part – again Bach might have done so. This cantata, too, presents us with many riddles.>>

Postscript: Given the obscure nature and questioned authenticity of Cantata 203, its adaptation from a Bach Lenten cantata remains highly skeptical, as does the situation with Cantata 209, especially since it is assumed that Bach composed no Lenten cantatas in Leipzig where church authorities had a closed season of no figural music during services, except at Good Friday Vespers which allowed Passion oratorio music. Recent fundings suggest that certain proscriptions and traditions may have been relaxed,. For example, it is documented that Bach presented Stölzel's poetic Passion Oratorio "Ein Lämmlein geht und trät die Schuld," on Good Friday, 23 April 1734, two months after the 6th Sunday after Epiphany, and that the next year, Bach began presenting Stölzel''s "String Cycle" cantatas which included works for the Lenten season (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/LCY/1736.htm). Further, the progressive University Pauliner Kirche and Neukirche may have been able to present Lenten cantatas during Bach's Leipzig tenure.

FOOTNOTES

¹ Eric Chafe, J. S. Bach's Johannine Theology: The St. John Passion and the Cantatas for Spring 1725 (Oxford University Press, 2014: 102).
² Paul Zeller Strodach, The Church Year: Studies in the Introits, Collects, Epistles, and Gospels (Philadelphia PA: United Lutheran Publication House, 1924: 121).
³ 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.
⁴ John S. Setterlund, Bach Through the Year: The ChurMusic of Johann Sebastian Bach and the Revised Common Lectionary (Minneapolis MN: Lutheran University Press, 2013: 84).
⁵ 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).

—————

To Come: Palm Sunday Cantata BWV 182, and Passiontide chorales.

David Stancliffe wrote (March 15, 2018):
[To William L. Hoffman] A tiny correction to your valuable notes: para 1, l.4 it is Laetari Sunday (also misspelt below and in the end notes), and in the final line of that first para, Jesus was not asked if he was Jesus of Nazareth (except in the garden), but whether he was he was the Son of God. This is the subject of his questioning by Pilate.

William L. Hoffman wrote (March 15, 2018):
[To David Sancliffe] Thank you. The significance of the “Jesus of Nazareth” turba chorus at the beginning of Bach's St. John Passion is that the melody is used as a thematic “leitmotiv” throughout in other turbae, both musically and theologically, a transformative “parody,” especially for those who denigrate “parody” such as Daniel R. Melamed, keynote speaker at this year’s American Bach Society conference.