Lost Bach Cantatas
Discussions - Part 1

BWV 1045

Juozas Rimas (September 23, 2002):
My first encounter with Bach's cantatas a couple of years ago was, surprisingly, not a vocal work (maybe not even by Bach?). It's titled "Concerto D-dur, Fragment einer Einleitungssinfonie zu einer bekannten Kantate", BWV 1045.

What is known about this work? Is it really by JSB? Is it really a sinfonia from an unknown cantata?

It includes a very interesting, almost funny violin part - the violin produces weird creaking sounds, "building-up" for the several culminations of the composition. The work itself is quite long, consisting of several segments - all rich, lush, never a dull moment.

I listened to BWV 1045 in the LP with Gidon Kremer playing the violin (the LP is very rare as it was published in 1978 in Melodya label in Russia). Kremer is a fine violinist and he does a good job in the whole LP which includes, besides BWV1045, Concerto in E Major for Violin and Orchestra and the orchestrated version of Sonata in E Minor for Violin and Figured Bass.

Thomas Braatz wrote (September 24, 2002):
[To Juozas Rimas] I’ll try to answer your questions based on the NBA I/34 KB which appeared in 1990. Here are some important points made in the KB:

The Autograph Score (Fragment):

1) The autograph score has some of the typical features that one would expect from a Bach manuscript. Even the title implies that this was intended for use in a church service:

“J. J. Concerto à 4 Voci. 3 Trombe, Tamburi, 2 Hautb: Violino Conc: 2 Violini, Viola | e Cont.” with the subtitle: “Sinfonia” [The “J. J. Concerto à 4 Voci.” indicate clearly that 4 voices were eventually to appear and “J.J. Concerto” places this composition into the category of church music.]

Problem: Church cantatas almost always have a designation of the particular Sunday or feast day within the liturgical year, but, most important of all, a title (usually based on the 1st line of text (the ‘incipit’) that the voices sing) appears before the listing of the instruments involved.

It is impossible to determine for which occasion this piece was composed.

2) The watermark of the paper (a crowned posthorn on a path or little bridge) was used by a papermill, Ocker in the Harz Mt. region, from 1737 to 1766.

3) The handwriting used on the score has been identified as being Bach’s own. It is even possible to determine the year when Bach composed the score by comparing with other manuscripts that exist. The year is circa 1742.

Problem: The handwriting varies within the score and includes one of the few, rare examples where Bach combines the light, somewhat careless style which he uses when composing directly to paper for the first time with the clean (very few, if any errors), deliberate style that he uses when copying from another source (either an earlier version of his, or that of another composer’s work that he is transcribing.) Here the trumpet, timpani, and oboe parts display the former, while the strings and continuo, but very particularly, the solo violin part, are absolutely clear (a perfect copy by Bach without almost any errors) and include very many articulation marks as well. This leads to the suspicion that Bach is copying from the score of a violin concerto and had decided to add the wind parts later. (Remember how Bach took the 3^rd Brandenburg Concerto and added wind parts to that as well when he needed an opening sinfonia for a church cantata, BWV 174!) The arguments regarding the original source have not been answered by the NBA KB editors. They leave the question open as they point to an article by Rudolf Stephan, “Die Wandlung der Konzertform bei Bach” which appeared in the journal, Musikforschung 6, p. 143, in 1953, where Stephan, based on stylistic comparison, expresses doubts about the Bach’s authorship of this piece. They also point to an article by Ralph Leavis, “Zur Frage der Authentizität von Bachs Violinkonzert d-moll,” contained in the Bach Journal, 1979, pp. 25-27. In this article Leavis tries to prove that this is Bach’s transcription/reworking of a violin concerto by a different, unknown composer. [We have two against Bach's reworking of one of his own earlier concerti, and the NBA is unwilling or unable to provide any evidence to the contrary.]

4) There are some problems regarding the provenance of this autograph score, but these are rather unimportant considering all the scrutiny that this score has undergone during the past half century. The score is in the BB.

5) Not only the cantata is a fragment here, but the only extant mvt. is a fragment also – the final measure and a half were completed by an unknown, unidentifiable hand.

6) It appears that Bach never completed this cantata. There is no evidence whatsoever of other mvts. or even a connection with another cantata where this may have served as a replacement for an already existing sinfonia. The lack of an original set of parts may also point to the fact that it was never performed during Bach’s lifetime.

Lost works of the Bachs

Juozas Rimas wrote (June 14, 2004):
Kurt Jensen wrote:
< As a result, there are endless pages spent on calendars and calculations, and dates on which he "would" have composed, say, a cantata. Somehow, while reading this, the notion of "grade inflation" came to mind (not that I'm not sure there are missing cantatas, among other musical types in the catalogue). >
Could you briefly summarize the numbers of Bach's lost works that Wolff gives? And is there a more realistic estimation than Wolff's?

John Pike wrote (June 14, 2004):
[To Juozas Rimas] It seems that a large number of works from Weimar and Cöthen are missing. We cannot be exact but CPE Bach refers in the obituary to pieces for many different combinations of instruments and in various genres, eg concertos, which were composed in Cöthen and which have just not survived. a large number of Weimar cantatas are probably missing but again it is difficult to quantify because of problems in the court that may have curtailed Bach's composing requirements. Many of the keyboard works have survived through copies made by students.

At Leipzig, according to CPE Bach, he composed 5 full cantata cycles, but only 3 remain. The loss may be even greater because for some weeks, 2 cantatas were performed, and there were sometimes extra cantatas on certain feast days.

Whatever the final figure, the loss is truly tragic.

Bradley Lehman wrote (June 14, 2004):
[To John Pike] I agree that it's tragic. I also think it's awful that most of the works of Bach's main teacher (his uncle, Johann Christoph Bach: Eisenach organist) have been lost. This weekend I've listened to Christoph's motet "Fürchte dich nicht" (obviously a model for JSB's own) and two other motets, and read Spitta's and Wolff's remarks about the other extant works and about the all-around musicality of this "profound" composer (as JSB referred to him). Christoph was noted especially for his harmonic adventurousness, his gestural deployment of harmony that (in a sense) rivals Gesualdo and Orlando di Lasso.

These recordings are in the Ricercar Consort's boxed set, "Die Familie Bach", 92001. The motets are performed by Collegium Vocale Gent/Herreweghe, Ledroit/Ricercar Consort, and Capella Sancti Michaelis/Erik van Nevel.

Indeed, I believe that Bach's explicit keyboard temperament (tuning method) probably comes directly from that training with Christoph, and from lifelong interaction with Christoph's son (Bach's cousin) Nikolaus. If I'm right about this, the tuning method was a family heirloom from long before JSB wrote it down. in 1706 defeated young Neidhardt in an organ-tuning contest: Nikolaus working entirely by ear and Neidhardt from a monochord. Nikolaus (the organist of Jena) was also an instrument-builder and innovator, noted for his Lautenwercke: and probably built the two that JSB owned. In the 1740s Nikolaus was venerated as the oldest living Bach, and JSB wrote a piece of music that (I believe) celebrates the lives of both Christoph and Nikolaus, a tribute to the brilliance of his family...a piece of music that is playable on two keyboard instruments.

Douglas Cowling [Director of Music & Liturgical Arts, Church of the Messiah, Toronto, Canada] wrote (June 14, 2004):
Bradley Lehman wrote:
< I agree that it's tragic. I also think it's awful that most of the works of Bach's main teacher (his uncle, Johann Christoph Bach: Eisenach organist) have been lost. >
Wolff suggests that Christoph's double-choir motet, "Lieber Herr Gott" was arranged by Sebastian for his own funeral commemoration. The Tallis Choir of Toronto performed it as part of a reconstruction of the "funeral" of J.S. Bach: it is a magnificent work which deserves to be performed more often.

Why was the chorale cantata cycle not completed?

Chris Kern wrote (March 14, 2007):
As we move towards the end of the chorale cantata cycle proper (with BWV 1), I wanted to ask if anybody had anymore information on its lack of completion.

From Wolff, this is what I gather the facts are:
1) From June 11, 1724 to March 25, 1725, Bach performed 40 new cantatas that were all based on the same idea (the chorale cantata we're familiar with)
2) After that date, the continuous production of chorale cantatas stopped, but BWV 9, BWV 140, and BWV 14 were later composed on texts that had already been written by the time the cycle stopped (the date for BWV 14 was while Bach was out of town, and BWV 140 and BWV 14 were associated with liturgical dates that do not come up every year, and did not in 1724)
3) Bach would have only needed to compose 14 more cantatas to complete the cycle.
4) The cantatas that Bach used in 1725 after BWV 1 were later included in the third jahrgang, rather than the second one.

And Wolff's conjectures:
1) The texts for the cantatas were all written by the same person, probably Andreas Stubel, and Stubel's death ended the cantata cycle.
2) Bach attempted to fill in gaps later with compositions like BWV 177, BWV 137, BWV 112, and others (but these are so-called "per omnes versus" cantatas, lacking the paraphrasing that is a cornerstone of the
cycle).
3) Bach never completed the cycle (i.e. we do not have lost cantatas).
4) The speed with which Bach composed the 40 cantatas is evidence of his deep passion for the cycle, and the idea for the cycle itself was created by Bach himself.

The obvious question, then, is why the cycle was never completed. Surely Bach could have found another librettist to complete 14 cantatas. Or did he think that the cantatas all had to have libretti by the same person to be a true cycle? Did he just lose interest in the project after the initial ceasing of activity (this would seem to not be true since he later did BWV 9, BWV 140, and BWV 14.)

Paul T. McCain wrote (March 14, 2007):
Is there a possibility that the "missing" cantatas were lost? It's hard to think about how much music Bach wrote is forever lost, occasionally being discovered in some old book, or attic.

Julian Mincham wrote (March 14, 2007):
Paul T. McCain wrote:
< Is there a possibility that the "missing" cantatas were lost? >
No the dates of these final cantatas are well established and none have been lost from this period.

Julian Mincham wrote (March 14, 2007):
Chris Kern wrote:
< Bach would have only needed to compose 14 more cantatas to complete the cycle. >
In fact there are 13 not 14. BWV 36 is included for discussion on this list but it is not a part of the second cycle.

Furthermore,f you exclude the repeat of BWV 4 Bach would only have needed to have composed 12 new cantatas to complete the cycle.--BWV 6---BWV 176.

Douglas Cowling wrote (March 15, 2007):
Julian Mincham wrote:
< No the dates of these final cantatas are well established and none have been lost from this period. >
Given Bach's encyclopedic method of working, I find it hard to subscribe to the Comet Collision Theory of Extinction, that the cycle was interrupted by a catastrophe such as the death of a librettist or there was a cut in funding which ended the composition of cantatas. I'm more inclined to suppose that Bach completed the project having never intended to compose the "missing" cantatas. If you look at his entire repertoire of surviving cantatas, you can see that he had provided at least 2 or 3 options for each Sunday of the church year. He may well have thought that was sufficient for satisfying the requirement for a "new" cantata each week.

Chris Kern wrote (March 15, 2007):
Julian Mincham wrote:
< In fact there are 13 not 14. BWV 36 is included for discussion on this list but it is not a part of the second cycle. >
The way I came up with 14 was to count the remaining liturgical days left (from Easter Sunday to Trinity Sunday -- since the cycle began on the 1st sunday after Trinity), which is 14. BWV 36 had nothing to do with it.

BWV 4 and the other per omnus versus cantatas are not the same style as the 43 chorale cantatas we have.

Ed Myskowski wrote (March 15, 2007):
Chris Kern wrote:
< As we move towards the end of the chorale cantata cycle proper (with BWV 1), I wanted to ask if anybody had anymore information on its lack of completion. [...]
The obvious question, then, is why the cycle was never completed. >
I presume interested readers will have read Chris' entire post, and so I have repeated only the point I wish to respond to.

As interesting as the question of why the chorale cantata cycle was never completed (given the 25 years available to Bach to do so), even more timely to our immediate, chronologic discussions is why the cycle was interrupted in 1725, when it appears that Bach was on a cruise (admittedly intense, the single point we all agree about) to crank it out.

Chris alluded to some of the salient data, as summarized by Wolff, and Julian has stated the important questions most concisely.

The probable answer seems to be that the appropriate texts were no longer available, unexpectedly. This remains conjecture (squishy, verging on firm). Definitely not in the family of conclusions.

Which reminds me, I have spent the last several days trying to stay awake through some technical presentations of current research on the geology of the northeastern USA.

The preferred jargon appears to be 'preliminary conclusion' rather than 'tentative conclusion'. Since I have been so accommodating on the 'speculation' issue, I would ask for the same courtesy in return:

'Tentative conclusion' is offensive to me, OED notwithstanding. 'Preliminary conclusion' is accurate, and should be acceptable to all.

That's what the rock guys say, which makes it 'solid as a rock'.

I will be happy to discuss exactly what 'solid' means, with respect to 'rock', off-list.

Ed Myskowski wrote (March 15, 2007):
Paul T. McCain wrote:
< Is there a possibility that the "missing" cantatas were lost? It's hard to think about how much musicBach wrote is forever lost, occasionally being discovered in some old book, or attic. >
There are no missing dates, rather a change in style of text.

Julian Mincham wrote (March 15, 2007):
Chris Kern wrote:
< BWV 4 and the other per omnus versus cantatas are not the same style as the 43 chorale cantatas we have. >
How do you make it 43? I make it 42--unless you are counting BWV 4 as one of them--but as you say it is very different.

I also have a lot of time for the view expressed by Doug Cowling (i.e. no cosmic unplanned interruption)and will be shortly expounding upon it.

Julian Mincham wrote (March 15, 2007):
Ed Myskowsky wrote quoting Chris Kern:
< The obvious question, then, is why the cycle was never completed. >
Should not this more accurately read (was never completed in the form in which it was begun?---which is a different matter.

W.F. Bach and the missing legacy...

Kim Patrick Clow wrote (April 17, 2008):
I'm curious has there been any research or theories on what happened to the missing Bach cantatas that apparently were given to W.F. Bach? My guess is that about 125-150 cantatas are missing. If my assumption is right, that W.F. Bach had all of these, and almost all of them are missing, the "failure rate" seems awfully high. You'd expect some would have survived, even if they were sold piece by piece to buyers, the odds would have been astronomical that all of them perished. You almost wonder if there was a fire or someone actually threw all the manuscripts out.


Has there been any research on specifically what happened to all of these materials?

Thanks

Peter Smaill wrote (April 17, 2008):
[To Kim Patrick Clow] From memory I can offer a related anecdote from a conversation at Bach Network UK..

As we have discussed before, scholars for most of the last century concluded that the J S Bach line had completely died out despite the existence of ?ten or so surviving children of the 21 births known to us. However, the scholar William Scheide discovered that children of W.F. had survived and the family, having been in Russia at one point , came to the USA. Christoph Wolff with his customary assiduity traced one of these , an elderly womean , and suggested meeting especially as she said that there were indeed some paepers and mementos of the family in her possession. But the meeting was deferred due to holidays, family visits, etc.; when he rang in the New Year as agreed to follow up, the respondent explained that the lady in question had died , the house was sold and the contents apparently dispersed.

Douglas Cowling wrote (April 17, 2008):
[To Peter Smaill] This is a MYSTERY special for PBS! Tell us more!

William L. Hoffman wrote (April 18, 2008):
W. F. Bach missing legacy or progency ?

[To Peter Smaill] William L. Hoffman responds:

As to legacy: There are virtually no "lost" cantatas that W.F. inherited. It's another Great Bach Myth. When the estate was divided, the cantatas, by Cycles 1-3, were shared between W.F. and C.P.E. The general distribution (beginning with Advent 1): Cycle 1, the two eldest sons alternated getting parts sets and scores until the Trinity season when W.F. got the scores and C.P.E. the parts; Cycle 2, W.F. got all the scores (he later tried to sell them to Forkel) and Anna Magdalena got the parts which she donated to the Thomas School (to pay for her continued use of the Cantor's residence for six months after JSB's death); Cycle 3, C.P.E. got virtually all the scores and W.F. the parts, except that C.P.E. got both sets and parts for Trinity +7 to Trinity +12. For "Cycle 4" (Picander lyrics), W.F. got all eight extant scores with parts. For the remainder of the church year cantatas (some 16), there is no pattern between the two sons and a few went to sources in Leipzig such as other sons, the Thomas School or publisher Breitkopf. The church year involved some 60 dates.

As to progency: There is one more "lost" surviving daughter: Brunhilde Wilomena Victoria Bach.

Bradley Lehman wrote (April 18, 2008):
William L. Hoffman wrote:
< As to progeny: There is one more "lost" surviving daughter: Brunhilde Wilomena Victoria Bach. >
One of the higher BWV numbers, presumably.

Lost Advent Cantatas "Found"

William L. Hoffman wrote (January 29, 2009):
Advent 2-4

The original music for Bach's Leipzig cantatas for the Second through the Fourth Sundays in Advent, survive only in a few individual parts for BWV 70a and BWV 186a and the first four sheets of the score for BWV 147a. The complete texts for all three are found published in Salomo Franck's <Evagelische Sonn- and Fest-Tages Andachten>, Weimar and Jena, 1717.

Cantatas BWV 70a, BWV 186a, and BWV 147 are the only three works using texts from Franck's annual cycle of Sunday and festival-day worship services. All three texts have the same format: six movements involving opening chorus and closing chorale stanza and four arias, with no recitatives. Interestingly, Bach's 13 cantatas set to Franck texts published in 1715 all contain recitatives interspersed between the lyric movements.

All three works were expanded for performance in Leipzig, as Bach did with virtually all other church cantatas composed originally in Weimar. Since the last three Sundays in Advent were a closed time in Weimar when no figural music was performed, Bach presented them at appropriate and related services elsewhere in the church year in 1723: BWV 70 for 26^th Sunday After Trinity, BWV 186 for Seventh Sunday After Trinity, and BWV 147 for Visitation. Bach made occasional text adjustments in the lyrical choruses and arias, and added recitatives and plain chorales - all involving texts relevant to the Gospel and Epistle readings of the succeeding services. The Leipzig expanded versions were divided into two parts.

As with the other transformed Weimar cantatas, the instrumental accompaniment was adapted to the expanded resources readily available in Leipzig., especially in BWV 147, which adds oboes da caccia in a new recitative and substitutes oboe d'amore for oboe in one aria.

ADVENT 2: BWV 70a, Wachet! betet! betet! Wachet! [Chorus, Lost, Proto].
12/6/16; BWV 70 expansion, 11/21/23 (Trinity 26, Cycle 1; repeated 11/18/31).
Source: (2) 3 parts (in BWV 70; vn 1 & 2, va); BB St. 95, Voss-Buch), BWV 70 parts set (lost, ? WFB).
Literature: NBA KB I/1, 86ff (Dürr, 1955); Dürr Cantatas of JSB 86f; J. Rifkin, "The Adaptation History" of BWV 70 (BJ 1999)
Text: #1-5, Franck 1717; #6 Keymann cle., "Meinen Jesum, laßich nicht" ("My Jesus, Let I not") (S.5).
Gospel, Lk. 21:25-33 (Lesson of Fig Tree); Epistle, Rm. 15:4-13 (Gospel to the Gentiles).
Forces (BWV 70): SATB. 4 vv, tp, ob, str, bc w/bn. Movements: chorus, 4 arias (A, S, T, B), chorale
1. Chs. (tutti): Watch, pray...be prepared to the Lord (BWV 70/1).
2. Aria (A,vc): ...let us soon from Sodom flee (BWV 70/3).
3. Aria (S, str): Let the mockers tongues jeer (BWV 70/5).
4. Aria (T, ob): Raise your head aloft (BWV 70/8).
5. Aria (B, tp, str): ...world and Heaven fall in ruins (BWV 70/10).
6. Cle. (tutti): ...not after the world my soul desires (BWV 70/11).

Cantata BWV 70a can be performed, Bach scholars assume, using the surviving corresponding music in the later Cantata BWV 70. Thus is because there were no changes in the text or the surviving string doublet parts. It was simply a straightforward expansion.

ADVENT 3: BWV 186a, Ärgre dich, O Seele, nicht [Chorus, Lost, Proto].
12-13-16; BWV 186 expansion, 7/11/23 (Trinity 7, Cycle 1).
Source: (6) 2 parts (in BWV 186; S, A; Thom., 1906), parts set (lost, ?WFB).
Literature: NBA KB I/1 KB, 89ff (Dürr, 1955); Dürr, Cantatas of JSB 84-86; BWV 186a, Diethard Hellmann realization, 1963, Carus 31.186
Text: #1-5, S. Franck; #6 P. Speratrus cle. "Es ist das Heil" ("It Is the Salvation") (S. 12).
Gospel, Mat. 11:2-10 (Messengers from John the Baptist); Epistle, 1 Cor. 4:1-5 (Apostles of Christ).
Forces (BWV 186): SATB, 4 vv, 2 ob, str, bc.
Movements: chorus, 4 arias (B,T,S,SA), chorale.
1. Chs.(tutti): Trouble thyself, O Soul, not (BWV 186/1).
2. Aria(B): Art Thou He who me help shall (BWV 186/3).
3. Aria(T,va): As he Himself powerful shows (BWV 186/5).
4. Aria(S,str): The poor will the Lord embrace (BWV 186/8).
5. Ar.(SA, all): Let, Soul, no sorrow from Jesus thee separate(BWV 186/10).
6. Ex.cle.(tutti): Tho it appeared as He would not (BWV 186/6).

Cantata BWV 186a original music was changed. The second, trio sonata tenor aria, BWV 186a/3=BWV 186/5, was altered with slight change of words in the text: "Messias" became "Mein Heiland." The presumed original viola part was adapted for oboe da caccia in Leipzig, according to Dürr's reconstruction in the NBA KB I/1, 89ff. The presumed closing chorale in the original was used to close Cantata BWV 73 on the third Sunday after Epiphany, January 23, 1724, where Bach added a horn to the chorale melody.

ADVENT 4: BWV 147a, Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben [Chorus, Lost, Proto].
12/20/16; BWV 147, expansion for Visitation, 7/2/23 (Cycle 1), repeated 1736-39.
Source: score (BWV 147a, 1^st 4 sheets, BB P.120, CPEB, Berlin Singakademie, see BWV 147).
Literature: NBA KB I/1, 110 ff (Dürr 1955); Dürr, Cantatas of JSB 89-91; BWV 147a realization, Uwe Wolf, realization, 1966, Carus 31.147/03; U. Wolf, "A `New' Bach Cantata - A Reconstruction of BWV 147a, Musik & Kirchke 1996.
Text: #1-5, Franck 1717; #6, cle. Kolrose "Ich dank dir, lieber Herre" ("I Thank Thee, Loving Lord") (S. 6). Gospel, John 1:19-28 (John the Baptist's Message); Epistle, Phil. 4:4-7 (God be with you).
Forces: SAT-, 4 vv, ob, str, bn, bc.
Movements: chorus, 4 arias (A, S, T, -), chorale.
1. Chs. (tutti): Heart and mouth and deed (BWV 147/1, 170a/3, Visit, 1742).
2. Aria (A, ob): Be asahmed, O Soul not (BWV 147/3); repentence.
3. Aria (T, vcl): Help, Jesus, help (BWV 147/7); faith.
4. Aria (S, vn): Prepare Ye, Jesus (BWV 147/5); preparation.
5. Aria: (B) Let me the caller's voice hear. (music unknown)
6. Cle (tutti): Thy word let me know (music unknown).

*Cantata BWV 147a underwent the most alterations in Leipzig. The fourth and last aria for bass was replaced presumably by a new aria with new text. The closing plain chorale was replaced by a chorale chorus repeat, with a new stanza, of the chorale closing Part 1, now popularly known as "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring." Uwe Wolf's realization parodies the bass aria with Franck's text while the same aria, BWV 147/9 (author unknown) has one additional line of nine syllables which Wolf covers with a new, additional line to fit the music. Wolf uses the appropriate chorale setting, BWV 347, transposed from A major to C Major.

These three Advent cantatas were Bach's last composed in Weimar. Their core music formed three of Bach's most impressive and popular cantatas. They were the first of a projected full cantata cycle and were realized six years later in 1723 in Bach's initial cycle. In all, some two dozen cantatas conceived in Weimar were utilized in the cycle of some 60 total cantatas.

William L. Hoffman wrote (January 29, 2009):
Lost Advent Cantatas: correction

Uwe Wolf's realization parodies the bass aria with Franck's text (with) the same aria, BWV 147/9 (author unknown).

STRIKE THE FOLLOWING:

has one additional line of nine syllables which Wolf covers with a new, additional line to fit the music.

BOTH TEXTS HAVE THE SAME NUMBER OF LINES -- FIVE.

Douglas Cowling wrote (January 29, 2009):
William L. Hoffman wrote:
< The original music for Bach's Leipzig cantatas for the Second through the Fourth Sundays in Advent, survive only in a few individual parts for BWV 70a and BWV 186a and the first four sheets of the score for BWV 147a. All three works were expanded for performance in Leipzig, as Bach did with virtually all other church cantatas composed originally in Weimar. Since the last three Sundays in Advent were a closed time in Weimar when no figural music was performed, Bach presented them at appropriate and related services elsewhere in the church year in 1723: >
Would you please clarify what you're outlining? I thought that cantatas were performed on all four Sundays of Advent in Weimer but only on the first Sunday in Leipzig.

William L. Hoffman wrote (January 30, 2009):
[To Douglas Cowling] William L. Hoffman replies: Thank you for catching my error. Should be: "The original music for Bach's Weimar cantatas...."

OT: BWV Anh 196a

Peter Smaill wrote (June 11, 2013):
For those who like obscure connections, this work appears to have been written for an ancestor of the famous and waspish American journalist H L Mencken, Professor Johann Burkhardt Mencke, for the wedding of his daughter Sybilla: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWVAnh196.htm

H L Mencken claimed that he had an ancestor who hired Bach, and this would be the result.

Douglas Cowling wrote (June 11, 2013):
Peter Smaill wrote:
< H L Mencken claimed that he had an ancestor who hired Bach, and this would be the result. >
"For it is mutual trust, even more than mutual interest that holds human associations together. Our friends seldom profit us but they make us feel safe... Marriage is a scheme to accomplish exactly that same end."

H. L. Mencken

William L. Hoffman wrote (June 12, 2013):
[To Peter Smaill] I will include this in the sacred weddings BCW Discussions, November 17 and 24.

Continue on Part 2

Number of Cantatas: Part 1 | Part 2 | Lost Bach Cantatas: Part 1 | Part 2