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Cantata BWV 133
Ich freue mich in dir
Discussions - Part 4 |
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Continue from Part 3 |
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Discussions in the Week of December 21, 2014 (4th round) |
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Wiliam Hoffman wrote (December 23, 2014):
Cantata BWV 133: Xmas 3, 'Ich freue mich in dir,' Intro.
Following three consecutive early, popular Luther hymns for the First Sunday in Advent (Nun komm der Heiden Heiland), Christmas Day (Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ), and the 2nd Day of Christmas (Christum, wir sollen loben schon), Bach apparently had little interest in the only hymn designated in the Dresden hymn books1 for the 3rd Day of Christmas, Kasper Füger’s 1592 generic “Wir Christenlaut haben jetzund Freud” (We Christian people have joy now, NLGB 30, Z2072) for a chorale cantata for that day which observes the Gospel either of the adoration of the shepherds (Luke 2:15-20) or the Feast of John the Evangelist (John 1:1-10 Prologue). Instead, Bach chose an anonymous contemporary tune and recent (1697) text of a joyous hymn to the Baby Jesus, Kaspar Ziegler’s “Ich freue mich in dir” (I rejoice in you) which previously had been linked to the popular Johann Heermann melody “O Gott, du frommer Gott” (O God, you righteous God).2
While Bach stuck to the six-movement symmetrical framework of the previous three 20-minute chorale cantatas (opening chorale fantasia chorus, closing four-part hymn [both stanzas unaltered] and pairs of hymn-paraphrased arias and recitatives, he departed from other festive traditions in several ways. He scaled back the orchestra to a coronet sounding the chorale melody and two oboes d’amore, he made the opening chorus much less demanding by giving his boys a break after two consecutive, challenging opening choruses to sing a homophonic four-part setting with a joyous, concerto-like elaborate orchestra, he set the two arias for the first time with intimate alto and soprano voices instead of “preachy” male voices, and he set the paraphrased text with emphasis on the intimacy of the new-born God as a brother of mankind with a human countenance and as a compassionate friend in a devout, contemplative text (see Francis Browne Note on the text, below).
At the same time, Bach uses more elaborate compositional techniques to reinforce the poetic text, as W. Gillies Whittaker points out in The Cantatas of JSB:2a the opening fantasia with “symphonic proportions and style,” the alto aria “theme is heard often instrumentally,” the uses of “prayer motives” in the two recitatives, and the repetition of instrumental themes and motives in the soprano aria.
As with Cantata 91 for Christmas Day, Bach inserts chorale stanza tropes, as he did in earlier Trinity Time, to reinforce the message of the poetic paraphrased stanza. In the case of Cantata 133, Bach inserts into the two recitatives the following lines: tenor recitative (Mvt. 3): “Der allerhöchste Gott kehrt selber bei uns ein” (The most high God himself comes to dwell among us) and the closing arioso, arioso, “Wird er ein kleines Kind / Und heißt mein Jesulein” (he becomes a small child / and is called my little Jesus.); and the bass recitative (Mvt. 5), the closing arioso, “Wer Jesum recht erkennt, / Wer stirbt nicht, wenn er stirbt, / Sobald er Jesum nennt” (The person who truly knows Jesus / does not die when he dies, / as soon as he names Jesus).
Thus, while the text makes a passing reference to the Gospel reading for the day (John’s prologue 1:1-14) to the Incarnation, Cantata 133 is “a celebration of the Christmas story,” says Nicholas Anderson in Oxford Composer Companions: JSB.3 Examples from each movement include the chorale fantasia closing with a reference to the “große Gottessohn (the mighty son of God); the succeeding affirmative, dance-like alto aria with its emphasis on the word ““Getrost” (be confident; the tenor recitative closing with the arioso referring to the Christ-child, “Wird er ein kleines Kind / Und heißt mein Jesulein” (he becomes a small child / and is called my little Jesus.); the succeeding soprano aria “contains the Christmas message of the angels, that Christ has come to save mankind”; the bass recitative with closing arioso “reflects on Jesus’ love and protection’; and closes with a plain chorale with the phrase, “Dir leb ich ganz allein;” (for you may I live wholly).
Biblical Readings, Chorale Text & Melody
Readings for the 3rd Day Of Christmas are: Epistle: Hebrews 1:1-14 (Paul’s letter, Christ is higher than the angels) Gospel: John 1:1-14 (Prologue); Feast of Saint John the Apostle, Epistle: 1 John 1:1-10 God is light, Gospel: John 21:20-24 Jesus’ command to Peter.
The Introit for the 3rd Day of Christmas is Psalm 100, Jubilate Deo omnie terra (Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands, KJV ), says Martin Petzoldt in BACH Commentary, Vol. 2, Advent to Trinity Sunday.4 The full KJVtext is http://www.biblecloud.com/kjv/psalms/100. Polyphonic motets based on the Gregorian chant in recordings/music are by: Hans Leo Hassler (1601, 8 voices), http://www3.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Jubilate_Deo_omnis_terra,_psalmum_dicite_a_8_(Hans_Leo_Hassler);
Johann Stadlmayr, Heinrch Schtz, Giovanni Gabrieli, http://www.ebay.com/itm/Jubilate-Deo-Stadlmayr-Schuetz-Gabrieli-2012-CD-New-/121288465050?pt=Music_CDs; and Palestrina (8 voices), http://www.classicalarchives.com/work/237055.html, select Jubilate Deo omnis terra (a8) 3:54 $0.99. It is possible that Bach may have performed one or more of these motets,5 given their joyous nature reflected in the opening line, “Ich freue mich in dir” (I rejoice in you, Isaiah 61:10).
The first performance of Cantata 133 took place on Tuesday, December 27, 1724, performed before the Gospel (John 21:20-24at the early main service of St. Nicholaus with the sermon of the archdeacon Friedrich Wilhelm Schütz (1677-1739). “It is likely that the hymns were selected in close collaboration with the minister. As a rule, the chosen chorales were appropriate for the day in question, especially for its gospel reading, which formed the basis of the sermon, says Klaus Hofmann in his liner commentary.6 We may assume that, in accordance with a late-seventeenth-century Leipzig tradition, the minister also commented on the hymn text and placed it in the context of the gospel reading for that day.” The second performance took place after 1740 in Leipzig.
The Cantata 133 text uses the Kaspar Ziegler first and last stanzas (Mvt. 1, 6) and the anonymous librettist paraphrases of Stanzas 2-3 (Mvts. 2-5) [C.S. Terry suggests Christian Weiss, Jr.; Harald Streck and Arthur Hirsch, Group 3 librettist. Cantata 133 text and Francis Browne English translation with “Note on the text” is found at BCW http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/BWV133-Eng3.htm. Francis Browne Note on the text: <<BWV 133 is a chorale cantata based on a hymn by Kaspar Ziegler (1697). Of the four strophes of the hymn the first and last are used word for word. The anonymous author of the text has used the second strophe for movements 2 and 3 of the cantata and the third strophe for movements 4 and 5. Within the recitatives some lines of the hymn have been used word for word and set as arioso by Bach: these are underlined in the translation.
There is no direct reference to the day's readings (John 1:1-14: prologue to gospel; Hebrews 1: 1-14: Christ is higher than the angels). Instead where the author of the cantata text inserts his own material he keeps close to the hymn, which praises the miracle that God has become the brother of mankind. Already in the Old Testament God appears to Jacob and his words I have seen God face to face and my soul is made well (Genesis, 31) are applied in movement 2 to Christ's birth. In movement 3 the librettist inserts a wider comparison with the Old Testament: Adahad to hide from God's wrath (Genesis 3:8); but now God draws near as a friend and full of compassion. Finally the librettist again includes his own thoughts in movement 5: for Christians death has lost its power, and so God will also remember me when I lie in my grave. As in other chorale cantatas we see that the author of the cantata text adds explanatory, sermonising thoughts to the devout, contemplative hymn text. This is seen most clearly through the application to the situation of the individual Christian in movement 5 (so wird er auch an mich...gedenken)… (Based on Dürr, Die Kantaten , p157-8)
The original chorale text: “Ich freue mich in dir,” author is Kaspar (Caspar) Ziegler (1697), with four stanzas (not in Das Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch, NLGB 7 ), Francis Browne BCW English translation, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/Chorale004-Eng3.htm; Ziegler (1621-1690) BCW Short Biography http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Lib/Ziegler-Kaspar.htm. Bach used Chorale Melody 3: Johann Heerman “O Gott, du frommer Gott” (197a/398 - Melody 4 | Composer: Anon.; apparently new melody Bach used in 1724, first appearance of melody in print 1738 (Zahn 5187, “O Stilles Gotes Lamm.” “Ich freu dich in mir (Heerman melody 3) with the Ziegler text, stanza 4, “Wohlan, so will ich mich” (So then will I [cling]), closes the Christmas Cantata, “Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe” (c.1728.). Melody 1 us is used in the Schmelli Gesangbuch (1735) Christmas Setting. BWV 465. Bach uses melodies 2 and 3 to other texts in six non-Christmas cantatas. For details of the Ziegler text and Heermann melodies, see BCW http://www.bach-cantatas.com/CM/O-Gott-du-frommer-Gott.htm
Cantata 133 Movements, Scoring, Text, Key, meter.8
1. Chorus (Stanza 1 unaltered) with independent orchestra, ritornelli; chorus in plain-chorale style, three parts [SATB; Cornetto [C.f.] col Soprano, Oboe d'amore I/II, Violino I/II, Viola, Continuo: A. “Ich freue mich in dir” (I rejoice in you); B. “Mein Brüderlein zu sein” (to be my little brother); C. : “Wie freundlich sieht er aus, / Der große Gottessohn!” (How friendly he looks, / the great son of God!); D Major, 2/2 dance-like.
2. Aria (Stanza 2 paraphrased), free da-capo [Alto; Oboe d'amore I/II, Continuo: “Getrost! es faßt ein heilger Leib” / Des Höchsten unbegreiflichs Wesen” (Be confident! a sacred body contains / the incomprehensible being of the Almighty); B. “Ich habe Gott - wie wohl ist mir geschehen! (“How well things have turned out for me); C. “Getrost! es faßt ein heilger Leib” / Des Höchsten unbegreiflichs Wesen” (Be confident! a sacred body contains / the incomprehensible being of the Almighty); A Major, 2/2 dance style.
3. Recitative Secco (Stanza 2 paraphrased), arioso “Adagio” [Tenor; Continuo): A. “Ein Adam mag sich voller Schrecke” (An Adam might be filled with terror); arioso, “Der allerhöchste Gott kehrt selber bei uns ein” (The most high God himself comes to dwell among us); arioso, “Wird er ein kleines Kind / Und heißt mein Jesulein” (he becomes a small child / and is called my little Jesus.); f-sharp minor to D Major; 4/4.
4. Aria (Stanza 3 paraphrased), da-capo from [Soprano; Violino I/II, Viola, Continuo): 2/2 “Wie lieblich klingt es in den Ohren, / Dies Wort: mein Jesus ist geboren” (How dearly sounds in my ears / Dies Wort: mein Jesus ist geboren); B. 12/8 Largo, “Wer Jesu Namen nicht versteht / Und wem es nicht durchs Herze geht, / Der muß ein harter Felsen sein.” (The person who does not understand Jesus' name / and whose heart is not touched by it / must be a hard rock.); B minor; 2/2, 12/8.
5. Recitative (Stanza 3 paraphrased) with closing arioso (Adagio) [Bass; Continuo): A. “Wohlan, des Todes Furcht und Schmerz / Erwägt nicht mein getröstet Herz” (Well then, the fear and sorrow of death /are given no thought by my heart which has been comforted); B. arioso, “Wer Jesum recht erkennt, / Wer stirbt nicht, wenn er stirbt, / Sobald er Jesum nennt” (The person who truly knows Jesus / does not die when he dies, / as soon as he names Jesus); B minor to D Major, 4/4.
6. Plain Chorale (Stanza 4 unaltered) Bar Form [SATB; Cornetto [C,f,] e Oboe d'amore I e Violino I col Soprano, Oboe d'amore II e Violino II coll'Alto, Viola col Tenore, Continuo): A, Stollen, “Wohlan, so will ich mich / An dich, o Jesu, halten” (Come then, I want / to hold on to you, Jesus); B. Stollen, “Und sollte gleich die Welt / In tausend Stücken spalten” (even if at once the world / were to split in a thousand pieces); Abgesang, “O Jesu, dir, nur dir, / Dir leb ich ganz allein; / Auf dich, allein auf dich” (O Jesus, for you, only for you,/ for you may I live wholly, / in you, alone in you); D Major, 4/4.
Note on the text
<<BWV 133 is a chorale cantata based on a hymn by Kaspar Ziegler (1697). Of the four strophes of the hymn the first and last are used word for word. The anonymous author of the text has used the second strophe for movements 2 and 3 of the cantata and the third strophe for movements 4 and 5. Within the recitatives some lines of the hymn have been used word for word and set as arioso by Bach: these are underlined in the translation.
There is no direct reference to the day's readings (John 1: 1-14: prologue to gospel; Hebrews 1: 1-14: Christ is higher than the angels). Instead where the author of the cantata text inserts his own material he keeps close to the hymn, which praises the miracle that God has become the brother of mankind. Already in the Old Testament God appears to Jacob and his words I have seen God face to face and my soul is made well (Genesis 31) are applied in movement 2 to Christ's birth. In movement 3 the librettist inserts a wider comparison with the Old Testament: Adam had to hide from God's wrath (Genesis 3:8) ; but now God draws near as a friend and full of compassion. Finally the librettist again includes his own thoughts in movement 5: for Christians death has lost its power, and so God will also remember me when I lie in my grave. As in other chorale cantatas we see that the author of the cantata text adds explanatory, sermonising thoughts to the devout, contemplative hymn text. This is seen most clearly through the application to the situation of the individual Christian in movement 5 (so wird er auch an mich...gedenken). >> (Based on Dürr, Die Kantaten , p157-8)
Christmas Festival Cantatas
Julian Mincham’s introductory Commentary to Cantata 133 emphasizes Bach’s ability to soften his tone, particularly in works for the third day of festivals, in “Chapter 30 BWV 133 Ich freue mich in dir,” http://www.jsbachcantatas.com/documents/chapter-30-bwv-133.htm.9 Other scholars have suggested that the boys’ choir needed a rest after two intensive and demanding works such as chorale Cantatas 91 and 122 for the first two days of Christmas. “Bach’s setting [of Cantata 133] exhibits certain features that we can probably connect with the circumstances of his Leipzig post,” says Alfred Dürr in The Cantatas of JS Bach.10 “Performing forces could no longer be disposed very extensively on the last of the three successive feast days, and therefore Bach had to prove himself to me a master of limitation. In this he succeed admirably, the instrumental ensemble is reduced to normal size” with a coronet in the outer movements sounding the chorale while the chorus in the opening sings the chorale in a plain four-part setting.”
Cantata 133 Opening fantasia: Sheer, Simple Joy
Cantata 133 opening shows the “Essence,’ ‘Exuberance,’ ‘Sheer Exhilaration” says John Eliot Gardiner in his 2005 loner notes to the 2000 Bach Cantata Pilgrimage on Soli Deo Gloria recordings.11 <<I find it hard to imagine music that conveys more persuasively the essence, the exuberance and the sheer exhilaration of Christmas than the opening chorus of BWV 133, “Ich freue mich in dir.” First performed on 27 December 1724, it is constructed as an Italianate concerto-like movement of irhythmic élan. An anonymous melody evidently new to Bach (he sketched it in at the foot of the score of the Sanctus, also composed for Christmas in 1724 and eventually incorporated into the B minor Mass) is fitted to Kaspar Ziegler’s hymn. Eight lines of text are interpolated between the spirited ritornelli in which, unusually, the second violin and violas are strengthened by the two oboes d’amore, leaving the first violins unaided to shine above the rest. One senses that during this hectic period Bach needed to take into account the cumulative fatigue and reliability of his ensemble. It was probably wise of him to confine the choir to a mostly straightforward chorale harmonisation - line by line and expanding into simple polyphony at the mention of ‘Der große Gottessohn’. So with little or no rehearsal, he could rely on his string players to give the necessary zip to this extended concertante dance of joy. The ‘süßer Ton’ is suggested both by the bell-like crotchets in the first two bars and later by the magical interlacing of sustained inner parts as soon as the choir mention these ‘sweet sounds’.
It was rare for us to have the luxury of performing a cantata we had given only two years before. It meant that things like the little bendings of the four upbeats to this instrumental fugue, the bell chimes of the repeated crotchets and a tiny ‘gather’ before launching into those brilliant and emphatic chains of thirds – all these features, so slight in themselves, but making all the difference to the conviction of an interpretation – came so much more naturally this time around. Some of the energy and brilliance of the opening movement spills into its sequel, an A major aria in which both the alto soloist and the pair of accompanying oboes d’amore are called upon to give a firecracker delivery to the opening word ‘Getrost!’ (‘Be of good cheer’) before bursting into cascades of semiquavers. Then comes a more reflective circling figure marked piano (the same as was played loudly by the continuo in the first bar) which is handed to the alto for the parenthesis ‘Wie wohl ist mir geschehen’ (‘How blessed am I’), eventually given three times in rising progression to convey the delight at seeing God face to face.
A brief recitative for tenor [Mvt. 3] twice breaks into solo arioso allusions to the chorale. The key idea of the opening movement’s ‘sweet sound’ is now revealed. It is the announcement ‘My Jesus has been born’ in the soprano aria (No.4), to which Bach assigns a melodic phrase that sounds as it if had been lifted from a chorale or plainsong. The bells ringing in her ears to which the soprano refers are suggested by the violin barriolage of alternating open and stopped strings and a solo flourish in the first violin. A different-sounding bell is tolled in the slow pastoral ‘B’ section by unison violas and second violins, over which the solo violin and soprano soar in a lyrical meditation on the name of Jesus. Only the chromatic twists allude to the stony heart which refuses to acknowledge it.>> © John Eliot Gardiner 2006; From a journal written in the course of the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage
Chorale not related to Gospel
Kiegler hymn has no direct connection to the Gospel (John 1:1-14, Prologue), says Klaus Hofmann in his liner notes (Ibid.: 12). >>In Bach’s time it was usual to celebrate a third day of Christmas, and this was the occasion for which his third Christmas cantata for 1724, “Ich freue mich in dir,” was written. Unlike its two predecessors, it was based on an almost contemporary hymn by the poet Kaspar Ziegler (1621-1690) with a melody of unknown provenance from around 1700. We cannot know whether or not this hymn was already familiar to the Leipzig congregation. It does not have a direct association with the gospel reading for that day – John 1:1-14, the prologue to St. John’s Gospel. The priest may have established such a link himself.
For his third Christmas cantata, too, Bach wrote a wonderful opening movement, but he paid appreciable heed to the limitations of his singers, who had to perform on numerous occasions on consecutive feast days. This time the centre of gravity in the opening movement is in the orchestra – more specifically in the first violin, which here plays a dominant concertante role, while even the two oboi d’amore are content to reinforce the second violin and viola. Extended ritornello passages form a framework and link the choral entries, which this time are almost exclusively in the homophonic style of Bach’s final chorales. The exceptions, for obvious reasons, are the sixth line, ‘ach, wie ein suüßer Ton’ (‘Oh, what a sweet sound’) and the last one, ‘der große Gottessohn’ (‘the great Son of God’).
Among the remaining movements, the soprano aria ‘Wie lieblich klingt es in den Ohren’ (‘How pleasurable these words sound’) stands out, a charming, slightly playful piece that is about aural perception and thus of immediate relevance in a musical context. A trill is found as early as the second note, an echo as early as the second bar, a playful figure in the continuo, a surprising violin solo and bariolage passages that exploit the alternation of stopped and open strings. The middle of this da capo aria contrasts with what has gone before in almost every respect – tempo, pulse and scoring. Then the continuo suddenly falls silent and a piece of rare beauty and tenderness emerges. Surprises, then, even on the third consecutive day of Bach cantata performances! At the end, however, we return to familiar territory: a simple four-part choral setting of the last hymn verse rounds the work off. © Klaus Hofmann 2006 Performance Notes
Bach’s Leipzig performance schedule for the 3rd Day of Christmas
1723-12-27 Mo - Cantata BWV 64 Sehet, welch eine Liebe hat uns der Vater erzeiget (1st performance, Leipzig)
1724-12-27 Mi - Cantata BWV 133 Ich freue mich in dir (1st performance, Leipzig)
1725-12-27 Do - Cantata BWV 151 Süßer Trost, mein Jesus kömmt (1st performance, Leipzig)
1726-12-27 Fr - no record.
1727-12-27 Sa - no record.
1728-12-27 Mo – Picander 7, “Ich bin indich entzündt” (text only): no chorale
(1728-1731) – repeat, Cantata BWV 151 Süßer Trost, mein Jesus kömmt (2nd performance, Leipzig)
1734-12-27 Mo - Weihnachts-Oratorium BWV 248/3 Herrscher des Himmels, erhöre das Lallen (1st performance, Leipzig)
1735-12-27 Di 1735-12-27 Di 3. Weihnachtstag - G.H. Stölzel: Ich habe dich je und je geliebet, Mus. A 15:50 + Lasset uns ihn lieben, denn er hat uns erst geliebet, Mus. A 15:51 (String Cycle)
1736-12-27 Do – No cantata extant (Part of Names of Christ Cycle).
(After 1740) – repeat Cantata BWV 133 Ich freue mich in dir (2nd performance, Leipzig)
c 1742-12-27 Do - repeat Cantata BWV 64 Sehet, welch eine Liebe hat uns der Vater erzeiget (2nd performance, Leipzig)
Fugitive Notes: 2nd and 3rd Days of Christmas13
William L. Hoffman wrote (May 28, 2009):<<After the gala festivities of Christmas Day in Leipzig with extended music and instrumental forces, Bach provided the next two consecutive days of the Christmas Festival with concise and more intimate realizations of his calling for a well-ordered church music. He produced three distinct and memorable cantatas each for the second and third days. These six works display the two key ingredients in his Leipzig production: strong emphasis on biblical texts for the appointed services and appropriate, meaningful chorales.
A particular challenge was the dual nature of these last two days of Christmas. One celebrates the birth of Jesus with the annunciation followed by and the adoration of the Shepherds. The other observes the church-year Calendar of the Common Service Book, dealing with the death of the first Christian martyr, St. Stephen, and the writer of the non-synoptic Gospel of Christus Victor, John, the disciple who loved Jesus.
Both sets of cantatas emphasize common characteristics of musical treatment and text. For the first two consecutive cycles of 1723 and 1724 Bach still used some festive wind instruments: two stately horns in BWV 40 and a coronet and three trombones in BWV 121 and 64 for the second day and third days respectively, and a cantus ftrumpet in BWV 133. For his incomplete third cycle, in 1725 Bach turned to the biblically-based texts of Christian Lehms (1711) to create two intimate solo cantatas, the Soul-Jesus dialogue Cantata BWV 57, for the death of Stephen, and the quartet-voiced Cantata BWV 151 for a nominal observance of the Evangelist John.
Besides the two Lehms texts, the other four, as Alfred Duerr observes in his revealing study, <The Cantatas of J.S. Bach> are textual hybrids, making scant reference to the alternate appropriate readings, yet creating allusion to both sets of readings from the Gospels and Epistles. These treatments could betray in the case of the first cycle of 1723 the possible influence of the sermon's preacher and possible librettist, Christian Weiss Sr. at St. Thomas church, and the still-anonymous chorale-text paraphraser in the second cycle of 1724.
In the first cantata for the Second Day of Christmas, BWV 40, the text skilfully blends numerous biblical illusions to both the Annunciation and human weakness and sacrifice. The first cantata for the Third Day of Christmas, BWV 64 (same author?), Duerr says (p. 123), makes hardly any referece to the details of the days readings," and likewise in Cantata BWV 151 (p. 130).
Chorales are prominent in the celebratory first-cycle Cantatas BWV 40 and 64, with three each of both Christmas and non-Christmas usage. The chorale cantatas the next year in their paraphrases remain faithful to the intent of their authors, Luther and Ziegler. Cantata BWV 121 celebrates the Second Day of Christmas while BWV 133 for the Third Day is "not directly linked to the readings," but the ideas "remain close to the chorale text," says Dürr (p. 126).
There is no evidence that Bach set Picander's text to the fourth cantata cycle for the last two days of Christmas 1728, other than the extant Christmas chorale, BWV 256, "Ach lieben Christen seid getrost."
Bach, however, made more than basic amends to both Picander and the spirit of the Christmas Festival, with the production of his Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248, in 1734, joyously celebrating not only the setting of the Nativity but also the entire six services of the 12 days of the Christmas Season. The second and third parts of the oratorio, with Picander's parodied texts to celebratory drammi per musica, are among Bach's finest service works.
Thus, instead of a fourth cantata cycle celebrating Christmas, Bach left us the first installment of his Christological cycle of New Testament oratorios and Mass sections, created in the 1730s While there is no record of a repeat performance of the Christmas Oratorio, the scant evidence in the parts sets of the cantatas reveals that Bach repeated all four Christmas Day Cantatas, BWV 40 for the Second Day of Christmas, and all three extant cantatas for the Third Day of Christmas.>>
FOOTNOTES
1 Stiller, JSB and Liturgical Life in Leipzig, English Ed. with extensive footnotes (Concordia Publishing: St. Louis Mo. 1984: 234f).
2 Cantata 133, BCW Details & Discography, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV133.htm.
2a Whittaker, Cantatas of JSB (Oxford University Press, New York, 1959: 335ff).
3 Anderson in OCC : J. S. Bach, ed. Malcom Boyd (Oxford University Press: New York, 1999).
4 Petzoldt, Bach Kommentar: Theologisch Musikwissenschaftlicke Kommentierung der Geistlichen Vokalwerke Johann Sebastan Bachs; Vol. 2, Die Geistlichen Kantaten vom 1. Advent bis zum Trinitatisfest; Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart (Kassel: Bärenreiter, 2007: 3rd Day of Christmas Commentary, 199-207; Cantata 133 Kizgler chorale text and Cantata 133 text; 220-223; Cantata 133 Commentary, 222-230).
5 BACH'S MOTET COLLECTION: Otto Riemer, "Erhard Bodenschatz und sein Florilegium Portense" Schünigen: Kaminsky,1927; ML 410 B67R4.
6 Hofmann liner commentary to Masaaki Suzuki BIS Bach Cantata recordings, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Pic-Rec-BIG/Suzuki-C31c[BIS-SACD1481].pdf’ BCW Recording details. http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Performers/Suzuki-Rec2.htm#C31.
7 NLGB, BACH'S HYMN BOOK: Jürgen Grimm, "Das neu [?] Leipziger Gesangbuch des Gottfried Vopelius (Leipzig 1682),"Berlin: Merseburger, 1969. ML 3168 G75.
8 Scoring, Soloists: Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass; 4-part Chorus; Orchestra: cornetto, 2 oboes d’amore, 2 violins, viola, continuo. Score Vocal & Piano [1.55 MB], http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Scores/BWV133-V&P.pdf, Score BGA [2.33 MB], http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BGA/BWV133-BGA.pdf. References, BGA: XXVIII (Cantata 130-139, Wilhelm Rust, 1881, NBA KB I/3.1, (Cantatas for 3rd Day of Christmas, 2002), Bach Compendium BC A 16 |, Zwang: K 103. BCW Provenance, Thomas Braatz (June 4, 2003, details from NBA KB I/3.1, including the autograph score, original set of parts, the text with variants from Leipzig hymnals 1730 (melody “Nun danket alle Gott”) and 1739. In 1761, Bach student and St. Thomas Prefect (1755), Christian Fredrich Penzel (1737-1801), copied the parts set of Cantata 133 in the St. Thomas archives and may have performed the work at the Christmas Festvial at Olesnitz when he unsuccessfully sought his father’s sexton position. Later, he became cantor at Merseberg. In 1755 he copied and performed a series of 10 Trinity Time cantatas (8-17) while the cantor’s post, left vacant at the death of Bach’s successor, Gottlob Harrer, was filled with Johann Friedrich Doles (1715-1797).
9 Mincham, The Cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach: A listener and student guide, Revised 2014; Home Page, http://www.jsbachcantatas.com/index.htm.
10 Dürr, Alfred. Cantatas of J. S. Bach, revised and translated by Richard D. P. Jones (Oxford University Press, New York, 2005).
11 Gardiner liner notes, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Pic-Rec-BIG/Gardiner-P15c[sdg127_gb].pdf; BCW Recording details, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Performers/Gardiner-Rec3.htm#P15
12 Hofmann notes, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Pic-Rec-BIG/Suzuki-C31c[BIS-SACD1481].pdf; BCW Recording details, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Performers/Suzuki-Rec2.htm#C31.
13 Fugitive notes, Cantata 64, Discussions Parts 3, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV64-D3.htm. |
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Aryeh Oron wrote (December 24, 2014):
Cantata BWV 133 - Revised & updated Discography
The discography pages of the Chorale Cantata BWV 133 “Ich freue mich in dir” for the the 3rd Day of Christmas [St John's Day] on the BCW have been revised and updated.
The cantata is scored for soprano, alto, tenor & bass soloists; 4-part chorus; and orchestra of cornett, 2 oboes d’amore, 2 violins, viola & continuo. See:
Complete Recordings (12): http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV133.htm
Recordings of Individual Movements (5): http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV133-2.htm
The revised discography includes many listening/watching options to recordings directly from the discography pages, just below the recording details.
I have also added to the movement pages of this cantata an option to move back and forth between the movements and to each movement page the text and relevant portion of the BGA score. See: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/INS/BWV133-01.htm
I also put at the BCW Home Page: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/
2 audios and 2 videos of the cantata. A short description belothe audio/video image is linked to the full details at the discography pages.
I believe this is the most comprehensive discography of this chorale cantata. If you are aware of a recording of BWV 133 missing from these pages, or want to correct/add details of a recording already presented on the BCW, please do not hesitate to inform me.
You can also read on the BCW William L. Hoffman's detailed introduction to this week's discussion of the cantata in the BCML (4th round): http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV133-D4.htm |
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