Index to References - Bach Compendium - Work Group G: Secular Cantatas for Court, Nobility and Bourgeoisie

Index to References to Bach Cantatas & Other Vocal Works Bach Compendium Work Group G: Secular Cantatas for Court, Nobility and Bourgeoisie
Group Description
Work Group G presents a chronological listing of works written for celebrations given by or in honor of members of the princely houses of Saxony and Anhalt, together with compositions for official celebrations of the University of Leipzig, the Thomas School, weddings, and other special occasions of various kinds. According to the obituary (Dok III, no. 666, p. 86; Bach Reader, p. 221.), Bach wrote "many dramata and serenades, along with works for birthdays, name-days, and funerals ... as well as a few comical works for voice." When the estate was divided in 1750, it appears that all the materials associated with any given work of this sort were bequeathed to a single heir, in contrast to the procedure followed for the cycles of cantatas (→ Work Group A). This helps to explain the unusually high proportion of works for which no material has survived in any form. The missing works that can be documented provide only an inkling of the full extent of these losses. Nevertheless, the so-called secular cantatas that have survived reflect a broad spectrum of works, regarding both music and texts, ranging from comic dialogue ("Cantate burlesque"; → G31, G48) to serenade (e.g. → G4, G5, G9) and "Cantata" (→ G39, G40), German or Latin ode (→ G33, G34), German or Italian solo cab.tata (→ G41, G44, G45, G50, G51), and scenically conceived "Dramma per musica" with allegorical characters, a type of work that in form and content resembles an act of an opera (→ G18, G37, G46). Most of the works. known to have been composed before 1723 are "ex officio" compositions; only a small n~ber of later works (G39, G40, G49), by contrast, can be said to be of this type. Commissions from a variety of sources - student organizations, members of noble and bourgeois families - can be either documented or postulated for works from the Leipzig period. Not infrequently, however, only Bach himself could have been the initiator. Works written before 1723 would have been performed almost exclusively by the musical ensembles of the various courts with which Bach was affiliated. The locales of these performances, in turn, would have been restricted largely to the. court's castles or other residences. During the Leipzig period, the most important ensemble between 1729 and approximately 1740 was the "Bachisches Collegium Musicum". For the other years in Leipzig, there were ad hoc ensembles, consisting of students and amateurs, as well as Bach's family and private pupils. Town musicians could also be called upon, for a supplemental fee. The panorama of performance locales included Zimmermann's Coffee House or Coffee Garden for regular concerts rordinaire Concerte") of the Collegium Musicum; the Market Place, the Catharinenstrasse, and other Leipzig streets and squares for the "extraordinaire Concerte" of the Collegium Musicum, for student processions, and for music in honor of specific individuals; and finally, the houses of the nobility, the bourgeoisie, and the Leipzig Thomas School, including Bach's own living quarters there.

Synopsis - List by Group and BC Number - Work Group G
BC	BWV	BGA	NBA	Year	Title / Comments
					For Members of Princely Cours
					Sachesen-Weißenfels
G 1	208	XXIX	I/35	1713	Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd (Jagdkantate - Hunt Cantata, 1^st version) → A 86, A 181, B 9, G 3, G 27
[G 2]	249a		II/7	1725	Entflieht, verschwindet, entweichet, ihr Sorgen (Patoral Cantata, incomplete) → D 8a/b, G 28
					Sachesen-Weimar
G 3	208	XXIX	I/35	1713	Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd (Jagdkantate - Hunt Cantata, 2^nd version) → A 86, A 181, B 9, G 1, G 27
					Anhalt-Köthen
[G 4]	66a	-	-	1718	Der Himmel dacht auf Anhalts Ruhm und Glück (music lost) → A 56
G 5	134a	XXXIV	I/35	1719	Die Zeit, die Tag und Jahre macht → A 59
[G 6]	Anh 6	-		1720	Dich loben die lieblichen Strahlen der Sonne (music lost)
[G 7]	Anh 7	-		1720?	Heut ist gewiß ein guter Tag (music lost)
G 8	184a	-		1720/21	Cantata fragment (text & occasion unknown) → A 88, G 18
G 9	173a	XXXIV	I/35	1717	Durchlauchtster Leopold → A 85, A 89
[G 10]	Anh 8	-		1723	Congratulatory cantata (text & music unknown)
G 11	194a			<1723	Cantata fragment (text & occasion unknown) → A 91a/b, B 31
[G 12]	36a	-	-	1726	Steigt freudig in die Luft (music lost) → A 3a/b, G 35, G 38
					Anhalt-Zerbst
[G 13]	Vorwort				Birthday cantata (text & music lost)
					Sachsen-Polen
[G 14]	Anh 9	-		1727	Entfernet Euch, Ihr heitern Sterne (music lost) → E 1
[G 15]	193a	-		1727	Ihr Häuser des Himmels, ihr scheinenden Lichter (music lost) → B 5, E 2
[G 16]	Anh 11	-		1732	Es lebe der König, der Vater im Lande (music lost) → E 1, G 18, G 21, G 31, G 32
[G 17]	Anh 12	-		1733	Frohes Volk, Vergnügte Sachsen → D 9, G 39
G 18	213	XXXIV	I/36	1733	Laßt uns sorgen, laßt uns wachen → A 88, D 7, G 8, G 16
G 19	214	XXXIV	I/36	1733	Tönet, ihr Pauken! Erschallet, Trompeten! → D 7
[G 20]	205a	-	-	1734?	Blast Lärmen, ihr Feinde (incomplete) → A 24, G 36, G 43, G 47
G 21	215	XXXIV	I/37	1734	Preise dein Glücke, gesegnetes Sachsen → D 7, E 1, G 16
G 22	207a	XX/2 XXXIV	I/37	1735	Auf, schmetternde Töne der muntern Trompeten → G 37, O 5
G 23	206	XX/2	I/36	1734	Schleicht, spielende Wellen, und murmelt gelinde → (1^st version) → G 26
[G 24]	Anh 13	-		1738	Willkommen, Ihr herrschenden Götter der Erden (music lost)
[G 25]	-	-			Homage cantata (text & music lost)
G 26	206	XX/2	I/36	1734	Schleicht, spielende Wellen, und murmelt gelinde → (2^nd version) → G 23
[G 27]	208a		KB I/37		Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd (Jagdkantate - Hunt Cantata, 3^rd version) → A 36, A 181, B 9, G 1, G 3

					For Members of the Nobility
[G 28]	249b	-	-	1726	Verjaget, zerstreuet, zerrüttet, ihr Sterne (music lost) → D 8a/b, G 2
G 29	210a	XXIX	I/39	1738	O angenehme Melodei (3 versions, incomplete) → G 31, G 44
[G 30]	Anh 10	-		1731	So kämpfet nur, ihr muntern Töne (music lost) → A 190, G 7
G 31	30a	V/1 XXXIV	I/39	1737	Angenehmes Wiederau → A 178, G 16, G 29, G 44
G 32	212	XXIX	I/39	1742	Mer hahn en neue Oberkeet (Bauernkantate - Peasant Cantata) → G 16, G 46

					For University-related Events
					Orations
[G 33]	Anh 20	-		1723	Latin Ode (text & music lost)
G 34	198	XIII/3	I/38	1727	Laß, Fürstin, laß noch einen Strahl (Trauerode - Funeral Ode) → B 24, D 4
					Homage to members of the faculty
G 35	36c	XXXIV	I/39	1725	Schwingt freudig euch empor → A 3a/b, G 12, G 38
G 36	205	X1/2	I/38	1725	Zerreißet, zersprenget, zertrümmert die Gruft (Der zufriedengestellte Aeolus - The pacified Aeolus) → A 24, G 20, G 43, G 47
G 37	207	XX/2	I/38	1726	Vereinigte Zwietracht der wechselnden Saiten → G 22, O 5
G 38	36b	XXXIV	I/38	1735	Die Freude reget sich (incomplete) → A 3a/b, G 12, G 35

					For Thomas School Events
G 35	36c	XXXIV	I/39	1725	Schwingt freudig euch empor → A 3a/b, G 12, G 38
[G 39]	Anh 18	-		1732	Frohe Tag, verlangte Stunden (music lost) → D 9, G 17
[G 49]	-				Wo sind meine Wunderwerke (music lost)
[G 40]	Anh 19	-		1734	Thomana saß annoch betrübt (music lost)

					For Wedding Ceremonies
G 41	202	X1/2	I/40	1718-23	Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten
[G 42]	-				Auf! süß-entzückende Gewalt (music lost) → D 9, E 1
G 43	216	-	I/40	1728	Vergnügte Pleißen-Stadt (incomplete) → G 36, G 45, G 47
G 44	210	XXIX	I/40	1742	O holder Tag, erwünschte Zeit → G 29, G 31

					For Various Occasions
G 45	204	X1/2	I/40	1726-27	Ich bin in mir vergnügt (Von der Vergnügsamkeit - Of satsifaction) → G 43, G 47
G 46	201	X1/2	I/40	1729	Geschwinde, ihr wirbelnden Winde (Der Streit zwischen Phoebus und Pan - The contest between Phoebus and Pan) → G 30, G 32, G 40
[G 47]	216a	-	-	>1728	Erwählte Pleißenstadt (music lost) → G 36, G 43, G 45
G 48	211	XXIX	I/40	1734-35	Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht (Kaffee-Kantate - Coffee Cantata)
G 49	Vorwort	-	-		Cantata draft (possibly belonging to: Wo sind meine Wunderwerke)
G 50	209	XXIX	I/41	1708-17	Non sa che sia dolore
G 51	203	X1/2	I/41	1718-23?	Amore traditore
G 52	Vorwort	-	-		Ihr Wallenden Wolken

Source: Bach Compendium - Volume 1, Part 4: Vocal Works IV (contains the works of groups E, F, G and H), Leipzig 1989, ISBN 3-369-00051-2 or Frankfurt / M. 1989, ISBN 3-876-26084-1, pp 1449, 1452-1454 Prepared by Aryeh Oron & David O. Berger [Concordia Seminary Library, St. Louis, MO, USA] (September 2009)

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Last update: �September 19, 2009 �16:32:16