Occasional Joy-Sorrow Cantata Cycle
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Occasional Joy-Sorrow Cantata Cycle

William L. Hoffman wrote (June 5, 2018):
Bach's calling of a "well-regulated church music to the glory of God" (soli Deo gloria) was annunciated in his resignation letter to the Mühlhausen town council in 1708, as he began progressing in his formative years at the Saxon court in Weimar and the independent court in Anhalt-Köthen (1718-23). Finally, in Leipzig in the fall of 1749, just before his death, in the Great Mass in B-Minor he completed the "Credo" music of joy and sorrow, the culmination of a final Christological cycle of Christ-center major vocal works. During this span of four decades, Bach created a body of some 84 musical works of joy and sorrow for special occasions, including some 52 non-liturgical cantatas for events that paid homage to various profane dignitaries and persons of rank, although many survive only as texts with no music. Together, these two groups could constitute a cycle of joy and sorrow pieces. Bach seemed adept at and accustomed to all kinds of experiences in the service of higher authority while he sometimes struggled with conflict and vexations in Weimar and Leipzig. Meanwhile, he seized new opportunities driven by a deep desire to create and present music soli Deo gloria.

While Bach made no distinction between sacred and secular compositions, both being devotional and affirmative, posterity began a century after his death conveniently to categorize his legacy, based on a general description found in his Obituary of 1750/52. This legacy of manuscript scores and parts sets, stored in his cantor's office in shelves at the St. Thomas School, constituted five annual cycles (Jahrgänge) of church pieces for all the 58 Sundays and holidays of the church year, defining the core of his service. Next came the second, most diverse grouping, a miscellaneous category of oratorios, Latin Church Music, "and secular cantatas (dramata), serenade music for birthdays, name days and funerals, and wedding cantatas (Brautmessen); and also several comic vocal pieces." The two remaining categories of vocal music were "Five Passions, of which one is for double chorus" and "Some double-chorus motets" of sorrow and joy. In the immediate estate division between the two oldest sons, Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl Philipp Emanuel, both received the church pieces (cantatas) yielding three extant cycles, while Emanuel residing in Berlin secured almost all of the second, miscellaneous category, while the Passions also were divided between the two, leaving the numerous sorrow and joy motets, some undesignated cantatas and a wealth of instrumental music remaining in Leipzig at the school, with his family or with his circle of students and colleagues.

Reception History

In the second half of the 18th century Bach's legacy remained virtually unexplored. Emanuel's inheritance was preserved, with each composition listed in his 1990 estate catalogue, while Friedemann made no accounting and much of his portion was sold and later lost. Emanuel's catalogue is a compendium of his father's interests and accomplishments, beginning with the instrumental music, followed by "Singstücke" (vocal pieces). This category is a veritable plethora or potpourri of vocal pieces, starting on Page 69, showing Bach in his various Leipzig environs of church, court, community, coffee house, and home. It began with the six parts of the Christmas Oratorio, followed by a curious mix of secular cantatas (BWV 206), sacred pieces (BWV 71), the St. John Passion, the bound-together four Missae:Kyrie-Gloria, BWV 233-236 (ready for publication?), the comic "Coffee Cantata" (BWV 211), the Magnificat (BWV 243), wedding Cantata BWV 197, and the home soprano Cantata BWV 204. The next two pages are a similar mixture of secular cantatas (BWV 201, BWV 207, BWV 212, 210, BWV 213, BWV 214, BWV 215), varied sacred occasional cantatas (199, 29, 79, 195), major sacred works (Matthew Passion, B-Minor "Great Catholic Mass," and Magnificat, BWV 243a), and the Motets BWV 227 and 226. Page 73 lists the separate Sanctus settings (BWV 232 and 237-40), as well as three chorale collections: the incomplete Weimar church-year Orgelbühlein chorale preludes (BWV 599-644), a subsequently lost collection of four-part vocal chorales, and the six Schübler organ chorale settings, BWV 646-650 transcriptions from sacred cantatas.

Eight pages follow, listing 77 sacred church-year cantatas from Advent to the later Sundays in Trinity, in the first and third cycles, while the parts sets of some 44 chorale cantatas the the second cycle still resides at the Thomas School. In addition, Emanuel also inherited the Alt-Bachsiches Arkiv Bach Family sacred music collection, a collection of 17 Johann Ludwig Bach cantatas his father had performed during the third cycle in 1726, several annual cycles of Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel, one of which his father performed in 1735-36, and Latin Masses of Zelenka, Peranda, and Bassani, probably copied from the Dresden Library with Sebastian probably performing in Leipzig in the 1740s the Bassani six Missa tota.

A century later in 1850 came the first systematic, detailed accounting and categorizing of Bach's vocal works in a published study of his life, influences and works by Carl Ludwig Hilgenfeldt.¹ By that time, the Bach Gesellschaft began printing Bach's cantatas, some 200 eventually published by 1900. Hilgenfeldt listed 168 sacred cantatas, based on the church year Sundays and festivals in Emanuel's Estate catalogue. First and foremost are 168 church cantatas, followed by the three extant feast day oratorios and two other groups of occasional music, mostly Emanuel's inheritance The second group are sacred cantatas, some 26, without the church year service designation or pericope listed on the manuscript score cover. Eventually church year services for six published cantatas would be determined while five proved spurious a century later. The third group are 21 occasional (Gelegenheit) cantatas which actually mixed profane pieces with sacred ones presented in occasional services such as weddings (BWV 195 and 197) and the installation of the Town council (BWV 29 and BWV 129). The list also included two parodies from profane works, BWV 173 for Pentecost Monday, and BWV 36 for Advent, as well as Cantata 194, organ dedication and Trinity 1, as well as two funeral works with poetic texts, the 1727 Funeral Ode Cantata 198 and the 1729 BWV 244a parody for Prince Leopold of Köthen, which was found in the estate of Johann Nikolaus Forkel, Bach's first biographer, but was lost and only survives in poet Picander's published works.

Beginning with the Neue Bach Ausgabe in 1950, new editions of the music were published with accompanying scholarly critical commentary. Works which survived only in texts were usually given an Appendix (Anhang) number. Also published in 1950 is the so-called Schmieder Catalogue, Bach Werke Verzeichnis, accepted the 200 BG published cantata numbers with other BWV numbers for the remaining works. Between 1985 and 1990, a new catalogue began publication, the Bach Compendium, which catalogues works by Alpha category and included variant versions as well as unpublished works where no music survives, only texts. Work Group B, Sacred Works for Special Occasions, lists 32 pieces (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Ref/IndexRef-BC-B.htm): Town Council Election (10), Wedding Mass (seven) with four undesignated, cross-referenced chcantatas, Funeral and Memorial Service (six), Penitential Service (Psalm Cantatas) of three plus three cross-referenced, three parody cantatas for the Jubilee of the Augsburg Confession 1730, and three miscellaneous works for Princely Birthday, Organ Dedication, Day of Glory. Work Group G, Secular Cantatas for Court, Nobility and Bourgeoisie, lists 52 works (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Ref/IndexRef-BC-G.htm): For members of Princely Courts (Sachesen-Weißenfels, Sachesen-Weimar, Anhalt-Köthen, Anhalt-Zerbst, and Sachsen-Polen) with 27 cantatas, For Members of the Nobility with five, For University-related Events with two, Homage to Members of the Faculty with five, For Thomas School Events with four, For Wedding Ceremonies with four, and For Various Occasions with eight.

Sacred, Secular Perspectives

Meanwhile, theologian scholars in the past half century have pursued the church music to show that Bach in Leipzig initially was vested in his responsibilities as cantor at the Thomas School and Church, with a personal library of 50 volumes of mostly biblical and theological commentary underpinning his weekly service responsibilities. Beginning in 1725, Bach actively pursued his other responsibilities as town music director for numerous civic homage events usually involving the joy of the annual town council installation and weddings, as well as the much less frequent memorials for dignitaries. Two of the milestone events were the 1727 Leipzig funeral of the Saxon Princess Christiane Eberhardine with Cantata 198 and the 1729 memorial services of Prince Leopold of Köthen, both involving extensive parody.

In the 1720s and 1730s, Bach had engaged in a balancing act between instrumental and vocal music on the one hand as well as sacred and profane responsibilities on the other. The "distinction between 'sacred' and 'secular' cantatas was not Bach's own but a later classification," says Robin A. Leaver.² This is implicit, he says, in Bach's use of the letters "S.D.G." (Soli Deo Gloria) at the end of many scores of his "sacred" cantatas but also at the conclusion of "secular" Leipzig drammi per musica such as 1726 Cantata BWV 207 for a University professor of jurisprudence and the 1733 birthday Cantatas BWV 213 for the Saxon Prince, and BWV 214 for the Saxon Electress. "Within his synthesis of sacred and secular Bach appears to have adopted a primary controlling principle: parody allows music written for a specific occasion to be heard in a more general and recurring context, he says (Ibid.). In the 18th century age of the encyclopedia is Bach's compilation of systematic collections of instrumental keyboard works, including chorale studies, as well as vocal music transformed from varied, specific, unrepeatable occasions into events more frequent and universal.

For the various secular vocal works, "Bach studies have not known quite what to do with this diverse collection," says Daniel R. Melamed.³ "The generic label secular cantata hardly seems appropriate," ranging in the mid 1730s from the comedic chamber piece, "Coffee Cantata," in a Leipzig coffee house to the double-chorus Cantata BWV 215 staged outdoors for a visit of the Saxon elector. These occasional works "maybe better called nonliturgical cantatas," having features that distinguish them from the church works, including their tendency toward drama, their inclusion of named characters who speak and their mythological and allegorical subjects," he says. Yet spiritual and profane works "share a great deal, because they are ultimately derived from the same source: opera," where in specific circumstances they also share the same music set to different texts. While Bach used the term "cantata" usually to refer to profane compositions, he "mostly called his church pieces concerto," he notes (Ibid.: 76).

Mühlhausen Seminal Works

Bach's seminal experience in the art of composition was his one-year tenure as a church organist in Mühlhausen, July 1707 to July 1708. Although the historical record is tenuous, his earliest vocal works focus on three genres of joy and sorrow: weddings, memorial services, and town council installations, as well as the Easter Sunday 1707 Mühlhausen probe chorale Cantata 4, "Christ lag in Todesbanden" (Christ lays in deaths bondage). Two undated works are for family wedding gatherings found in the Quodlibet, BWV 524 (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Vocal/BWV524-Gen2.htm), and his sacred vocal concerto, BWV 196, “Der Herr denket an uns und segnet uns” (The Lord thinks of us and blesses us http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV196-D4.htm), although there is no firm evidence that either was presented at Bach’s wedding to Maria Barbara, 17 November 1707 in Dornheim. The purpose and dating of the memorial cantatas with proto-Passion elements are still uncertain: BWV 131, "Aus der tiefe" (Out of the depths, de profundis, Psalm 130, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV131-D7.htm), and BWV 106, "Gottes Zeit ist is die allerbeste Zeit" (God's time is the very-best time), quoting biblical passages and chorales (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV106-D8.htm).

There is one dateable Mühlhausen council Cantata 71, "Gott is mein König" (God is my King), a poly-choral celebration, 4 February 1708 (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV71-D4.htm, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-EzWqW7IJQ). Bach's only extant, published vocal work was followed possibly in successive February years with two works with no texts or music surviving: The evidence of the 1709 and 1710 performances is sparse. The lost "Second Mühlhausen Town Council Cantata" of 1709 is designated BWV Anh. 192 (Christine Frode, Ratswahlkataten I, Bärenreiter, Kassel; NBA KB I/32.1: 86). "The first performance of the work took place on Monday, February 4, in the St. Mary's Church, the second on Sunday, February 10 in the Divine Blasius Church instead; for the change of the Town Council." On February 20, the payment was made to Bach and on March 12 for the printing of the lost council piece and the printing of the lost congratulatory poem (text; Ibid.: 87). The 1710 Mühlhausen Town Council Installation service took place on Tuesday, February 4, and the St. Blasius vespers on Sunday, February 9. Since Sebastian has been succeeded by his cousin, Johann Friedrich Bach (1682-1730), the exact composer could not be determined and no BWV Anh. assigned. "(T)he works for 1709-1710 have not survived (in 1710 only the cantata text was printed)," says Christoph Wolf in his note in the New Bach Reader (54). "Although the 1710 payment does not specify `Bach from Weimar,' it matches the 1709 payment (to `Bach from Weimar') exactly, including travel expenses." The printed cantata texts for 1709 and 1710 also are not extant. Two other Penitential works also may date to Mühlhausen: undesignated and undated poetic Psalm Cantata BWV 150, “Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich” (For you, Lord, is my longing, Psalm 25:1b (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV150-D6.htm), and the Kyrie “Christe du Lamm Gottes” in F Major, BWV 233a (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvjOKg_N9vw, to 6 April 1708, Good Friday Service of Confession and General Absolution.

Bach's Mühlhausen music is best considered not as liturgical works for the church year but as utilitarian music in a social and political context, says Marcus Rathey:⁴ "Johann Sebastian Bach’s earliest cantatas, composed during his tenure in the Thuringian city of Mühlhausen, are often seen as being part of his larger project of composing cantatas for the Lutheran liturgy. The article shows that such a view is misplaced. The composition and publication of music in Mühlhausen in the late 17th and early 18th centuries was embedded in a complex social framework. This can be traced back to Bach’s predecessors Johann Rudolph and Johann Georg Ahle. Most of Bach’s pieces from 1707–8 were not liturgical in nature but rather served a function in the public and political culture of this imperial city."

Weimar: There is little definitive record of Bach vocal music performances in Weimar, beginning in 1708 until his appointment 2 March 1714 as concertmaster to compose sacred works every four weeks. Previously in 1713 Bach created his milestone birthday Hunting Cantata 208 for Duke Christian of Saxe-Weißenfels, which also was presented with a name change in 1716 for Prince Ernst August of Saxe-Weimar, and in 1742 for Saxon Elector Augustus. The genre was essentially a shepherds' serenade which Bach perfected in Köthen with substantial sacred parodies in Leipzig for the Easter, Pentecost, and Trinitasfest. Another milestone work is Bach's secular wedding cantata, BWV 202, "Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten" (Give way now, dismal shadows), surviving in a 1730 copy but stylistically and historically dated to Köthen.

FOOTNOTES

¹ Carl Ludwig Hilgenfeldt, Johann Sebastian Bach's Leben, Wirken, and Werke: ein Beitrage zur Kunstgeschichte des achzehnten Jahrhunderts (Leipzig: Hofmeister, 1850; reprint, Hilversum: Knuf, 1965: 99-108).
² Robin A. Leaver, "The mature vocal works and their theological and liturgical contexts," in The Cambridge Companion to Bach, ed. John Butt (Cambridge University Press, 1997: 91)
³ Daniel R. Melamed, Listening to Bach: the Mass in B Minor and the Christmas Oratorio (Oxford University Press, 2018: 75).
⁴ Marcus Rathey, "Printing, politics and 'a well-regulated church music': A new perspective on J. S. Bach's Mühlhausen cantatas," in Early Music 44(3):449-460 · August 2016available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313261332_Printing_politics_and_%27a_well-regulated_church_music%27_A_new_perspective_on_J_S_Bach%27s_Muhlhausen_cantatas.

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To Come: Milestone early joyous profane works, Shepherds' Cantata BWV 208, and wedding Cantata BWV 202.