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Cantata BWV 20
O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort [I]
Discussions - Part 6

Continue from Part 5

Trinity 1 Chorale Cantata 20, Anna Magdalena

William Hoffman wrote (July 6, 2024):
Bach was fully prepared in Leipzig to create a chorale cantata cycle, as his cantor predecessors and colleagues had done, although not required to. Although lacking a university degree which prejudiced him against his employer, the Pfennig-pinching Leipzig Town Council, Bach was thoroughly versant in Latin, had passed his theology exam with the Leipzig Lutheran Consistory, and was a thorough musician as a teacher composer, conductor, renowned organist and organ builder. In the field of the German chorale, he had no equal. As church organist, he had created such works as the chorale-partita-designed composer of Easter Cantata 4,1 "Christ lag in Todes Banden," he had built a repertory of organ chorale works such as the Orgelbüchlein, Neumeister Chorales, and the "Great 18" Leipzig Chorales. Other early cantatas used instrumental and vocal chorales in Cantatas 71, 106, and 131, and he began in Weimar closing his church cantatas with plain chorales in Cantata 18 (c1713). Meanwhile, he began his Passion studies with the Brauns "Markus Passion," BWVV 1166.1 (BCW) and his own Weimar-Gotha Passion, BWV deest (BC D 1, Wikipedia). Bach observed Martin Luther's dictum that parents teach their children the Catechism and related hymns, creating family music books for eldest son Friedemann, (Klavierbüchlein für Wilheln Friedemann Bach, BCW) and second wife Anna Magdalena (Notenbüchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach, 1725; BCW).

Cycle 1 Proto-Chorale Cantatas

Finally, in his first church-year cantata cycle, Bach created proto-chorale cantatas beginning with his Estomihi probe Cantatas BWV 22 and 23, with closing chorale choruses in the style of the opening chorale chorus fantasias in 27 mostly de tempore chorale cantatas (They are: BWV 1, 2, 7, 8, 10, 14, 20, 26, 33, 41, 62, 78, 96, 99, 111, 114, 115, 116, 121, 123, 124, 127, 130, 133, 135, 138, 139; source, BCW: scroll down to paragraph beginning "The most used category. . . ."). In the first cycle, Bach set 32 cantatas with elements of the chorale cantata such as tropes, multiple insertions, hybrid and poetic materials, and elaborate closing choruses in his newly-composed cantatas. The next category were interpolated chorale and poetic recitative materials "treated in various ways and usually found during the omnes tempore Trinity Time having lesser-known chorales. The most common insertions are the chorale trope in the recitative found in seven cantatas: BWV 3, 38, 91, 94 (2 tropes), 122, 125, and 126. In eight cantatas Bach used multiple insertions, with as many as two troped recitatives and a separate chorale aria in BWV 92, 93, 101, 113, 122, 125, 126, and 178. Cantata 180 has a troped recitative and chorale aria. Bach also had made effective use of hybrid chorale and poetic materials in original Leipzig Cantatas BWV 43, 95, and 173 while Trinity 15 Cantata 138 comes closest to the typical chorale cantata with three extended, troped chorale choruses (Nos. 1, 2-3, 4-5). Interestingly, another 12 earlier cycle 1 compositions have elaborate closing chorale choruses (BWV 75, 76, 25 and 49 in two parts; 23, 48, and 190 in different arrangements of the same chorale; and 77, 25, 48, and 107 in wordless instrumental chorales sounded in choruses. Bach composed only one chorale cantata of the second cycle, BWV 107 for Trinity 7, that has a closing chorale chorus, instead of the usual plain chorale setting. It also is Bach’s only Cycle 2 example of a complete original hymn text setting (seven stanzas), called per omnes versus, in one internal recitative and four successive arias. The reason for this sole example is that perhaps on this occasion Bach’s librettist was for some reason unable to supply the usual hymn paraphrase.

Trinity 1 Chorale Cantata 20, O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort

Bach's plan for his first chorale cantata opening the second church-year cycle is discussed in the Hans-Joachim Schulze2 essay on Cantata 20, translation James A.Brokaw II. <<For Johann Sebastian Bach, the cantata O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort BWV 20 (O eternity, you word of thunder) represented the initial spark of a plan that, beginning in June 1724, would claim the greater part of his creative energy for many months. His idea was to create, within a year’s time, a complete annual cycle of church cantatas that were based on appropriate chorales, textually as well as musically, with preference for the main hymns for each Sunday and feast day where possible. No one knew better than the Thomaskantor himself what such a concept would entail with regard to the never-abating demands of his position, as well as his own high standards of quality. We cannot say whether at the outset he could foresee that he would be able to complete only three-quarters of the project as he had conceived it. In any case, he started work without hesitation and without sparing any effort, even at the beginning. The new cycle did not begin with Advent, the start of the church year. This deviation from the norm had to do with Bach’s professional situation. He had made his debut as cantor of St. Thomas School exactly a year earlier, on the first Sunday after Trinity. Now, exactly a year later, he wanted to introduce the Leipzig public to a complete annual cycle of church cantatas of a new type.>>

Chorales for the First Sunday after Trinity

To begin the chorale cantata cycle (source: BCW), <<Bach’s chorale Cantata BWV 20, “O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort" (Eternity, thou thundrous word, trans. Z. Philip Ambrose), inaugurating his unique second cycle of chorale cantatas on the First Sunday after Trinity, June 1724, seems to have little to do with the day’s Epistle: 1 John 4:16-21 (God is love) and Gospel: Luke 16:19-31 Parable of rich man Dives and poor and Lazarus). There is only one reference to the Gospel, in the B section (“Ah see yourself in the rich man”) of the alto-tenor duet, Mvt. No. 9, “O child of mankind, cease quickly to love sin and the world.” The Cantata 20 libretto by an unknown librettist sticks close to hymn writer Johann Rist’s original thought and text, “A Serious Consideration of Endless Eternity.”

To summarize Cantata 20, “this is a work with a sulphurous feel of Satan's caverns of eternal torment,” says Julian Mincham in this week’s BCW Discussion: (BCW: Cantata BWV 20: Discussion Part 5). Says John Elliot Gardiner:3 “it is a radical switch, not just of musical style but of theological emphasis, underlining the severity of God’s judgement, the flip side to the forgiving, loving nature referred to in the Epistle. Fear, rather than comfort, is now the theme, the prospect of an eternity of pain and suffering the spur to man to save his soul.” Since Bach had begun the first cycle with the Trinity Time services, he was well-acquainted with the appropriate hymns for each service. Assisting Bach is the template of thematic patterns in Bach's gospels of parables, miracles, and other teachings by BCW contributor Douglas Cowling (source, BCW). The First Sunday After Trinity Sunday, occurring before the mid-summer equinox in June, marked the beginning of the Trinity time half-year of church services, the beginning of Bach's first two cantata cycles, and the beginning of the Thomas School scholastic term. Thus, it was most fitting for Bach to establish a strong framework for his well-regulated church music with the use of appropriate and engaging chorales for his musical sermons. Consequently, Bach produced music of great depth and breadth: the initial Trinity Time chorale cantatshow great ambition (Carus-Verlag) with proclaiming choruses, instrumental introductions, and instructive and elaborate chorale settings with more familiar melodies found throughout Trinity Time. The prescribed biblical readings and hymn music are revealed throughout the texts of the first or alpha cyclic cantatas with preparatory organ chorale preludes and free-standing, harmonized, four-part chorales. Thematic biblical teaching patterns are complemented with systematic and intentional use of familiar omne tempore chorales.

<<Meanwhile, Bach composed two other Cantatas for this Sunday beginning Trinity Time with it teachings of the church and the believer’s response: Chorus Cantata 75 in 1723 (Cycle 1) and chorus Cantata 39 in 1726 (Cycle 3). Overall, this Sunday considers “the theme of pursuing riches on earth or in heaven, and from the Epistle, which defines love of God and the need for brotherly love,” says Gardiner. “Bach’s treatment of these themes in each of the cantatas is diverse.” In particular are Bach’s choice in his musical sermon cantatas to utilize chorales that have themes related to the day’s Gospel and Epistle lessons during Trinity Time and are treated in the day’s sermon.

<<Further, an examination of the chorales designated for this Sunday that Bach chose to harmonize show elements directly related to the gospel as well as the responses of the individual hymn writers, often theologians, to Luther’s teachings as well as to a German land of 200 years of Reformation, often in trial and turmoil. For the First Sunday in Trinity Bach set the Hymn of the Day, the Pulpit Hymn and three of the four Communion Hymns: Hymn of the Day (de tempore), "Es spricht der Unweisen Mund wohl" (The unknown mouth speaks well), Luther’s setting of Psalm 14 in plain chorale BWV 308; Pulpit (sermon) Hymn, Pentecostal hymn “Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend” (Lord Christ, reveal Thy holy face) in plain chorale BWV 322; and from the Communion Hymns: pietist hymn “Weltliche Ehr und zeitliche Gut" (World honors and transient goods)” in plain chorale BWV 426, "Ach Gott vom Himmel sieh darein" (Ah God, look down from heaven), Luther’s setting of Psalm 12, and "Kommt her zu mir, spricht Gottes Sonn" (Come here to me, said God's Son), using the melody set to texts of Georg Grünewald, Paul Gerhardt, and Michael Altenberg in Bach Easter and Pentecost cantatas.

<<Thus Bach set as plain chorales the Trinity +1 designated Hymn of the Day, the Pulpit hymn, and one of the Communion Hymns, respectively: "Es spricht der Unweisen Mund wohl," “Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend,” and “Weltliche Ehr und zeitliche Gut." Bach set another Communion Hymn, "Ach Gott vom Himmel sieh darein," as chorale Cantata BWV 2, for the next Sunday, a week following chorale Cantata BWV 20, “O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort I” Still another Trinity +1 Communion Hymn, "Kommt her zu mir, spricht Gottes Sonn" (Come here to me, said God's Son) served as plain chorales and a chorale aria in cantatas Bach presented for the Easter-Pentecost Season immediately preceding Trinity Time.

<<The two most significant sources of chorales and motets that Bach knew and performed in Leipzig are the Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch of predecessor Gottfried Vopelius (Leipzig 1682) and the Erhard Bodenschatz Florilegium Portense. Like most hymnals, they follow the church year with listings of the assigned music and liturgy for each service. Below are the motets and chorales for the First Sunday after Trinity.>>

Chorale “O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort”

The chorale for the 1st Sunday after Trinity is a significant work familiar in the Bach household, “O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort” (Eternity, thou thundrous word, trans. Z. Philip Ambrose; ). In Cantata 20, “O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort I,”4 Bach set 11 movements to 12 of the 16 stanzas (BCW). An elaborate chorale arrangement for tenor and alto opens dialogue Trinity 24 Cantata 60, “O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort II.”5 Also in the found in the Klavierbüchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach, 1725 is a two-part chorale setting, BWV 513, No. 42;6 and BWV 397, plain chorale, Stanza 13, Johann Rist, verse 13 of "O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort," 1642 (Fischer-Tmpel, II, #204); 13(41), "Wach auf, o Mensch, vom Sündenschlaf"7 (Wake up, o man, from the sleep of sin, trans. Francis Browne), in St. Mark Passion, BWV 247.11 when Christ in the garden cautions his disciples on the trumpet call of the last judgement.

Cantatas 20 and 60

Hans-Joachim Schulze in his Commentaries on the Cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach says of Cantatas 20 and 60 (iOpen: Illinois Library): <<Within a span of only seven months, Johann Sebastian Bach wrote two very different cantatas on Johann Rist’s 1642 hymn O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort (O eternity, you word of thunder). The later work (BWV 20), performed in June 1724, serves as the expansive and elaborate inauguration of Bach’s annual cycle of chorale cantatas. It thus exhibits the mixture of literal and freely paraphrased chorale strophes typical of the cycle, as well as a wide variety of settings. However, this work, the earlier of the two [BWV 60], is a dialogue cantata, a genre found only very rarely in Bach’s oeuvre. On the title page of his performance materials, Bach made a special note of the work’s particularity: “Dialogus Zwischen Furcht und Hoffnung. Furcht: O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort. Hoffnung: Herr, ich warte auf dein Heyl” (Dialogue between Fear and Hope. Fear: O eternity, you word of thunder. Hope: Lord, I await your salvation). Indeed, these two text incipits indicate the character of the work and its libretto: it concerns anxiety preceding death and the hope for a blessed end in faith. Ideas of this kind often characterize the late Trinity season. This is true of the present work as well, created for the twenty-fourth Sunday after Trinity in 1723, Bach’s first year at Leipzig. It was first performed on November 7 of that year. Since Easter fell on an unusually early date in 1723, there were two further Sundays after Trinity, offering Bach and his librettists further opportunities to give artistic form to the “end times” character of the season. As just mentioned, the unidentified librettist places the opening strophe of a hymn by Johannes Rist at the beginning of the cantata text. In hymnals of the period, it appears in the section marked “Von der Ewigkeit und Hölle” (Of eternity and hell) beneath the heading “Das Weh der Ewigkeit” (The woe of eternity)>>

Anna Magdalena Bach Klavierbüchlein: Dances, Death Songs

The Klavierbüchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach, 1725 has two types of music for the Bach Household: sprightly instrumental dance works such as keyboard partitas, minuets, and polonaises, and sorrowful vocal arias and chorales related to death. Here is the abstract for Chapter 3, "Death Every Day: The 1725 Notebook and the Art of Dying," in David Yearsley's monograph, Sex Death, and Minuets: Anna Magdalena Bach and Her Musical Notebooks (Ibid.: 87-118):8 <<Anna Magdalena Bach's Notebook of 1725 is a heterogeneous collection containing virtuosic and profound keyboard suites, light dances, and a number of sacred songs whose theme is death as "the juxtaposition of secular and sacred was common enough in eighteenth century publications," observes Yearsley (Ibid.: 92f). The disarmingly fashionable style of these pieces hardly seems commensurate with the mortal musings of the poetry they set. While scholars have generally seen the Notebook’s less demanding offerings—including the songs—as a testament to Anna Magdalena’s taste for the galant style, little has been said about her apparent penchant for reflecting on, and preparing for, death through the music she chose for her Notebook. Yet it can hardly be coincidence that these musical confrontations with death and dying were inscribed during a period during which many of her own infant children died. By reading the songs' poetic texts and their musical seagainst the voluminous writings on the art of dying found in the Bachs' theological library, we can recognize—and learn from—the centrality of the ars moriendi [the art of dying] in the family's domestic life and especially in Anna Magdalena's musical practice.>>

"Of the twelve texted melodies in the Notebook," observes Schulze (Ibid.: 92), "eight refer to dying, four of these, including the three more elaborate songs that I will consider more closely, have mortality as the central topic, asking the singer to imagine her own final moments. These songs are both reflections and preparations for the act of dying and its consequences for the Christian singer — and listeners — in the Bach household, both young and old." Schulze's remarks come when he considers the most popular song in the Notebook, "Bist du bei mir," BWV 508.9 "These songs about death powerfully reveal the moral dimensions of music-making in the Bach home, particularly as practiced by Anna Magdalena," says Yearsley (Ibid.: 94), and "The art of dying occupied a central position among the ethical practices treated in the books in the Bach's library (Ibid.: 95). "The death of children was a common topic" "of Lutheran sermons and devotional literature, but also of many sing collections," observes Yearsley (Ibid.: 110). Of Anna Magdalena's "first eight children born between 1723 and 1732, only two survived beyond the age of four." Here are the three "elaborate songs," Yearsley cites:
1. "Gedenke doch, mein Geist, zurücke" (Reflect back, my soul, trans. Yearsley), BWV 509: score, music, German text, YouTube; arrangement, English text, MuseScore; the "familiar gestures of contemporary German sleep songs," says Yearsley (Ibid.: 100).
2. "Schlummert ein, ihr matten Augen" (Fall asleep, you weary eyes), BWV 82/3, extended da capo aria; German text, English translation, YouTube; score, MuseScore; discussion, BCW; commentary, iOpen: Illinois Library; "yet another death lullaby," says Yearsley (Ibid.: 101), "the joyful promise of being released from this world" with Anna Magdalena's "uplifting message to be heard in the home" (Ibid.: 103).
3. "Sooft ich meine Tabakspfeife" (Uplifting Thoughts of a Tobacco Smoker), BWV 515; strophic song "set in an engaging and up to-date style [galant], says Yearsley (Ibid.: 103), "is a reflection on mortality redolent of the ars morendi" while the second stanza, an illusion to Genesis 3:19 "with the transitory nature of life"; complete German text, BCW; English translation Z. Philip Ambrose, UVM: scroll down to "BWV 515a Erbauliche Gedanken eines Tobackrauchers (#20b and 20c)"; music accompaniment, YouTube; voice, YouTube.

Notebook Consoling Chorales

Here are five "Consoling Chorales of a Widow's Musical Notebooks," says Yearsley (Ibid.: 227ff):
1. "Jesu, meine Zuversicht" (Jesus, My Assurance), BWV 728, untexted chorale prelude (YouTube); Johann Crüger chorale melody (BCW), Luise Henriette Electress of Brandenburg chorale text attributed (BCW); the text of the Abgesang, "the last third of the chorale," says Yearsley (Ibid.: 230f), deals with "the long night of death," which "could have been part of the widowed keyboardist's defense against depression, a confidence builder in bleak times, a source of reassurance," says Yearsley (Ibid.: 231).
2. “O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort" (Eternity, thou thundrous word, trans. Ambrose), BWV 513, two-voice version, near end of Notebook (YouTube, YouTube), followed by "off-color nuptial poem"; says Yearsley (Ibid.: 231), which is a "poignant contrast," given the first verse message of "stentorian terrors of the chorale," the first verse entered by Anna Magdalena when she was "still in her twenties," says Yearsley (Ibid.: 233); chorale text, BCW; chorale melody, BCW.
3. "Warum betrübst du dich?" (Why are you so sorrowful, trans. Yearsley), BWV 513; "mournful ruminations" "sung frequently by widows," says Yearsley (Ibid.: 233); recording, YouTube; text, UVM: scroll down to "BWV 516 Warum betrübst du dich und beugest dich zur Erden (#33); full text and translation, BCW; chorale melody, BCW.
4. "Wer nur den lieben Gott lässt walten" (Whoever simply lets God rule, trans. Yearsley), BWV 691, chorale prelude, Kirnberger Collection; recording, YouTube); Georg Neumark text, BCW; melody (BCW) associated with Ämilie Juliane von Schwarzburg-Rudolstad "Wer weiß, wie nahe mir mein Ende," set in chorale Cantata 27, for Widow's Sunday, 16th after Trinity 1726 (BCW)
5. "Dir, dir, Jehova, will ich singen" (To you, to you, Jehova, I want to sing), BWV 299, four-part chorale (YouTube), two-part setting (YouTube); Bach melody and bass, see BCW; Bartholomäus Crasselius text, see BCW; an eight-stanza song of affirmation and hope.

Notebook 3 Sacred Songs

In addition, there are three sacred songs in the Notebook:
1. "Gib dich zufrieden und sei stille" (Be contented and be silent), BWV 511-12, Paul Gerhardt 16- stanza spiritual song (BCW); melody attributed to Jakob Hintze (BCW).
2. "Schaff's mit mir, Gott, nach deinem Willen" (Deal with me, God, as thou desirest, trans. Ambrose), minuet of unknown origin; music, YouTube; text, Benjamin Schmolck (UVM: scroll down to BWV 514, Schaff's mit mir, Gott, nach deinem Willen (#35).
3. "Wie wohl ist mir, o Freund der Seelen" (How blest I am, O friend of spirits, trans. Ambrose) BWV 517; chorale in 6 stanzas, BCW; text Wolfgang Christoph Dreßler, English trans., UVM: scroll down to "BWV 517 Wie wohl ist mir, o Freund der Seelen (#40)"; chorale melody, BCW; melody use BWV 504, text Gottfried Arnold, in Schemelli No. 475 (with music, p.315f, BCW); recording, YouTube; manuscript, Bach Digital.

Anna Magdalena's Notebook provided "abundant materials for the literary imagination," says Yearsley (Ibid.: 13f, abstract Oxford University Press). Most notable is Kurt Findeisen's collection of musical stories with illustrations from 1924, "Das Notenbüchlein der Frau Anna Magdalena Bachin" (Leipzig: Kistner & Siegel, 1924). The date is 1727, and Bach informs Anna Magdalena of the death of the Saxon electress and that Bach will "summon then whole family to join in a 'short piece in memory of Her Royal Highness,' but Anna Magdalena persuades him to accompany her at the keyboard as she sings a chorale from her Notebook, 'Wie Wohl ist mir.'" It should be noted that the 1727 death of the Saxon electress lead to Bach's Cantata 198, "Laß, Fürstin, laß noch einen Strahl [Trauerode] (Let, Princess, let still one more beam, trans. Ambrose; BCW). Another musical story is the film, "The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach" (Wikipedia).

Anna Magdalena: Positive Portrait

Postscript: Yearsley's Anna Magdalena biography emphasizes the tribulations of widow Anna while other studies now suggest a positive perspective (source, : << It is only since the 300th anniversary of Anna Magdalena's birth in 2001 that scholarly research has brought her out of the shadows of Sebastian, particularly with the publication of Maria Hübner's Anna Magdalena Bach. Ein Leben in Dokumenten und Bildern (Anna Magdalena Bach: A life in documents and pictures, Trove). Most recent is Eberhard Spree's just-published study Die verwitwete Frau Capellmeisterin Bach. Studie über die Verteilung des Nachlasses von Johann Sebastian Bach (The widowed woman Capellmeisterin Bach),10 study on the distribution of the estate of Johann Sebastian Bach, that shatters the Romantic myth of poverty to show a shrewd businesswoman. This study of the family estate distribution and her finances shows that she had a central role in the management of the business affairs of the Sebastian Bach family, according to Spree at the recent Bach Network dialogue meeting (Bach Network). After her husband's death in 1750, she oversaw the distribution of the Bach vocal music autographs to sons Friedemann and Emanuel and continued to manage about one-fourth of the property, including the remainder of the musical estate which was sold to Breitkopf after her death in 1760 and then was the impetus for the first publisher's catalogue in 1761 showing the Bach holdings available for copying.

<<"Despite longstanding claims to the contrary, that is no reason to think that Emanuel neglected his widowed stepmother Anna Magdalena," says Robert L. Marshall in his recent study, "Father and Sons: Confronting a Uniquely Daunting Paternal Legacy."11 "In addition to whatever help he may have provided, she also had other resources," including being the sales representative in Leipzig for published works of husband and stepson, Emanuel. "Emanuel also contributed from 1772 on," says Marshall (Ibid.), "to the financial support of his surviving sister [Catharina Dorothea] and half sisters [Johanna Carolina (1737–1781) and Regina Susanna (1742–1809)]." In 1750, Catharina Dorothea went to live with brother Friedemann in Halle while the two half-sisters lived with Anna Magdalena beginning in February 1751 at an inn on Hainstraße. When Friedemann left Halle in 1770, Catherina Dorothea returned to Leipzig and lived with her half sisters. Other primary-source areas in need of further research are the support of the two-half sisters following their father's death from their Leipzig godparents, more details of the Leipzig council and University support, and the activities of AMB as a copyist of her husband's work as well as working activities of her two daughters.>>.

ENDNOTES

1 Easter Cantata 4, YouTube, Free Scores; source, BML: scroll down to "Cycle Template: Musical style."
2 Hans-Joachim Schulze, Commentaries on the Cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach: A Selective Guide, trans. James A. Brokaw II (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2024: xii); Amazon.com; Brokaw translates all 225 cantatas in An Interactive Companion by Hans-Joachim Schulze, IOPN Illinois Library, IOPN Illinois Library; translated text, iOoen: Illinois Library; Cantata 20 is discussed in the following: BCW, Carus-Media: scroll down to Foreword (p.4), BCW.
3 John Eliot Gardiner, Bach biography BACH: Music in the Castle of Heaven (Alfred A, Knopf: New York, 2013: 320), Amazon.com.
4 “O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort I,” BWV 20: details, BCW; score analysis, BCW; discussion, BCW; commentary, Carus-Media: scroll down to "Foreward" (p. 4), recording, YouTube.).
5 “O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort II,” BWV 60: details, BCW; sore analysis, BCW; discussion, BCW; commentary, Carus-Media; recording, YouTube).
6 Two-Part Chorale setting, “O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort," BWV 513: movement, BCW; music, YouTube; score, further information, NBV-AOB.
7 Wach auf, o Mensch, vom Sündenschlaf: recording, YouTube; also YouTube: track "0:26:14 11. Choral: Wach auf, oh Mensch, vom Sündenschlaf; text, BCW: scroll down to Stanza 13 (9); in Cantata 2, Johann Rist's 13 stanza ""is handled more freely," says Schulze, iOpen: Illinois Library: scroll down to "Wach auf, o Mensch," and the cantata's revised text.
8 David Yearsley, Sex, Death, and Minuets: Anna Magdalena Bach and Her Musical Notebooks (University of Chicago Press, 2019, University of Chicago Press, Amazon.com); review, University of Chicago Press.
9 "Bist du bei mir, geh ich mit Freuden" (If you are with me, I go with joy, trans. Wiki), BWV 508, sacred song; description, Wikipedia.; recording, YouTube; score, Benjamin Schmolck German text, YouTube; manuscript, Bach Digital.
10 Edward Spree, Die verwitwete Frau Capellmeisterin Bach (Kamprad, E. Reinhold Verlag, 2019, Google Translate).
11 Robert L. Marshall, "Father and Sons: Confronting a Uniquely Daunting Paternal Legacy." In Mary Oleskiewicz, Bach Perspectives 11 : J. S. Bach and His Sons (Urbana IL: University of Illinois Press, 2017; Oxford Academic: Illinois Scholarship Online: 13).

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To Come: Trinity 2 Chorale Cantata 2

Cantata BWV 20: O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort [I] for 1st Sunday after Trinity (1724)
Discography: Details & Complete Recordings | Recordings of Individual Movements
Discussions: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6


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