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Cantata BWV 173
Erhöhtes Fleisch und Blut
Cantata BWV 173a
Durchlauchtster Leopold
Discussions - Part 3 |
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Continue from Part 2 |
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Discussions in the Week of February 13, 2011 (3rd round) |
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Ed Myskowski wrote (February 13, 2011):
Introduction to BWV BWV 173 -- Erhöhtes Fleisch und Blut
Introduction to BWV BWV 173 -- Erhöhtes Fleisch und Blut,
derived from BWV 173a -- Durchlauchtster Leopold
This weeks discussion continues the ongoing series of cantatas spanning from Easter to Ascension, Pentecost, and Trinity. With BWV 173, we return to compositions by Bach, the first of three for Whit Monday, among the large group of works for the three-day Whit festival (Whitsundtide) which is the focus of our weekly discussions for a couple of months, through the week of March 13.
Details of text, commentary, recordings, and previous discussion are accessible via: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV173.htm
That page also has convenient access to Gardiners notes to the pilgrimage CDs, by clicking on the PDF link under the picture of the CD cover.
The link to commentary by Julian [Mincham} is especially recommended as an introduction to listening.
With respect to the relation between the sacred BWV 173 and its source, the secular BWV 173a, Gardiner strikes me as especially appropriate:
<It puzzles me why scholars get so hot under the collar about Bachs self-borrowings, as though there were something innately shoddy about the practice. You would have thought that Handel, with his habit of plagiarising other mens themes as starter fuel when the muse refused to co-operate, would have presented a far juicier target. It so happens that all three of Bach’s surviving Leipzig cantatas for Whit Monday originated in secular music he had composed a few years earlier [...] Bach could express homage to a prince and homage to God in essentially the same way. Music - his music - was there to bridge the divide between worldly and divine glory.> (end quote)
Julians essay elaborates on this thought in more detail. Also note his point that there is internal evidence to suggest that Bach collaborated with his lyricist. That detail, along with the existence of numerous examples of text booklets prepared and printed well in advance of composition, should all but put to rest the hypothesis that Bachs reworking of secular material was motivated by last-minute time pressure. |
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Peter Smaill wrote (February 13, 2011):
[To Ed Myskowski] Thanks Ed for the illuminating note from JEG.
Despite for years taking little interest in the secular Cantatas I can thoroughly recommend BCW members taking the effort to get hold of BWV173a. It is IMHO the superior composition, running to 8 movements. In BWV 173 we miss some of Bach's most dazzling writing for the bassoon, the jazzy "Dein Name gleich der Sonnen geh", BWV 173a/7. For years this movement survived mainly as a piano transcription .The transposed arias are also cut in BWV 173.
The Soprano voice used in the secular progenitor gives extra brilliance to the opening declamation "Durchlauster Leopold!" The use of two voices creates a clarity of vocal line compared to the four-voiced BWV 173 in the duet numbers. As the programme notes for the Dorian recording point out (Labadie/Violons du Roi, a fine ensemble from Quebec), it is a sign of the bias of the Schmieder catalogue against secular cantatas (i.e. the BWV numbering) that the 1722 work is treated as an appendage of BWV 173 and not the other way round, which is more logical. |
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Continue of this part of the discussion, see: Secular Cantatas - General Discussions Part 2 [General Topics] |
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Ed Myskowski wrote (February 14, 2011):
Ed Myskowski wrote:
< Introduction to BWV BWV 173 -- Erhöhtes Fleisch und Blut,
derived from BWV 173a -- Durchlauchtster Leopold
Details of text, commentary, recordings, and previous discussion are accessible via: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV173.htm >
Until the link to Gardiner’s CD notes is posted on BCW, they are also available directly via:
http://www.solideogloria.co.uk/recordings/index.cfm |
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Ed Myskowski wrote (February 14, 2011):
Peter Smaill wrote:
< In BWV 173 we miss some of Bach's most dazzling writing for the bassoon, the jazzy "Dein Name gleich der Sonnen geh", BWV 173a/7. >
Thanks for pointing this out.
< The Soprano voice used in the secular progenitor gives extra brilliance to the opening declamation "Durchlauster Leopold!" >
Perhaps originally written with intent for female voice, and *retired*? The circumstantial evidence does suggest this is a work with some special significance for Bach, despite the fact that Durr characterizes it as <relatively unambitious>. Gardiner speculates that the sacred reworking may in fact have been prepared before Bachs arrival in Leipzig, then set aside unused, which might explain some of the simplifications.
I enjoyed this detail from the BCW archives:
<Neil Halliday wrote (May 16, 2006):
This cantata features the `sweet melodious-ness' that is characteristic of Bach's secular cantatas, aided and abetted here, in movements 2, 4, and 6, by the romantic, pastoral timbre of the transverse flute [...]
There is not a fugue in sight in this cantata.> (end quote)
Nor a chorale, both omissions unusual (unique?) for the sacred cantatas.
>As the programme notes for the Dorian recording point out (Labadie/Violons du Roi, a fine ensemble from Quebec), it is a sign of the bias of the Schmieder catalogue against secular cantatas (i.e. the BWV numbering) that the 1722 work is treated as an appendage of BWV173 and not the other way round, which is more logical.
Right. The numbering alone, leads us to the idea that the sacred reworkings are somehow also improved. Not necessarily so, and perhaps not necessarily Bachs intent, in the instance of BWV 173. |
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William L. Hoffman wrote (February 19, 2011):
BWV 173(a) -- Pentecost, Serenades & Shepherds
Bach's three extant cantatas for the Second Day (Monday) of the Pentecost Festival all are based on previously composed materials that were effectively transformed and utilized again. They reveal and reflect Bach's plan to recycle temporal music while preserving the initial integrity of certain works, particularly the dramatic serenades with their dance-style arias and narrative recitatives. Often in dialogue form, these serenades model an important sacred cantata genre, especially the Jesus-Soul, bass-soprano cantatas, as well as forerunners for both Bach's other static opera forms, the secular <drammi per musica> and the biblical passion oratorios.
The works and their forms of parody as Pentecost Monday Cantatas are:
1. First performed in 1724 (Church Cantata Cycle 1), Cantata 173, "<Erhöhtes Fleisch und Blut<" (Exalted flesh and blood - translation Richard Stokes), is a virtual parody (six of eight movements, same order) with text substitution (new text underlay) from the Cöthen celebratory serenade, BWV173a, "<Durchlauchtster Leopold>" (Most illustrious Leopold -- by Richard Stokes). The unpublished text, possibly by Hunold-Menantes or J. F. Helbig, was for Prince Leopold's birthday, December 12, between 1717 and 1722). Sacred Cantata BWV 173 was repeated in 1727, 1731, and 1735.
2. In 1725 (Cycle 2), Cantata 68, "<Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt>" (God so loved the world --John 3:16), has a text by Mariane von Ziegler. Both is both free da-capo arias, Nos. 2 and 4, are expansions of dance-style arias Nos. 13 (pastorale) and 7 (gigue), respectively, from the Weißenfels Hunting Cantata BWV 208, "<Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd!>" (The merry hunt is all that I love! -- translation Richard Stokes), with text by Salomo Franck. Surprisingly, one of Bach's most famous arias, BWV 208/9, "Sheep Safely Graze" (<Skönnen sicher weiden>) was never parodied, while the closing gigue-style chorus, No. 15, later opened Cantata BWV 149, "<Man singet mit freuden vom Sieg>" (Songs are sung with joy of victory - translation Francis Browne) for St. Michael's Day in the Picander cycle, 1728 or 1729. Pentecost Monday Cantata BWV 68 was repeated 1736-39.
[There is no documentation of a Pentecost Monday cantata performance in 1726. There is a slight possibility of the use of a Johann Ludwig Bach Cantata (1726 Rudolstadt text, music lost); Telemann Cantata TVWV 1:634=BWV 218, "<Gott der Hoffnung erfulle euch>" (May the God of Hope fill you); or a repeat of Cantata BWV 173.]
3. In 1729 (Cycle 4), Cantata BWV 174, <"Ich liebe den Höchsten von ganzem Gemüte"> (I love God most high with all my heart - translation Francis Browne) has an opening sinfonia with six woodwinds added, from Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, BWV 1048, composed in Cöthen. Bach reused instrumental materials as cantata opening sinfonias in some 15 Leipzig cantatas, mostly between 1725 and 1729.
PENTECOST MONDAY (Whit Monday, Second Day of Pentecost),
Gospel: John 3: 16-21, God so loved the world; Epistle: Acts 10:42-48 (Holy Spirit's Descent)
Musical Context (Cowling):
Introit: "Cibavit eos" (Liber Usualis 758, 790; not in NLGB) -- Psalm 81:16 - "Cibávit éos ex ádipe fruménti, allelúia: et de pétra, mélle saturávit éos, allelúia, allelúia, alleluia" [He fed them with the fat of wheat (alleluia); and filled them with honey out of the rock (alleluia, alleluia, alleluia)]; orig. Introit, Feast of Corpus Christi (Thursday or Sunday After Trinity Sunday)
Motet: "Spiritus sancti gratia," "Des Heiligen Geistes reichte Gnad" (NLGB 396)
Hymn de Tempore: "Komm Heiliger Geist, Harre Gott"
Pulpit Hymn: "Nun bitten wir den Heiligen Geist"
Hymns for Chancel, Communion & Closing:
"Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt" (God so loved the world), S. Liscow hymn 1685 (68/1) (NLGB 619)
Pentecost Monday Chorale Usages
Bach sparingly used chorales in his three extant cantatas for Pentecost Monday:
1. Cantata BWV 173 has no chorale, instead ending with a duet expanded to four-part chorus;
2. Cantata BWV 68 has only an Opening Chorale Chorus, "Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt," and is Bach's only use of this one-stanza Pentecost Monday designated communion hymn.
3. Cantata BWV 174 has a closing four-part chorale, "Herzlich lieb hab' ich dich, o Herr" (From my heart I hold you dear, O Lord), opening stanza of Martin Schalling's text of 1569 with three stanzas set to the anonymous 1577 melody, as found in the Gottfried Vopelius' "<Das Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch>" (NLGB) of 1682, Hymn No. 836 for St. Michael's Day). Other Bach usages of the chorale are: Cantata BWV 149/7, closing chorale (S.3), St. Michael, 1728 or 1729; Cantata BWV 19/5, St. Michael, 1726, tenor aria, melody only; and the St. John Passion chorale BWV 245/40 (S.2).
The apocryphal Bach Cantata BWV 218=TVWV 1:634, closes with a plain choral [S, A, T, B; tutti orch.; 4/4, D Major], "<Komm, Gott Schöpler, heiliger Geist>" (Come, God Creator, Holy Spirit), set to the Martin Luther 1524 text (seven stanzas), melody by Joseph Klug, Gesangbuch 1535. Bach's usages of the chorale are: plain chorale BWV 370; organ chorale prelude BWV 631(a), in the Orgelbüchlein No. 44; and organ chorale prelude BWV 667(a). The melody is derived from the Latin Pentecost chant <Veni-creator spiritus> of Hrabnus Marus, 9th Century, with six verses. Telemann's four-part setting in TVWV 1:634 is found in L. Erk's Bach chorale collection of 1869 and published as B.F. Richter No. 219.
The original Neumeister IV text found in Pentecost Sunday Cantata BWV 59, "<Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten>" (Who loves me will keep my word --translation Francis Browne) closes with the following chorale:
No. 7. Chorale: "Gott Heilger Geist, du Tröster wert" (God, the holy spirit, you precious comforter), S. 3, "Erhalt uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort" (Lead us, Lord, with Thy Word), NLGB 796. There is no evidence, however, that Bach set this chorale.
Other Leipzig Pentecost Festival Performances:
It is possible but not likely that Bach may have repeated two Pentecost Sunday Cantatas BWV 59 and BWV 218=TVWV 1:634, "Gott der Hoffnung erfulle euch" (May the God of Hope fill you), since both are set to Neumeister IV (1717) texts for the three-day Pentecost Festival.
A recently-found cantata text book shows that in 1727, Bach performed the following works:
1st day of Pentecost - "<O ewiges Feuer! o Ursprung der Liebe" (O eternal fire, o source of love), BWV 34 (new);
2nd day of Pentecost - "<Erhöhtes Fleisch und Blut>" (Exalted flesh and blood), BWV 173 (repeat);
3rd day of Pentecost - "<Erwünschtes Freudenlicht"> (Wished-for joy-light), BWV 184 (repeat);
Trinity Sunday - "<Gelobet sei der Herr"> (Praise be to you, Lord), BWV 129 (new).
Two other recently-found text books cover a similar church-year period in Leipzig in 1721 and 1722, showing the following works performed:
1721(May 25-27):
Pentecost Sunday, "<Erschallet, ihr Lieder>" (Resound, ye songs), Salomo Franck text 1715), Bach Cantata 172 uses same text;
Pentecost Monday, "<Liebe, Liebe, nicht als Liebe>" (Love, Love, not as Love), (Salomo Franck text, 1715), ? composed by Kuhnau;
Pentecost Tuesday, "<Mein Jesus ist mein treuer Hirt>" (My Jesus is my trusting Shepherd), Neumeister I text, 1700), ?by Kuhnau or ?Telemann Cantata TVWV 1:1123 for Second Sunday After Easter (<Misericordias Domini>)
1722 (May 14-31):
Ascension Thursday: "<Gott fähret auf mit Jauchzen>" (God ascends to rejoicing) (Psalm 47:6), author Johann Jacob Rambach, Sacred Poetry, Halle 1720 (Bach set the same dictum to Cantata BWV 43, Ascension, Rudolstadt text 1726);
Pentecost Sunday: "<Geuß sehr tief in mein Herz>" (Set very deep in my heart), no text source;
Pentecost Monday: "<Sei, Herr Jesu, sei gepreiset>" (Be, Lord Jesus, be praised), Neumeister II text, for Cantate Sunday); Telemann TVWV 1:1286, Fourth Sunday After Easter (<Cantate>)
Trinity Sunday: "Wir sollen selig werden" (Neumeister IV); ?Telemann Cantata 1:1678 (Trinity Festival)
(Note: Bach's Leipzig predecessor, Johann Kuhnau, died on June 5, 1722)
For Leipzig Pentecost Festival 1723 (May 16-18), Bach probably presented Cantata BWV 59 on Pentecost Sunday, May 16, 1723 at the Leipzig University Church. Since arriving in Leipzig in early May, Bach assumed his University Church responsibilities on Pentecost Sunday but not his Leipzig cantor and music director positions until the First Sunday After Trinity, May 30, the beginning of the annual school term at the Thomas School.
BWV 173a & Serenades -- Good Reading
In addition to Julian Mincham's exemplary studies of Cantatas BWV 173(a), BCW:
http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV173.htm, there are four accessible BCW articles on the Serenade BWV 173a and Bach's Köthen and Leipzig Serenades:
A. <Bach's Dramatic Music: Serenades, Drammi per Musica, Oratorios>
Author: William L. Hoffman (August 2008); "Royal Court at Köthen: Serenades" and "Leipzig: More Serenades"
BCW: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Articles/HoffmanBachDramaII.htm
B. <The Historical Figures of the Birthday Cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach> [PDF thesis] Marva J. Watson,
May 2010:
CHAPTER 3 - Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Köthen ........................................... 27
The Birthday Cantata for Prince Leopold (BWV 173a).............................. 32
BCW: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Articles/Historical-Figures-Watson.pdf
C. Thomas Braatz wrote (July 19, 2003):
BWV 173a - Provenance:
See: Cantata BWV 173a - Provenance
BCW: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Ref/BWV173-Ref.htm
Dürr's Commentaries:
See: Cantata BWV 173a - Commentary
BCW: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Guide/BWV173-Guide.htm
Pentecost, the Shepherd, and Parody
Bach's <de tempore> cantata cycle for the first half of the church year (Advent Sunday to Trinity Sunday) closes with the 14 services of the Easter Season, from Jesus Christ's Resurrection to the birth of the Christian (C[c]atholic) Church. The Easter Season closing involves five festivals within six consecutive services: Ascension Day, the three-day Pentecost Festival (Sunday, Monday and Tuesday), and Trinity Sunday, with the Sixth Sunday After Easter (Exaudi) occurring four days after Ascension.
In some respects, the Easter Season is a liminal - "in-between" time, a transition between the life of Jesus Christ on earth (from his coming at Advent to his death on Good Friday) to the<omnes tempore> Trinity Season of some 25 weeks focusing on the teachings and themes of Christianity. The 17-day post-Ascension period with its five feast days is a concentrated liminal time of preparation focusing on the three-day Pentecost Festival with the Gospel Christological themes of the "Promise of the Spirit" (Sunday), "God's Love of the World" (Monday) and the "Parable of the Sheep" (Tuesday). Each theme embodies the Triune or Trinitarian concept of God the Creator, Jesus as God the Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit as God the Sanctifier.
Prominent during the 40 days of the Easter Season proper and the 17-day festival period is the theme of the shepherd and his flock of sheep. The theme is exemplified in the tenth chapter of the Gospel of John the evangelist. Verses 11-16 are the Gospel lesson for the Second Sunday After Easter, <Misericordias Domini>, the "tender mercies" or "goodness" of Jesus as the Good Shepherd. The preceding verses, 1-10, are the Gospel lesson for Whit Tuesday or the Third Day of Pentecost, the Parable of the Shepherd.
The theme of the shepherd and his sheep enabled Bach to create numerous pastoral cantatas celebrating events in both the sacred and profane worlds. In the sacred are the <Misericordias Domini> Cantatas BWV 104, 85 and 112, and the Pentecost Tuesday Cantatas BWV 184 and BWV 175, as well as the dramatic secular serenades Bach composed in Weimar in 1713, BWV 208, Bach's first "modern" cantata, and in Cöthen between 1717 and 1723, followed by 11 serenades, composed in Leipzig. Bach exploited two Baroque stylistic traditions in his serenades: the Italian secular cantata and the French orchestral dance suite.
Bridging the two spheres, Bach was able to recycle half of his "wordly" serenades as sacred vocal works through various forms of parody or new text substitution, with musical adaptation of the original pastoral materials composed for various celebrations. The best known parodied works are the 1713 Weißenfels Hunting Cantata (Jagtkantate) BWV 218, and Weißenfels Shepherd's Cantata (<Schafekataten>) BWV 249a, "Entflieht, verschwindet, entweichet, ihr Sorgen" (Fly, vanish, flee, O worries -- translation Richard Stokes) of early 1725 which five weeks later, on April 1, 1725, became the Easter Oratorio, BWV 249.
As Bach competed his first Leipzig sacred cantata cycle, he had been able to utilize most of the vocal material previously composed in the "modern" Italian style. These involve the five Cöthen serenades reused for the Easter Festival, BWV 66(a) on Monday and 134(a) on Tuesday; the Pentecost Festival Cantatas BWV 173(a) and 184(a); and the Trinity Sunday Cantata BWV 194(a).
Bach's Köthen parodies for the Pentecost Festival, BWV 173 and 184, were among Bach's most frequently reperformed sacred cantatas: in 1727 (probably the first such Leipzig works to be repeated), and again as part of a seasonal or annual cycle in 1731 and 1735.
In addition, Bach had been able to expand Weimar sacred Sunday materials for use in the first Leipzig cycle (20 cantatas): BWV 21, 185, 147, 186, 199, 162, 163, 70, 61, 63, 154, 155, 181, 18, 182, 31, 4, 12, BWV 172, and BWV 165; and five cantatas later in Leipzig: BWV 72, 80, 158, 161 and 162. There is no record of Bach's reuse of Weimar Cantatas BWV 54 and 132 and no materials survive for Cantatas BWV Anh. 191, 199, and 209. Further, dance-like materials presumed to have been composed in Cöthen may survive in Church Cantatas BWV 136/1, 143, 145/1,3, 154, BWV 190, BWV 193.
Thus Bach created a significant portion of his well-order church music, especially in the first Leipzig cantata cycle of 1723-24, using previous materials through expansion and parody. Bach the calculating recycler was foremost Bach the opportunist who bears further hearing. |
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Douglas Cowling wrote (February 19, 2011):
William L. Hoffman wrote:
< Surprisingly, one of Bach's most famous arias, BWV 208/9, "Sheep Safely Graze" <Schafe können sicher weiden>) was never parodied >
It's ironic that adaptations of this aria for SATB choir and sacred text has made it one of the most frequently performed "choral" works of Bach, second only to the ubiquitous "Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring". As an organ arrangement it is standard fare for weddings and funerals. |
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Aryeh Oron wrote (February 19, 2011):
William L. Hoffman wrote:
"Surprisingly, one of Bach's most famous arias, BWV 208/9, "Sheep Safely Graze" <Schafe können sicher weiden>) was never parodied"
This aria was parodied in the aria for soprano <Mein gläubiges Herze> (Mvt.2) from Cantata BWV 68. |
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Kim Patrick Clow wrote (February 19, 2011):
[To Aryeh Oron] Thanks for that! I was going to say, I could have sworn he had used in a sacred cantata-- just too good of a melody to have sat unused on the shelf musically speaking ;) |
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Julian Mincham wrote (February 19, 2011):
To Douglas Cowlin] It certainly has been parodied by later composers--see below an extract from my essay on this work.
The Grainger arrangement for full orchestra is interesting but is unlikely to be to everone's taste JM
"Along with Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring, Pales' aria is perhaps the most popular of Bach's cantata movements. Known as Sheep may Safely Graze, it was popularized by William Walton in the Wise Virgin Suite in 1940. Perhaps one of the most bizarre of its many arrangements is that by the Australian composer and pianist Percy Grainger, entitled Blithe Bells. It comes as a relief to turn to the original, more minimal Bach score written for soprano, continuo and two pastoral recorders. This simple da capo aria has the quality of a restrained chorale prelude with Bach managing to combine a sense of rustic idyll with one of religious awe. Perhaps it is this combination of hymn-like melody and recorders acting as one instrument, all supported by a gently throbbing bass line, that has endeared this aria to so many. The message of the verse is simplicity itself----sheep may graze safely under the shepherd's eye just as a land may enjoy peace and contentment under a good ruler".
(www.jsbachcantatas.com, vol1) |
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Julian Mincham wrote (February 19, 2011):
[To Aryeh Oron] Just to clarify--the aria known as Sheep may safely graze is the 9th movement from BWV 208 and is NOT parodied in BWV 68. The aria My Heart ever faithful, the 13th movement of 208 IS reused in 68 with the melody much expanded and improved and the instrumental trio section, originally tacked on to the end of 208, now fully incorporated into the movement prop.
Both arias are for the soprano playing the part of Pales and this might be what leads to the confusion. |
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Douglas Cowling wrote (February 19, 2011):
Juliam Mincham wrote:
< The Grainger arrangement for full orchestra is interesting but is unlikely to be to everone's taste >
There's even a two-piano version which bizarrely begins with the recitative. |
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Ed Myskowski wrote (February 20, 2011):
BWV 68 -- [was: BWV 173(a) -- Pentecost, Serenades & Shepherds]
Juliam Mincham wrote:
< Just to clarify--the aria known as Sheep may safely graze is the 9th movement from BWV 208 and is NOT parodied in BWV 68. The aria My Heart ever faithful, the 13th movement of 208 IS reused in 68 with the melody much expanded and improved and the instrumental trio section, originally tacked on to the end of 208, now fully incorporated into the movement proper.
Both arias are for the soprano playing the part of Pales and this might be what leads to the confusion. >
Durr notes the reworking of BWV 208/13 into BWV 68/4, also the bass aria BWV 208/7 into BWV 68/2. As Julian points out, the two soprano arias BWV 208 Mvt. 9 (Sheep may safely graze) and Mvt. 13 are both for the character Pales. To add to the possible confusion, the bass aria Mvt. 7, also reworked for BWV 68, was originally for the character Pan. |
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Ed Myskowski wrote (February 20, 2011):
I did not help much. The correct relations are:
BWV 208/13 becomes BWV 68/2, for soprano
BWV 208/7 becomes BWV 68/4, for bass. |
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Ed Myskowski wrote (February 20, 2011):
Peter Smaill wrote:
< In BWV 173 we miss some of Bach's most dazzling writing for the bassoon, the jazzy "Dein Name gleich der Sonnen geh", BWV 173a/7. [...]
As the programme notes for the Dorian recording point out (Labadie/Violons du Roi, a fine ensemble from Quebec), it is a sign of the bias of the Schmieder catalogue against secular cantatas [...] >
The bassoon writing is especially well realized by Labadie/Violons du Roi, thanks for bringing that recording to our attention. After listening to the Koopman version last week, I wondered what Peter was talking about. The bassoon is listed as present, but not really audible, to my ears. |
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Neil Halliday wrote (February 20, 2011):
Ed Myskowski wrote:
> The bassoon writing is especially well realized by Labadie/Violons du Roi, thanks for bringing that recording to our attention. After listening to the Koopman version last week, I wondered what Peter was talking about. The bassoon is listed as present, but not really audible, to my ears.<
In BWV173a/7 (the secular original), it seems Bach has given the obbligato line to both cello *and* bassoon (according to the BGA), which may explain why some recordings do not appear to feature the bassoon sound.
The Labadie recording certainly highlights the wonderful sound of the bassoon in this aria.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/bach-secular-cantatas/id265391909
Rilling also has bassoon without cello (in 173a/7); the instruments - violone and harpsichord in the continuo with bassoon obbligato - are very lively and colourful. Unfortunately, the bass vocalist brings a raucous vibrato to the piece (to my ears), so Labadie is the preferred recording of this movement.
As has been stated, this movement is parodied in BWV 175/4; an obbligato 'cello piccolo replaces the bassoon (and cello?) line of the original 173a/7, while the violone and harpsichord of the secular are replaced by simply 'continuo' in the sacred - again according to the BGA. (The sacred parody is a minor third higher - C major c.f. the A major original.)
Robertson agrees with Whittaker that "the light-hearted tripping' obbligato is not in keeping with the text of the sacred BWV 175/4. |
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William L. Hoffman wrote (March 5, 2011):
BWV 66a, 12/10/18, Leopold Birthday BWV 66 Easter Monday, 4/10/24;
Glückseligkeit, Fama (music lost) Fear (alto), Hope (tenor) [bass, narrator]
Hunold text (Serenata) Repeat ?4/14/27, 3/26/31, 4/11/35 |
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Ed Myskowski wrote (March 5, 2011):
[To William L. Hoffman] Setting a new standard for being concise? Thanks for posts to weekly discussions, especially re chorale relations. A lot of material to catch up with, and expand on, for ongoing scheduled discussions through 2013. |
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Continue on Part 4 |
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