|
|
Cantata BWV 183
Sie werden euch in den Bann tun [II]
Discussions - Part 5 |
|
Continue from Part 4 |
|
Discussions in the Week of May 21, 2017 (4th round) |
|
William L. Hoffman wrote (May 19, 2017):
Exaudi Cantata 183, “Sie werden euch in den Bann tun II"
Exaudi Sunday, falling in the 10 days between the feasts of Ascension Thursday and the three-day Pentecost Festival, was a “down-time” for Bach, the Leipzig congregations, and the Thomas School. The de tempore period of the first half of the church year was ending, as well as the school year, with the onset of summer and the turn to decidedly more profane interests in the omnes tempore (Ordinary Time) second half on the church year. Faithful to a well-regulated church music to the glory of God, Bach created and conducted only two musical sermons for Exaudi Sunday dedicated to listening to the approach of the Holy Spirit in a period of warning, caution and restraint. For both Cantata 44 in 1724 and Cantata 183 in 1725, Bach chose the same opening Gospel Dictum, John 16:2, Jesus’ Farewell Discourse to his Disciples: “Sie werden euch in den Bann tun, / es kömmt aber die Zeit, dass, wer euch tötet, / wird meinen, er tue Gott einen Dienst daran.” (They will put you under a ban, / indeed the time is coming / that whoever kills you / will think he is doing God a service by doing this). In both works, Bach begins with the use of the mature male voices of bass and tenor, accompanied by wailing oboes, with Cantata 44 having a choral cautionary commentary in the second portion of the dictum. Cantata 183, to a Johannine text of Mariane von Ziegler, is an austere, somber severe work both textually and musically as Bach sought a special voice to convey the approach of the Holy Spirit while cautioning the believer to listen to Jesus’ Farewell Discourse to his disciples.
Vocally in this intimate chamber music in symmetrical form lasting only 15 minutes, Bach begins with the lowest voices rising, bass, tenor and alto which he had used almost exclusively in the previous Ziegler texts. Now in the second aria (no. 4), “Höchster Tröster, Heilger Geist” (Greatest Comforter, Holy Spirit), the soprano finally is heard. Meanwhile, Bach adds more instruments to the unusual, pervasive oboe quartet beginning with the solo violoncello piccolo in the opening tenor aria (no. 2), “Ich fürchte nicht des Todes Schrecken” (I do not dread the horrors of death). Bach selectively adds the string instruments to the oboes in the alto recitative (no. 3), “Ich bin bereit” (I am ready), a repeat of the biblical dictum (Luke 22:33) found in Ascension Cantata 128 four days previous. Bach uses the full but subtle orchestral palette in the affirmative final two movements. The oboes da caccia or hunting oboes provide a special flavor of the pastorale, suggesting that the Trinitarian Good Shepherd is always present. This music is supported with the framing mode of the key of A minor and in the middle recitative and aria, its relative of C Major. Bach closes affirmatively with the plain chorale, "Zeuch ein zu deinen Toren" (Move into thy gates), Paul Gerhardt's 1653 12-stanza Pentecost text set to the Paul Figulus 1580 festive New Year' melody, "Helft mir Gotts Güte preisen" (Help me God's goodness praise). Bach sets Gerhardt's fifth stanza, "Du bist ein Geist, der lehret" (You are the spirit that teaches).1
Cantata 183 was premiered on Exaudi Sunday, 13 May 1725, at the early main service of the St. Thomas Church before the sermon (not extant) on the day’s Gospel, John 15:26-27 (Spirit of truth), 16:1-4 (Disciples persecuted), by Pastor Christian Weise, says Martin Petzoldt in Bach Commentary, Vol. 2, Advent to Trinityfest.2 The Exaudi Introit opening Psalms are Psalm 27, Dominus illuminatio, “The Lord is my light (KJV), and Psalm 143, Domine, exaudi, “Hear my prayer, O Lord (KJV), according to Petzoldt (Ibid.: 939). Petzoldt describes Psalm 27 as “trust and pleasure in God and his word” and Psalm 143 as a “penitential prayer on the turning away of the ill-tempered, and the attainment of good.” The full KJV texts of the two psalms is found at http://biblehub.com/kjv/psalms/27-1.htm and http://biblehub.com/kjv/psalms/143-1.htm.
Exaudi Sunday Meaning3
Exaudi comes from the first word of the Introit opening: "Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice (Psalm 27, A Prayer of Praise; verse 7). This Sunday, following Ascension Thursday, centers on the Disciples' waiting for the Holy Spirit to come and is a brief time of expectation. The Gospel, John 15: 26 -16: 4, has the theme "The Spirit (Helper, Comforter) will come" followed by Christ's warning that the Disciples will be expelled from the synagogues. It is the penultimate Farewell Discourse of Jesus to his Disciples (John's Gospel, Chapters 14-16. The day's Johannine Gospel reading is divided into two sections: 15:26-27, "The Witness of the Paraclete" (advocate, intercessor), and 16:1-4, Persecutions. These discourses are virtually unique to John's Gospel, although Jesus warned his disciples earlier in the gospels to be careful what they said in public and to avoid the synagogues. The related Epistle for Exaudi is 1 Peter 4:8-11, “Minister to one another, each according to the gift he has received.” The German and English (KJV) texts for the Gospel and Epistle are found at BCW http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Read/Exaudi.htm.
The Sunday between Ascension Day and Whitsun has long been known by the Latin name 'Exaudi' (Hear!') after the first word of the antiphon that is sung at the commencement of the church service on this day 'Höhe, Herr, meine Stimme. wenn ich rufe. Verbirg dein Antlitz nicht vor nir' ('Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice. Hide not thy face far from me'). This opening prayer is closely linked with the passage from the Gospel according to St. John that is read later, and with which the sermon will concern itself. At its heart lie Jesus' words, a prophecy to his disciples describing a bitter path of sorrow, full of danger, persecution and confusion.
Bach uses two distinct cantata forms for his two extant Exaudi Sunday Cantatas 44 and 183. Cantata 44 has the first cycle third form of six-seven movements with two plain chorales, beginning with an opening dictum followed by an aria and a central, plain chorale, as designated by Alfred Dürr in “Introduction: Development of the Bach Cantata.”4 Cantata 183 reflects the librettist Ziegler’s unique hybrid cantata form, beginning with the biblical dictum as recitative followed by aria, recitative and aria, closing with plain chorale. This same vox Christi/Domini dictum, "Sie werden euch in den Bann tun,” became the opening bass recitative with a quartet of oboes in the 1725 solo Cantata 183 to a text of Christiane Mariane von Ziegler, This Ziegler series of Easter-Pentecost texts, as well as Cantatas 6, 42 and 85, Bach may have originally commissioned for the 1724 season and set aside after his conflicts with the Town council over the Good Friday vespers St. John Passion required venue at the Niklauskirche, alternating with the Thomanerkirche. This is a thesis of John Eliot Gardiner, first expressed in his Bach 2000 Cantata Pilgrimage 2008 liner notes for the Soli Deo Gloria recording of the cantatas for Rogate and Exaudi final Sundays final Easter.
Cantata 183 movement, scoring, texts; key, meter (Ziegler text and Francis Browne English translation):
1. Recitative Accompagnato [Bass (vox Christi, John 16:2); Oboe d'amore I/II, Oboe da caccia I/II, Continuo]: “Sie werden euch in den Bann tun, / es kömmt aber die Zeit, dass, wer euch tötet, / wird meinen, er tue Gott einen Dienst daran.” (They will put you under a ban, / indeed the time is coming / that whoever kyou / will think he is doing God a service by doing this.); a to e minor; 4/4.
2. Aria da capo with ritornelli (Molto adagio, mel. marcato) [Tenor; Violoncello piccolo solo, Continuo]: A. “Ich fürchte nicht des Todes Schrecken, / Ich scheue ganz kein Ungemach.” (I do not dread the horrors of death, / I do not shrink at all from any trouble.); B. “Denn Jesus' Schutzarm wird mich decken, / Ich folge gern und willig nach; / Wollt ihr nicht meines Lebens schonen / Und glaubt, Gott einen Dienst zu tun, / Er soll euch selber noch belohnen, / Wohlan, es mag dabei beruhn.” (For Jesus' arms will cover and protect me, / I follow him gladly and willingly. / If you do not want to spare my life / and believe that in this way you are serving God, / he himself should reward you, / so be it! I would be content with this.); e minor; 4/4.
3. Recitative Accompagnato [Alto; Oboe d'amore I/II, Oboe da caccia I/II, Violino I/II, Viola, Continuo]: “Ich bin bereit, mein Blut und armes Leben / Vor dich, mein Heiland, hinzugeben, / Mein ganzer Mensch soll dir gewidmet sein; / Ich tröste mich, dein Geist wird bei mir stehen, / Gesetzt, es sollte mir vielleicht zuviel geschehen.” (My blood and my poor life I am ready / to give up for you, my saviour, / All my whole being should be dedicated to you; / I take comfort that your Spirit will stand by me, / even though whatever may happen should be too much for me.); G to C Major; 4/4.
4. Aria two-part (Moderato) with ritornelli complex, opening ritornello dal segno [Soprano; Oboe da caccia all' unisono, Violino I/II, Viola, Continuo]: A. “Höchster Tröster, Heilger Geist, / Der du mir die Wege weist, Darauf ich wandeln soll,” (Greatest Comforter, Holy Spirit / you who show me the ways / on which I should travel); B. “Hilf meine Schwachheit mit vertreten,” Denn von mir selbst kann ich nicht beten, / Ich weiß, du sorgest vor mein Wohl!” (support my weakness with your pleading, / for of myself I cannot pray, / I know you care for my well-being!); C Major; 3/8 passepied-menuett dance style.
5. Chorale Plain BAR Form [SATB; Oboe I/II e Violino I col Soprano, Oboe da caccia I e Violino II coll'Alto, Oboe da caccia II e Viola col Tenore, Continuo]: Stollen, A. “Du bist ein Geist, der lehret, / Wie man recht beten soll” (You are a Spirit who teaches / how we ought rightly to pray), A’ “Dein Beten wird erhöret, / Dein Singen klinget wohl.” (your prayer is heard, / your singing sounds well.); B. Abgesang, ““Es steigt zum Himmel an, / Es steigt und lässt nicht abe, / Bis der geholfen habe, / Der allein helfen kann.” (It rises to heaven, / it rises to heaven` and does not cease / until he has helped / who alone can help.); A Minor; 4/4.
Notes on Text, Music
The music of Cantata 183 is “lovely and intimate,” with a “formidable combination” of two oboes d’ amore and two oboes da caccia that puts it in a “category of those rarely performed despite its “straightforward scheme” of pairs of recitatives and arias and closing chorale,” says W. Gillies Whittaker,5 The concise opening dictum vox Christi leads to the expansive tenor trio aria with violoncello piccolo that may have been suggested by the last line of the day’s Epistle, 1 Peter 4:7-11, “the command to be bold in speaking and ministering.” Cantata 183 has great complexity, intimacy, and vocal challenge requiring “consummate technique and rare insight, only repeated hearings bring out its “wonderful charm and deep emotional expressiveness” that makes it “profoundly moving, akin to some of the most ornate organ chorale preludes.” The alto recitative (No. 3) has the four oboes answering each other with much tenderness. The soprano tutti da-capo dance aria “is of engaging beauty, a complete and happy surrender to the guidance of the Third Person of the Trinity.” The closing chorale “continues the joyful song” with “spending, flowing passages.”
The opening Johannine warning in Cantata 183 “emphasized not so much suffering [as in Cantata 44] as the fearlessness with which the Christian can await this suffering in his reliance upon ‘Jesus’s protecting arm’ [Jesus' Schutzarm, No. 2B],” Dürr observes (Ibid.: 344; recording https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlQNnu66qho). The alto accompagnato (No. 3) and the soprano aria (No. 4) refer to the earlier Gospel verse (John 16:26, KJV), “when the Comforter is come,” so that in the words of the soprano, “Hilf meine Schwachheit mit vertreten, / Denn von mir selbst kann ich nicht beten (support my weakness with your pleading, / for of myself I cannot pray), which is a reference to Roman’s 8:26, “Der Geist hilf unsre Schwacheit auf” (the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities), the opening on memorial Motet, BWV 226 of 1729.
“Considerable facility is demanded not only of the singers but of the instrumentalists too,” observes Dürr (Ibid.: 345). Of greatest distinction is Bach’s pervasive use of the four oboes (two da amore and two da caccia) signifying the pastoral protection of the Good Shepherd. All four support the full bass vox Christi dictum (John 16:2), and return with the strings in the alto affirmation (No. 3), “Ich bin bereit” (I am ready), then the oboes da caccia with strings support the soprano, and finally all four oboes participate in the closing congregational chorale. Bach also selectively used paired oboes da caccia in arias of the St. John and St. Matthew Passions and returned with the oboe quartet in the sinfonia and other movements of the Shepherds’ Annunciation Cantata, in the Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248II in 1734. “The nine Ziegler cantatas show Bach at the height of his compositional creativity in the genre of the sacred cantata,” observes Mark A. Peters in his study, “The Composer’s Voice: Bach’s Compositional Procedures in the Ziegler Cantatas.” 6
The use of the violoncello piccolo returns in Cantata 183 following its introduction in his Shepherd’s Cantata BWV 85, “Ich bin ein gutter Hirt” (I am the Good Shepherd), for Misericordias Domini, four weeks before, 15 April 1725. The plaintive instrument “functions as a kind of ‘mediator’ between the basso continuo and the vocal soloist in its upper and lower registers in harmonic and melodic emphases, says Eric Chafe in his study, “Instrumental Characteristics.” 7 “In the post-Easter cantatas, the violoncello piccolo is associated with the believer’s personal relationship to Jesus, who appears in three different but interrelated forms: as the resurrected Jesus whom the disciples (= the church) urge to remain with them (Cantata 6); as the ‘Good Shepherd’ and protector of his flock (Cantatas 85, 183, and 175); and as God himself, present through the ‘indwelling’ of the Holy Spirit and the incarnation of Jesus in the human heart (Cantata 68),” says Chafe (Ibid.: 491).
In Cantata 183, the violoncello piccolo in the tenor aria (no. 2), “Ich fürchte nicht des Todes Schrecken”;(I do not dread the horrors of death; music https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVhcg51fvss), “expresses a change in the understand of worldly persecution,” says Chafe (Ibid.: 508). In contrast to the triumphal Christus Victor uses of the horns and trumpet in Ascension Cantata 128, Exaudi Cantata 183 four days later reintroduces the special, intimate instrumental sonorities of the “soft instruments” of the oboes and violincello piccolo, “which is fully given over to anticipation of the coming of the Holy Spirit,” says Chafe.
Bach’s 1725 Johannine cantatas from Exaudi Sunday through Trinity Sunday, the end of the de tempore first half of the church year, involve “the reappearance of many of the themes of the cantatas for earlier weeks I n the season,” says Chafe (Ibid.: 509). The themes are “worldly persecution, Jesus’s protection of the faithful, anticipation of the Holy Spirit, prayer.” The work of the Holy Spirit, as Luther emphasized and Chafe point out, “is bounded up with inner conflict,” particularly in the believer’s struggle with personal infirmity (Acts 8:26). Luther’s solution is the “acceptanceof worldly suffering and conflict, as the will of God.” Where Cantata 44 the previous year also begins with the disciples being shunned and expressed in the chorus’s lamentation, Cantata 128 moves on to the theme of the actually experience of the Holy Spirit in place of the ascended Jesus Christ. The tenor aria with violoncello piccolo, lasting 10 minutes, brings fourth Jesus’ personal, infinite protective arm in lieu of the church’s collective protection, that Jesus’ longed for return to the believer is at hand, while the “willing following of Jesus echoes the many expressions of being directed y the spirit in Cantata 108 [the previous Cantate Sunday) and anticipates the ending of Cantata 175 for the third day of Pentecost” to come.
The remaining three movements of Cantata 183 “all introduce the Spirit directly.” First in the alto accompagnato with four oboes and strings, “the anticipation of the presence of Jesus’s spirit”; then in the soprano’s direct address to the Holy Spirit (Highest Comforter) with oboes da caccia and strings; and finally “as a chorale summary of the role of the Spirit in enabling humanity to obtain help from God through prayer, says Chafe (Ibid.: 511). “Now the coming of the Spirit is not merely being foretold and anticipated (as in Cantata 108) but experienced within, a quality that Mariane von Ziegler introduced into her series before the narrative of the coming of the Spirit in the Gospel for Whitsunday,” says Chafe. “The effect is to broaden the meaning of the coming of the Spirit beyond the feast associated with its historical manifestation, a very Johannine characteristic.”
The Cantata 183 theme is that “fear of persecution will be allayed by the ‘comforter,’ that is the Holy Spirit, alluded to in the concluding” soprano aria (No. 4), observes David Schulenberg in his Cantata 183 essay.8
The first half of the dancing da capo aria is quite buoyant, “Höchster Tröster, Heilger Geist, / Der du mir die Wege weist, / Darauf ich wandeln soll,” (Greatest Comforter, Holy Spirit / you who show me the ways / on which I should travel), ending “with a lively melisma (borowed from the ritornello) for ‘wandeln’ (‘travel’). However, “its exuberance seems somewhat shaken by the sudden shift to the [G ] minor keys at the beginning of the B section: “Hilf meine Schwachheit mit vertreten,” Denn von mir selbst kann ich nicht beten, / Ich weiß, du sorgest vor mein Wohl!” (support my weakness with your pleading, / for of myself I cannot pray, / I know you care for my well-being!).
The “believer’s anticipation of the coming of the Holy Spirit to a new level” is found in the soprano aria, says Café (Ibid.: 515), the “turning point” in Cantata 183 (Ibid.: 517). Looking ahead to the next week is the three-day Pentecost festival, with the iconic Johannine dictum (3:16) opening Cantata 68, “Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt, / Daß er uns seinen Sohn gegeben” (God so loved the world / that he gave his son to us) in the Salomo Liscow text. Cantata 68 “equates the coming of the Holy Spirit with Jesus’s second incarnation, now within the human heart; the aria ([No. 2, parody BWV 208/13] “Mein gläubiges Herze (My faithful heart) draws the violoncello piccolo into the expression of joy that this event arouses in the believer,” says Chafe (Ibid.: 508). For this second Good Shepherd cantata Bach also adds the other intimate “soft instruments” of the oboe quartet with the full brass of horn, trumpet and three trombones (Cantata 68, BCML Duscussion, Week of 28 May 2017).
Pentecost Chorale
"Zeuch ein zu deinen Toren" is a Pentecost hymn that is listed as the first of four assigned to Exaudi Sunday in the Leipzig hymn books of Bach's time, says Günther Stiller.9 Gerhardt’s 12-stanza Pentecost hymn is found in the Dresdener Gesangbuch 1725/1736 as No. 185 and in the de tempore section of the Leipzig hymnbooks of 1734 for Exaudi Sunday, says Petzoldt (Ibid.: 952). It was first published in the Berlin (1653) edition of Crüger’s Praxis Pietatis Melica, to its own melody, says Charles S. Terry,10 and is also set in the hymn books to the tune “Von Gott will ich nicht lassen.” It is listed as “Zieh” instead of “Zeuch” in the Gerhardt Register über Zuordnung der Lieder zu den Sonn- und Feiertagen des Kirchenjahres, No. 29 for Pentecost Sunday, along with “Gott Vater, sende deinen Geist,” No. 31, and “Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt,” No. 25. Bach’s stanza setting is No. 5 in a 16-stanza version (EKB 105), http://www.zeno.org/Literatur/M/Gerhardt,+Paul/Gedichte/Gedichte/Zeuch+ein+zu+deinen+Toren.
The associated melody is usually attributed as Wolfgang Figulus’ 1525 “Helft mir Gott's Güte preisen” (Help me to praise God's goodness (Zahn 5267), set to the 1580 New Year’s text of Paul Eber as found in Das neu Leipziger Gesangbuch of 1682 as NLGB No. 45. Bach’s possible melody source is the 1715 Gotha Hymnal, with more information on the melody, text variants, and Bach’s uses at BCW http://www.bach-cantatas.com/CM/Helft-mir-Gottes-Gute-preisen.htm
Chorale ‘In allen meinen Taten’
Meanwhile, as an Exaudi contrast, it is quite possible that Bach began composing a chorale Cantata BWV 97, "In allen meinen taten" (In all my doings), for Exaudi Sunday 1725, the beginning of a 10-year odyssey, borrowing material from Köthen for an opening chorus and tenor aria. He then set two movements aside until 1731 when he added a series of recitative-aria-recitative and closing chorale (? BWV 392) for Exaudi 1731 as part of mostly repeats for Easter Season following the premiere of the St. Mark Passion, BWV 247. Later, Bach set all nine versus, with three more progressive arias, totaling 26 minutes) as a pure-hymn cantata in 1734 for a special festive event, then possibly performed it again the next year at Exaudi Sunday (May 22, 1735) in between the Ascension Oratorio and a lost, possible Pentecost Oratorio. Finally, he repeated progressive, dance-laden Cantata 97 in the 1740s, possibly in 1744 after the St. Mark Passion, followed by repeats of certain Easter season cantatas, as he had done in 1731, or outside of Leipzig at another special festival service. Gardiner appropriately presented this cantata during his 2000 pilgrimage to conclude the 5th Sunday after Easter (Rogate).
In addition, Bach drafted an opening cantata recitative six-bar sketch of the same John 16:2 warning, "Sie werden euch in den Bann tun," for Exaudi Sunday, 1725, but replaced it when his librettist, Ziegler, set the same dictum to open Cantata 183. The sketch, found in the score of Cantata 79 for Reformation 1725 the last in the double-chorale form, is catalogued as Neumann XXXIII (Werner Neumann Handbuch der Kantaten Joh. Seb. Bachs, 5 ed. (Breitkopf & Härtel: Weisbaden, 1984: 264). It is documented as Bach Compendium BC A 80 and in the Bärenreiter New Bach Edition, BA 5291, Supplement Generalbaß- und Satzlehre, Skizzen, Entwürfe (German); Wollny, Peter; 2011; BWV 79/5 Aria+sketch+draft, https://www.bach-digital.de/rsc/viewer/BachDigitalSource_derivate_00001400/db_bachp0089_page018.jpg
Exaudi Motets, Chorales, Cantatas
The Sunday After Ascension Motet and Chorale Musical Context (Douglas Cowling, BCW) is: Introit: "Exaudi Domine" (LU854); Motet: "Deus Adjutor Fortis"; "Exaudiet Te Dominus"; Hymn de Tempore: "Nun Freut Euch, Gottes Kinder"; Pulpit Hymn: "Christ fuhr gen Himmel"; and Hymns for Chancel, Communion & Closing: "Zeuch ein zu Thoren," in the motet collection and NLGB Bach hymn book. Cowling adds (December 25, 2010): “AlBach's motet collection appears only to have contained polyphonic "stile antico" motets by French composers, the text was used in several large scale grand motets in the 17th and 18th centuries. Here's Campra's setting of the text [Exaudiet Te Dominus] in a superb performance by William Christie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b02WtXB_Xxk. Is there any evidence of Bach knowing this kind of repertoire? He certainly knew the orchestral and keyboard music” (BCML Cantata 44, Discussion Part 3, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV44-D3.htm).
For Exaudi Sunday 1726 (June 2) for his third cantata cycle, Bach found no acceptable Rudolstadt text or extant Johann Ludwig Bach cantata setting. Likewise, for Exaudi Sunday 1729 (May 29) in the Picander cycle, Bach showed no apparent interest in the cantata libretto P-36, "Quäle dich nur nicht, mein Herz" (Torment thee only not, my heart), which contains no chorale setting. Finally on Exaudi Sunday, 13 May 1736, Bach presented Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel‘s “Selig sind, die um Gerechtigkeit willen verfolget warden” (Mus. A 15:191) and “Wir sind stets als ein Fluch der Welt” (Mus. A 15:192).
Provenance
The autograph score and parts set for Cantata 183 were part of the third cycle distribution in 1750 with Emmanuel receiving the score and doublets while presumably Friedemann received the parts set. Details are provided in Thomas Braatz BCW Provenance article (May 20, 2002), http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Ref/BWV183-Ref.htm <<The autograph score was inherited by C.P.E. Bach where it was listed in his possession at the time of his death in 1788. The next owner was the Berlin Singakademie and it appears in their catalogue of Bach’s works as the ‘autograph score with original parts’ although the original parts came to the Singakademie via another route. The BB (Staatsbibliothek Berlin) acquired both in 1854 and this is where they are located today.
Bach’s title on the folder cover is: “Dominica Exaudi / Sie werden eüch in den Ban [the n has a horizontal line over it to indicate duplication of the consonant] thun. À 4 Voci. 2 Hautb. d’Amour / 2 Hautb da Caccia / 2 Violini / Viola / Violoncello piccolo e Continuo di Joh: Sebast: Bach.” Bach’s title at the top of the 1st page is: JJ. Doica Exaudi Sie werd euch in d Bann thun. [The word ‘Doica’ has what appears to be a curved phrase mark over the ‘oic’ to indicate the missing letters.]. First Performance: May 13, 1725 (Dürr).>>
Autograph Score (Facsimile), D B Mus. Ms. Bach P 149, https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00001016; Provenance, J. S. Bach - C. P. E. Bach - Sing-Akademie zu Berlin - BB (now Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin Preußischer Kulturbesitz) (1855). Parts Set, D B Mus. Ms. Bach St 87, https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00002416; Copyists, Johann Sebastian, Johann Andreas Kuhnau = Main Copyist A, Anon. IId.; Provenance, J. S. Bach - ?Friedemann - Voß-Buch - BB (now Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preußischer Kulturbesitz) (1851). Doublets (Violins, Basso continuo), D B Mus. Ms. Bach St 87, https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00002417; Provenance, same as Autograph Score.
<< Text: Once again (in reference to BWV 103, last week) the complete text by Christiane Mariane von Ziegler can be found in her collection of poetry, “Versuch in gebundener Schreibart,” that appeared in 1728. The questions always remains, as in last weeks cantata, whether Bach had access to an earlier version of Ziegler’s text, a text that she later changed, or whether he made the changes himself (whether for musical reasons or because he had to appease the forces of Enlightenment that prevailed in Leipzig so as to avoid criticism of the pietistically inclined text that Ziegler provided.) Here is her text from 1728 with Bach’s changes in square brackets:
2. ARIA. Ich fürchte nicht des Todes Schrecken / Und scheue gar kein Ungemach: [ich scheue gantz kein Ungemach;] / Denn Jesus Schutz-Arm will mich decken, [denn Jesus Schutzarm wird mich decken,] / Drum folg ich gern und willig nach. [ich folge gern und willig nach.] / Wolt ihr nicht meines Lebens schonen, / Und glaubt Gott einen Dienst zu thun, / So wird er euch dafür belohnen/ [er soll euch selben noch belohnen] Wohlan! Es mag darbei beruhn. /
3. RECITATIVE. Ich bin bereit, mein Blut und armes Leben, / Vor dich mein Heyland hinzugeben, / Mein gantzer Mensch soll dir allein [mein gantzer Mensch soll dir gewidmet seyn] / Gewidmet seyn. / Diß ist mein Trost, dein Geist wird bey mir stehen, [ich tröste mich…] / Und solt es mir auch noch so schlimm ergehen. [gesetzt es sollte mir vielleicht zu viel geschehen.]
4. ARIA. Höchster Tröster, Heilger Geist, / Der du mir die Wege weist, / Darauf ich wandeln soll, / Hilff meine Schwachheit mit vertreten / Denn vor mich selbst kann ich nicht beten, [Bach’s printed version: ‚vor mich selbst’; / Ich weiß, du sorgest vor mein Wohl. [but in the score: ms. 48: ‘von mir selber’ and ms. 102: ‘von mir selbst’]
5. Choral. Du bist ein Geist, der lehret, wie man recht beten soll; Dein Beten wird erhöret; Dein Singen klinget wohl; Es steigt zum Himmel an; Es steigt und läst nicht abe, biß der geholffen habe, der allein helffen kann. [“allein” (alone) is printed as “allen” (all), observes Petzoldt (Ibid.: 951f).
FOOTNOTES
1 Cantata 183 BCW Details & Discography, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV183.htm. Score Vocal & Piano, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Scores/BWV183-V&P.pdf; Score BGA, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BGA/BWV183-BGA.pdf. References, BGA XXXVII (Cantatas 181-190, Alfred Dörffel, 1891), NBA KB I/12 (Exaudi, Alfred Dürr, 1960: 254), Bach Compendium BC A 79, Zwang K 123.
2 Martin 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: 952).
3 Source materials, Cantata 183, BCML Discussion Part 4 (8 May 2016), http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV44-D4.htm.
4Alfred Dürr, Cantatas of J. S. Bach, revised and translated by Richard D. P. Jones (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005: 27).
5 W. Gillies Whittaker, The Cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach (London: Oxford University Press, 1958: II: 183ff).
6Mark A. Peters, A Woman’s Voice in Baroque Music: Mariane von Ziegler and J. S. Bach (Aldershot GB, Burlington VT: Ashgate Publishing, 2008: 134).
7 Eric Chafe, J. S. Bach’s Johannine Theology: The St. John Passion and the Cantatas for Spring 1725, (Oxford University Press, 2014: 487).
8 David Schulenberg in Oxford Composer Companions: J. S. Bach, ed. Malcolm Boyd (Oxford University Press, 1999: 451).
9 Stiller, Günther Stiller. Johann Sebastian Bach and Liturgical Life in Leipzig, Ed. Robin A. Leaver (Concordia Publishing: St. Louis, 1985: 241).
10 Charles S. Terry, Bach’s Chorals. Part I: 2 The Hymns and Hymn Melodies of the Cantatas and Motetts (Cambridge University Press, 2017), http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/2056.
-------------
To Come: Cantata 183 Gardiner, Hofmann liner notes. |
|
Aryeh Oron wrote (May 21, 2017):
Cantata BWV 183 - Revised & updated Discography
Cantata BWV 183 "Sie werden euch in den Bann tun" [II] (They will put you under a ban) was composby J.S. Bach in Leipzig for for for Exaudi Sunday [Sunday after Ascension, 6th Sunday after Easter] of 1725. The cantata is scored for alto, tenor & bass soloists; 4-part Chorus; and orchestra of 2 oboes d'amore, 2 oboes da caccia, violoncello piccolo, 2 violins, viola & continuo.
The discography pages of BWV 183 on the BCW have been revised and updated. See:
Complete Recordings (8): http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV183.htm
Recordings of Individual Movements (3): http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV183-2.htm
The revised discography includes many listening/watching options to recordings directly from the discography pages, just below the recording details.
I also put at the BCW Home Page: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/
2 audios of the cantata. A short description below the audio/video image is linked to the full details at the discography pages.
I believe this is the most comprehensive discography of this cantata. If you are aware of a recording of BWV 183 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 the recent discussion of the cantata in the BCML (4th round): http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV183-D5.htm
Enjoy, |
| |
|
|
