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Musical Context of Bach Cantatas
Motets & Chorales for 2nd Sunday after Trinity |
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Readings: Epistle: 1 John 3: 13-18; Gospel: Luke 14: 16-24 |
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Dates in the lifetime of J.S. Bach, including works composed for the event |
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Motets and Chorales for the 2nd Sunday after Trinity (Trinity 2) |
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Douglas Cowling wrote (May 15, 2011):
THE MUSICAL CONTEXT OF BACH'S CANTATAS:
MOTETS AND CHORALES FOR THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
SOURCES:
* BACH'S HYMN BOOK:
Jürgen Grimm, "Das neu [?] Leipziger Gesangbuch des Gottfried Vopelius
(Leipzig 1682)",
Berlin: Merseburger, 1969.
ML 3168 G75
* BACH'S MOTET COLLECTION:
Otto Riemer, "Erhard Bodenschatz und sein Florilegium Portense"
Schünigen: Kaminsky,1927
ML 410 B67R4
NOTES for TRINITY 2:
* Anyone have biographical details for M. Mart Roth? Or a source for the text (not in Vulgate)
* The general hymns include "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern" and "Wachet auf ruft uns die Stimme," both of which Bach used for famous cantatas on other Sundays. It would appear that Bach's free use of chorale tunes mirrors the rather general groupings of his hymn book.
1) MOTETS for Introit, Before Sermon at mass and vespers for Choir II, and During Communion:
i) "in Domino Gaudet" (8 voices) - M. Mart Roth (?)
ii) "Venite ad me" (8 voices) - Vincentius Bertholusius (1550-1608)
Text: Matthew 11:28-30
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Sample: "Ego Flos Campi" - V. Bertholusius http://tinyurl.com/6cxffd9
2) HYMN OF DAY (de tempore)
"Ich ruf zu dir Herr Jesu Christ"
3) CHORALES for Pulpit and Communion Hymns:
"Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern"
"Ach Gott vom Himmel sieh darein” [used in BWV 2 also for Trinity 2]. CM: Ach Gott vom Himmel sieh darein
"Wachet auf ruft uns die Stimme"
"Es spricht den Unwissened Mund wohl" |
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Motets and Chorales for Trinity 2 cont'd |
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Douglas Cowling wrote (May 17, 2011):
Thomas Braatz forwarded a link to an important dissertation on the Bodenschatz collection of motets which Bach used every Sunday: http://etd.ohiolink.edu/send-pdf.cgi/Chaney%20Mark.pdf?osu1180461416
"FOUR MOTETS FROM THE FLORILEGIUM PORTENSE" by Mark Allen Chaney
(Thesis, Ohio State, 2007)
[Abstract below]
It gives much background to the collection which arguably was the most important body of works performed by Bach's choirs. I would recommend the Introduction as a good overview of the relationship of polyphonic motets to the Lutheran liturgy. It also provides modern editions of four works previously unpublished:
Bodenschatz: Quam pulchra es
Valcampi: Senex puerum
Roth: Lieblich und schön seyn
Gumpelzhaimer: Iubilate Deo
The Gumpelzhaimer is an especially fine double-choir motet.
And to amend my previous posting:
THE MUSICAL CONTEXT OF BACH'S CANTATAS:
MOTETS AND CHORALES FOR THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
1) MOTETS for Introit, Before Sermon at mass and vespers for Choir II, and During Communion:
i) "in Domino Gaudet" (8 voices) - Martin Roth (1580 - 1610)
It would valuable to have this PDF available here on the BCML site.
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Abstract:
In 1618, a German clergyman and musician named Erhard Bodenschatz published a collection of 115 motets under the title Florilegium Portense. A second volume of 150 pieces appeared three years later. Both collections contain motets of five to eight voices mostly in Latin, though a few are in German. They contain works of Hassler, Lasso, Gabrieli, and a host of lesser-known composersóas well as several pieces by Bodenschatz himself.
The purpose of the collection was to provide a repertory of motets of high quality for practical liturgical use. The collection includes music by both German and Italian composers, and the style of the music ranges from Palestrina-like counterpoint to Venetian polychoral style. Both volumes were published with a figured basis generalis to facilitate performance with organ accompaniment in the Baroque practice that was just then in its infancy. The Florilegium Portense is an important collection because it was so widely used throughout central Germany; it was still being reprinted a century after its first publication.
There is very little published scholarship on the Florilegium Portense. There is no modern edition of the collection, and although some of the pieces are available in various Gesamtausgabe and Denkm‰ler editions, most of the music remains unedited. The purpose of this project is to explain the significance of this collection, to briefly summarize the style of the music it contains, and to offer a modern edition of four motets from the collection that have not previously been published. |
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Chorales for the Second Sunday After Trinity |
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William L. Hoffman wrote (June 15, 2011):
Hymns for the Second Sunday After Trinity reveal several similarities to those of the First Sunday After Trinity. They reflect the Epistle themes of the Love of God and God's Love through Grace, as well as the themes of the Gospel Reading Lukan parables of Dives (the Rich man) and Lazarus (the blind beggar) in Chapter 16:19-31, that he who claims to love God will love his brother, and the Parable of the Great Supper (Chapter 14:16-24) where the downtrodden are invited to come as the guests at the feast in place of those well-off who have refused the invitation.
Specifically, several of the chorales are repeats of the previous Sunday, as Hymns of the Day and Communion Hymns, especially the Trinity Time ubiquitous "Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesus Christ." At the same time, other popular hymns are introduced, particularly Philip Niccolai's versatile "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern" and "Wachet auf ruft uns die Stimme," as well as Martin Luther's "Es wolle uns Gott genädig sein."
Chorales are interchangeable, as hymns used in both Sundays after Trinity: for example, "Ach Gott vom Himmel sieh darein," a Communion Hymn for the previous Sunday becomes the featured hymn for Bach's Chorale Cantata BWV 2 on the Second Sunday after Trinity, and "Es spricht den Unwissened Mund wohl," the Hymn of the Day in the First Sunday after Trinity, is the Communion Hymn for the Second, Ninth and 20th Sundays after Trinity.
HYMN OF DAY (de tempore)
"Ich ruf zu dir Herr Jesu Christ" (I call to you, Lord Jesus Christ) in the <Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch> (NLGB 627) is one of the most ubiquitous Trinity Time chorales. It is assigned as the Hymn of the Day for the Second, 19th and 21st Sundays after Trinity and as a communion hymn on the Sundays after Trinity +5, +6, +8, and +22. Bach chose "Ich ruft zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ" as the subject of Chorale Cantata BWV 177 (BCW Discussion June 26), for the Fourth Sunday after Trinity, presented in 1732, to fill that service gap in Cycle 2. Bach also uses the first stanza as the closing chorale with violin obbligato (No. 6) in Cantata BWV 185, "Barmherziges Herze der ewigen Liebe" (Merciful heart of love everlasting [by Richard Stokes]), premiered in Weimar in 1715 and possibly repeated in 1716, in Leipzig in 1723 and 1746-47. During the pre-Cantata Cycle 3 Trinity Time of 1725, a libretto book shows that for the Third Sunday after Trinity, June 17, the entire chorale is printed as a pure-hymn cantata but is not related to Cantata BWV 177. It is also listed as the NLGB Hymn of the Day for the Third Sunday After Epiphany <omne tempore>ordinary time, as well as for SeptuagesSexagesimae Sundays. The melody of Johann Agricola's 1529 five-verse hymn appears as a chorale prelude in the Orgelbüchelin (No. 91), BWV 639, in the fifth <omne tempore> listing of 26 after the Catechism, under the heading "Christian Life and Conduct." Its variant setting is BWV Anh.II 73.
CHORALES for Pulpit and Communion Hymns:
"Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern" (How lovely shines the morning star), Philip Niccolai's versatile, popular 1597 hymn (7 stanzas), is a general hymn found in the 1682 Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch (NLGB), No. 814, as the Hymn of the Day for the 20th Sunday after Trinity (BWV 49/6) as well as a hymn for the 27th Sunday after Trinity. Other Bach uses are: Cantatas BWV 1/1,6 (chorale cantata, Annunciation), BWV 36/4 (First Sunday in Advent), BWV 37/3 (Ascension), BWV 61/6 (First Sunday in Advent), BWV 172/6 (Pentecost Sunday), BWV Anh 199/3 (Annunciation, lost), possibly surviving as free-standing Chorale BWV 436 in E major; and the miscellaneous Organ-chorale BWV 739. It is listed but not set in the Orgelbüchlein chorale prelude collection <omne tempore> section as No. 129, "The Word of God in the Christian Church," the first of seven unset chorales for such use http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/Chorale015-Eng3.htm
"Ach Gott vom Himmel sieh darein ((Ah God, look down from heaven), in the (NLGB) No. 660, also Pulpit & Communion Hymn, Trinity +1). Martin Luther 1524 six-stanza setting of Psalm 12, "A Prayer for Help," is the hymn for the Chorale Cantata BWV 2, for the Second Sunday after Trinity, 1724. The chorale melody is found in the opening fantasia, tenor recitative, alto trio aria, and closing four-part chorale.
Chorale text: BCW http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/Chorale026-Eng3.htm.
"Wachet auf ruft uns die Stimme," Philipp Niccolai's 3-stanza 1599 hymn, is found in the Schein Cantional Hymnbook for the First Sunday After Trinity and in the NLGB No. 819, for the 27th Sunday After Trinity, which Bach observes with his 1731 Chorale Cantata No. 140, using the three verses as the opening chorale fantasia the middle (No. 4) tenor trio aria, and the closing (No. 7), his only settings of another popular Niccolai hymn. The remaining commentary texts possibly are by Picander. Text found in BCW www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV140.htm , Text.
"Es spricht den Unwissened Mund wohl" (The mouth of fools doth God confess) (NLGB No. 662, also Hymn of the Day, Tr. +1). German and English text of all six stanzas are found at http://www.musicanet.org/robokopp/Lieder/espricht.html.
OTHER CHORALES used in Bach Cantatas for the Second Sunday After Trinity
"Es wolle uns Gott genädig sein" (May it be God's will to be gracious to us) is Luther's three-stanza 1523 version of Psalm 67, "Song of Thanksgiving" (NLGB 680). Psalm 67 also is listed in the NLGB as a communion hymn.
Bach's uses of the chorale are:
1. Cantata BWV 76/7 (S. 1), plain chorale closing Part 1;
2. Cantata BWV 76/14 (S.3), "Es danke, Gott, und lobe dich" (May thanks, God, and praise be given to you), plain chorale closing Part 2.
3. Stanza 3 also is found in Cantata 69/6 plain chorale in D Major, as the new ending for the 1748 Town Council inauguration, parody of Cantata 69a, "Lode den Herren, meine Seele" (Praise the Lord, my soul) originally for Trinity +12, 1723. The festive setting with three trumpets and timpani could be from Cantata 190a/7, Augsburg Confession 1730. BCW description: <Mvt. 7 (S. 3) is taken from the chorale by Martin Luther "Es wolle Gott uns gnädig sein" (1523) based on Psalm 67>;
4. There are two free-standing, four-part chorales: BWV 311 in F# Major and its variant, BWV 312 in E Major, probably dating from 1730 onwards and likely used as a communion hymn or a hymn closing the main service or in a vesper service on an early Sunday after Trinity.
*German-only translation of all three stanzas found at: www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV76.htm, Chorale Text.
The June 30, 1726 performance of a cantata for the Second Sunday after Trinity is not documented. It is possible that the appropriate, extant Rudolstadt 1726 text, "Und der Herr Zebaoth wird allen Völkern," was set by Bach, as he had done for Cantata BWV 39 for the previous First Sunday after Trinity, or that he utilized a Johann Ludwig Bach Cantata, as he had done with JLB-17, for the Feast of John the Baptist, on Monday, June 24, as well as on the following Tuesday, July 2 for the Feast of the Annunciation, with JLB-13. No J. L. Bach cantata for the Second Sunday after Trinity is extant. It is quite possible that Bach composed no setting, given his experience in the initial Cantata Cycle of 1723 of performing no cantatas on the Sundays After Trinity following the Feasts of John the Baptist and the Annunciation - a gap in the otherwise full cycle that he never filled. |
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Cantata 2, Trinity +2 Chorales |
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William L. Hoffman wrote (May 30, 2014):
Chorales for the Second Sunday After Trinity
Only two Bach cantatas are extant for the Second Sunday after Trinity in Leipzig: 1723 chorus Cantata BWV 76, “Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes” (The heavens declare the glory of God, Ps. 19:1), and 1724 chorale Cantata BWV 2, "Ach Gott vom Himmel sieh darein (Ah God, look down from heaven). Bach utilized two Psalm chorales of Martin Luther with strong early Reformation connections: baptismal hymn setting of Psalm 67, "Es wollt uns Gott genädig sein" (May it be God's will to be gracious to us), closing Parts 1 and 2 of Cantata 76, and a setting of Psalm 12 in a plea for God’s help for the chorale Cantata 2, both dating to 1724 with texts of Luther and musical settings of Johann Walther, the church’s first cantor.
Bach’s choice of chorales for the church’s Trinity Time half-church year of omnes tempore ordinary time was determined in its plethora of teaching and thematic hymns. These were chosen with the close collaboration, particularly in the unified second, chorale cantata cycle, of the pastor preaching the day’s sermon, the librettist paraphrasing internal stanzas of established hymns, and the Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch (NLGB) of 1682 by then-cantor Gottfried Vopelius with 432 sacred songs for the range of services. Besides a variety of prescribed hymns, Bach had the flexibility of choosing those he felt best suited to his musical sermon cantatas that rarely in Trinity Time, except for the few feast days, quoted the Gospel and Epistle teachings. Essentially, he was guided by the thematic and traditional teaching of these often almost two-centuries old Lutheran hymns.
Hymns for the Second Sunday After Trinity reveal several similarities to those of the First Sunday After Trinity. They reflect the Epistle themes of the Love of God and God's Love through Grace, as well as the themes of the Gospel Reading Lukan parables of Dives (the Rich man) and Lazarus (the blind beggar) in Chapter 16:19-31, that he who claims to love God will love his brother, and the Parable of the Great Supper (Chapter 14:16-24) where the downtrodden are invited to come as the guests at the feast in place of those well-off who have refused the invitation.
Specifically, several of the chorales were repeats of the previous Sunday, as Hymns of the Day and Communion Hymns, especially the Trinity Time ubiquitous "Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesus Christ" (I call to you, Lord Jesus Christ, chorale Cantata 177, Trinity +4, June 22 Discussion). At the same time, other popular hymns were introduced, particularly Philip Niccolai's versatile "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern" (How beautifully shines the morning star) and "Wachet auf ruft uns die Stimme" (Wake up, the voice calls us), as as Martin Luther's "Es wollt uns Gott genädig sein"
Chorales were interchangeable, as hymns used in both Sundays after Trinity: for example, "Ach Gott vom Himmel sieh darein," a Communion Hymn for both Sundays becomes the featured hymn for Bach's Chorale Cantata BWV 2 on the Second Sunday after Trinity, and "Es spricht den Unwissened Mund wohl" (The mouth of fools doth God confess), the Hymn of the Day in the First Sunday after Trinity, is the Communion Hymn for the Second, Ninth and 20th Sundays after Trinity.
"Ach Gott vom Himmel sieh darein"
"Ach Gott vom Himmel sieh darein" (Ah God, look down from heaven), is listed in the NLGB) of 1682 as No. 249, “Christian Life & Conduct: Psalms” and as a pulpit/communion hymn for the First and Second Sundays after Trinity. Martin Luther 1524 six-stanza setting of Psalm 12, "A Prayer for Help," is the hymn for the Chorale Cantata BWV 2, for the Second Sunday after Trinity, 1724. The chorale melody is found in the opening fantasia, tenor recitative, alto trio aria, and closing four-part chorale [Chorale text and Francis Browne English translation, see BCW http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/Chorale026-Eng3.htm].
“Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein” was a strong early influence on Bach in his Miscellaneous organ chorale prelude, BWV 741 setting as well as listed but not set in the Orgelbüchlein (maybe Bach was content with BWV 741), according to Peter Williams' Organ Music of JSB: 488. Two organ chorale prelude settings are not by Bach, Emans 9 and 10, Bärenreiter BA 5290-41; NBA KB Series IV, 10 Organ Works 10: Organ Chorales from Miscellaneous Sources; Reinmar Emans, Critical Commentary 2008: 289, 293)
Also the “Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein” is part of the category "Persecution & Tribulation (NLGB Nos. 275-304), a) The Church Militant (Psalm Hymns), that accounted for three other chorale cantatas: “Ein’ feste Burg ist unser Gott," BWV 80 (Reform); “War’ Gott nicht mit uns diese Zeit” BWV 14 (Eph.4); and “Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält,” BWV 178 (Tr.+8, BCW Discussion, July 20, 2014).
HYMN OF DAY (de tempore)
"Ich ruf zu dir Herr Jesu Christ" (I call to you, Lord Jesus Christ) in the NLGB No. 235, Christian Life and Conduct) is one of the most ubiquitous Trinity Time omnes tempore chorales. It is assigned as the Hymn of the Day for the Second, 19th and 21st Sundays after Trinity and as a pulpit-communion hymn on the Sundays after Trinity +5, +6, +8, and +22. . It is also listed as the NLGB Hymn of the Day for the Third Sunday After Epiphany omne tempore ordinary time, as well as for the pre-Lenten Septuagesimae-Sexagesimae Sundays. Bach chose "Ich ruft zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ" as the subject of pure-hymn chorale Cantata BWV 177 in g minor (BCW Discussion June 22. 2014), for the Fourth Sunday after Trinity, presented in 1732, to fill that service gap in Cycle 2. The full text and Francis Browne’s English translation is found at http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/BWV177-Eng3.htm .
CHORALES for Pulpit and Communion Hymns:
+"Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern" (How lovely shines the morning star), Philip Niccolai's versatile, popular 1597 hymn (7 stanzas), is a general hymn found in the 1682 Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch (NLGB), No. 814, as the Hymn of the Day for the 20th Sunday after Trinity (BWV 49/6) as well as a hymn for the 27th Sunday after Trinity. Other Bach uses are: Cantatas BWV 1/1,6 (chorale cantata, Annunciation), BWV 36/4 (First Sunday in Advent), BWV 37/3 (Ascension), BWV 61/6 (First Sunday in Advent), BWV 172/6 (Pentecost Sunday), BWV Anh 199/3 (Annunciation, lost), possibly surviving as free-standing Chorale BWV 436 in E major; and the miscellaneous Organ-chorale BWV 739. It is listed but not set in the Orgelbüchlein chorale prelude collection <omne tempore> section as No. 129, "The Word of God in the Christian Church," the first of seven unset chorales for such use http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/Chorale015-Eng3.htm
+"Wachet auf ruft uns die Stimme," Philipp Niccolai's 3-stanza 1599 hymn, is found in the Schein Cantional Hymnbook for the First Sunday After Trinity and in the NLGB No. 819, for the 27th Sunday After Trinity, which Bach observes with his 1731 Chorale Cantata No. 140, using the three verses as the opening chorale fantasia the middle (No. 4) tenor trio aria, and the closing (No. 7), his only settings of another popular Niccolai hymn. The remaining commentary texts possibly are by Picander. Text found in BCW www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV140.htm , Text.
+"Es spricht den Unwissened Mund wohl" (The mouth of fools doth God confess) (NLGB No. 234, Christian Life & Conduct) also Hymn of the Day, Tr. +1). Bach’s only setting, plain chorale BWV 308, see BCW http://www.bach-cantatas.com/INS/BWV308-00.htm.
Bach’s calendar for the Second Sunday after Trinity:
June 6, 1723 (Cycle 1), chorus Cantata BWV 76 “Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes” (The heavens declare the glory of God, Ps. 19:1).
June 18, 1724 (Cycle 2), chorale Cantata BWV 2 “Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein” (Ah God, look down from heaven).
June 10, 1725 (pre-Cycle 3), possibly Cantata 76(a) (76 Part 2, Nos. 8-14), “Gott segne noch die treue Schar” (Gott segne noch die treue Schar (May God bless his faithful flock) or possible reperformance of BWV 76.
June 30, 1726 (Cycle 3), no performance documented (see below).
June 22, 1727, no performance documented.
June 6, 1728, no performance documented.
June 26, 1729, Picander Cycle text only P-23, Kommt, eilet, ihr Gäste, zum seligen Mahle, no performance documented.
June 3, 1731, Bach may have repeated Cantata BWV 76(a).
June 22, 1732, Bach may have repeated Cantata BWV 2 as part of a repeat of Cycle 2.
June 14, 1733, closed period, mourning for Augustus II.
June 19, 1735, performance at St. Thomas of Gottfried Heinrich Stözel’s "String Music" cycle of double cantatas to Benjamin Schmolck texts. Only the texts for Trinity 13 to 19 are extant.
June 10, 1736 or later, Stözel-Schmolck double cycle "Book of Names of Christ" (Gotha 1731-32) presented in Leipzig, “Schmecket und sehet, wie freudlich der Herr ist” (O taste and see that the LORD is good, Ps. 34:8 KJV) and “Esset, meine Lieben, und tricket, meine Freunde” (Eat, my love, and drink my friend, paraphrase of Song of Solomon 5:1).
1740s, reperformance of Cantata BWV 76.
Cantata 76 Chorale, "Es wollt uns Gott genädig sein"
Cantata BWV 76 “Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes” closes each part with a plain chorale setting of "Es wollt uns Gott genädig sein" (May it be God's will to be gracious to us), Stanzas 1 and 3. It is Luther's three-stanza 1523 version of Psalm 67, "Song of Thanksgiving" (NLGB 258, “Christian Life and Conduct: Psalm”). Psalm 67 also is listed in the NLGB as a communion hymn.
Bach's uses of the chorale are:
1. Cantata BWV 76/7 (S. 1), plain chorale closing Part 1;
2. Cantata BWV 76/14 (S.3), "Es danke, Gott, und lobe dich" (May thanks, God, and praise be given to you), plain chorale closing Part 2.
3. Stanza 3 also is found in Cantata 69/6 plain chorale in D Major, as the new ending for the 1748 Town Council inauguration, parody of Cantata 69a, "Lobe den Herren, meine Seele" (Praise the Lord, my soul) originally for Trinity +12, 1723. The festive setting with three trumpets and timpani could be from Cantata 190a/7, Augsburg Confession 1730. BCW description: “Mvt. 7 (S. 3) is taken from the chorale by Martin Luther "Es wollt Gott uns gnädig sein" (1523) based on Psalm 67”;
4. There are two free-standing, four-part chorales: BWV 311 in F# Major and its variant, BWV 312 in E Major, probably dating from 1730 onwards and likely used as a communion hymn or a hymn closing the main service or in a vesper service on an early Sunday after Trinity. German text and Francis Browne English translation, see BCW http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/Chorale108-Eng3.htm; Matthias Greiter 1524 melody (Zahn 7247), see BCW http://www.bach-cantatas.com/CM/Es-woll-uns.htm
The June 30, 1726 performance of a cantata for the Second Sunday after Trinity is not documented. It is possible that the appropriate, extant Rudolstadt 1726 text, "Und der Herr Zebaoth wird allen Völkern," was set by Bach, as he had done for Cantata BWV 39 for the previous First Sunday after Trinity, or that he utilized a Johann Ludwig Bach Cantata, as he had done with JLB-17, for the Feast of John the Baptist, on Monday, June 24, as well as on the following Tuesday, July 2 for the Feast of the Annunciation, with JLB-13. No J. L. Bach cantata for the Second Sunday after Trinity is extant. It is quite possible that Bach composed no setting, given his experience in the initial Cantata Cycle of 1723 of performing no cantatas on the Sundays After Trinity following the Feasts of John the Baptist and the Annunciation - a gap in the otherwise full cycle that he never filled.
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Primary source: Musical Context of Bach Cantatas, Motets & Chorales for 2nd Sunday after Trinity, BCW http://www.bach-cantatas.com/LCY/M&C-Trinity2.htm (June 15, 2011) |
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Douglas Cowling wrote (May 30, 2014):
William L. Hoffman wrote:
< Bach’s choice of chorales for the church’s Trinity Time half-church year of omnes tempore ordinary time was determined in its plethora of teaching and thematic hymns. These were chosen with the close collaboration, particularly in the unified second, chorale cantata cycle, of the pastor preaching the day’s sermon, the librettist paraphrasing internal stanzas of established hymns, and the Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch (NLGB) of 1682 >
Is there a list of the preachers week-by-week to set beside the chronological list of cantatas? Do any of the sermon texts survive either in print or manuscript? |
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William L. Hoffman wrote (May 30, 2014):
Doug Cowling asked:
< Is there a list of the preachers week-by-week to set beside the chronological list of cantatas? Do any of the sermon texts survive either in print or manuscript? >
According to Martin Petzoldt in his Bach Kommentar Vol. 1 and 2, the pastors preaching the sermons at St. Nikolai and St. Thomas are identified and spoke to the day's Gospel but no sermons survive. Alfred Dürr in The Cantatas of JSB Introduction (pp. 27ff) recounts that St. Thomas pastor Christian Weise (1671-1731) was able to preach "regularly from Easter 1724 onwards" and that he may have written various cantata texts
beginning in the first cycle. For Cycle 2, there was a tradition of Liederpredigten (chorale-sermons) to avoid the monotony of sermonizing to the Gospel "by employing a different theme -- within the framework provided by the reading -- for each church year cycle of sermons. And so the 'emblematic' sermon blossomed, in which exegesis was associated with a symbol that arose from the text." "Another method of achieving diversity was the chorale-sermon," citing Johann Benedikt Carpzov, Weise's predecessor, in 1690 with the cantor Johann Schelle chorale cantata cycle. For the 200th anniversary of the Walther-Luther Geistliches Gesangbüchlein, the first Lutheran hymnal, it is possible that Superintendent Salomon Deyling (1677-1755) approved the Thomas cantor and pastor doing a chorale sermon cycle, beginning on the First Sunday after Trinity 1724. |
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Douglas Cowling wrote (May 30, 2014):
William L. Hoffman wrote:
< For the 200th anniversary of the Walther-Luther Geistliches Gesangbüchlein, the first Lutheran hymnal, it is possible that Superintendent Salomon Deyling (1677-1755) approved the Thomas cantor and pastor doing a chorale sermon cycle, beginning on the First Sunday after Trinity 1724. >
That would make the cantata part of a multi-media presentation! Fascinating to think of Bach and the preacher devising a script fro cantata and sermon. Cantatas in two parts would seem ripe for such cooperative creativity. Are there any surviving collaborative efforts in other places? |
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Musical Context of Bach Cantatas: Table of Motets & Chorales for Events in the Lutheran Church Year |
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