The Bachfest Leipzig 1724 ( )

runs from June 7 to 16 ( ) with three-hundred anniversaries of Bach's 2nd annual chorale cantata cycle of 66 cantatas in 16 concerts? (), and the tricentennial of his first Passion oratorio, St. John Passion, BWV 245.1, as well as other special events such as s special exhibit, Voices of Women from the Bach Family at the Leipzig Museum (), and a premiere of a stage production of the Nederlandse Bachvereniging, "J. S. Bach –The Apocalypse:? The opera Bach Never Wrote" (), on June 11 (), concludes special commissions of new Bach works (see ) from 2023.? A roundup of the 2024 Bachfest Leipzig is provided by Prof. Dr. Michael Maul, artistic director ().? A special event is the Bach Network presentation at the Leipzig Bachfest, 15 June 2024, "Bach Network in Dialogue, details at .? Hopefully, this event will be available soon on-line as Discussing Bach 7.? The Bach Network biannual Dialogue Meeting will be held July 7-10 at Madingley Hall, Cambridge.

Bachfest Leipzig 2024:? Chorale Cantata Cycle, Etc. ?

A special overview of 2024 Bachfest Leipzig is found in "Bach 300:? The chorale cantata year-cycle and the St. John Passion," by Dr. Uwe Wolf, Carus-Verlag chief editor ().? Also available is the Carus-Verlag Bach 1724/25 chorale cantata cycle calendar () with the 40 chorale cantatas from the 1st Sunday after Trinity (BWV 20), 11 June 1724, to the Feast of the Annunciation of Mary on 25 March 1725 (BWV 1).? This cycle includes the 2nd version of the St. John Passion, BWV 245.2, on Good Friday, 30 March 1725.? "It is not known wether the second version of the St. John Passion, BWV 245.2 with its large-scale chorale choruses was already planned or wether it was a fallback solution," says the unsigned commentary.? Perhaps it was both, see Eric Chafe''s J. S. Bach's Johannine Theology:? The St. John Passion and the Cantatas for Spring 1725 (Oxford:? Oxford University Press:? 2014, ).? Another non-cantata presentation is the earliest version of the Easter Oratorio, BW 249.3, on Easter Sunday, 1 March 1725, on a double bill with chorale Cantata BWV 4.2, "Christ lag in Todesbanden.? The notes mistakenly say, "The [second] cantata cycle continued from Easter Monday to Misericordias Domini [2nd Sunday after Easter] with three cantatas on texts of unknown origin [BWV 6, 42, 85].? From Jubilate to Trinity Sunday is a series of nine cantatas by the Leipzig poet Christiane Mariane von Ziegler ().? None of these dozen works is a chorale cantata or is part of the 2nd cycle but instead is part of the succeeding 3rd cantata cycle of 1725-27, based on the musical manuscript division to Bach's family in 1750 (see : scroll down to "Event, Date, Title, Type, Librettist, Distrib. CPEB WFB/JCB [S=Score, P=Parts, ?=Lost]").? Two recent collections of the Bach sacred cantatas¹ also place these works in the third cycle.

First Two Cantata Cycles

A comparison and contrast involving Bach's first two cantata cycles, primarily involving the musical structure and text librettists is found at the Bach Cantatas Website discussion Bach Mailing List, .? Essentially, the first cycle is a homogeneous collection of some 30 recycled sacred cantatas from Weimar (primarily Salomo Franck texts, ) and C?then (primarily Hunold-Menantes texts, ), with the leading candidate for the 30 new works composed in Leipzig was Christian Weiss Sr. (). Also in the realm of librettist speculation but with some collateral evidence are Cycle 1 Cantata libretti of varied structures influenced by or involving Picander (Christian Friedrich Henrici, 1700-64): influences, BWV 25 (Trinity 14) and 138 (Trinity 15, chorale fantasia), 148 (Trinity 17, after Picander); and parodies from C?then: Easter and Pentecost Mondays and Tuesdays as well as the Trinityfest (BWV 66, 134, 173, 184, 194).?

The three structures of mini-cycles for these new primarily chorus cantatas was compiled by Alfred Dürr with the basic ingredients of opening biblical text and closing plain chorale with two each alternating internal arias and recitatives while two structures have an internal plain chorale in different internal positioning of recitatives and arias.? Bach also performed a selective offering of "double works with six two-part cantatas ((BWV 75, Tr. 1; BWV 76, Tr. 2; BWV 21, Xmas; BWV 147, Visit. Feast; BWV 186, Tr. 7; and BWV 70, Tr. 26) and nine twin-bill cantatas ((BWV 24+185, Tr. 4;179+199, Tr. 11; 63+238 (Xmas); 181+18, Sex.; 22+23, Eas.; 1135=Anh. 199+182, Palm; 31+4, Eas.; 172+59, Pen. and 194+165, Tr. Feast.).? Bach's Estomihi 1723 probe piece, BWV 22 and 23, was a two-part cantata, subsequently divided into two cantatas and reperformed, probably individually).? The fixed-structure chorale cantata cycle had only one two-part cantata, BWV 20, which opened the cycle on the 1st Sunday after Trinity. In the heterogeneous third cycle (1725-27) Bach selectively presented a mini-cycle of eight two-part cantatas:? BWV 43, Ascension; BWV 39, Trinity 1; BWV 88, Trinity 5; BWV 187, Trinity 7; BWV 45, Trinity 8; BWV 102, Trinity 10; BWV 35, Trinity 12; and BWV 17, Trinity 14.? In the later 1730s he introduced feast-day oratorios (great cantatas) with additional movements as well as a selective two-part cantatas for John's Day (BWV 30).? Among the last of the Bach Gesellschaft publications are several two-part cantatas:? BWV 194 for Trinity Sunday 1724, BWV 195 and 197 for weddings, and BWV 198 for a funeral.? ?

Among the other textual, stylistic, and innovative elements are the blending of ecclesiastical and operatic devices such as the Vox Christi/Domini and allegorical characters in duets, the troping of hymns with recitatives, and the use of pastorale dance forms in good shepherd works; the “great biblical text choruses that open many of the cantatas from Cycle 1 are one of its defining features,” says Richard D. P. Jones;² the closing congregational plain chorale begun in Weimar as well as elaborate interludes and obbligato instruments (violoncello piccolo and flute) as well as the blending of different chorales in one cantata; the internal alternating and combining of secular-influence madrigalian texts (recitatives, arias, ariosi); the use of concerto style as well as arresting musical images in the arias; and “the high incidence of dance rhythms” (Ibid.: 129). ?

Chorale-Based Cantatas

The concept of a German chorale-based cantata reached "back well into the seventeenth century" as a vocal concerto, "and whose adherents are still found in the middle of the 18th, says Hans-Joachim Schulze ³ in his essay on Easter Cantata 4, "Christ lag in Todes Banden" ()? It began in northern Germany, spread to central Germany, "as well as the Leipzig cantors of St. Thomas Knüpfer, Schelle, and Kuhnau," says Schulze (Ibid.:? 11) where it became a tradition of verse settings for chorus, aria, and recitative.? Most notable as Bach's first essay dating to 1707, Cantata BWV 4.1 (see Mel Unger details, was structured as a chorale partita with the following movements:? 1. instrumental sinfonia with five-part line-quote, 2. chorale chorus as a motet with fugal treatment, 3. chorale adaptation as soprano-alto duet in ostinato variation, 4. chorale adaptation as tenor aria in trio texture, 5. chorale chorus as motet with fugal treatment of individual chorale lines, 6. chorale adaptation as free contrapuntal bass aria, 7. chorale adaptation in canon as soprano-tenor duet.? The closing four-part chorale (No. 8) found in the Leipzig version (BWV 4.2) suggests "a completely different concluding movement, of which no trace remains, says Schulze (Ibid.:? 12).? An optional alternative is a repeat of the first stanza (No. 2) using the final verse 7 ().? "This performance in early 1725 was the conclusion —earlier than planned — of the annual cycle begn in the summer of the previous year, says Schulze.? "Cantatas performed after Easter 1725 do not belong to the chorale cantata type."? "The quality of the result is shown simply by the fat that the composer himself, after nearly two decades, felt it appropriate to include the work almost without change in the ambitious project of the chorale cantata annual cycle," Schulze concludes (Ibid.:? 13).

Chorale Cantata Studies

The significance of Bach's chorale cantata cycle is explored in the essay, "Chorale Cantata Cycle" ( :? scroll down, May 18, 2014), which begins with the development of the Lutheran chorale and the chorale cantata cycle.? The other sections examine "Chorale Cantata Overview," "Anatomy of a Chorale Cantata," Lutheran Chorale Tradition," "Chorale Cantata Cycle," "Genesis of Chorale Cantata Cycle" (cycle 1 proto-chorale cantatas BWV 43, 95, and 73 plus BWV 138), "Chorale Cantata Elements," "Innovation & Balancing Act," "Compositional Challenges," "Cantata Cycle Incomplete," "Chorale Cantata Obstacles," and "Chorale Cantata Librettist(s)" which probes the great enigma of the identity of the cycle librettist(s) and the reasons for Bach's cycle cessation at Easter 1725. ? A more recent article, "Leipzig Sacred Cantata Cycles 1 and 2: Structures, Librettists" ( ) examines the sections "Chorale Cantata Cycle: Unique, Partial, ?Librettist(s)," and "Cycle Cessation, Librettists."? An addendum follows, "Michael Hochgartz wrote (December 14, 2020):? Stubel-Theory without Stubel? ?

Addendum:? The cessation of the chorale cantata cycle probably was due to a variety of factors:? loss of the librettist, compositional fatigue, and lack of substantial chorales during Easter season ().? Another important resource is "Chorale cantata cycle" at wikipedia, .

ENDNOTES

¹ Bach sacred cantatas:? Konrad Klek, Ab Ostern 1725 (After Easter 1725), Vol. 3, Dein ist allein die Ehre : Johann Sebastian Bachs geistliche Kantaten erkl?rt (Your only honor: Johann Sebastian Bach's sacred cantatas explained); Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 2017), ; Christine Blanken, Der Sogenennte "Dritte Jahrgang," in Bachs Kantaten:? Das Handbuch, Teilband 2 (Augsburg, Laaber-Verlag:? 60-72, 76-78), .

² Richard D. P. Jones, The Creative Development of Johann Sebastian Bach, Vol. 2, , “Music to Delight the Spirit," 1717-1750 “ (New York: Oxford University Press, 2015: 123f); : "Look inside").? ?

³ 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); ;? Brokaw translates all 225 cantatas in An Interactive Companion by Hans-Joachim Schulze, , .

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To Come:? Chorale Cantata Cycle Begins

开云体育

Of the multi-day feasts of Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost, Bach observed the six for Christmas in the 1734-35 Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248.2 (), which he may have repeated in the 1740s, but only the first day in the Italianate Easter Oratorio, BWV 249.3 (), and also only the first day in the lost Pentecost Oratorio, BWV deest.? An accounting of Bach's compositional efforts for the Pentecost feast () shows Bach with four cantatas for Pentecost Sunday (BWV 172, 59, 74, 34), three for Pentecost Monday (BWV 68, 173, 174), and two for Pentecost Tuesday (BWV 184, 175).? After the Pentecost Festival, Bach did a double bill for the one-day Trinity Sunday festival the next week, Cantatas 194 (a parody) and 165 (Weimar repeat) closing the first cantata cycle.

Pentecost 3-Year Lectionary

Today's Three-Year Revised Common Lectionary () observes only the one-year Vigil of Pentecost and the standard three-year observance of Pentecost Sunday, according to John Setterlund's Bach Through the Year.¹? The Vigil of Pentecost uses the gospel of John 7:37-39, Streams of Life-Giving Water () and Setterlund recommends Pentecost Monday solo Cantata 173.2, "Erh?htes Fleisch und Blut" (Exalted flesh and blood, trans. Z. Philip Ambrose; , ), and alternate Trinity 6 alto solo Cantata 170, "Vergnügte Ruh', beliebte Seelenlust" (Contented rest, belove'd inner joy, Ambrose trans.; ).? Today''s Revised Common Lectionary covers only the (Sunday) Day of Pentecost, writes Setterlund (Ibid.:? 65f):? Year B, 19 May 2024, Gospel John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15 (Advocate comes, ), preferred Motet BWV 226, “Der Geist hilf unser Schwachheit auf” (The Spirit doth our weakness help, Ambrose trans. Romans 8:26-7; : scroll down to "Discussions in the Week of October 3, 2016 (4th round)"), alternate Pentecost Sunday chorus Cantata 34.2, "O ewiges Feuer, o Ursprung der Liebe" [I] (O fire everlasting, O fountain of loving, Ambrose trans.; ), , ). Year C, 8 June 2025, Gospel John 14:8-17, (25-27), Jesus Way to Father, Promise of Holy Spirit, , preferred Pentecost Sunday chorus Cantata 74, "Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten" II (He who loves me will keep my commandments, Jn. 14:23, Ambrose trans.; ,? , ); alternate, Pentecost Sunday chorus Cantata 172, "Erschallet, ihr Lieder, erklinget, ihr Saiten" (Resound now, ye lyrics, ring out now, ye lyres!, Ambrose trans.; , , ).? Year A, 24 May 2026, Gospel John 20:19-23 (Jesus Appears to His Disciples) or John 7:37-39 (Streams of Life-Giving Water) (text ), alternate Pentecost Sunday soprano-bass solo Cantata 59, "Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten" [I] (He who loves me will keep my commandments, Jn. 14:23, Ambrose trans.; , , ).? For the final Trinity Sunday festival closing the first cantata cycle on 4 June 1724, today's Revised Lectionary has the following:? Year B, 26 May 2024, Gospel John 3:1-17 (Jesus and Nicodemus, ), preferred Pentecost Monday solo Cantata 174, "Ich liebe den H?chsten von ganzem Gemüte" (I love the Almighty with all of my spirit, trans. Ambrose; , ); alternate Pentecost Monday soprano-bass solo Cantata 68, "Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt" (In truth hath God the world so loved, after Jn. 3:16, trans. Ambrose; , , ); Year C, 15 June 2025, Gospel John 16:12-15 (Work of the Holy Spirit, ); preferred Trinity solo Cantata 165, "O heilges Geist und Wasserbad" (O Holy Spirit's water bath, trans. Ambrose; , , ); alternate Cantate chorus Cantata 108, "Es ist euch gut, da? ich hingehe" (It is for you that I depart now, Jn.16:7, trans. Ambrose; , , ); Year A, 31 May 2026, Gospel Matthew 28:16-20 (Jesus Appears to His Disciples, ); preferred Trinity chorale chorus Cantata 129, "Gelobet sei der Herr, mein Gott" (Give honor to the Lord, trans. Ambrose; , ); alternate Trinity Sunday chorus Cantata 176, "Es ist ein trotzig und verzagt Ding" (There is both daring and deception within all human spirits, trans. Ambrose; , .? In addition for Trinity Sunday is two-part chorus Cantata 194.3, "H?chsterwünschtes Freudenfest" (O most lovely feast of joy, trans. Ambrose; , :? Trinity Sunday performance history, last paragraph beginning "In spite of these handicaps. . . .).

Pentecost Festival

Today's Revised Standard Lectionary lists only the Pentecost Sunday feast day and not the second (Pentecost Monday, ) and the third (Pentecost Tuesday, ), while the single-lectionary in Bach's time (and today's lectionary) do not have a gospel reading for Pentecost Monday or Tuesday, relying on chapters in Luke's the Acts of the Apostles, Pentecost Monday, Acts 10:44-48 (The Gentiles Receive the Holy Spirit); and Pentecost Tuesday, Acts 8:14-17 (Holy Spirit in Sumaria), there is an accounting of Bach's colleagues, sons, and student endeavors (see : scroll down to Pentecost, with works of Telemann, Graupner, and St?lzel; Friedemann, Emanuel, and Homilius but with only selectively works of Telemann, Graupner, and St?lzel for Pentecost Monday and Tuesday.? This list of cantatas by liturgical occasion includes seasonal hymns (chorales) found in these works with the current BML discussion dating back to April 11, "Easter Festival 1724, Christological Church Year Cycle" ().? The seasonal chorales cover Easter, Ascension, Pentecost, and Trinity Sunday are found in the Gottfried Vopelius Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch of 1682 (, 0271-0370, Von der Auferstehung Jesu Christi; 0371-0389, Von der Himmelfahrt Jesu Christi; 0390-0416, Von der Sendung des H. Geistes; 0416-0435, Dreifaltigkeit).? The actual seasonal chorales used by Bach are found at:? Motets and Chorales for Easter (), Motets and Chorales for Ascension Day (); Motets and Chorales for Pentecost Festival (); Motets and Chorales for Trinity Sunday ( ).? A detailed accounting of Bach's works for all three Pentecost feast days is found at .?

Marian Feast of Visitation

The Revised Common Lectionary lists the Marian Feast of the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth as the fixed date of May 31, rather than July 2 as found in Bach's one-year lectionary (); today's Year B Liturgy () has the readings Old Testament, Samuel 2:1-10; Psalm 113; Epistle, Romans 12:9-16b, Gospel, Luke 1:39-57 (Magnificat); preferred Luther German Magnificat, chorale Cantata 10, "Meine Seel erhebt den Herren" (Now my soul exalts the Master, Lk 1:46-55, trans. Ambrose; , , ); alternate is Magnificat, BWV 243, "Magnificat anima mea Dominum" (My soul doth magnify the Lord, Lk. 1:46, trans. Ambrose; . In addition for the Visitation Feast is two-part chorus Cantata 147, "Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben" (Heart and mouth and deed and living, trans. Ambrose; ; , ).

Pentecost Post-Script

<<During Bach's time, there was a flourish of oratorios (great cantatas) for feast days and special events.? Recent discoveries have found that Georg Philipp Telemann was involved in two oratorio cycles: a 1730-31 cycle of librettist Albrecht Jacob Zell (1701-1754)17 and a complete 1731-32 cycle of librettist Tobias Heinrich Schubart (1699-1747),18 selections from both recently published in the B?renreiter Telemann Editions.? In 1731-32 Telemann produced another oratorio cycle, Foresertzung des Harmonischen Gottesdienst (Continution of harmonious church services), to the text of Schubart, the preacher at Hamburg's Church of St. Michael's since 1728>> (source, ).? St?lzel (

), two of whose cantata cycles Bach performed in the mid-1730s, in 1736-37 produced cantatas for the Christmas Festival, similar to Bach's six in his Christmas Oratorio.? Like Bach, American composer Dave Brubeck compose oratorios for all three major feasts (:? La Fiesta de la Posada:? A Christmas Choral Pageant (1976), Beloved Son for Easter (1978), and Voice of the Holy Spirit:? Tongues of Fire for Pentecost (1985).? I had the privilege of touring with Brubeck and his wife, Iola, who wrote the text, in? La Fiesta de la Posada () in 1976 in northern New Mexico with the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Yoshimi Takeda, conductor.

Postscript:? Bach spent much of the 1720s in Leipzig creating his three cantata cycles and then turned in the next decade to compose sacred oratorios for Christmas (1734-35), the Easter Oratorio, BWV 249.3, and the Ascension Oratorio in 1738, and the Pentecost Oratorio in 1739 (see :? scroll down to "Addendum."? Many of these movements were parodies from secular drammi per musica composed at the same time.? During this period, Bach also composed related music, the Clavier-?bung III: the German Organ Mass and Catechism Chorales, BWV 552, 678-689; the Missae:? Kyrie-Gloria, BWV 233-236; and chorale Cantata Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott, BWV 80.3.

ENDNOTES

¹ John S. Setterlund, Bach Through the Year: The Church Music of Johann Sebastian Bach and the Revised Common Lectionary (Minneapolis MN: Lutheran University Press, 2013: 36), .

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To come:? Bachfest Leipzig 1724, chorale cantata cycle.?

Bach completed his first cantata cycle in the spring of 1724 () with the three-day Pentecost feasts and the final Trinity Sunday feast, taking advantage of every compositional opportunity with hallmark works ().? As cantor, the annual church cycles involve the following: a heterogeneous first cycle reusing existing works; a unique, homogeneous second cycle of chorale cantatas; and another heterogeneous third cycle of primarily personal solo cantatas and biblical chorus works (). There were two other cycles of church pieces:? a joy-sorrow cycle of occasional sacred and profane music (, primarily wedding Masses and funeral works, and a Christological cycle of major works (mostly oratorios) and Latin Church Music (), as well as the annual Good Friday vespers oratorio Passion and the annual cantata installation of the Leipzig Town Council, his employer.? As Leipzig director of music, Bach created profane congratulatory cantatas, BWV 201-16, 20 special festival pieces for Leipzig University () and unique, special services ().? At the same time, Bach created mini-sacred cycles from special texts () while today the Bachfest Leipzig () is presenting "Musical Explorations, 'BACH for Future'': New Cantatas, Pasticcios, Adaptations ().

Johannine Trilogy Planned

During the closing 1724 Easter-Pentecost season which completed the school year for St. Thomas, Bach was formulating a work schedule that was both unique and flexible.? The Gospel of John inspired various works:? a Johannine Trilogy for Passion, Resurrection, Farewell Discourse with the St. John Passion, BWV 245, which was presented in three distinct theological versions; a mini-cycle of nine cantatas of Leipzig poetess Christiane Mariane von Ziegler (), from Jubilate (BWV 103) to Trinity Sunday (BWV 176); plans for the second, chorale cantata cycle (:? scroll down to "Chorale Cantata Cycle"; : scroll down to "CHORLE CANTATA CYCLE") with a librettist for the internal stanza paraphrases (Bach's invention); plans for a second Passion Oratorio according to Matthew (), with a poetic libretto by Picander (, ); and besides Picander as the librettist for the Matthew and Mark Passions, Picander-texted profane celebratory Cantatas BWV 249a, 36, 201, 205-07, 211-213, 216 ().

Pentecost Sunday Double Bill

The Pentecost Sunday 1724 cantata double bill (BWV 172, 59) was a hallmark event in which Bach sought to establish the importance of Pentecost in the Lutheran tradition.? Bach selectively recycled music from previous compositions dating to C?then and Weimar, most notably the revival double-bill for Pentecost Sunday, 28 May 1724:? festive chorus Cantata 172, "Erschallet, ihr Lieder, erklinget, ihr Saiten" (Resound now, ye lyrics, ring out now, ye lyres!, Z. Philip Ambrose trans.; , ), set to a Salomo Franck unpublished text, and Cantata 59, "Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten" [I] (He who loves me will keep my commandments, Jn. 14:23, trans. Ambrose; , ).? Cantata 172 set the standard for Pentecost music with at least six performances of different versions¹ while Cantata 59 as a transitional work advanced important core elements such as the dialogue aria affirming C?then compositional procedure "before early 1723,"" says Hans-Joachim Schulze,² which was expanded to an opening chorus in Cantata 74, while emphasizing a utilitarian work with its designation “Für alle F?lle” (For all situations) and its use as early as Weimar for Pentecost Sunday, 16 May 1716 and in Carlsbad for Pentecost Sunday 5 June 1718.? "It appears that Bach began composition of Pentecost Cantata 59 before Pentecost Sunday (5 June), score D-B P 161, Bohemian watermark (), says Peter Wollny.³ No music presented in Carlsbad is documented.

Feast Day Cantatas; Internal, External Challenges

As Bach planned the feast day cantatas for Easter, Pentecost, and Trinity he eschewed composing oratorios (great cantatas) in favor of existing materials).? He encountered two challenges, one internal and the other external.? Internally, Bach was able to muster and exploit the earlier two-dozen church year cantatas composed in Weimar, primarily from texts of Court poet Salomo Franck () spread throughout the cycle, beginning with the omnes tempore (ordinary time) second half of the church year on the teachings of Jesus Christ and concluding with the de tempore (propers times) first half on his life and impact.? Bach also had sketches and individual movements composed in C?then (: section "Undated"), as well as six substantial, profane vocal serenades that through the process of parody (new text underlay) could be expanded through chorales for some Easter-Pentecost Christological feast days when he was completing his first year in Leipzig:? Easter Monday, 4-10-1724, Cantata 66.2, "Erfreut euch, ihr Herzen" (Rejoice, all ye spirits, trans. Z Philip Ambrose; , ); Easter Tuesday, 4-11-1724, Cantata 134.2, "Ein Herz, das seinen Jesum lebend wei?" (A heart which doth its Jesus clearly know, trans. Ambrose; , ); Pentecost Sunday, 5-29-24, double bill,; Pentecost Monday, 5-29-1724, Cantata 173.2, "Erh?htes Fleisch und Blut" (Exalted flesh and blood, trans. Ambrose; , ); Pentecost Tuesday, 5-30-1724, Cantata 184.2, "Erwünschtes Freudenlicht" (O welcome light of joy, trans. Ambrose; ; ); Trinitatisfest, 6-4-1724, Cantata 194.3, "H?chsterwünschtes Freudenfest" (O most lovely feast of joy, trans. Ambrose; , ).? Bach performed Trinity Sunday 1724 as a double bill with parody BWV 194.3 and a revival of Weimar (O Holy Spirit's water bath, Ambrose trans.; ).The external challenges involved Bach's responsibilities as St. Thomas cantor and a variety of governing oversight and restrictions, primarily from Bach's employer, the Leipzig Town Council. ?Bach was required to submit in advance his texts for the church year cantatas for their approval while the Lutheran Consistory rarely was concerned since Bach passed the required Theological Exam on 8 May 1723.? The council also held the purse strings, notably for funds to improve the quality of music, as well as the requirements and restrictions for the cantor and the St. Thomas School Superintendent, particularly the still unpublished school regulations which caused Bach to "agreeing to a significant reduction in his fees," says Michael Maul in his monograph of the St. Thomas School choir.⁴ ?

Johannine Theology Mini-Cycle

While Bach was working during Lent 1724 on the oratorio Passion of St. John, BWV 245 (), he probably began considering expanded cantatas as feast day oratorios during the three-day festivals of Easter, Christmas, and Pentecost.? Instead of citing the designated Gospel and Epistle readings in recitatives and ariosi for these services, he began to explored the madrigalian poetic texts in the choruses and arias, emphasizing the listener's responses to the textual principles in these services, especially as they were adapted as new text underlay in parodies from C?then serenades (cited above). ? Bach commissioned Ziegler's seven cantata text settings at Lent 1724 as part of his pending Johannine Theology mini-cycle, which he was able to employ during the 1724-25 chorale cantata cycle with the second version of the St. John Passion, BWV 245.2, the Easter Oratorio, BWV 249a=245.2, and the Ziegler texts of Jesus' Farewell Discourse to his Disciples, which had begun in the Gospel dictum for Pentecost Sunday, "Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten" (If a man loves me, he will keep my word," John 14:23-31 (), which is the preamble to Jesus' discourse.? <<For Pentecost, Bach seems to have emphasized appropriate church hymns beyond serviceable texts that make perfunctory references to the New Testament Gospel and Epistle lessons with intrinsic themes of fidelity, inspiration, and commitment. In Bach’s time, the story of Pentecost and the Holy Spirit are told not in the Gospel lessons but in the Epistle lessons: Pentecost Sunday, Acts 2:1-13 (The Coming of the Holy Spirit); Pentecost Monday, Acts 10:44-48 (The Gentiles Receive the Holy Spirit); and Pentecost Tuesday, Acts 8:14-17 (Holy Spirit in Sumaria). The Gospel lessons are: Pentecost Sunday, John 14: 23-31, "Promise of the Paraclete"; Pentecost Monday, John 3:16 (God so loved the world); Pentecost Tuesday, John 10:1-10 (Parable of the sheep)>> (source, : paragraph beginning "For the Pentecost. . . .").? For the second and third days of the Pentecost Festival, Monday and Tuesday, Bach turned from celebratory to more intimate music while restricting his creative efforts. In the first cycle, May 29-30, 1723, Bach parodied C?then serenades, possibly to his own new text underlay (?with the help of Picander), with Cantatas BWV 173, “Erh?htes Fleisch und Blut” (Exalted flesh and blood), and BWV 184 “Erwünschtes Freudenlicht” (Longed-for light of joy). In the second cycle, May 21-22, 1725, Bach used original texts of Ziegler with John’s Gospel dicta for Cantatas BWV 68 “Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt” (God so loved the world, John 3:16), and Cantata BWV 175, “Er rufet seinen Schafen mit Namen” (He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out, John 10:1).

First Cantata Cycle End:? Trinity Sunday

Bach completed his first cantata cycles on Trinity Sunday, 4 June 1724, with his penultimate double bill of Cantatas 194 (a parody) and 165 (Weimar repeat), adding substance to this feast day observance.? A week later, on the 1st Sunday after Trinity, 11 June 1724, to commence hs 2nd cycle, he produced one of his last two-part Cantatas, BWV 20, "O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort" [I] (Eternity, thou thundrous word, trans.Ambrose).

?

ENDNOTES

¹ BWV 172 versions (Details, ): "Composed"

1st performance, May 20, 1714, Weimar, BWV 172.1 in C Major

2nd performance, 1717-1723 -? ? Composed C?then; 1 June 1721 Leipzig, Kuhnau performed

3rd Performance, May 28, 1724 - Leipzig, BWV 172.2 in D Major

4th Performance, May 13, 1731 - Leipzig, BWV 172.3, in C Major

5th Performance, after 1731 - Leipzig (performed in Delitsch, 29 May 1735)

?Mel Unger notes:? BWV-172-Nov-17-2021.pdf.

² Hans-Joachim Schulze:? essay "Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten BWV 59" (:? penultimate paragraph beginning "Bach composed this text. . . . []); source, 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); ); discussion, "Bach Cantatas, Essays, Poets, Parodies" ().

³ Peter Wollny, ?berlegungen zu einem K?thener Vokalwerken J. S. Bachs" (Reflections on some K?then vocal works of J. S. Bach), in Bach Jahrbuch 106 (2020), .

⁴ Michael Maul, IV, 'Odd Authorities with Little Interest in Music,' in Bach's Famous Choir:? The Saint Thomas Scchool in Leipzig, 1212-1804, trasn. Richard Howe (Woodbridge GB:? Boydell Press, 2018:? 164), )

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To Come:? Chorale Cantata 2nd Cycle ?

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Dear Mike Hall, inotmark and all,

Thanks for your concern and for pointing to the error.
I have just corrected the typo in all the relevant BCW pages from:
My eyes I not close
to:
My eyes I now close

Sincerely,

Aryeh Oron
Webmaster of Bach Cantatas Website (BCW)

Moderator of Bach Mailing List (BML)
/g/Bach

Here is the source and the quote: Chorale Melodies used in Bach's Vocal Works Mein Augen schlie? ich jetzt in Gottes Namen zu

?|??|?

Melody & Text:

“Meinen Augen schlie? ich jetzt” (My eyes I will not close) is a devotional hymn in six 4-line stanzas of popular hymn writer??(1594-1648), published in the?Breslauer Gesangbuch?in 1644 to his associated melody (Zahn 1067). A prayer of thanks and acceptance, it is found in the NLGB as No. 210.??set it as a plain chorale,??(,?). Source:??(William L. Hoffman,?December 14, 2017)

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Democrats and Republicans are two sides of the same M?bius strip.

On Friday, May 17, 2024 at 12:21:58 PM PDT, Mike Hall <h3m@...> wrote:

I’ve now checked. Not sure where you found your typo. Here’s what the site says:

Chorale Texts used in Bach's Vocal Works? Mein Augen schlie? ich jetzt in Gottes Namen zu Text and Translation of Chorale

Ref. in hymnals/hymn books:?NLGB 210 Author:?(1644)? Chorale Melody:??(Zahn 1067) |?Composer:??(1644) Theme:?Evening; Devotion

Description:

“Meinen Augen schlie? ich jetzt” (My eyes I will now close) is a devotional hymn in six 4-line stanzas of popular hymn writer??(1594-1648), published in the?Breslauer Gesangbuch?in 1644 to his associated melody (Zahn 1067). A prayer of thanks and acceptance, it is found in the NLGB as No. 210.??set it as a plain chorale,?.

On May 17, 2024, at 11:55 AM, MT via groups.io <inotmark@...> wrote:

?

I wonder how it could be an underlay when the number of syllables is different???

This is literally a line of text, in a discussion, not an underlay of lyrics associated with the music.

Perhaps the typo explanation is correct.? Does this forum reach the people in charge of maintaining the website?

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Democrats and Republicans are two sides of the same M?bius strip.

On Friday, May 17, 2024 at 11:40:06 AM PDT, Mike Hall <h3m@...> wrote:

Of course you’re right.?

I’m guessing that “not” is a typo for “now.”

This is an underlay translation, metrically adapted to the music, and the wonder is that these are often adequate.?

Mike Hall

On May 16, 2024, at 11:33 PM, inotmark via groups.io <inotmark@...> wrote:

?I am not sure where to send this, but the website gave this list so:

I believe there is an error in translation on the Bach Cantata Website page for the chorale

Mein Augen schlie? ich jetzt in Gottes Namen zu

To whit:? “Meinen Augen schlie? ich jetzt? (My eyes I will not close)"

Shouldn't that read? "I now close my eyes" (or more literally, "My eyes close I now")? .... in Gottes Namen zu

"My eyes I will not close in God's Name" does not strike me as something Bach would say.

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