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, "Vergn¨¹gte 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 Gem¨¹te" (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?chsterw¨¹nschtes 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.?
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William Hoffman
William Hoffman