Cantata BWV 140 - Discusssions

Cantata BWV 140
Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme
Discussions - Part 5

Continue from Part 4

Wachet auf (BACH #140) text question [ChoralTalk]

Jim Edgar [Milwaukee] wrote (September 8, 2005):
In the final chorus, final line of JSB#140 there is this text:

"Des sind wir froh, io, io!
ewig in dulci jubilo."

What does the "io, io" mean? I just thumbed through my Albert Schweitzer books and could find nothing to explain it. Is this just a 'filler'? I would not think it of Bach.

Stephen A. Stomps [Director of Choirs - Auburn High School Choirs, Auburn. New York] wrote (September 8, 2005):
[To Jim Edgar] Just filler but, I guess, io could serve as an exclamation of joy at the promise of eternal jubilation.

Alan Jones wrote (September 8, 2005):
[To Jim Edgar] A Latin exclamation of joy or triumph: "Hurrah!" It's part of the hymn text, not JSB's invention.

Jerome Hoberman wrote (September 8, 2005):
[To Jim Edgar] Um, it's not Bach. Bach didn't write the words. Oh! And Bach didn't write the tune, either -- just the harmonization.

Dr. James D. Feiszli [Director of Music Activities - South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, SD] wrote (September 8, 2005):
[To Jim Edgar] "Io" is, like "Eia" in "In Dulci jubilo" (to which Bach's librettist is referring), is simply an expression of joy. Not even an actual word. Occurs in several Medieval carols.

Allen Simon [ChoralNet Chair of Website Development] wrote (September 8, 2005):
[To Jim Edgar] I've always translated it as "wahoo!"

BWV 140 - librettist

Sam Sawatzky wrote (March 29, 2006):
Hi all, I've looked through the archives, and haven't found this mentioned; I hope this isn't a repeat.

In the book Analyzing Bach Cantatas, (2000, New York ; Toronto: Oxford University Press, pg 120) Eric Chafe asserts that the librettist for this cantata is Picander (Christian Friedrich Henrici), yet all other sources I have found believe it to be unknown. Can anyone shed some light on the accuracy of Chafe's assertion?

Thanks In Advance

Bradley Lehman wrote (March 29, 2006):
[To Sam Sawatzky] Source hymn by Nicolai; librettist of BWV 140 unknown...at least according to the 1998 edition of BWV, and the 1999 Oxford Composer Companion: Bach.

Sam Sawatzky wrote (March 29, 2006):
Hi again, I have made a mistake; the reference of Picander is in W. Murray Young's "The Cantatas of J.S. Bach, an Analytical Guide" (1989) and not in Chafe's book. I'm sorry for any confusion.

Teddy Kaufman wrote (March 29, 2006):
As mentioned by Brad , the librettist is Nicolai Philip.

His detailed biography has been outlined at: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Lib/Nicolai.htm

Wachet auf, et al

Bradley Lehman wrote (February 27, 2007):
<< Using "full" sections on chorale-based movements is a long-standing "tradition" which probably goes back to the 19^th century. I have never heard a performance of "Wachet Auf" which didn't give "Zion Hört die Wächter" to all the tenors. >>
< There's a terrific one in Tragicomedia's CD "Notenbuchlein fur Anna Magdalena Bach", 1994, sung by John Potter. Sample of track 1: Amazon.com
They arranged it back from the organ version, BWV 645. >
I have to mention two other classics as well, even though they're both done by two or more singers instead of soloist. Both of these are by the Swingle Singers, giving the chorale melody in octaves!

The old one, from the late 1950s, is still around on CD: Amazon.com
Despite the silly title and packaging, it's a fine album. It shuffles together most of that first Bach album by the Swingles, plus most of "Play Bach" volume 1 by Jacques Loussier's trio. (And coincidentally, the same bass player is in most of these tracks by both groups!) Hearing this CD in the car once, my four-year-old demanded to hear it over and over and over, which is anecdotal evidence that this album is a delightful winner. I like it too, and it's good to have it on CD since my LP copies were worn out. The "Wachet auf" on here, track 1, is done with "Ahhhhhhh" on the chorale, against all the "dubba-dubba" scat by the other singers, plus bass and brushes.

The newer one, from 1991, is part of this other two-CD set: Amazon.com
In this arrangement, at slightly higher pitch than the old one, the accompaniment is pretty similar; but this time the chorale is sung in English. Then they follow this with the four-part chorale, sung in (badly accented) German. The blend and balance are terrific all the way through this album, where they (obviously) miked and mixed it all separately.... It's a pop album. But it's lovely, and so is disc 2 of selections by Mozart.

BWV 140 (was BWV 204)

Contine of discussion from: Cantata BWV 204 - Discussions

Douglas Cowling wrote (March 7, 2008):
Neil Halliday wrote:
< Rilling has overcome some problems encountered in his earlier reoordings of the sacred cantatas, such as a too prominent bass line; in this performance he in fact uses the double bass in only two of the the movements - the accompanied recitative and the last movement - highlighting and enriching the fuller instrumentation of these two movements. I have already described his tasteful treatment of the seccos with cello and harpsichord (with reservations about the harpsichord's clarity); usually I reach for the 'skip' button with seccos, but not so in this recording. >
Is there any historical documentation for playing around with which continuo instruments are used in Bach cantatas? For instance, it is almost standard practice to have bassoon alone with oboe in the the second duet "Mein Freund ist Mein" In "Wachet Auf". Some HIP practioners would argue that Bach intended the 16-foot tone of the bass viol to be used throughout, even in secco recitatives.

Peter Smaill wrote (March 7, 2008):
[To Douglas Cowling] Doug asks, Did Bach vary the continuo group? which is an interesting practical as well as historical question.

The leading book here, which I don't possess alas, is Lawrence Dreyfus' "Bach's Continuo Group". As he is a noted viol da gambaist you may not find sympathy for the use of the bassoon in this famous duet from BWV 140, and Dürr does not state it as an instrument for the work.

Bach very particularly in BWV 140 specifies the instrumentation for the Cantata to include the Watchman's insrument, the horn, and also the violino piccolo which lends the ecstatic and mystical quality to the duet BWV 140/3. Stapert points out, following Herz, that this instrument was used because Bach was "influenced by the instrument's association with night music", which Leopold Mozart noted in 1756. (The action of "Wachet Auf! takes place according to the parable at midnight).

Drifting rather off topoic, there is (to me) an astounding and novel hermeneutic in the text of BWV 140.

The text thus:

Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme
Der Wächter sehr hoch auf der Zinne,
Wach auf, du Stadt Jerusalem!
Mitternacht heisst diese Stunde
Sie rufen und mit hellem Munde:
Wo seid ihr klugen Jungfrauen?
Wohl auf, der Bräutgam kömmt;
Steht auf, die Lampen nehmt!
Alleluja!
Macht euch bereit
Zu der Hochzeit,
Ihr müsset ihm entgegen gehn!

Now this version I transmit has probably been scrambled somewhat by Microsoft/AOL, but if the text is edited for any unintended questionmarks, copied and pasted onto Word, and then the centre alignment function applied, it forms the shape of a . This image, both of the heavenly feast and of the Eucharist, is known since the text of this Chorale was historically set out in this way for symbolic purposes pre-Bach in early chorale collections.

As we previously discussed Easter in 1731 fell between the 22 and 26 March, necessitating a Cantata for the 27^th Sunday in Trinity which was thus correspondingly long; just like 2008 when Easter falls on 23 March. Hence by this fluke we have one of the greatest of all vocal works.

Peter Smaill wrote (March 7, 2008):
For those intent on seeing the chalice pattern implied by the opening text of "Wachet auf", , it appears that AOL/Microsoft have double spaced the text for some inscrutable reason! Single spacing between lines gives the best effect. Enjoy!

Bradley Lehman wrote (March 7, 2008):
BWV 140 (was BWV 204)

< Is there any historical documentation for playing around with which continuo instruments are used in Bach cantatas? For instance, it is almost standard practice to have bassoon alone with oboe in the the second duet "Mein Freund ist Mein" In "Wachet Auf". Some HIP practioners would argue that Bach intended the 16-foot tone of the bass viol to be used throughout, even in secco recitatives. >
In the excellent new recording by Publick Musick that I briefly reviewed on 2/25, with BWV 140 and three other cantatas: http://www.musicaomnia.org/bachchoral.asp

BWV 140/1 chorus, I believe everybody's in there playing, including the bassoon, but I'm not absolutely certain.

BWV 140/2 recit has organ and a remarkably quiet cello.

BWV 140/3 duet is again organ+cello, but the cellist plays more assertively here.

BWV 140/4 chorale (tenor solo) I hear the string bass added; listen to this marvelous movement for free at the link provided above. Organists will also know this from the "Schübler" chorales that Bach himself rearranged and had published.

BWV 140/5 recit has all the upper strings, cello, string bass, and organ.

BWV 140/6 duet "Mein Freund ist mein" has the bassoon and organ, no cello or bass.

BWV 140/7 chorale: as in mvt 1.

I should add that it all sounds terrific to me, instrumented conventionally as noted here. From the list of extant parts listed in Dreyfus's book, and from the entry in the BWV, I can't see which movements the "Bassono" was assigned to by Bach. The Bach-Gesellschaft score of BWV 140 is no help here either. Anybody have access to the NBA?

Ed Myskowski wrote (March 7, 2008):
Peter Smaill wrote:
>For those intent on seeing the chalice pattern implied by the opening text of "Wachet auf", , it appears that AOL/Microsoft have double spaced the text for some inscrutable reason! Single spacing between lines gives the best effect. Enjoy!<
I found Peters previous description so accurate, that I was able to envision the chalice from the text, without bothering with the digital translations of slightly garbled transmission.

After Jeans subsequent reference to inkblots, I began to envision even more.

Bradley Lehman wrote:
>In the excellent new recording by Publick Musick that I briefly reviewed on 2/25, with BWV 140 and three other cantatas: [followed by details of BWV 140 continuo]<
I was about to suggest this recording, along with any from the current Kuijken series, for good examples of current performance practice in tasteful continuo realization, often interrupted, but almost never abrupt.

Discussion of this topic on BCML has opened my ears to details I probably would not have noticed otherwise. Thanks to everyone who contributes, and a fine example of how professional input can be shared with all listeners.

Jean Laaninen wrote (March 8, 2008):
[To Ed Myskowski] I think we might call the process educating the ear. The eye figures in, too.

Ed Myskowski wrote (March 8, 2008):
Jean Laaninen wrote
>I think we might call the process educating the ear. The eye figures in, too.<
Amen.

Terejia wrote (March 8, 2008):
[To Jean Laaninen] I like your term "educating the ear", Jean. Yes, as Ed says, professional input gives a new depth of insight into aethetics and it helps my playing organ in the church, too.

BWV 140 might be a good place to start for beginners. Even in my church playing " Wachet Auf" seems to have found a favorable response from not-so-trained audience.

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Last update: �March 10, 2008 �11:49:16