|
William L. Hoffman wrote (February 11, 2018):
Estomihi Cantata 159, "Sehet! Wir gehn hinauf gen Jerusalem"
rch Cantatas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_cantata_(Bach)#New_council
One of Bach's last church-year cantata musical sermons, BWV 159, "Sehet! Wir gehn hinauf gen Jerusalem" (See! We are going up to Jerusalem, Luke 18:31), was unique in several respects. As part of the fragmentary Picander church-year text cycle, it was one of nine works Bach selectively set to music between 1728 and 1729 to achieve a more well-regulated church music: It was Bach's special sorrow-joy observance of the final Sunday before Lent, called Quinquagesima Estomihi (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinquagesima), with Jesus' prophecy to his disciples of his Passion and death in Jerusalem (Luke 18:31-38). The result is a 17-minute intimate chamber opera scene beginning with a rare double dialogue of Jesus' prophecy and the Soul's anxious response, then the soul's affirmation to follow Jesus, supported by the Passion Chorale, "Ich will hier bei dir stehen, (I shall stay here with you), followed by three traditional movements: a tenor recitative as a spectator of Jesus' Crucifixion and Resurrection, a symbolic vox Christi bass aria, beginning's with Jesus' last words, "It is accomplished" (John 19:30b), in a poignant acceptance of death. The congregation concludes with another Passion hymn prayer, "Jesus, your passion / is pure joy for me." To this Bach adds a solo oboe and string accompaniment to the alto and bass arias.1
In Bach time, Estomihi Sunday was the last before Lent, when figural music was banned in Leipzig services as a closed period, but which is not observed today's three-year lectionary, replaced by the Transfiguration of our Lord, found in the synoptic Gospels, which was observed in Bach's time on August 6 with the Gospel (Matt. 17:1-9). For today's services, Bach's Cantata 159 would be most suitable for Holy Week Tuesday and Good Friday with John's gospel (12:23 kjv), "The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified," and the Passion account, Chapters 18 and 19, says John Sutterlund.2 For today's Transfiguration Sunday (last befoire Lent), Bach's most appropriate work is Motet, BWV 225, "Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied" (Sing to the Lord a new song, Psalm 149:1), with Gospel, Mark 9:2-9; chorale Cantata BWV 130, "Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir (Lord God, we all praise you), with Year A Gospel Matthew 17:1-9; and Motet, BWV 50, "Nun ist das Heil und die Kraft" (Now is the salvation and the strength, Rev. 12:7), with Year C Gospel, Luke 9:28-36). Transfiguration refers to momentary divine radiance when Jesus and disciples Peter, James, and John go to a high mountain to pray and Jesus becomes radiant in conversation with Moses and Elijah (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transfiguration_of_Jesus). It is one of the milestone events in the life of Jesus (also Baptism, Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension), where Jesus connects the temporal and eternal in a spiritual place, an affirmation of his incarnation, truly man and truly God.
Cantata 159 was premiered on Estomihi Sunday, 27 February 1729, at the early main service of the Nikolaikirche before the sermon (not extant) on the Gospel (Luke 18:31-43) of Superintendent Salomon Deyling (1677-1755), says Martin Petzoldt in Bach Commentary, vol. 2, Advent to Trinityfest.3 The Introit Psalm for this Sunday in Bach's time was Psalm 31, In te, Domine, speravi (In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust, KJV https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+31&version=KJV), says Petzoldt (Ibid.: 599). It also is known in German as “In dich hab' ich gehoffet Herr."4 The synoptic Gospel satisfaction and Johannine Christus Victor theories of Christ's sacrificial atonement are discussed in "Notes on the Text," as well as commentary from and Peter Smaill and Julian Mincham. In addition (below) are commentaries of John Eliot Gardiner on "Connections to St. Matthew Passion" and Klaus Hofmann with a "Picander Profile." Another commentary, see Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sehet,_wir_gehn_hinauf_gen_Jerusalem,_BWV_159.
Cantata 159 movements, scoring, text, key, meter (German test and Francis Browne English translation,
1. Arioso [Bass] and Recitative [Alto; Violino I/II, Viola, Continuo]: Bass: "Sehet!" (See!); Alt: "Komm, schaue doch, mein Sinn, / Wo geht dein Jesus hin?" "Come, look now, my soul / Where is your Jesus going?); Bass: "Wir gehn hinauf" (We are going up); Alt: "O harter Gang! hinauf?" / O ungeheurer Berg, den meine Sünden zeigen! / Wie sauer wirst du müssen steigen!" (Oh, what a hard way! Up? / Oh monstrous mountain which my sins show! / With what harsh pain you must climb it!); Bass: "Gen Jerusalem" (To Jerusalem); Alt: Ach, gehe nicht! / Dein Kreuz ist dir schon zugericht', / Wo du dich sollst zu Tode bluten; / Hier sucht man Geißeln vor, dort bindt man Ruten; / Die Bande warten dein; / Ach, gehe selber nicht hinein! / Doch bliebest du zurücke stehen, / So müßt ich selbst nicht nach Jerusalem, / Ach, leider in die Hölle gehen." (Ah, do not go! / Your cross has already been prepared for you, / where you will bleed to death; / Here they look for whips, there they bind rods; / bonds await you; / Ah, do not yourself go there! / But if you were to stay behind, / then I myself would not be able to go to Jerusalem, / Alas, rather I would go down to hell.); c minor; 4/4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TJIezwmNh8).
2. Aria [Alto] alternating with Chorale Bar Form [Soprano]; Oboe col Soprano, Continuo e Fagotto] Alto: Ich folge dir nach (I follow after you) / Durch Speichel und Schmach; (through spitting and insult;) / Am Kreuz will ich dich noch umfangen, (I shall still embrace you on the cross,) / Dich lass ich nicht aus meiner Brust, (I shall not let you go from my breast,) / Und wenn du endlich scheiden musst, (and when you must finally depart,) Sollst du dein Grab in mir erlangen. (You will find your grave in me.). Soprano: Ich will hier bei dir stehen, (I shall stay here with you,) / Verachte mich doch nicht! (Do not despise me!); Von dir will ich nicht gehen, (I shall not leave you,); Bis dir dein Herze bricht. (Until your heart breaks.); Wenn dein Haupt wird erblassen (When your head grows pale); Im letzten Todesstoß, (at the last death blow,); Alsdenn will ich dich fassen, (then I shall embrace you,); In meinen Arm und Schoß (in my arms and bosom); E-flat Major; 6/8 pastorale-giga style (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkLKz55tNDk).
3. Recitative secco [Tenor, Continuo]: "Nun will ich mich, / Mein Jesu, über dich / In meinem Winkel grämen; / Die Welt mag immerhin / Den Gift der Wollust zu sich nehmen, / Ich labe mich an meinen Tränen
Und will mich eher nicht / Nach einer Freude sehnen, / Bis dich mein Angesicht / Wird in der Herrlichkeit erblicken, / Bis ich durch dich erlöset bin; / Da will ich mich mit dir erquicken. (Now I shall, / my Jesus, over you / grieve in my corner; / As always the world may give itself up / the poison of seeking pleasure, / I find refreshment in my tears / and would sooner not / long for any joy, / until face to face I/ shall see you in glory, / until I have been redeemed by you; / then with you I shall be brought to life."; b-Flat Major; 4/4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRQL3ya8Acc).
4. Aria two-part with ritornelli complex [Bass; Oboe, Violino I/II, Viola, Continuo]: A. "Es ist vollbracht, / Das Leid ist alle, / Wir sind von unserm Sündenfalle / In Gott gerecht gemacht. (It is accomplished, / suffering is over, / from our fall into sin / we are made just in God.); B. Nun will ich eilen / Und meinem Jesu Dank erteilen, / Welt, gute Nacht! / Es ist vollbracht!" (Now I shall hasten / and give thanks to my Jesus, / World, good night! / It is accomplished!); B-Flat Major; 4/4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPI8QKWxkNs).
5. Chorale plain [SATB; Oboe e Violino I col Soprano, Violino II coll'Alto, Viola col Tenore, Continuo]: "Jesu, deine Passion / Ist mir lauter Freude, / Deine Wunden, Kron und Hohn / Meines Herzens Weide; / Meine Seel auf Rosen geht, / Wenn ich dran gedenke, / In dem Himmel eine Stätt / Mir deswegen schenke." (Jesus, your passion / is pure joy for me, / your wounds, crown and shame / are what my soul feeds on; / my soul walks on roses, / when I think that because of this, / a place in heaven / is granted to me.); E-flat Major; 4/4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iKRPfDZdNg).
Notes on Text
The text emphasizes the first part of the Gospel, Jesus deciding to go to Jerusalem "where His Passion will be accomplished," says Alfred Dürr,5 which each movement interprets as: No. 1, an "ungeheurer Berg" (monstrous mountain); No. 2, "an incentive to follow him"; No. 3, "the motive for departing from the joys of this world"; Nos. 4 & 5, "an occasion for thanksgiving. The opening movement is "a dialogue of exceptionally dramatic power and stirring descriptiveness," the bass arioso with "eloquent text declamation"; the chorale aria (no. 2) "similarly wide-ranging and powerfully expressive in melodic style"; and the bass aria (no. 4), "the true high point of the cantata."
Cantata 159 begins with the "Dialogue regarding Jesus plan to go to Jerusalem," says Melvin P. Unger in his biblical text concordance.6 The other movements are described as follows: No. 2, "Accompanying Christ through humiliation and death"; No. 3, tenor recitative, "Mourning for Jesus"; No. 4, "Christ's passion now over and salvation accomplished; and No.5, plain chorale, "Christ's passion is my joy for it offers me heaven."
Various levels of meaning and connections to the St. Matthew Passion are found in Cantata 159, observes Peter Wollny.7 The opening Jesus-Soul duet is a biblical dictum "commented on and interpreted by interjections from the alto voice is freely composed verse"; the chorale duet trope (no. 2) is a "second level of meaning" with textual and musical link to the St. Matthew Passion, whose sound world "is even more powerfully evoked in the second aria" (no. 4), where, "Over a dense chordal background in the strings, the solo oboe unfolds a poignant lament, soon joined by the bass voice." The "elaborately harmonized chorale" "concludes this impressive work, which may be seen as one of the peaks of Bach's cantata output."
All three of Bach's non-chorale settings of Cantatas BWV 22, 23, and 159 emphasize Jesus' prophecy of his passion and death in the Gospel (Luke 18-31-34) and are closely related in their treatment of this prophecy, says W. Gillies Whittaker.8 "This episode made the strongest impression on the librettists and three of the cantatas deserve to be studied together as they have so much emotionally in common." Cantata 22, "Jesus nahm zu sich die Zwölfe" (Jesus took the twelve to himself, Luke 18:31a), "foreshadows the agony" of Jesus, Cantata 23, originally was presented during the communion service of Bach's successful probe on Estomihi Sunday, 2 February 1723, knowing that he was to present an oratorio Passion annually on Good Friday. Cantata 23, "Du wahrer Gott und Davids Sohn" (You true God and son of David), "was a prelude to the St. John Passion," says Whittaker (Ibid.: 422).
The first two dialogue movements (biblical dictum and poetry, chorale stanza and poetry) together are unusual in a Bach cantata. The chorale trope (no. 2), "amplifying and embroidering" the madrigalian poetry, so that in "the sentiments expressed the singers are at one throughout," observes Richard D. P. Jones.9 It expresses "the soul's determination to stand by Jesus throughout His suffering and death on the Cross." The final three movements of Cantata 159 carry the story forward, says Whittaker (Ibid.), with the tenor in the recitative secco (no. 3) as "a spectator of the Crucifixion and Resurrection" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hy0_Sum2K6Q). "The remarkable bass aria" begins with Jesus' last words from the cross, "It is accomplished" (John 19:30b), and includes the calming phrase, "Welt, gute Nacht" (World, good night, 1 John 2:17), symbolic of passing into death, followed by a repeat of the last words from the cross.
While Cantata 159 has references to Jesus' coming passion as found in Bach's St. Matthew Passion, notably the Anselm substitution theory of atonement found in the synoptic gospels (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satisfaction_theory_of_atonement), the Picander text also makes direct reference to the St. John Passion (SJP) with its emphasis on the contrasting Christus Victor theory of atonement (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christus_Victor), most notably in the use of the last of the Seven Words of Christ on the Cross, "It is accomplished" (Es ist vollbracht) to begin the bass aria (no. 4), as well as the penultimate Stanza 33 of Paul Stockmann's Passion narrative chorale, "Jesu Leiden, Pein und Tod)," beginning "Jesu, deine Passion / Ist mir lauter Freude" (Jesus, your passion / is pure joy for me, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iKRPfDZdNg). "Es ist vollbracht" in the SJP is a "meditation on these words," says Robin A. Leaver in his Cantata 159 essay,10 which "is the astonishingly beautiful alto aria with viola da gamba obbligato" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_QAoanXntw. The Cantata 159 bass aria (no. 4), "is a meditation on the same words as poignant and beautiful as the earlier aria" and "among Bach's finest creations" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w3B7C7BQVY).
Significance, Theology, Closing Chorale
The significance of Cantata 159, it's theological import, and the views of the closing chorale are discussed in Peter Smaill's BCML Part 2 commentary (June 8, 2008, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV159-D2.htm):
<< This is surely one of Bach's greatest Cantatas, consisting of an exceptionally dramatic introductory recitative and Arioso, and closing with an aria of outstanding beauty and compass, which is perfectly coupled to (for me) an exceptional chromatic harmonisation of a chorale. The conception of the Quinquagesima work is yet again an invocation to a Leipzig congregation to contemplate Jerusalem, the dramatic tension between the reenactment of the journey to Calvary with the response of the onlooker, and between movement of the Christ figure and the desire of the believer to be static, beside the Cross.
In theological terms it presages the outlook of the SMP (BWV 244); the sacrifice of Jesus has accomplished justification for all. the need for belief, essential to justification in Lutheranism , is only subtly present; common hints such as "glaube" [believe] or "Trost" [trust] do not appear, but the suggestion of "folge" (" follow") hints at the condition for salvation. John Eliot Gardiner [8], in his compilation CD for "Alles mit Gott", wisely keeps this Cantata to last and plays both the Bass aria BWV 159/4 (Mvt. 4) and the Chorale BWV 159/5 (Mvt. 5). Thunity of these two movements , the latter a collective commentary from an individual standpoint ( the aria is the opposite , the bass sings that "from our sinful fall we have been justified in God"), is a masterstroke. The harmonic tendency in the aria to the subdominant creates an affect of longing.
The emotional response and even the musical analysis of experts to Bach, is sometimes highly subjective. The words and music of the mystical final Chorale (Mvt. 5), with its hints of the medieval cult of the rose, cause Whittaker [Ibid.] to say: "The ante-penultimate line of the closing chorale (Mvt. 5) contains wonderfully beautiful chromatic harmonies"; whereas Dürr [Ibid.] can only say: "a plain four-part setting of the thirty-third verse of the hymn "Jesu Leiden Pein und Tod" by Paul Stockman (1633) brings the work to an end."! I am afraid the methodical Dürr loses to the impulsive and often inaccurate Whittaker on this point; it remains one of the most pleasurable Chorales to play by virtue of the intense harmonic colour and for once, highly poetic imagery.
Other Textual References, Bach's Treatment
In much later Cantata 159, the opening dialogue has Jesus saying the Gospel prophecy (Luke 18:31b) in vox Christ, "Sehet! Wir gehn hinauf gen Jerusalem" (See! We are going up to Jerusalem, Luke 18:31). The injunction, "Sehet," reminiscent of the miniature arioso for bass voice representing the vox Christi, “Siehe, ich stehe vor der Tür und klopfe an” (See, I stand before the door and knock, Revelation 3:20), in Cantata 61, “Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland” (Now come, saviour of the gentiles), for the 1st Sunday in Advent 1714. Jesus' single sentence beginning Cantata 159 elicits the response of the Soul as onlooker hesitant to symbolically accompany Jesus to Jerusalem but finally "courage is gained and a fresh resolution announced in a duet" (no. 2). In the soprano-alto chorale aria (no. 2, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkLKz55tNDk), the alto begins with the phrase, "Ich folge dir" (I follow you), a reference to John 18:15, when Peter and another disciple follow Jesus to his trial before Caiaphas. This in the St. John Passion is the title of the tenor aria in passepied style, "Ich folge dir gleichfalls mit freudigen Schritten, I will follow you likewise with joyful steps and (I) will not let you (go) [Gen. 32:26, Ich lasse dich nicht], No. 9 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiSdFGjCOuQ), an original aria showing no direct influences from the Hamburg poets Barthold Heinrich Brockes (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Lib/Brockes-Barthold-Heinrich.htm) or Christian Heinrich Postel (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Heinrich_Postel; http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Articles/SJP-Hoffman-1.htm).
The closing chorale stanza in Cantata 159 also is sung by a soprano in the troped bass aria inserted into the 1725 second version of the SJP, Jesus-Soul dialogue aria, "Himmel reiße, Welt erbebe" (Heaven, tear apart; world, quake), when the servant strikes Jesus (John 18:23), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPOuxI4Vh2Y). Two other stanzas of Stockman's chorale (https://hymnary.org/text/jesu_leiden_pein_und_tod) also are set as plain chorales in the SJP: No. 14, "Petrus, der nicht denk zurück" (Peter, who does not think back at all), closing Part 1, and No. 28, "Er nahm Alles wohl in Ach in der letzten Stunde" (He thought carefully of everything in his last hour), music https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svntcnFoMGU. In addition, Bach set the 8th stanza, "Jesus ohne missethat / Im garten verbanden" (Jesus without misdeed in the garden was captured) in the St. Mark Passion, BWV 247/21, possibly to the melody "Jesu, er du selbsten wohl, BWV 355 (http://www.bach-chorales.com/BWV0355.htm.
Bach's St. John Passion was premiered on Good Friday, 7 April 1724, and the second version on 30 March 1725, with three substitute chorale settings to open and close the work, opening chorus"O Mensch, bewein dein Sünde Gross" (O man, bewail thy great sins), and closing chorus, "Christe, du Lamm Gottes" (Christ, thou lamb of God), as well as "Jesu, deine Passion" (Jesus, your passion), Paul Stockman hymn, in a Jesus-Soul dialogue aria, "Himmel reiße, Welt erbebe" (Heaven, tear apart; world, quake), when the servant strikes Jesus (John 18:23). All three chorales are infused with the synoptic gospel emphasis on the Anselm substitution theory of sacrificial atonement, instead of the John Gospel Christus Victor concept.
Estomihi Cantatas Context, Invention
The context and "enormous range of inventive originality" in Bach's four cantatas for Estomihi is explored in Julian Mincham's Cantata 159 Commentary introduction (http://www.jsbachcantatas.com/documents/chapter-41-bwv-159ll/). <<This is the last of four extent cantatas for this day. Cs 23 and 22 (vol 1, chapters 44 & 45) were performed as part of the first Leipzig cycle although, for special reasons, they predated it (see below). Cantata 127 (vol 2, chapter 40) is one of the great second cycle chorale cantatas. Looking over these four works, one cannot help but be struck by the enormous range of inventive originality that this particular day seems to have kindled in Bach. Perhaps, aware that his congregations would be deprived of music in the ensuing weeks, Bach made special efforts to produce cantatas of exceptional quality for the last Sunday before Lent.
He did, however, have special reasons for ensuring that Cs 22 and 23 were works of particular quality and significance. He presented them in February 1723 as the two audition pieces in support of his application for the position of cantor. Both were used again for this day in February 1724 although in the case of C 23 revised and transposed (Dürr p 242). These two cantatas display noticeable dramatic and operatic features causing one to muse that if the Leipzig authorities were not partial to such styles, why did they appoint Bach? They knew from these works just what he could already do and, hinting at what he was further capable of. It could be, of course, that those members of the appointing panel who disliked the intrusions of operatic music into the church services were, albeit a vocal group, nevertheless a minority.
Cantata 127, the thirty-ninth of the forty consecutive chorale cantatas, begins with a fantasia of great luminosity, a beautiful study in the subtle shading of musical colours through the convergence of major and minor keys. However, C 159, like C 23, begins not with a chorus but with a duet, the opening movement of which puts the listener in mind of the four dialogue cantatas from the third cycle. Like them, it is a discourse between Christ and the Soul although with significant differences. Here the voices are bass and alto (rather than soprano) and there are further solo parts for the other two voices, tenor and soprano, in later movements. Consequently the ′dialogue′ aspects of this work pertain only to the opening duet, a movement of great dramatic force, indicating yet again Bach′s knowledge of, and interest in, operatic styles and their adaptation for the church. The increased use of solo and dialogue cantatas from 1726 may also signify a growing tolerance of operatic music by the authorities and congregations of the great Leipzig churches.>>
Estomihi Chorales, Cantatas
The singing of Passiontide hymns, according to the Leipzig and Dresden hymnals in Bach's time, was begunon Estomihi Sunday, says Günther Stiller.11 Bach "incorporated such Lenten hymns" in his four Estomihi cantatas 22, 23, 127, and 159. Cantata 22, "Jesus nahm zu sich die Zwölfe" (Jesus took the twelve to himself, Luke 18:31), closes with "Herr Christ, der einig Gotts Sohn" (Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God), NLGB 231 (Catechism Justification), final stanza 6, "Ertöt uns durch dein Güte" (Kill us with your goodness), which the Leipzig hymnbooks designated for the 6th Sunday after Epiphany," says Stiller. Cantata 23, "Du wahrer Gott und Davids Sohn" (You true God and son of David), closes with the chorale chorus, "Christe, du Lamm Gottes" (Christ, you lamb of God), the Luther's German Agnus Dei (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Scores/BWV127-M1-Chorale.htm), which is listed in the Dresden hymnals for Estomihi and Lent. Chorale Cantata 127 uses "Herr Jesu Christ, wahr' Mensch und Gott" (Lord Jesus Christ, true God and man, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/Chorale133-Eng3.htm; NLBG 338, Death & Dying), the Weißenfels hymnbook Estomihi Hymn of the Day and in the Dresden hymnbooks for the last three Sundays in Lent.
Bach Quinquagesima Estomihi performance calendar shows that besides his four cantatas, he presented one of Johann Ludwig Bach in 1726 and one of Gottfried Heinrich in 1736.12
1723-02-07, Cantata BWV 22 Jesus nahm zu sich die Zwölfe + Cantata BWV 23 Du wahrer Gott und Davids Sohn
1724-02-20, repeat Cantata BWV 22 + Cantata BWV 23
1725-02-11, Cantata BWV 127 Herr Jesu Christ, wahr' Mensch und Gott
1726-03-03, J.L. Bach, Cantata Ja, mir hast du Arbeit gemacht, JLB-5
1727-02-23, repeat Cantata 22/23
1728-31, BWV 23 repeat 1728–31, in its final version (C minor, four movements)
1729-02-27, Cantata BWV 159 Sehet! wir gehn hinauf gen Jerusalem
1736-02-12, G.H. Stölzel: Siehe, das ist Gottes Lamm, welches der Welt Sünde trägt [Not extant]
Passion Chorale Settings
Bach sets two Passion chorale texts, the so-called Passion Chorale, known in English as "O sacred head now wounded," and the Paul Stockman pre-pietist Passion harmony account, "Jesu Leiden, Pein und Tod" (Jesus’ Suffering, Pain and Death) The words of the choral in the troped aria (no. 2) are Stanza 6, "Ich will hier bei dir stehen" (I shall stand here with you), of Paul Gerhardt’s 10-stanza Passiontide Hymn, “O Haupt voll Blut” (O head full of blood) a translation of St Bernard of Clairvaulx’ (?) Salve caput cruentatum (Hail, head, covered in blood),13 says Charles S. Terry. 14 "It appeared first in Johann Cruger’s Praxis Pietatis Melica, Frankfort, 1656." << Hans Leo Hassler’s melody [Zahn 5385a] was published first in his Lustgarten Neuer Teutscher Gesang, Balletti, Galliarden und Intraden mit 4, 5, 6 und 8 Stimmen, Nurnberg, 1601. It was, however, set there to a secular love song, “Mein G’mut ist mir verwirret von einer Jungfrau zart.” Like so many other secular tunes, Hassler’s was pressed into the service of the Church. In 1613 it was attached to Christoph Knoll’s (1563-1650) Hymn, “Herzlich thut mich verlangen.” (Harmoniae sacrae, Gorlitz, 1613), and forty-three years later, in Johann Cruger’s Praxis Pietatis Melica (Frankfort, 1656), was set to Paul Gerhardt’s “O Haupt voll Blut.” “Herzlich thut mich verlangen” is found in Bach's Das neu Leipziger Gesangbuch (NLGB) of 1682 as No. 329, Death & Dying," but is not listed in the Orgelbüchlein.
The words of the closing plain chorale, BWV 159/5 (http://www.bach-chorales.com/BWV0159_5.htm) are Paul Stockmann’s Passiontide Hymn, “Jesu Leiden, Pein und Tod,” which first appeared in his Aller Christen Leib-Stucke, Leipzig 1633, says Terry (Ibid.).15 <<The melody [Zahn 6288b), “Jesu Kreuz, Leiden und Pein,” was composed by Melchior Vulpius. This, his most notable, tune appeared in his Ein schon geistlich Gesangbuch, published at Jena in 1609, an enlarged edition of his Kirchen Geseng und Geistliche Lieder, Leipzig, 1604. It is there set to Petrus Herbert’s (d. 1571) Hymn “Jesu Kreuz, Leiden und Pein” [Jesus' cross, suffering and pain]. Adjusted to Paul Stockmann’s “Jesu Leiden, Pein und Tod,” it was included in Johann Hildebrandt’s Geistlicher Zeit-Vertreiber (Leipzig, 1656). By 1714 (the Weissenfels Gesang-Und Kirchenbuch) the tune had in great measure assumed the form Bach employs.>>. It is found in the NLGB as No. 77, Passiontide, but is not listed in the Orgelbüchlein. The melody (Zahn 6288 is found in the 1995 Evangelisches Gesangbuch as No. 88, "Jesu, deine Passion will ich jetzt bedenken" (Jesus, I want to consider your passion now), with an older melody (Zahn 6287a) as No. 78, "Jesu Kreuz, Leiden und Pein"
Connections to St. Matthew Passion
Cantata 159 connections to the St. Matthew Passion are discussed in John Eliot Gardiner 2006 liner notes to the 2000 Bach Cantata Pilgrimage on Soli Deo Gloria (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Performers/Gardiner-Rec4.htm#P21).
<< Last in this Quinquagesima programme was BWV 159 Sehet! Wir gehn hinauf gen Jerusalem, a five movement Stück to a text by Picander first performed on 27 February 1729. It opens in medias res, as it were, with a dialogue for Jesus (the bass soloist) proclaiming the words in St Luke (18:31) ‘Behold, we go up to Jerusalem’, and the Christian soul (alto) imploring the Saviour to avoid the fate before him (‘the cross is already prepared... the fetters await Thee’). The alto is accompanied by all the strings, while the bass’s words are given over a disjointed ‘walking’ bass which stops after the drop of a seventh as though Jesus pauses on his journey, turns to his disciples and tries to alert them to his approaching trial and death. Again one senses an instant affinity with the St Matthew Passion – the same Magdalene-like outpouring of grief and outrage (‘Ach Golgatha, unsel’ges Golgatha!’), the same librettist and the same elevated tone and intensity of expression.
The similarities continue with the second movement, a flowing 6/8 aria for alto and continuo with the sixth verse of the celebrated Passion chorale ‘O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden’ by Paul Gerhardt (1656) sung above it by the sopranos. The fourth movement opens with the words ‘Es ist vollbracht’ – that Bach should have set these words twice, first in the St John Passion and then in this cantata, both so memorably and each time with such overwhelming but distinctive pathos, is something to marvel at. In this cantata version in B flat, for oboe, strings and bass soloist, time seems almost to stand still – even when the singer’s words are ‘Now shall I hasten’ – radiating a solemn peace achieved through Christ’s resignation to his fate. This may be partly a function of the exceptional richness of Bach’s harmonic language – a frequent stressing of the subdominant key, even the subdominant of the subdominant! The final chorale sets a stanza of Paul Stockmann’s Passiontide poem ‘Jesu Leiden, Pein und Tod’ (1633) to Vulpius’ tender melody, with wonderfully satisfying chromatic harmonies over a lyrical bass line.>>
© John Eliot Gardiner 2006, From a journal written in the course of the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage
Picander Profile
A profile of the librettist Picander begins Klaus Hofmann's Cantata 159 liner notes to the Masaaki Suzuki 2010 BIS recording of the complete Bach cantatas (http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Performers/Suzuki-Rec3.htm#C49).
<< The special factor that links the four cantatas on this recording is the provenance of their texts. These come from a series of cantata texts for the whole church year, four editions of which were published in Leipzig in 1728–29 with the title ‘Cantaten Auf die Sonn- und Fest-Tage durch das gantze Jahr, verfertiget durch Picandern’ (‘Cantatas for the Sundays and Feast Days through the Whole Year, written by Picander’). The pseudonym Picander belonged to the poet Christian Friedrich Henrici (1700-64) who, after studies in Wittenberg, settled in Leipzig in 1720 and was henceforth active primarily as a writer of occasional poetry. His collaboration with Bach began in 1725, and was soon to result in a work of major importance: the St Matthew Passion. Picander had extensive knowledge of theology as well as a thorough grounding in music; as a poet he exhibited an exceptional linguistic and formal talent, which made him an ideal partner for Bach. This was especially evident when it came to making so-called ‘parodies’ of existing musical works – in other words, reworking their texts to make them appropriate for a new set of circumstances. This had to be done in such a way that the new text could be combined as seamlessly as possible with the existing music to form an artistically convincing entity.
Picander’s cycle of texts is offset against the church year, beginning on Midsummer’s Day, 14th June 1728, and ending with the fourth Sunday after Trinity in 1729. In the preface to Midsummer’s Day 1728 Picander mentions a plan to have the texts set to music by Bach, for performance in the two main Leipzig churches. Unfortunately Bach’s settings have been preserved for only nine of these texts, and even some of these cantatas have survived only in fragmentary form. Over the past fifty years the small number of these settings has given rise to sometimes heated debate among Bach scholars as to whether Bach ever wrote the music for all the church year’s texts, or whether he composed just a few pieces. Much – indeed everything, apart from the paucity of surviving works – supports the idea that he did compose a complete set, even though this means that some fifty Bach cantatas have thus been lost without trace. Admittedly the discussion of Bach’s ‘Picander year’ is by no means at an end. For the past decade the idea has been circulating that it might in fact have been a ‘parody year’, in which Bach consciously turned to existing music in some cases. A copy of the 1728–29 Leipzig texts, recently discovered in the Russian National Library in St Petersburg, gives rise to hope that – even in the 21st century – newly unearthed sources may help us to resolve not only this matter but also other open questions regarding our knowledge of Bach.>>
<<Sehet, wir gehn hinauf gen Jerusalem, BWV 159 (Behold, We Go Up To Jerusalem). Estomihi Sunday (Quinquagesima), for which this cantata was intended, is the last Sunday before the beginning of the Passiontide. The Gospel passage for this day, Luke 18:31–43, anticipates Jesus’ path of suffering. It begins with the words: ‘Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished.’
Picander began his text for the Leipzig church service on 27th February 1729 with a dramatic dialogue scene between Jesus and the faithful Soul. Jesus speaks the opening words of his prediction of suffering, and the Soul replies, initially in the manner of a monologue, anxious and concerned, terrified, full of compassion, but then with the plea ‘Ach, gehe nicht!’ (‘Oh, do not go!’) – and finally with insight into the indissoluble association between the way of suffering and the way of salvation. This masterful text inspired Bach to produce a wonderful piece of music. Jesus’ words, as usual allocated to the bass, are heard as an arioso. From the very first bar the atmosphere is that of Bach’s Passions: Jesus’ words are heard in an expressively flowing melody, noble and other-worldly in character. The movement ‘hinauf’ (‘upwards’) is illustrated by rising musical lines, even in the continuo. In addition to this the words of the Soul, in the alto register, are set as a recitative with a string accompaniment that provides a richly expressive harmonic foundation for the emotionally charged Sprechgesang.
The following events in Jesus’ life – up until his death – are the subject of the following alto aria, which is combined with, complemented and affirmed by the soprano singing the well-known strophe ‘Ich will hier bei dir stehen’ (‘I will stay here with you’) from Paul Gerhardt’s Passiontide hymn O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden (O Sacred Head, Now Wounded, 1656). Right at the beginning of the vocal part, Bach presents a memorable image of what is awaiting Jesus in the double canon-like imitation of the vocal line in the continuo. The ‘Passion tone’ that characterized the beginning of the cantata returns in the second aria [no. 4]. With Jesus’s words on the cross ‘Es ist vollbracht’ (‘It is finished’ – from John 19:30) the text anticipates the Passiontide events. Above stately string writing a noble, gently mournful oboe cantilena develops; the vocal part continues with the same material. The movement, which is about gratitude for Jesus’ acts of salvation, then becomes more agitated. With dignified simplicity the cantata is rounded off by a strophe from Paul Stockmann’s hymn Jesu Leiden, Pein und Tod (Jesus’ Suffering, Pain and Death) with a suggestion of Passiontide.>>
© Klaus Hofmann 2010
Provenance
The provenance of Cantata 159 is described in Thomas Braatz's BCW article (February 15, 2002 and June 12, 2008, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Ref/BWV159-Ref.htm).
<<The autograph score and parts were lost together will all the other source materials of the year-long cantata cycle known as the Picander Cantata Cycle (1728-29). These had belonged to Wilhelm Friedemann Bach and nobody seems to know why these cantatas disappeared so completely without a trace. The only reason, why we are able to hear this cantata in a version probably quite true to the original is that Christian Friedrich Penzel had made a copy from the original (c. 1770, https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00002005) Very likely he had to pay W.F. Bach dearly to “take a peek!” Penzel’s copy is most important source for the printed editions of the BG (Vol 32) (July 1886) and the NBA I/8. Of some special interest is the situation regarding the famous bass aria (Mvt. 4). It is missing in the Penzel score! He left space for it, but never completed it (perhaps the time allotted for his ‘peek’ at the scores had run out?) Luckily he had been able to copy all the mvts. for the set of parts. The missing aria in the Penzel copy of the score was filled in by one of the later owners of the score: Franz Hauser, a collector of Bach’s works. As a famous bass soloist, Hauser must have been disturbed by the missing bass aria in the score, thus he reconstructed the score from the parts [https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00002687] almost a century later and filled in what Penzel had omitted for some unknown reason. Further details from the NBA KB I/8.1-2, pp. 76-88.>>
<<2nd Mvt. Oboe and Bassoon Parts: These parts were not part of the original set of parts that Christian Friedrich Penzel (1737-1801, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Lib/Penzel-Christian-Friedrich.htm) had prepared at the time when he had copied the score (circa 1770). The oboe and bassoon parts have been identified as Nachträge (addenda) that had probably been created after Penzel’s copy of the score and parts (not the Organo transposto part by another copyist) had been completed but before an actual performance that must havtaken place after 1770 in Merseburg where Penzel had obtained the position of Cathedral- and City-cantor in that city beginning in 1765-1766. [Wilhelm Friedemann Bach was the organist and music director at the Liebfrauenkirche in Halle from 1746-1771. There is evidence that W.F. Bach knew Penzel personally. Halle is situated not too far from Merseburg.]>> Provenance: C. F. Penzel - J. G. Schuster (1801) - F. Hauser (1833) - J. Hauser (1870) - BB (now Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preußischer Kulturbesitz) (1904).
<< Missing Recitative: Picander’s cantata text contains a recitative which is missing in the Bach original. This, however, may be due to other factors such as Penzel’s uneven and sometimes unreliable transmission which is the only source available. Bach may have composed music for this recitative: "Herr Jesu, dein verdienstlich Leiden / Ist meine Herrlichkeit / Mein Trost, mein Ruhm, mein Schmuck und Ehrenkleid. / Daran erhalt ich mich, drauf leb ich allezeit, / Drauf will ich auch dereinst verscheiden." This recitative was positioned after the bass aria Es ist vollbracht [no. 4] and before the final chorale.>>
FOOTNOTES
1 Cantata 159, BCW Details & Discography, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV159.htm. Score Vocal & Piano, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Scores/BWV159-V&P.pdf; Score BGA, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BGA/BWV159-BGA.pdf. References: BGA XXXII (Cantatas 151-160, Ernst Naumann, 1886), NBA KB I/8.1 (Estomihi cantatas, Christoph Wolff, 1998), NBA score (https://www.carusmedia.com/images-intern/medien/30/3115900/3115900x.pdf); Bach Compendium BC A 50, Zwang K 176.
2 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: 48f).
3 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: 631).
4 Polyphonic motet settings are found in Jan Peter Sweelinck, http://www3.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/In_te,_Domine,_speravi_(Jan_Pieterszoon_Sweelinck) ;
Heinrich Schütz, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_compositions_by_Heinrich_Schütz); Josquin des Pres, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josquin_des_Prez); Nicolas Gombert, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aa4hXfDMPTA); Orlando de Lassus, http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2013/Apr13/Rex_orbis_MEW1267.htm); Hans Leo Hassler, http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2013/Apr13/Rex_orbis_MEW1267.htm); Jean-Baptiste Lully, http://books.wwnorton.com/books/detail-contents.aspx?ID=13401); as well as Palestrina (http://imslp.org/wiki/Missarum%2C_Liber_6_(Palestrina%2C_Giovanni_Pierluigi_da).
5 Alfred Dürr, The Cantatas of J. S. Bach, ed. & trans. Richard D. P. Jones (Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press, 2005: 252).
6 Melvin P. Unger, Handbook to Bach's Sacred Cantata Texts: An Interlinear Translation with Reference Guide to Biblical Quotation and Allusions. (Lanham Md.: Scarecrow Press, 1996: 48-50).
7 Peter Wollny, "Jesu deine Passion," Estomihi Cantatas, liner notes to Philippe Herreweghe 2007 Harmonia Mundi recording, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Performers/Herreweghe.htm#C19; music, Cantata BWV 159: Complete Cantata [13:23].
8 W. Gillies Whittaker: The Cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach (London: Oxford University Press, 1959, 421ff).
9 Richard D. P. Jones, The Creative Development of Johann Sebastian Bach, Vol. II, 1717-1750, Music to Delight the Spirit (Oxford: Oxford University Press: 2013: 196f).
10 Robin A Leaver, in Oxford Composer Companions: J. S. Bach, ed. Malcolm Boyd (Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 1999: 446).
11 Günther Stiller, Johann Sebastian Bach and Liturgical Life in Leipzig, ed. Robin A. Leaver (Concordia Publishing: St. Louis, 1985: 238f).
12 In addition to the Ludwig Bach work (https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00008208?lang=en), Sebastian's colleagues works identified for Estomihi (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_cantata#Last_Sunday_before_Lent_(Estomihi) include: Georg Philipp Telemann, "Seele, lerne dich erkennen, TWV 1:1258 (Harmonischer Gottes-Dienst, Hamburg 1726); Christoph Graupner, see List of cantatas by Christoph Graupner § GWV 1119; Stölzel, Siehe dein König kommt zu dir (1738); and student Gottfried August Homilius: Legt eure Harfen hin, HoWV II.49 (by 1773, https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00008999?lang=en).
13 "O Haupt voll Blut," Gerhardt text and Francis Browne English translation, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/Chorale071-Eng3.htm, with Salve caput cruentatum and his translation; Gerhardt (1607-1676) BCW biography, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Lib/Gerhardt.htm; varied melodies, text information and Bach's uses, BCW http://www.bach-cantatas.com/CM/Befiehl-du-deine-Wege.htm; Hans Leo Hassler (1564-1612), BCW biography, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Lib/Hassler.htm.
14 Charles S. Terry, Bach’s Chorals. Part I: The Hymns and Hymn Melodies of the “Passions” and Oratorios (Cambridge University Press, 2018, http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/2055.
15 “Jesu Leiden, Pein und Tod,” Paul Stockman German text, https://hymnary.org/text/jesu_leiden_pein_und_tod; English (on-line) translation, https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=https://hymnary.org/text/jesu_leiden_pein_und_tod&prev=search; Stockman (1603-636), BCW biography, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Lib/Stockmann.htm; Melchior Vulpius (1560/70-1650), BCW biography, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Lib/Vulpius.htm.
———
To come: Estomihi Chorales in Bach's time, today's hymn's for the Time After Epiphany, and the Estomihi cantatas of Ludwig Bach and Emmanuel Bach. |
