Recordings/Discussions
Background Information
Performer Bios

Poet/Composer Bios

Additional Information

Recordings & Discussions of Cantatas: Main Page | Cantatas BWV 1-50 | Cantatas BWV 51-100 | Cantatas BWV 101-150 | Cantatas BWV 151-200 | Cantatas BWV 201-224 | Cantatas BWV Anh | Order of Discussion
Discussions of General Topics: Cantatas & Other Vocal Works | Performance Practice | Radio, Concerts, Festivals, Recordings


Cantata BWV 3
Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid [I]
Discussions - Part 5

Continue from Part 4

Discussions in the Week of January 18, 2015 (4th round)

William L. Hoffman wrote (January 18, 2015):
Cantata BWV 3, 'Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid': Intro.

While Bach’s chorale Cantata BWV 3, “Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid” (Ah God, how many a heartache) has little to do with the Gospel for the 2nd Sunday after Epiphany, John 2: 1-11, the Wedding Feast at Cana where Christ performs his first miracle turning water into wine, beyond the sense of transformation, Martin Moller’s 1587 “Cross and Persecution” chorale become the springboard for an extended (25 minute), engaging, almost mini-Baroque operatic work with an elegiac opening chorale fantasia; a dramatic recitative for four voices interspersed with choral commentary; a writhing tenor continuo da-capo aria about “Hell’s anguish and torment,” a long commentary recitative for tenor; an utterly appealing soprano-alto da-capo duet with full orchestra support, and a closing congregational prayer.1

Into the framework of a typical, symmetrical chorale cantata with opening chorus and closing chorale, two extended recitatives and two da-capo arias, the unknown librettist takes the four-line 18-stanza text with the familiar Martin Behm “Death and Dying” hymn, “O [Herr] Jesu Christ, mein’s Lebens Licht” (Lord Jesus Christ, my Life’s Light), enriches its with personal, pietistic sentiments of Jesus hymns aqs well as sharply contrasting images of “friendship and goodness” and “anguish and pain,” “the grave’s terror” and “heavenly joy” “like a light mist.” To this, Bach uses integrating ostinato motives (2nd movement), cross figures (Mvt. 5) inspired by the words “Jesus helps me to bear my cross,” and an overall unifying effect particularly in the opening chorus, choral recitative and soprano-alto duet.

The first performance of Cantata 3 took place on January 14, 1725, at the early main service at the Thomaskirche, before the sermon of Christian Weise Sr. (1671-1736) on the Gospel, John 2:1-11, of the wedding Feast at Cana with Jesus’ first miracle, turning water into wine, according to Martin Petzoldt, BACH Commentary, Vol. 2, Advent to Trinityfest. 2

Readings for the 2nd Sunday after Epiphany: Epistle: Romans 12:6-16 (Paul’s Letter: Love and other duties are required of us); Gospel: John 2: 1-11 (Wedding Feast at Cana: Christ turns water into wine (first miracle). Complete text is the Martin Luther German translation (1545), with the English translation Authorised (King James) Version [KJV] 1611; for complete texts, see BCW Readings, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Read/Epiphany2.htm.

The Introit Psalm for the 2nd Sunday after Epiphany is Psalm 127, Nisi Dominus, Except the Lord build the house (KJV), says Petzoldt (Ibid.: 433), which he describes as “Gesegnete Haushaltung und Regierung” (Blessing of the household and reign). Motet settings of the chant include Monteverdi in the 1610 Vespers of the Virgin Mary, Ludwig Senfl (a 5 voices, 1530, for Luther, http://www.musicwebinternational.com/classrev/2010/Apr10/senfl_che01472.htm), Palestrina, di Lasso, and Schütz. The best-known and recorded are Vivaldi, RV 608 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrbPSeM84ZE), and Handel’s, HWV 238 SSATB (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuwW_OaSkVI).

Overview of Cantatas for Epiphany 2

An overview of all three Bach cantatas for the 2nd Sunday after Epiphany -- the negative titles, music moving from mourning to consolation, and a sense of transformation based on the day’s Gospel -- is provided in John Eliot Gardiner’s 2006 liner notes introduction to the 2000 Bach Cantata Pilgrimage Soli Deo Gloria recordings.3 “At first glance one might have thought it a little odd that, for a Sunday in which the Collect is ‘Unto us a child is born. Hallelujah!’, Bach left us three cantatas with the titles ‘My God, how long, ah! how long?’ (BWV 155), ‘Ah God, what deep affliction’ (BWV 3) and ‘My sighs, my tears’ (BWV 13) [BWV 155 Mein Gott, wie lang’, ach lange? (Weimar, 1716), BWV 3 Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid (Leipzig, 1725), BWV 13 Meine Seufzer, meine Tränen (Leipzig, 1726)]. Was this just a case of the Lutheran clergy making a fetish of the hair-shirt approach to life’s woes? The texts of the cantatas inscribe a path from mourning to consolation – one illuminated by Bach’s music – and, by varying degrees of emphasis on the Gospel for the day (the miracle of the turning of water into wine), they employ this as a symbol of the transformation of earthly troubles into heavenly bliss. They also point to the ‘proper’ time (‘Mine hour is not yet come’, Jesus said to his mother) at which the believers’ long vigil of tribulation and doubt will finally end.”

Special Praise for Chorus, Recitative, Duet

Special praise for the opening chorale fantasia, the chorale-troped four-voice recitative (Mvt. 2) and the soprano-alto duet (Mvt. 5), are found in W. Gillies Whittaker’s Cantatas of JSB.4 “The continually shifting lights of the chromatic harmonies and the exquisite texture of the chorus makes us marvel at Bach’s art time and again.” Whittaker, who often criticizes Bach’s chorale interpolations into recitatives in the Trinity Time chorale cantatas as conflicting, has special praise for the four-part trope of Stanza 2 (mvt. 2), Chorale, “Wie schwerlich läßt sich Fleisch und Blut” (With what difficulty is flesh and blood); Tenor recit., “So nur nach Irdischem und Eitlem trachtet” (- that strives after only what is earthly and vain): “This is one of the most satisfactory of those numbers which contain hymn-lines interspersed with recitatives; the unifying diminutive, the strong choral phrases, the proportions and perfection of the recitatives dissipate the usual sense of uncomfortable jostling of diverse elements.” The duet, “Wenn Sorgen auf mich dringen, / Will ich in Freudigkeit / Zu meinem Jesu singen” (When cares press upon me, / I want in joy / to sing to my Jesus), is “one of the loveliest of all duets, perhaps the finest in the cantatas,” with its “rich unison of violins and oboes d-amore.” “It is advisable under modern conditions to shorten the Da Capo in most solo numbers, but one cannot find the heart to curtail this warmly glowing and entrancing duet by a single bar.”

Cantata 3 text is based on Martin Moller’s 4-line, 18-stanza hymn, “Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid” (1587, EKG 286), (Mvts. 1, 2, 6; Stanzas 1, 2, 18 unaltered); anonymous librettist (Mvts. 3-5, Stanzas 3-16 paraphrased). It is listed in Das Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch of 1682 as No. 289 under the omnes tempore category “Cross & Persecution.” It was first published in Moller’s Meditationes Sanctorum Patrum (Görlitz, 1587, 2nd ed.), says Charles Sanford Terry in Bach’s Chorals, vol. 2 The Hymns and Hymn Melodies of the Cantatas and Motetts.5 It is a free paraphrase of the Latin Jesu dulcis memoria, says Alfred Dürr in Cantatas of JSB. 6 It is a Christian hymn attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) and is used in the Liturgy of the Hours (Latin text and English translation, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesu_Dulcis_Memoria. The Moller text and Francis Browne English translation are found at BCW, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/Chorale065-Eng3.htm. The Moller BCW Short Biography is found at http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Lib/Moller.htm.

Dick Wursten wrote (January 25, 2003): Some notes on the hymn of Martin Moller (BCML Discussions, Part 1, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV3-D.htm):
<<As said already: the cantata is based on a long hymn by Martin Moller: Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid. Verse 1, 2 and 18 are quoted for th1stt, 2nd and 6th; elements of the other verses are paraphrased for the other movements of this cantata.

The hymn itself is based on another hymn: Jesu dulcis memoria (Moller paraphrases this hymn from the 3rd verse in the modern edition, which has 10 verses): Jesu mein Herr und Gott allein, wie suess ist mir der Name dein. (Jesus, my Lord and God, how sweet is your name to me). BTW: I have the strong feeling that Newtons hymn: How sweet the name of Jesus sounds also pays tribute to this Latin hymn.

I once again want to pull attention to this: Jesu dulcis memoria is one of those pious hymns around the 'remembrance' of Jesus name, which is so 'sweet' (i.e. gives joy and life to the soul of man). these hymns date back to the 11th century. Jesu dulcis memoria is a beautiful poem, in the tradition of the piety of (and therefore attributed to) Bernard of Clairvaux.
The beautiful motet of Heinrich Schütz: O bone Jesu is based on the same Latin hymn.
Editions and translations of these medieval pious hymns kept appearing in the beginning of the 'modern era' in roman catholic editions but also in protestant editions (and editing), until the 17th century.
The famous passion-hymn 'O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden' (Paul Gerhard) is also based on a medieval hymn (Salve mundi salutare) which meditates the wounds of Christ, also attributed to Bernardus and also popular with both roman-catholics and protestants [BTW Buxtehudes 'Membra Jesu nostri' is based on this hymn].
Conclusion: Piety creates a cross-over between institutional (church) borders.
Personal hope: Piety caught in music will break down the wall. Proof ? Bach.>>

Chorale Melody: ‘Herr Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht”

The Chorale Melody is “Herr Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht II,” original composer: Anonymous (c1455). Chorale Melody, BCW http://www.bach-cantatas.com/CM/Herr-Jesu-Christ-meins-Lebens-Licht.htm. It is found in the NLGB as No. 374, “Death and Dying,” omnes tempore. Says Terry (Ibid.): <<In the first, second, and last movements of the Cantata [3] Bach uses the melody generally known as “Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid.” By prescriptive right it should bear the name of Martin Behm’s finest Hymn, “O [Herr] Jesu Christ, mein’s Lebens Licht,” first published in 1610. The earliest version of the tune is set to Behm’s Hymn in As hymnodus sacer (Leipzig, 1625). It bears, however, so close a resemblance to a Konigsberg ms. melody of 1602 that it must be considered a derivative of that tune or of some common source. The proper, and quite distinct, melody of “Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid” probably was composed by Bartholomäus Gesius and appeared first in his Ein ander new Opus Geistlicher Deutscher Lieder (Frankfort a. Oder, 1605). Bach uses the melody also in Cantatas Nos. 44/4 [tenor aria, S.1, Exaudi 1724], 58/1 [SB duet, S.1, SaNY 1727], 118 [chorus S.1, funeral, c.1736], and 153/9 [PC, S.16-18, SaNY, 1724]. Invariably he prefers the form of lines 1-3 in Joseph Clauder’s Psalmodia nova (Leipzig, 1630).>>

<<This melody [Zahn 533a], Herr Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht II, is based upon the secular song Ich fahr dahin, wann es muß sein (“I will go when it is necessary” - ‘dahin fahren’ often meant ‘to die’ not only to travel to some other location on earth). This song appeared in Wolflin Lochamer’s “Liederbuch” printed in Nürnberg circa 1455. It later appeared in association with a different chorale text “Herr Jesu Christ, wahr Mensch und Gott” [this is a famous chorale text used by Bach, but not with this melody] as No. 314 in “Kancyonal” printed by Jan Seklutian in Königsberg, 1552,>> and listed in the NLGB with No. 289.

<<Melody 1: Herr Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht I | Zahn: 314. The source of the melody has yet to be determined accurately and definitively; however, it does seem to come from a period before the Reformation and shows many similarities with “Rex Christe, factor omnium” which may have been the source. See the melody sample as given by Schein [see Chorale melody, Ibid. above].

<<We find this melody used only in BWV 335 which is a 4-part setting probably from a lost cantata in which the text used was Herr Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht as this is the title given in the Breitkopf and Dietel collections. Breitkopf 236, essentially the same harmonization as Breitkopf 294, even gives a different title not documented elsewhere: O Jesu, du mein Bräutigam Thus it is apparent that Bach also used this melody with yet another chorale text.>> “O Jesu, du mein Bräutigam” (O Jesu, thou my bridegroom) is listed in the NLGB as No. 187 in the omnes tempore section under the “Holy Catechism.” It is a “Jesus Song” for Epiphany Time to the 12-stanza text of Johann Heermann 1630, and the melody “Wo Gott zum Haus nicht gib sein Gunst” of Seth Calvisius in the Hymni Sacri (Erfurt, 1594), listed in the NLGB as No. 268 (David Psalm 124). The recently-discovered Johann Ludwig Dietel chorale collection (1735) contains a setting of Stanza 1, BWV 438, “When God disdains to bless a house (Except the Lord build a house, KJV), with the BWV 1123 setting of the text of Psalm 127 attributed to ?Johann Kolrose (1525) to a melody from the Geistliche Lieder (Wittenberg 1529).7

The designated hymns in the NLGB for the 2nd Sunday after Epiphany (not set as such by Bach) are Elizabeth Kreutziger’s 1525 “Herr Christ, der ein’ge Gottes Sohn” (Lord Jesus Christ, God’s only son) as the hymn of the day (de tempore), NLGB 231, “Justification,” also designated hymn for Epiphany 1 and Trinity 18 and 21, and set as chorale Cantata 96 for Trinity 18, and as sermon and communions hymns were Phillip Nicolai’s 1599 “Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern” (How brightly shines the morning star, NLGB 313, Word of God & Christian Church), also designated for Trinity 20 and 17 and set by Bach as chorale Cantata 1 for the Feast of Annunciation 1725 (See BCML Discussion, March 22, Fifth Sunday in Lent (Judica), BWV 1 (Annunciation), and the Gospel-relevant Michael Ciriacus’ “Am dritten Tag ein Hochzeit war” (On the third day was a wedding, NLGB No. 400, Last Days), not set by Bach.

Cantata 3 Movements, Scoring, Texts, Key, and Meter.8

1. Chorus two parts (Stanza 1 unaltered) imitation with ritornelli and descending tetrachord (chaconne) [SATB, Oboe d'amore I/II e Trombone col Basso, Violino I/II, Viola, Continuo]: A. “Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid / Begegnet mir zu dieser Zeit!” (Ah God, how many a heartache / I meet with in this time!); B. “Der schmale Weg ist trübsalvoll” (The narrow way is full of affliction); A Major, 4/4/.
2. Recitative secco (Stanza 2 paraphrased) (Tenor, Alto, Soprano, Bass) with chorale (SATB) trope (Stanza 2 unaltered), Continuo: Chorale, “Wie schwerlich läßt sich Fleisch und Blut” (With what difficulty is flesh and blood); Tenor recit., “So nur nach Irdischem und Eitlem trachtet” (- that strives after only what is earthly and vain); Chorale, “Zwingen zu dem ewigen Gut!” (compelled to care for the everlasting good!); Alto recit.: “Da du, o Jesu, nun mein alles bist” (Since you , o Jesus, are now my all); Chorale, “Wo soll ich mich denn wenden hin?” (where should I turn to?); Soprano recit.: “Das Fleisch ist schwach, doch will der Geist” (The flesh is weak, but the spirit is willing; Mark 14:38, Matthew 26:41); Chorale, “Zu dir, o Jesu, steht mein Sinn” (It is you, Jesus, by whom my thoughts stand); Bass recit., “Wer deinem Rat und deiner Hilfe traut, / Der hat wohl nie auf falschen Grund gebaut” (The person who trusts your counsel and help / has certainly not built on false ground); D to A Major, 4/4.
3. Aria da capo (Stanzas 3-5 paraphrased) [Bass, Continuo]: “Empfind ich Höllenangst und Pein, / Doch muß beständig in dem Herzen / Ein rechter Freudenhimmel sein.” (Although I may feel hell's anguish and pain, / yet always in my heart / there must be a true heavenly joy.); B. “Ich darf nur Jesu Namen nennen” (If I may only mention Jesus' name); f sharp minor, ¾.
4. Recitative secco (Stanzas 7-14 paraphrased) [Tenor, Continuo]: “Es mag mir Leib und Geist verschmachten / Bist du, o Jesu, mein / Und ich bin , / Will ichs nicht achten.” (My body and spirit may languish, / but if you are mine, o Jesus, / and I am yours / I will not be at all concerned.); c-sharp minor to E Major; 4/4.
5. Aria (Duetto) da-capo (Stanzas 15-16 paraphrased) in free canon [Soprano, Alto; Oboe d'amore I/II e Violino I all' unisono, Continuo]: A. “Wenn Sorgen auf mich dringen, / Will ich in Freudigkeit / Zu meinem Jesu singen.” (When cares press upon me, / I want in joy / to sing to my Jesus.); B. “Mein Kreuz hilft Jesus tragen” (Jesus helps to bear my cross); E Major 4/4.
6. Chorale plain (Stanza 18 unaltered)[S, A, T, B; Violino I e Corno e Oboe d'amore I/II col Soprano, Violino II coll'Alto, Viola col Tenore, Continuo); “Erhalt mein Herz im Glauben rein” (Keep my heart pure in faith); A Major, 4/4/.

Operatic Elements in Cantata 3

The Baroque opera element of the chaconne in the opening chorale fantasia, the bass aria conveying ‘Hell’s anguish and torment,’ and the optimism in the soprano-alto duet with cross shapes/symbolism are described in detail in Gardiner’s recording liner notes (Ibid.). <<“Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid” was composed as part of Bach’s second Leipzig cycle in January 1725. The chorale melody of the first movement is assigned on this occasion to the vocal bass-line supported by a trombone. Bach takes a simple device and a frequent symbol of grief in the tragic chaconnes of Baroque opera – six notes in chromatic descent – and makes it the melodic germ of his entire chorale fantasia: the introduction, each vocal entry, the instrumental interludes and the coda. His method is to work from the natural accentuation of the German text (and not the barlines!) and to underline this with a succession of appoggiaturas and chromatic harmonies which results in what Gillies Whittaker calls ‘a fascinating maze of cross-accents such as we find in Tudor choral music’ (Ibid.: 346]. Even the effortfully ascending counter-subject reinforces the image of ‘the narrow path... full of sorrow’. It is only with the mention of going to Heaven (‘zum Himmel wandern’) that Bach offers us a glimmer of hope through a radiant ascent by the sopranos to a top A, re-establishing the home key, though by a circuitous route.

The chorale tune returns (No.2), this time harmonised without frills and in straightforward diatonic chordal form, each line separated by an ostinato motif in the continuo (derived from the chorale tune in diminution) and ‘troped’ by recitatives for each of the four solo voices in turn. The following bass aria is an uncomfortable, tortuous ride for both cello and singer, their lines constantly criss-crossing each other as it twists and turns to convey ‘Hell’s anguish and torment’ (the altar painting of St Paul and the viper on the back wall of the Naval College Chapel seemed to complement this image). This is only the first line of a six-line stanza, yet Bach extends its influence over all but eight of the sixty-two bars of the aria’s ‘A’ section – which even the mention of ‘a true delight in Heaven’ cannot completely dispel.

Bach reserves his most winning music for the E major duet (No.5) sung in free canon by the soprano and alto to a fugal accompaniment of violins and oboes d’amore in unison. His achievement here is to prove how, through

joyful singing, one can win the battle to rid oneself of the cares that revolve within the troubled mind – his equivalent of ‘Singin’ in the Rain’, I suppose. It took me until the ‘B’ section to realise that the melodic outline of the entire duet (and the purposeful fugal exchanges between all four lines) is based not on some external musical whim but on aural symbols of the Cross to which the words refer (‘Jesus helps to bear my cross’), appearing both in the melodic shapes inscribed across the stave and in the characteristic use of double sharps, symbolised by an x. It also refers us back to the sorrowful heaviness of the opening fantasia and its chromatic expressivity. This is finally purged in Bach’s plain harmonisation of Martin Moller’s hymn (No.6).>> © John Eliot Gardiner 2006; From a journal written in the course of the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage.

Cantata 3 Chorale Background, Movements

The text and melody chorale background, despite no connection to the day’s Gospel, and the various movements are described in Klaus Hofmann’s 2005 liner notes to the Masaaki Suzuki complete BIS recordings of the Bach sacred cantatas.9 <<Bach's cantata “Ach, Gott, wie manches Herzeleid” was written for the second Sunday after Epiphany, 14th January 1725. The gospel passage for that day John 2, 1-11, is about the wedding at Cana and Jesus' miraculous transformation of water into wine. The hymn that forms the basis of the cantata, however, has no recognizable connection with this story; establishing a conceptual link between gospel and cantata text was this time left entirely to the preacher [Christian Weise Sr., see introduction, above]. The hymn itself is a free reworking by Martin Moller (1547-1606), a cantor and priest in Silesia and Saxony) of "Jesu dulcis memoria,” a famous medieval hymn ascribed to Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153), combined with the seventeenth-century melody “O Jesu Christ, meins Lebens licht.” Bach's librettist again left the first and last strophes textually unaltered, whilst the inner strophes were reworked as arias and recitatives.

The opening chorus, as the text suggests, is governed by a mood of mild lamentation. The elegiac sounds of the oboi d'amore duet dominates the instrumental passages, in which the accompanying strings fill in the harmonies and only occasionally contribute sighing motifs. In the choral sections the soprano, alto and tenor take up the oboe motifs and reflect expressively upon the cantus firmus in the bass which, as in “Ach Herr, mich armen Sünder” (BWV 135) [Trinity 3, 1724, see BCML, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV135-D4.htm], is reinforced by a trombone.

The second movement is an interesting mixture of chorale and recitative. Bach's librettist left four lines of Moller's text unchanged and developed each of them into a free recitative. Bach follows his librettist by setting each of the hymn lines in four parts, like a chorale, but assigning the recitative sections to one of the four solo voices in turn. The bass aria, accompanied only by the continuo, focuses its musical expression on the contrasts between 'Höllenangst' ('hell's anguish') and 'Freudenhimmel' ('heaven of joy), and on 'unermessnen Schmerzen' ('inestimable sorrows') that dissipate like 'leichte Nebel' ('light mist'). The soprano and alto duet is a highlight of the cantata. Its opening ritornello grabs our attention the unison of the two oboi d'amore and solo violin produces a new and remarkable tone colour. The opening instrumental theme is then taken up by the voices and continued in freely arching coloraturas on words such as 'dringen' ('oppress') and 'singen' ('sing'). Finally, as so often in Bach's cantatas, we hear a prayer in the form of a simple four-part chorale. © Klaus Hofmann 2005

Bach’s Leipzig performance calendar for the 2nd Sunday after Epiphany

1724-01-16 So - Cantata BWV 155 Mein Gott, wie lang, ach lange? (2nd performance, Leipzig)
1725-01-14 So - Cantata BWV 3 Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid (1st performance, Leipzig)
1726-01-20 So - Cantata BWV 13 Meine Seufzer, meine Tränen (1st performance, Leipzig)
1727-01-19 So – no record for the Epiphany Feast or the three Sundays after Epiphany.
1728-01-18 So Letzter So.n.Epiph.
1729-01-16 So – only Picander’s text P-13, “Ich hab in mir ein fröhliche Herze,” with chorale “Wer nur den lieben Gott laß walten” (S.4) ?BWV 434.
1735-01-16 So – no record.
1736-01-15 So - G.H. Stölzel: Wir sahen seine Herrlichkeit [Not extant]

FOOTNOTES

1 Cantata 3, BCW Details & Discography, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV3.htm.
2 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 St(Kassel: Bärenreiter, 2007: 2nd Sunday after Epiphany, Commentary 433-37, Cantata 3 Moller original hymn text and Cantata 3 text 444-449; Cantata 3 Commentary 448-54).
3 Gardiner notes, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Pic-Rec-BIG/Gardiner-P19c[sdg115_gb].pdf; BCW Recording details, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Performers/Gardiner-Rec3.htm#P19.
4 Whittaker, The Cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach (Oxford University Press: London, 1958: 445-49).
5 Terry, Bach’s Chorals, Vol. 2 (Cambridge University Press, 1915-1921). 3 vols. Vol. 2. January 17, 2015. http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/2056, http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/bach-bachs-chorals-vol-2-the-hymns-and-hymn-melodies-of-the-cantatas-and-motetts, scroll down to Cantata III.
6 Dürr, Cantatas of J. S. Bach, revised and translated by Richard D. P. Jones (Oxford University Press, New York, 2005: 195).
7 Chorale BWV 438 is found in Vol. 82 (Incidental Festivities, Psalms), and BWV 1123 is found in Vol. 84 (Patience & Serenity, Jesus Hymns), Chorales conducted by Helmut Rilling (Hänssler CDs), BCW http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Vocal/BWV250-438-Rilling.htm.
8Scoring, Soloists: Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass; 4-part Chorus; Orchestra: horn, trombone, 2 oboes d’amore, 2 violins, viola, continuo. Score Vocal & Piano [1.50 MB], http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Scores/BWV003-V&P.pdf, Score BGA [1.87 MB], http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BGA/BWV003-BGA.pdf. References: BGA I (Cantatas 1-9, Michael Hauptmann 1851, NBA KB I/5 (Cantatas for Epiphany 2), Marianne Helms, 1975, Bach Compendium BC A 33, Zwang: K 108. Provenance, Thomas Braatz (January 24, 2003), score, parts details, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Ref/BWV3-Ref.htm.
9 Hofmann notes, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Pic-Rec-BIG/Suzuki-C29c[BIS-SACD1461].pdf; BCW Recording details, Masaaki Suzuki - Bach Cantatas & Other Vocal Works - Recordings Part 2: Cantatas Vols. 21-40.

Aryeh Oron wrote (January 19, 2015):
Cantata BWV 3 - Revised & updated Discography

The discography pages of the Chorale Cantata BWV 3 "Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid" [I] for 2nd Sunday after Epiphany on the BCW have been revised and updated.
The cantata is scored for soprano, alto, tenor & bass soloists; 4-part chorus; and orchestra of horn, trombone, 2 oboes d’amore, 2 violins, viola, continuo. See:
Complete Recordings (9): http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV3.htm
Recordings of Individual Movements (3): http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV3-2.htm
The revised discography includes many listening/watching options to recordings directly from the discography pages, just below the recording details.

I have also added to the movement pages of this cantata an option to move back and forth between the movements and to each movement page the text and relevant portion of the BGA score. See: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/INS/BWV003-01.htm

I also put at the BCW Home Page: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/
2 audios of the cantata. A short description below the audio/video image is linked to the full details at the discography pages.

I believe this is the most comprehensive discography of this chorale cantata. If you are aware of a recording of BWV 3 missing from these pages, or want to correct/add details of a recording already presented on the BCW, please do not hesitate to inform me.

You can also read on the BCW William L. Hoffman's detailed introduction to this week's discussion of the cantata in the BCML (4th round): http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV3-D5.htm

 

Cantata BWV 3: Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid [I] for 2nd Sunday after Epiphany (1725)
Discography: Details & Complete Recordings | Recordings of Individual Movements
Discussions: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5


Recordings & Discussions of Cantatas: Main Page | Cantatas BWV 1-50 | Cantatas BWV 51-100 | Cantatas BWV 101-150 | Cantatas BWV 151-200 | Cantatas BWV 201-224 | Cantatas BWV Anh | Order of Discussion
Discussions of General Topics: Cantatas & Other Vocal Works | Performance Practice | Radio, Concerts, Festivals, Recordings




 

Back to the Top


Last update: Sunday, September 04, 2022 13:40