Cantata BWV 54 - Discussions

Continue from Part 1

Gould / Cantata ‘Widerstehe doch der Sünde’, BWV 54

Charles Francis wrote (August 11, 2001):
[5] < Jim Morrison wrote: ...and here http://glenn.fdnet.com.au/index.htm is the best place on the net to search for information on Gould's recording output. >
Great resource! And it contains a reference for the following performance:

Cantata 'Widerstehe doch der Sunde', BWV54
Composer: Bach, J.S.
Instrument: Harpsipiano
With: Russell Oberlin (Counter-Tenor) and
Orchestra conducted by Glenn Gould
Location: Toronto,
Recording date(s): on 08-Apr-62
Producer(s): Eric Till
Recording Type: Television Broadcast
Released on: Sony: SRLM992

And moreover, Gould's lecture on the same:

Introduction To Bach Cantata BWV 54
Gould, G., Speaker
Location: Unknown,
Recording date(s): Between 01-Jan-62 and 31-Dec-62
Recording Type: Television Broadcast
Released on: Sony: SRLM992

Sony SRLM992 is "The Glenn Gould Collection: V. The Conductor, VI. The earliest Decade", a Laserdisc, with Japanese sub-titles.

Does one really have to buy a Laserdisc player and order from Japan, or is it available elsewhere on some other media? Is there an MP3 file, for example?

Jim Morrison wrote (August 11, 2001):
[5] [To Charles Francis] That link I sent certainly is great, however, it certainly isn't complete. Tower records may be able to get video copies of those tapes for ten dollars apiece. I say may because supply is sporadic. I've been able to get most of Gould's videos through them, but a few, they've never been able to send me a copy of. Beware, though, Tower doesn't list the contents of the videos. Here's a link to the video contents that I sent to the Gould list a while back.
http://www.tug.org/archives/f_minor/msg05122.html

Give Tower a try, and heck, pick up a few CD’s while you're at it. They are having a big sale on classical music and shipping is free (in the usa) for orders over 50 dollars. The classical sale ends on Monday.

One other word of warning. I'm not impressed by Gould's version of Cantata 54. If memory serves me correctly, he's even playing a harpsipiano, which is an mildly altered piano made to sound a bit like a harpsichord.

I don't know if a recording of the cantata has ever been avalible on CD, though I suspect it has.

Much more impressive on that tape is his rendition of the first movement of Beethoven's Sixth Symphony, as transcribed by Liszt. I think Tower has the complete recording of the Sixth on sale for eight bucks. That disc is a must have, I think, for anyone.

BWV 054

David wrote (February 13, 2002):
[10] BWV 54 was also recorded by Henri Ledroit with Ensemble Ricercar on Ricercar Records, where you find also BWV 53. His arangement is of lower scale, maybe the same for that Tenor you've heard. I don't hold it so, from memory, I found his interpretation a profound & introvert one which apealed to me strongley.

BWV 54

Sw Anadgyan wrote (March 23, 2003):
[5] I just saw a taped documentary on Glenn Gould by ArtTV called Extasis. I noticed the little bit on the BWV 54 and was stunned by its beauty.

So I surf to the Bach Cantatas Website, and notice it is one of the rare ones I have two versions in my possession; Scholl [19] and Lesne [25] singing, the later with the Il Seminario Musicale and the former with the Orchestre du Collegium Vocale.

Since the Gerard Lesne is a slightly recent recording, I was curious about the opinions of members of this list at the opposite end of my expertise. I found it lacking in suaveness.

I'm quite stunned at the thoroughness of the BCW for I could get information on what I just saw on tape.

Any comments ?

Oh ! Should I just keep on lurking ? ;-)

Bradley Lehman wrote (March 23, 2003):
[To S.W. Anandgyan] BWV 54 is my favorite Bach cantata, and the one that I have more recordings of than any other cantata. But I haven't heard Lesne's....

I have Ledroit/Ricercar (different cover art, though) [10] Scholl/Herreweghe [19], Buwalda/Leusink [21], Deller/Leonhardt (on both CD and LP) [2], Mera/Suzuki [18], Rössl-Majdan/Scherchen (on LP, different cover art again) [1], and Oberlin/Gould (yes, the Music & Arts release is the same as on the video) [5].

My favorite among those is Deller. My least favorites are Rössl-Majdan and that bizarre Oberlin/Gould experiment.

I wish that Glenn Gould had been able to realize one of his dreams, which was to record this piece with Barbra Streisand. I'm not kidding.

Solo cantatas for alto

Bradley Lehman wrote (March 26, 2004):
Sw Anandgyan wrote: < I was reading about the Solo Cantatas for Alto... >
[2] Well, don't miss the recording of cantatas BWV 54 and BWV 170 on Vanguard, sung by Alfred Deller, 1954. He's accompanied by a small ensemble that includes both the Leonhardts and both the Harnoncourts (Mrs H = Alice Hoffelner). Michel Piguet plays oboe. The fillers are the "Agnus Dei" from BMM (BWV 232), and a few Händel selections recorded later.

This CD is worth grabbing for the musicianship, which is extraordinary (notwithstanding some not-quite-German pronunciation from Deller). And, historically, it's also important: it's the first album of anything that Leonhardt and Harnoncourt ever did using period instruments. 50 years ago this May!

BWV 54 Recording

Sean Burton wrote (October 13, 2004):
Can anyone recommend a solid recording or two of the short alto solo cantata Widerstehe doch der Sunde, BWV 54?

Thanks,

Thomas Gebhardt wrote (October 13, 2004):
[To Sean Burton] I love the recording of this cantata sung by James Bowman, accompanied by the King's Consort, directed by Robert King (Hyperion CDA 66326) [13], together with BWV 170 and BWV 169.

Another fine recording is that with Andreas Scholl, Orchestre du Collegium Vocale, dir. Philippe Herreweghe (Harmonia mundi HMC 901644) [19], with BWV 170 and BWV 35.

Peter Bright wrote (October 13, 2004):
Purcell & King's consort: file uploaded [was BWV 54 Recording]

[To Thomas Gebhardt] Dear Thomas, thanks for mentioning the King's Consort and James Bowman [13]. One of the most beautiful pieces of music I have ever heard is by this group. It's actually a Purcell piece ("Be welcome then, great Sir") and it is majestic - just listen to the lyricism of voice and cello. And when the violins enter at the end, it's perfection itself. Although this is not Bach, I have uploaded the file to the website (I hope you don't mind Aryeh!). Please listen if you are interested in this music (but note that it is around 3MB - modem users beware...).

Gabriel Jackson wrote (October 13, 2004):
[To Thomas Gebhardt] I agree absolutey about the Scholl recording [19]. I'm not a big fan of James Bowman's voice [13], though he is certainly a great artist.

Doug Cowling wrote (October 13, 2004):
Going back one BWV number, I have a couple of questions about BWV 53, "Schlage Doch" which alas is not by Bach but Hoffman ... still an exquisite one-movement cantata.

The work calls for a bell -- thetext refers to death's hour striking -- and I am curious about the "campanella" which was probably a bell stop on a Baroque organ (there were all manner of exotic theatrical ranks on some organs). The superb old Helen Watts recording uses an orchestral chime whereas Rene Jacobs lovely performance use a tiny chime like a small clock. So is the "striking of the awaited hour" a tolling church bell or a chime on the mantelpiece?

I doubt Watts' contralto or Jacobs' countertenor is the sound that Hoffman wanted. Anyone know of a recording sung by a boy soloist? The old Harnoncourt recordings used these chesty teenagers quite a bit, but counter-tenors seem to be the norm these days.

Continue of this part of the discussion, see: Non-Bach Cantatas

Bradley Lehman wrote (October 13, 2004):
[To Sean Burton] Of the bunch that I mentioned in the earlier discussion at: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV54-D.htm
none have ever dislodged my favorite: Alfred Deller, 1954, accompanied by Mr and Mrs Leonhardt and Mr and Mrs Harnoncourt [2].

Michael Cervin wrote (October 13, 2004):
[To Sean Burton] Solidity, indeed ... If that particular notion is not top priority, I would urge any Bach- piano- or Gould-enthusiast to give the Russel Oberlin/Glenn Gould harpsi-piano performance [5] a try (my copy is a Music and Arts CD from the early 90's). I love it. Other listeners might find it hilarious.

David Glenn Lebut Jr. wrote (October 15, 2004):
Sean Burton wrote: < Can anyone recommend a solid recording or two of the short alto solo cantata Widerstehe doch der Sunde, BWV 54? >
I'll have to look, but I seem to remember that on single CDs and also in the "Bach: Made in Germany" set, they have a recording of the Thomanerchor Leipzig and Gewandhausorchester Leipzig performing the work [4].

Neil Halliday wrote (October 16, 2004):
Sean Burton wrote: < Can anyone recommend a solid recording or two of the short alto solo cantata Widerstehe doch der Sunde, BWV 54? >
Rilling's recording [7] of this piece represents one of the excellent performances of his cantata set. Recorded in 1975, it highlights the rich five-part string writing (there is an added viola part in Bach's score), and features Julia Hamari, who has to be the finest female alto gracing Rilling's set.

Herreweghe, with Scholl [19], has already been mentioned. This is also an excellent recording; the main difference with the above recording is the quieter overall dynamic (in both orchestra and vocalist), but the conception and effect of the music is very similar in both performances (playing time around 11 mins. for both).

The two arias are 'hit parade' material; and the second one shows lively fugal writing based on a subject that begins with a descending 4-note chromatic figure. (At times the string writing, in the intermingling of the second part of the fugal subject, reminds me of that in the climax of Händel's Halleluja Chorus, in Rilling's recording).

Yoël L. Arbeitrman wrote (October 16, 2004):
Bradley Lehman wrote: < Of the bunch that I mentioned in the earlier discussion at http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV54-D.htm none have ever dislodged my favorite: Alfred Deller, 1954, accompanied by Mr and Mrs Leonhardt and Mr and Mrs Harnoncourt [2]. >
Yes, the same things do get discussed and discussed and most of us remain with our favorite recordings. Mine are of course Scherchen/Rössl-Majdan [1] and also Lesne [25]. As I noted last time 'round, I had not opened the shrink wrap on my Deller CD and I still haven't. Not that I don't like Deller [2]. There is simply so much to listen to and I for one do divide my listening time amongst Bach, Händel, Brahms, Mahler, Wagner, erlioz, and others.

Yoël L. Arbeitrman wrote (October 16, 2004):
[5] Michael Cervin wrote: < Solidity, indeed ... If that particular notion is not top priority, I would urge any Bach- piano- or Gould-enthusiast to give the Russel Oberlin/Glenn Gould harpsi-piano performance a try (my copy is a Music and Arts CD from the early 90's). I love it. Other listeners might find it hilarious. >
Thanks you for the information. I generally avoid Gould as I do not personally respond to Bach on the piano. This does sound alluring. Why do you say "harpsi-piano"? I am sure it is in the archives, but searching here is not easy.

Bradley Lehman wrote (October 16, 2004):
[5] [To Yoël L. Arbeitman] Gould stuck metal tacks into the piano's hammers to make it sound different. It sounds different. It sounds silly.

Charles Francis wrote (October 16, 2004):
[5] Bradley Lehman wrote: < Gould stuck metal tacks into the piano's hammers to make it sound different. It sounds different. It sounds silly. >
It sounds silly to you, Bradley. To a musical genius such as Gould, presumably it didn't."

Gabriel Jackson wrote (October 16, 2004):
[5] Bradley Lehman wrote: < Gould stuck metal tacks into the piano's hammers to make it sound different. It sounds different. It sounds silly. >
Charles Francis wrote: It sounds silly to you, Bradley. To a musical genius such as Gould, presumably it didn't."
So? As someone who takes pride in asserting the superiority of their own opinions to those of pracrising musicians why do you attach any weight to Glenn Gould's opinion?

David Glenn Lebut Jr. wrote (October 16, 2004):
[5] [To Charles Francis] Gould a "musical genius"? This is news to me. I have heard recordings by him, and found him one of the most atrocious Bach performers I have heard. If he really wanted to approximate the sound of a harpsichord, why did he not perform on one? Everything about his performances are arbitrary and not according to the score or to Bach's intentions. Even the performance of the Die Kunst der Fuge on organ is not in keeping with Bach's intentions (or at least as outlined by Leonhardt).

BWV 54 and introducing myself

Iman de Zwarte wrote (November 24, 2004):
Well, I don't want to disturb many interesting discussions, but Aryeh invited me to introduce myself and announce an arrangement of cantata BWV 54 "Widerstehe doch der Sünde".

My name is Iman de Zwarte. I'm a dutch organist and churchmusician living in Norway. Since I'm living in the "district" I don't have all kind of musicians around me. That's the reason why I arranged cantata BWV 54 for treble-recorder and organ, the way we (my wife and I) played it together with a mezzo-sopran, working for the Norwegian Opera in Oslo but living in our neigbourhood (about 50 km. east of Bergen).

They who are interested are invited to take a look at the arrangement at: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/IndexScores2.htm

John Pike wrote (November 24, 2004):
[To Iman de Zwarte] Welcome! John

Neil Halliday wrote (November 25, 2004):
[To Iman de Zwarte] That looks like a very nice arrangement of this beautiful music. I notice that the opening bars have the same 'blissful/pastoral' harmony as the opening bars of BWV 127/1, that was discussed recently (in F major, with that lovely, crunchy F, G, (B flat), E, dischord in there (an F ninth of some type)?

(But unlike BWV 54, BWV 127/1 soon launches into some quite disturbing harmony).

Discussions in the Week of April 17, 2005

Thomas Shepherd wrote (April 16, 2005):
BWV 54: Introduction

The cantata for discussion this week (April 18-23) is:

Cantata BWV 54
Widerstehe doch der Sün

Event in the Lutheran church calendar: Solo Cantata (for Alto) for Dominica Oculi [3^rd Sunday in Lent]
Composed: Weimar, 1714 | 1^st performance: March 24, 1715 - Weimar
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Link to texts, commentary, vocal score, music examples, and list of known recordings: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV54.htm

Link to previous discussions: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV54-D.htm

Streamed over the internet, it is possible to hear Leusink's version of the whole cantata [21]: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Stream/BWV54-Leusink.ram

Link to liturgical Readings: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Read/Lent3.htm

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From Tadashi Isoyama's 1996 notes for vol 3 of Suzuki's Cantata cycle on BIS records [18]:

"Cantata No. 54 is a small-scale cantata for alto, consisting only of two arias linked by a recitative. It has been suggested, because of its short length, that it may be a fragment of a longer work. Since the original of the text by Georg Christian Lehms has come to light, however, (in Gottgefalliges KirchenOpfer, Darmstadt, 1711), it seems clear that the work was meant to stand on its own. It is certainly a Weimar composition; it has come down to us in a manuscript prepared by Barch's pupil J.T. Krebs and the Weimar organist J.G. Walther. The division of the viola part into two also supports the idea that the cantata is an early work. It has recently been suggested that it was first performed on the third Sunday in Lent (4^th March) in 1714; as it predates Cantata BWV 182, it can also be regarded as a kind of trial work. It is certainly based on the established subject of the conflict between sin and the will to resist it, however, and both the penmanship and the mood of the work are clearly Bach's.

"The cantata begins with an aria in E flat major which decries the 'deception of sin'. The tension between the tonic and diminished seventh drives the movement, the unabating dissonances grating on the ear as the piece progresses. This aria was later arranged to form part of the St. Mark Passion, BWV 247 (of which only the libretto survives). The recitative which follows strips the mask from sin, revealing its contents to be nothing but an empty shadow. The true nature of sin is likened to a sharp sword, reflected in the sharp movements of the continuo. The cantata closes with an aria in four-part fugal form declaiming that 'Whoever commits sin is of the devil'."
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This week's musical examples were originally going to be of the last movement which rarely gets discussed. I never quite understood how Aryeh and others could listen to the same bits of a cantata many many times in a week. That discipline has often left me somewhat jaded. That is until this week. I have played the four (five) recordings of the first aria Widerstehe doch der Sünde time and time again. It is a most wonderful piece, surely one of Bach greatest compositions! So the links here are of this aria taken from the repeat at the da capo mark. I love all these recordings - each has something very special to say and I can't improve on the judgements made in the first round of the discussions. They are worth careful reading. And I can't say that Suzuki is my favourite this week!!

Rilling: Julia Hamari [7]: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/MusEx/BWV54-M1-Rilling.mp3

Leonhardt: Paul Esswood [2]: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/MusEx/BWV54-M1-Leonhardt.mp3

Suzuki: Yoshikazu Mera [18]: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/MusEx/BWV54-M1-Suzuki.mp3

Leusink: S. Buwalda [21]: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/MusEx/BWV54-M1-Leusink.mp3

The whole cantata [21]: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Stream/BWV54-Leusink.ram

As a curio here is exactly the same music with different words in Simon Heighes's reconstruction of the Mark Passion on Brilliant ( http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Vocal/BWV247-Goodman.htm )
I like this a great deal and think the words fit the music very well: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/MusEx/BWV247-M19-Goodman.mp3
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I hope to see many of you enjoying the music and joining in the discussion about this aria or any other aspect of the cantata.

Thomas Manhart wrote (April 16, 2005):
I had this week a discussion with Paul Esswood on the tuning of this cantata. It is a farely low range for the alto, and I would want to ask those of you in the group who ever performed it, if you helped ourselves with any transpositions. Esswood suggested to put it somewhat a small third higher to have the entire range audible in a concert (although he sang it in the Leonardt recording as noted).

Any suggestions out of your experience?

Thanks

David Atkins wrote (April 16, 2005):
[To Thomas Shepherd] I have just listened to the Suzuki [18] and Herreweghe [19] versions. I actually prefer the Japanese performance, even though Herreweghe has the better singer in Andreas Scholl. I think the faster speed of the Suzuki first aria is more appropriate. Anyone else noticed this?

Bradley Lehman wrote (April 16, 2005):
< Link to previous discussions: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV54-D.htm >
Addressing Neil's question from 11/25/04, archived near the bottom of that: the opening chord of BWV 54 is the rare stroke of having the tonic triad and the dominant seventh mixed together! Bitonality, duality, body vs spirit, whatever other bifurcation sparks the mind through the use of that blended sound. Reality is two or more things that fit together in some way that is difficult to predict, existing in the same space and time.

Stability and instability--needing to resolve back into tonic--are thrust together immediately. The tonic pedal point (E-flat) holds things together through that long passage of the opening bars. Compare the extremely long tonic pedal point at the end of the "Herr, lehre doch mich" third mvt of Brahms's German Requiem, the last several minutes of it. Various stuff swirls around it and threatens to disturb it, but nothing is able to do so. The tonic--groundedness--inevitably wins the resolution. Meanwhile, the dominant and the related harmonies make the whole thing a lot more interesting to experience than a merely static iteration of tonic. There's a dynamic to it. Music is a process of change, and balance.

Presently I have nothing to add to my earlier remarks about favorite recordings of this cantata, as archived in that discussion; still the Deller recording [2] that is now 51 years old. As I noted there on 3/23/03, this is my favorite Bach cantata.

Peter Smaill wrote (April 16, 2005):
"Wiederstehe doch der Sünde" (BWV 54), one of the few Cantatas (dealing with sin) which addresses God the Father with no reference to the Son, is also remarkable for a quotation not from the Bible or the Apocrypha (as in BWV106, Gottes Zeit, and in the equally superb BWV 95, Christus, der ist mein Leben )).

It is i think a reference from the Jewish historian Josephus (IV;483-5) and
concerns the apples of Sodom ;

"Sie ist der sodomsapfeln gleich"
(So is is it similar to sodom's apples )

Sodom certainly occurs in the OT. But not the apples. Josephus' version is :

"it is said that, owing to the impiety of its inhabitants, [Sodom] was consumed by thunderbolts; and in fact vestiges of the divine fire and faint traces of five cities are still visible. still, too, one may see the ashes reproduced in the fruits, which from their outward appeaance would be thought edible, but on being plucked with the hand dissolve into smoke and ashes."

the same source applies to BWV 95/2

"Das Wollustsalz verschlucken müssen
Wenn ich an deinem Lustreiver
nur sodomsapfel konnnte brechen "

(Decauchery's salt I had to swallow
When I in [the world's] pleasure quarters
Only sodom's apples could gather "

and also in BWV 179/3

"Falscher Heuchler Ebenbild
Konen Sodomsapfel heissen..."

(The image of false hypocrites
is like that of Sodom's apples...)

Note that in this source there is an association of Sodom with the concept of glittering on the outside but rotten inside.

The libretto of BWV 54 is by Lehms, but the other two are anonymous. Quite why this very specific image is culled from Josephus and re-used twice is a question to which there may be interesting answers. I'm not aware of Josephus being used anywhere else in the libretti but welcome correction on this point.

A further conundrum : BWV 54 is given out as being for the third Sunday in Lent (Oculi). is there a reason why the general rule against Cantatas in Lent is broken on this date in the Church's calendar? (Robertson states in capitals "THERE WERE NO CANTATAS PERFORMED IN LENT). Or is Dürr's suggestion of the seventh sunday after Trinity more plausible?

Whatever the sources or purposes of the Cantata, it is in the hands of an alto able to exploit the unequalled low register, a solo cantata of outstanding quality and unique acoustic texture.

Tom Dent wrote (April 16, 2005):
Thomas Shepherd wrote: < The cantata for discussion this week (April 18-23) is:
Cantata BWV 54 Widerstehe doch der Sünde
(...)
I hope to see many of you enjoying the music and joining in the discussion about this aria or any other aspect of the cantata. >
Two questions:

Are there any other cantatas that begin with a discord, or a chord figured other than 5 3 ? (A dominant 7^th over the tonic pedal would be figured as 7 5 4 2 ... I think.)

Has the cantata ever been sung/recorded by a baritone?

Peter Smaill wrote (April 16, 2005):
[To Tom Dent] Nearest comparable moment to the opening of "Wiederstehe doch der sünde" for me in Bach is the shock of the astonishing 6 4 2 on D which starts the final chorale of BWV 38, "Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir" (B, E, A sharp, D). Much later than the Weimar cantata BWV 54 but also a work on penitential themes.

John Reesse wrote (April 16, 2005):
[To Tom Dent] All I know is that when Beethoven began his first symphony with a dissonance, many years later, it was considered very iconoclastic for its time.

When I first saw Brad's post (I am unfamiliar with the cantata) I assumed the opening movement was a recitative, for which a dissonant opening chord wouldn't have been too unusual. But this cantata opens with an aria! Another example of Bach being ahead of his time.

I can't tell from the piano score -- is there actually a tonic triad in the continuo, or is this just a dominant seventh chord with a tonic pedal point?

Thomas Braatz wrote (April 17, 2005):
Tom Dent wrote: >>Are there any other cantatas that begin with a discord, or a chord figured other than 5 3?<<
It may not be the beginning of another cantata, but Bach used the same opening chord at the beginning of BWV 61/4, also a work from the Weimar period (1714.)

Information given by Alfred Dürr on p. 294 of his "Johann Sebastian Bach: Die Kantaten" [Bärenreiter, last revision 1995.)

Bradley Lehman wrote (April 17, 2005):
< I can't tell from the piano score -- is there actually a tonic triad in the continuo, or is this just a dominant seventh chord with a tonic pedal point? >
Bach-Gesellschaft at: http://www.mymp3sonline.net/bach_cantatas/mp3.asp

The continuo's figure on the downbeat is 7 5 4 2 on a repeated E-flat for the whole bar. And then check out that stack in the third bar, still over the E-flat: 7b 6 5 2 !

Then in bar 7 he's right back to his dominant/tonic mixing again, but this time it's all modulated to B-flat....

Thomas Braatz wrote (April 17, 2005):
BWV 54 "Widerstehe doch der Sünde"

Various questions and answers

Some questions regarding the provenance:

Do we have an original (autograph) source or a set (or even part of a set) of original parts?

No, we do not even have any record (such as the transmission of the cantata from the estate of one of Bach's sons or the official sale or auction of the original) that such sources ever existed. It can only be conjectured that they must once have existed for a performance under Bach's direction, probably in the early Weimar period (and possibly even a bit earlier.)

They are considered 'lost without a trace.'

On which source then is the cantata as we hear it today based?

This may depend upon the edition being used - is it the BGA, Breitkopf & Härtel, Eulenburg or NBA edition.

The first attempt to publish this cantata was undertaken by Wilhelm Rust in volume 12,2 of the BGA (Berlin, July 1863). Since Rust had based his edition upon a copy of a copy, numerous additional errors crept into this edition, errors which were later corrected. Arnold Schering based his version on the BGA and made some corrections on his own (without having recourse to the main copy upon which the NBA is based). This was published as part of the Eulenburg miniature score series (No. 1010, Leipzig/Vienna, 1928.) Breitkopf & Härtel, for its series of cantata scores (and piano reductions), used some of Arnold Schering's corrections (and thereby deviated from the BGA original) for its continuing publications of the Bach cantatas. Unfortunately, in following too carefully the secondary copy which Rust had used and judiciously, in some cases, conjectured what Bach may have intended, Schering reintroduced, for instance, parallel fifths between the 1^st viola and bc (1st mvt. m. 48.)

The copy upon which the NBA primarily bases its editorial decisions has the following history:
It is not clear how, under which circumstances, the firm Breitkopf & Härtel acquired this copy - was it through the estate of either the Bach or the Johann Gottfried Walther family? Thanks to a Breitkopf catalog of musical compositions (many of them still in manuscript form) from 1761, it is listed there on p. 10 under the category "4 Small Sacred Cantatas and Arias. With Instruments" with the specific entry: "Bach, J. S. Capellm. und Musikdirector zu Leipzig, Cantate: Widerstehe doch der Sünde, à 2 Violini, 2 Viole, Alto Solo, Organo. a 1 thl." [Wolff gives 1 Reichsthaler = $72.00 today] Then, in a Breitkopf & Härtel auction catalog from the year 1836, on p. 4 under the heading "7 Cantatas," it is once again mentioned as item 153 "Bach, J. S., Cantate, Widerstehe doch der Sünde, Partitur. 2 [Bogen]."

This copy was acquired in 1836 by the musicologist François-Joseph Fétis (1784-1871) who purchased it as an 'original' (autograph) score by J. S. Bach. Upon the death of this musicologist, it was acquired in 1872 by the Royal Belgian Library in Brussels [Bibliothèque Royale de Belgique, Bruxelles [Signatur: II. 4196; Fétis No. 2444.]

In the library's catalog dating from 1877 (p. 309) it is listed as follows:

"Cantata a 2 violini, 2 viole, alto solo, e basso continuo del J. S. B. (Jean Sébastien Bach). MS original, 1 v. in-fol."

The watermarks do not allow a more precise dating than sometime between 1686-1739.

Friedrich Smend was the first to notice and report in the Bach-Jahrbuch (1940-1948) p. 20, that the score was not autograph, but that the handwriting was that of Johann Gottfried Walther. Subsequent scholarship has refined the authorship of the copy to include Johann Tobias Krebs d. Ä. (senior) (1690-1762), the father of Johann Ludwig Krebs, of whom Bach himself stated that he was the only 'crab' in the 'brook' ["der einzige Krebs im Bache."] The NBA KB I/8.1-2, p. 90 puts the situation this way: this copy [of BWV 54] was written/copied by Johann Tobias Krebs, sr. with the help/assistance of Johann Gottfried Walther.

This Krebs/Walther copy of BWV 54 is the primary secondary source. It is secondary because it is a copy of the presumed original of which no record exists. It is primary among all the other copies. It is listed as source A.

Source B, upon which the BGA based its edition, is a copy made from source A by Franz Hauser and dated by him as "Leipzig, November 20, 1832." In addition to having made errors in copying, both violas are notated on the same staff in alto clef. This copy is in the BB.

Source C was copied from B by a copyist who simply signed his name as Passer and even indicated that he copied it from Hauser's copy with the date given in the preceding paragraph. This copy belonged to the Josef Fischhof collection and is now in the BB.

Source D is a copy of A made in the early 19^th century before 1836 when it was still in the possession of Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig. For a while its owner was Johann Theodor Mosewius (1788-1858), a music director and founder of the Singakademie of Breslau. As part of the estate of the Academic Institute for Church Music of which Mosewius was also a director, it came to the Musicological Institute of the University of Breslau where it remained until 1945 when it went to the University Library of Warsaw.

Is BWV 54/1 a parody of a mvt. from the St. Mark's Passion, BWV 247?

This theory was first advanced by Friedrich Smend in the Bach-Jahrbuch (1940-1948) pp. 19ff. Smend correctly pointed out the connection between BWV 54 and the aria "Falsche Welt, dein schmeichelnd Küssen" (mvt. 53 of BWV 247) but since this Passion has only text sources and no musical ones, there is no way to verify this theory, but Alfred Dürr admits the textual similarities that Smend listed are very convincing that the music must have been very much the same with minor changes.

For the purpose of comparison, here are the two texts:

BWV 54/1
Widerstehe doch der Sünde,
Sonst ergreifet dich ihr Gift.
Laß dich nicht den Satan blenden;
Denn die Gottes Ehre schänden,
Trifft ein Fluch, der tödlich ist.

BWV 247/53
Falsche Welt, dein schmeichelnd Küssen
Ist der frommen Seelen Gift.
Deine Zungen sind voll Stechen,
Und die Worte, die sie sprechen,
Sind zu Fallen angestift.

However, Smend assumed incorrectly that BWV 54/1 was a parody of BWV 247/53.

At the time, the source of the original text had not yet been uncovered. However, researchers had already discovered that both father and son cantors in Leisnig, Johann Melchior Stockmar d. Ä. [sr.] (1698-1747) and d. J. [jr.] (1725-1791) had published cantata texts (similar to the type that Bach had to have published in Leipzig for use by the congregations) in 1739 and 1748 with the complete text for BWV 54 with only minor changes. The one for 1739 gives texts 'in ogni tempo' while the one for 1748 is specifically for the 20^th Sunday after Trinity. Dürr, because of biblical references that connect with the readings for the 7^th Sunday after Trinity, prefers the latter although he can also see a connection for the 1st Sunday after Trinity. Dürr sees a good possibility that the Stockmars did actually perform BWV 54 and believes that it is rather likely that Bach had lent them the materials, but that they never returned the autograph score and original parts and that this might be the reason why these original sources were lost.

On pp. 19-21 of NBA KB I/18, Dürr refutes most of Smend's arguments regarding BWV 54/1 as a fairly late parody of BWV 247/53. Although many of these arguments are outdated as a result of more recent research, it is interesting to read, for instance, Dürr's argument against Smend's thesis that the entire cantata, even when presented by Smend as a cantata originating in Leipzig between 1731-1735 after completion of BWV 247 is still extremely low (for an alto to sing:) "freilich auch dann noch extrem tief bleibt" ["though it still remains extremely low."] Dürr then goes on to state that BWV 54 has an extremely low tessitura "die sich am ehesten durch Annahme einer Notierung für Wiedergabe in Chortonstimmung (so Weimar 1714) erklären läßt" ["which can be most easily explained by assuming a notation that would be used for a performance in Chorton."] Dürr ends his argumentation with stating that it is most likely that BWV 54/1 was composed in 1714 and that it was parodied in 1731 for use in the St. Mark Passion, BWV 247/53, "because it would be out of the question that BWV 54 would have received a repeat performance without making changes [transposition] in Leipzig on account of the low tessitura of the solo voice" ["weil eine Wiederaufführung der Kantate 54 in Leipzig wegen der tiefen Lage der Singstimme in unveränderter Form nicht in Frage kam."]

Where did Bach get the text for this cantata?

In the Bach-Jahrbuch (1970), pp. 13ff, Elisabeth Noack proved that the text was taken from a collection of texts by Georg Christian Lehms, a collection that Bach used for some other cantatas as well. The title of this collection is "Gottgefälliges | Kirchen- | Opffer, | In einem gantzen | Jahr-Gange | Andächtiger Betrachtungen | über | die gewöhnlichen | Sonn- und Festags-Texte | . | Von | M. Georg Christian Lehms | .
| Darmstadt [1711]"

The text for BWV 54 is found on p. 26 listed as "Andacht auf den Sonntag Oculi."

Liturgically this designation is fixed for the Sunday of the church year called 'Oculi.' Combined with the date of publication of Lehms' text and Bach's appointment as Concertmaster at the Weimar Court (March 2, 1714), Oculi would fall that year on the following Sunday, two days later, March 4, 1714. This fact alone makes this date, as the date of composition, rather unlikely. A better choice would be the adjoining years, 1713 and 1715, with 1713 being a better choice because BWV 199 (also with a text by Lehms) can at least be dated by Bach's handwritten document to 1713. [Yoshitake Kobayashi, in "Quellenkundliche Überlegungen zur Chronologie der Weimarer Vokalwerke Bachs" appearing in "Das Frühwerk Johann Sebastian Bachs (Kolloquium Rostock 1990) edited by Karl Heller and Hans-Joachim Schulze, Cologne 1995, p. 304, had fixed the date for BWV 199 for the 11th Sunday after Trinity, August 27, 1713.]

The question now arises whether either of the cantatas, BWV 54 or BWV 199, actually have a specific liturgical designation, i.e., that they belong with the other cantatas that are liturgically fixed. Remarkably in the sources for both works, there is not a single indication of a liturgical connection. Both cantatas have texwith rather general content which leads to the suspicion that these solo cantatas, as many other cantatas before this date were used 'in ogni tempo.' Thus the precise dating to any particular Sunday would not be applicable here. Such cantatas as these were used on occasions as needed and would have served for very different situations. BWV 54 and BWV 199 were suited to Bach's position in Weimar as the Court Organist, but not to that of the Concertmaster.

As far has having a repeat performance in Leipzig, for which there is no evidence, a performance, if there had been one, could not have taken place on Oculi, for this was a Sunday when the 'tempus clausum' was in force - no concerted church music would have been allowed. [The last few paragraphs are from pp. 89-90 of the NBA KB I/8.1-2. This commentary was published in 1998 and supersedes any firm confirmation about the liturgical designation for this cantata given elsewhere.]

Is BWV 54 a complete cantata or is there something missing (at least a choral mvt. or inclusion of a chorale sung by the soloist)?

Argument for missing mvt(s).:

Nowhere in any of the copies is there the usual indication which Bach supplies elsewhere: 'Fine' or 'SDG.'

The lack of inclusion of a chorale in some form is highly unusual (cf. BWV 199 its near twin, or BWV 51 much later.

Argument against missing mvt(s):

The original text source by Lehms (1711) is complete and does not indicate a chorale text to be added. The Stockmar printed versions of the text (1739, 1748) also confirm what is found in the Lehms original.

Dürr: Two arias surrounding a single recitative give us the simplest, basic, balanced form of the solo cantata.

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Last update: ýJanuary 18, 2008 ý16:21:41