Cantata BWV 24 - Commentary

Thomas Braatz wrote (July 10, 2001):
BWV 24 - Did you know?

Some isolated facts about this cantata:

1. Did you know that, when Simon Crouch gives the title of this cantata as "Ein ungefärbt Gemüte von deutcher [sic] Treu und Gute [sic]" ("An unstained mind of German truth and goodness" ) and states that this "is bound to raise the hackles in the late twentieth century," he deliberately and knowingly wishes to provoke the very thing he has indicated? I have not found a single reputable source that refers to the title of this cantata in this way, and this has been the case since the first printing of the score of the cantata by the BG, references made to it by recognized Bach scholars, the most recent printing in the NBA, and even in the very recent Oxford Composer Companions: J.S.Bach [Boyd] reference book. To be sure, this elongated title did cause some problems in the German post-war era in the zones of occupation by foreign powers, witness the rendition of the text in a radio recording given by Ramin in the early 1950's where the word "deutscher/teutscher" was replaced with "echter" ("genuine".) But all subsequent recordings that I have, did not make this change, but rather left it as it was. In this current period of heightened political sensitivities (Barenboim's Wagner performance in Jerusalem, etc.,) it would behoove all of us to attempt to recognize what these words meant to those who heard them at the first performance of this work. Any historian would be glad to give you the total number of principalities that existed in what might loosely be termed 'Germany' in Bach's day. So the term does not yet refer to anything that might properly be called 'nationalistic.' It is more likely that its meaning represents an ideal similar to the ideals that would circulate in Europe and the American colonies fifty years later.

2. Did you know that Spitta hears a connection/similarity between the main motif of the 1^st aria and the last mvt. of BWV 1014, the b-minor sonata for violin and clavier? (the repeated note motif)

3. Did you know that Spitta also hears a similarity between the main choral mvt. (3) in this cantata and the 2^nd chorus in BWV 21 "Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis?" (the short responses exchanged between the chorus and the instrumentalists)

4. Did you know that Schweitzer pointed out that the difference between the soli and ripeinos (or is it ripienists?) pertained not only to the members of the choir, but also to the instrumentalists? (meaning that not only the vocal soloists were joined by the others in the same voice range, but that the number of instrumentalists increased when the designation "ripieno" appeared in the score)

5. Did you know that Dürr was the first to establish the strong connection between this cantata and BWV 185 "Barmherziges Herze der ewigen Liebe?" (The latter cantata from the Weimar period preceded the sermon and BWV 24 followed it. The 1^st recitative (mvt. 2 of BWV 24) shows textual and musical parallels to BWV 185.)

6. Did you know that Dürr also found a unifying element within BWV 24: a motif from the 1^st aria (mvt. 1) is repeated in the 2^nd aria (mvt. 5) and helps to link these mvts. musically.

Cantata BWV 24: Recordings | Discussions

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Last update: ýAugust 21, 2003 ý14:54:32