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Thomas Braatz wrote (September 8, 2002):
BWV 25 - Provenance:
Original Set of Parts:
The original set of parts is located in the BB (Staatsbibliothek Berlin.) Remarkably this cantata was not listed among the scores and parts in C.P.E. Bach’s estate in 1790, nor in Dehn’s catalog, in which it was overlooked but later included in the BB’s catalog (early 19th century.) Normally evidence of previous ownership is found on the cover in the form of initials, numbers, etc. but not in this instance. This is rather unusual and would point to the fact that it had probably been mislaid or misfiled and remained unaccounted for over decades. There were 5 copyists engaged in copying out the parts from the autograph score which no longer exists. It is evident also that Bach did not, as is customary, add the figured bass numbers to the transposed continuo part (the other, untransposed continuo part is not figured – this is not unusual.)
Scores:
There are two copies of the score made by C.F. Penzel (1770) and another by an unknown copyist sometime between 1770 and 1780.
Text:
There is no printed version available (Bach normally was responsible for having the texts printed so that they would be available to the members of the congregation), nor is the name of the librettist known. The text for the introductory chorus is based on Psalm 38:4. The reference to “Salb aus Gilead” points to Jeremiah 8:22 and 46:11. The final chorale uses the 12th verse of Johann Heermann’s chorale text, “Treuer Gott, ich muß dir klagen” (1630). [Martin Petzoldt in his “Theologische Aspekte der Leipziger Kantaten Bachs,” an article contained in „Die Welt der Bach Kantaten“ Vol. 3, 1998, claims to know, without giving further documentation, that the text for BWV 25 was written by Johann Jacob Rambach (1693-1735)]
Date of Composition:
Since Spitta most commentators have assigned this cantata to the middle Leipzig period (1727-1736). This was based on the false assessment of the watermark, MA, which exists in a larger and a smaller form. It is now clear, by comparison with other cantatas from 1723, that this cantata belongs to that year. Dürr, by recognizing the early form of one of the main copyists, assigns the 1st performance of this cantata to August 22, 1723. |
