Systematic Discussions of Bach's Other Vocal Works: Weihnachts-Oratorium

Discussions in the Week of November 14, 2004

Bradley Lehman wrote (November 16, 2004):
XO part 6, 1st mvt

In the piece officially scheduled for this week's discussion, namely the 6th part of Christmas Oratorio: I especially like the harmonic motto stuck Bach has in there to organize the first movement. Each time it gets to a big cadence, the basso continuo switches from its prevailing motion (eighths) and becomes quickly repeated notes (sixteenths).

For example, the last five bars of that movement: the harmony holds steady through three bars, G# diminished seventh chord (G#-B-D-F) while the bass line walks down through B, A, G# in its repeated notes. Over that A it's therefore a really strong dissonance, the accented passing clash against that G#-B-D-F happening in the rest of the orchestra. A nice illustration of the movement's text, which is about withstanding the attacking talons of proud enemies. Bach saves this crunchiest bit, at each big cadence, to be right before that resolution...intensifying the drama and the triumph of that steadfast faith, keeping clear which key we're going to in each place.

So, at these spots, he hits the deceptive 6th degree of the scale, walks the bass line back down with its different and unexpected change of figuration (i.e. being bowed twice as fast), then getting to I-6-4, V, and I right down to the very last moment. Brilliant stuff, the way he delays the expected dominant harmony for so long! Victory snatched from the jaws of impending defeat. Such a contrast with the main themes of the movement, which are so firmly the simple dominant and tonic, so unproblematic.

Neil Halliday wrote (November 16, 2004):
[To Bradley Lehman] Another striking feature is the canon-like treatment of the opening material; two subjects are first simultaneously presented by the 1st trumpet and upper strings, then the 2nd and 3rd trumpets, fortified with continuo and timpani, imitate that material, thus setting the music off on its powerful and stirring progress.

Also notice how the opening 16th note subject (strings bar 2), when it appears in the 1st trumpet (bar five), stays "on the same spot" for three bars, whereas when this subject appears in other instrumental and (especially) vocal parts throughout the movement, it moves down a bar at a time.

Doug Cowling wrote (November 16, 2004):
Neil Halliday wrote: < I've always felt that there was link between this chorus and and final chorale-fantasy which opens with a similar trumpet figure. And there are number of features which remind us that the work is both a set of six cantatas and a single oratorio. The "farewell" of the four soloists in the last recitative parallels the penultimate movement of the St. Matthew Passion. >
More arresting is the repetition of the "Passion Chorale" which is the first chorale in Part One and which closes the work transfigured in D major. As far as I've been able to discover, the chorale did not have the Passion sighnficance that it has for us but rather was a common communion chorale for the Lutherans. Has any ever tracked this chorale through the cantatas to see if it has a particular symbolize for Bach? I know it appears at the end of an alto funeral cantata whose title escapes me at the moment. Lovely scrunchy harmonies with a flute solo above.

Thomas Braatz wrote (November 16, 2004):
Doug Cowling wrote: >>More arresting is the repetition of the "Passion Chorale" which is the first chorale in Part One and which closes the work transfigured in D major. As far as I've been able to discover, the chorale did not have the Passion significance that it has for us but rather was a common communion chorale for the Lutherans. Has any ever tracked this chorale through the cantatas to see if it has a particular symbolize for Bach? I know it appears at the end of an alto funeral cantata whose title escapes me at the moment.<<
The final use of the 'Passion Chorale' as the last mvt. of the WO BWV 248/64 is based upon the 4th verse of the hymn text for "Ihr Christen auserkoren" by Georg Werner (1648.) Just how this hymn became associated with the melody of the 'Passion Chorale' I do not know, but this type of thing does happen rather frequently with other chorale melodies and texts as well. Alfred Dürr describes as 'unusual' the inclusion of a Phrygian-mode melody "Herzlich tut mich verlangen" in a mvt. that beams forth in the purest D major key. The melody, under the latter name, is also found in BWV 153/5. It is of interest that CPE Bach, in his collections of 4-pt chorales gives the melody as "Ach Herr, mich armen Sünder" specifically for the setting of BWV 248/64. Dürr refers to BWV 248/5 as having the same melody ("Herzlich tut mich verlangen"), but interestingly CPE Bach gives the caption of chorale from this same mvt. as "O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden" (the Passion Chorale.) Perhaps there is some esoteric connection with this passion hymn melody after all, even though Dürr does not think so. Dürr, in his book on the cantatas [Bärenreiter, 1971, p. 134] says essentially the following: Bach probably intended the 'bracketing' ["Verklammerung"] of the entire oratorio by using the same melody twice, at the beginning and at the end. Dürr thinks that it is less likely that Bach intended to point toward the passion of Jesus by using this melody, because the Leipzig congregation at that time had not yet established in their minds such a tight connection between the melody and Paul Gerhardt's passion-tide hymn "O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden. The same melody was used just as frequently with the text for "Wie soll ich dich empfangen" so that it would be difficult for the congregation to quickly make or even suspect the association that Bach might have been wanting to establish with the Gerhardt's passion-tide hymn text. [The problem with this is that Bach never set this melody with this text, "Wie soll ich dich empfangen" anywhere else and none of the collections of Bach's 4-pt. chorales reference this text associated with this melody. Strange, isn't it?]

What we find are a number of different 4-pt. harmonizations of the chorale melody listed under "Befiehl du deine Wege" BWV 161/6 and BWV 270, 271, and 272. The other instances of this chorale melody occur in the SMP as BWV 244/15(/17)44, 54, 62.

The untexted use of this melody in BWV 127/1, as reported first by Friedrich Smend, shows that Bach definitely had the 'Passion Chorale' in mind and could expect members of the congregation to recognize it even though the words "O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden" were not being sung.

The question remains whether there was a stronger association with the 'Passion Chorale' than with the other possible text associations. Did Bach enjoy or make use of the 'double entendre' in the instance of BWV 248? Was it simply a matter of knowing which part of the liturgical year was being experienced at the time or which event or festival was being celebrated at the time?

I, personally, like to think that Bach, in BWV 248, was accomplishing a number of goals at the same time, one of which might have allowed for a hint/indication of the events still to come at the end of Jesus' life.

John Pike wrote (November 16, 2004):
Thomas Braatz wrote: < I, personally, like to think that Bach, in BWV 248, was accomplishing a number of goals at the same time, one of which might have allowed for a hint/indication of the events still to come at the end of Jesus' life.

I agree. The link between the Christmas story and the crucifixion is central. Jesus' main purposes in coming to earth were to teach and to die for our sins. Regardless of how much the Leipzig congregation understood the linkage, I suspect it was a definite decision by Bach to make a very strong linkage between the Christmas and crucifixion stories, much as writers of many carols have done.

Continue of this discussion, see: Passion Chorale [Other Vocal Works]

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Last update: ýNovember 27, 2004 ý20:49:05