| GREEN MAN PRESS - EARLY MUSIC EDITIONS | |||||||||||
| Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) | LINKS: |
||||||||||
| Bac 1 |
Aria: Hier
in meines Vaters Stätte from Cantata BWV 32 for bass violin, and continuo |
||||||||||
|
Bach’s church cantata BWV
32, Ich geh’ und suche mit Verlangen, was written for the Lutheran liturgy
for the first Sunday after Epiphany, and relates to the gospel reading
set for that Sunday – Luke 2, vv 41-45. This tells of the parents of the
twelve-year-old Jesus searching for him in Jerusalem at the end of their
pilgrimage, and finding him in the Temple in discourse with the teachers.
The recitative is based on Jesus’ reply to his parents
“How is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s
business?” The aria Hier in meines
Vaters Stätte which follows reflects on the Temple as a spiritual
home. The text is by Georg Christian Lehms (1684-1717), whose considerable
literary output included five cycles of librettos for church cantatas.
Bach set in all ten of his librettos. It is thought that the work was first performed in
Leipzig in 1726 on the first Sunday after Epiphany (January 13th),
and it thus belongs to Bach’s third cycle of cantatas for the church’s
year. The work is among five ‘Dialogue’ cantatas, which typically depict
Jesus, sung by a bass, in dialogue with the soul, sung by a soprano. The
aria of this present edition is remarkable for the freedom and lyricism
of the violin obbligato.
|
|||||||||||
| Bac 2 | Aria: Leget euch dem Heiland unter from Cantata BWV 182 for alto recorder (or flute) and continuo |
||||||||||
Bach’s church cantata BWV 182,
Himmelskönig, sei willkommen, was written for
the Lutheran liturgy for Palm Sunday, 25 March 1714.
The title (King of Heaven, be thou welcome) is associated
with the gospel reading for that day, with its account of the triumphal
entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The cantata belongs to Bach’s period in Weimar, and indeed began his first cycle of cantatas for the church’s year. Others were produced at about four weekly intervals from then on. The cantatas in this series show characteristics derived from the Italian style which Bach had begun to adopt. In cantata No 182, for example, he introduces a recitative for bass, and the present aria for alto is in da capo form. An editorial problem with this work stems from the fact that Bach wrote the continuo part for an organ at high pitch; to play it on a modern keyboard instrument in effect transposes the piece down a minor third, which puts the lowest notes of the obbligato below the compass of the treble recorder. This edition offers a recorder part which is as close to the original recorder part as possible. The text of the aria Leget euch dem Heiland unter, is probably by Salomo Franck, the court poet at Weimar, many of whose texts Bach set. Its exhortation to devotion, purity and dedication are reminiscent of the writing in the epistles of Paul to the early church communities.
|
|||||||||||