Readings:
Romans 12:6–16, we have several gifts
John 2:1–11, the wedding at Cana and Jesus' miraculous transformation of water into wine.
Cantata Studies:
Bach Cantatas Website | Simon Crouch | Emmanuel Music | Julian Mincham | Wikipedia | Eduard van Hengel (in Dutch) | Bach Companion (Oxford U.P.) | Bach: The Learned Musician (Wolff) | Music in the Castle of Heaven (Gardiner)
[The calling of Apostle John at the Marriage at Cana, c. 1530,
Jan Cornelisz Vermeyen]
Jan Cornelisz Vermeyen]
Cantatas:
- Mein Gott, wie lang, ach lange? BWV 155, 19 January 1716
Recitativo (Soprano): Mein Gott, wie lang, ach lange?
Aria (Alto, Tenor): Du mußt glauben, du mußt hoffen
Recitativo (Bass): So sei, o Seele, sei zufrieden
Aria (Soprano): Wirf, mein Herze, wirf dich noch
Choral: Ob sich's anließ, als wollt er nicht
"My God, how long, ah, how long"
Text & translation
Scored for soprano, alto, tenor and bass soloists, a four-part choir for the chorale only if at all, an obbligato bassoon, two violins, viola, and basso continuo.
Short solo cantata in chamber style, written in Weimar, but also performed in Leipzig on January 16, 1724. The wedding at Cana, the Gospel reading for this day, symbolically represents the marriage of Christ and the soul. It is also about transformation: water into wine, doubt into trust. The theme of the cantata is therefore the sorrow of separation from God, gradually transformed into the joy of reunion. The images are of water, wine and tears.
The cantata opens with an operatic recitative for soprano that speaks of longing and waiting, expressively extended over a throbbing pedal point of 11 bars. It conveys a feeling of extended suffering. This is followed by a very original duet between alto and tenor that calls for trust and hope. The voices sing most of the time in homophony. The duet is accompanied by a weeping bassoon that plays virtuoso figurations in a wide range of two and a half octaves, taking on the role of the troubled soul.
The bass recitative speaks in the voice of God about the wine of consolation. The cantata ends with a joyful soprano aria in a dancing rhythm. The melody of a 15th-century Easter chorale (stanza 12 of "Es ist das Heil uns kommen her" by Speratus) concludes the cantata in four voices.
The text of this cantata is by Salomo Franck (1659-1725), published in his Evangelische Andachts-Opfer, a book of "spiritual cantatas" for the entire church year. Franck was a high official and chief librarian in Weimar, much higher in rank than Bach. Between 1714 and 1716, Bach set at least fifteen of Franck's cantata texts to music, and while this may not have been entirely his own choice, it proved to be a good match.
Video: Netherlands Bach Society / J.S. Bach-Foundation (St. Gallen) - Workshop (in German) - Contemplation (in German) - Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid, BWV 3, 14 January 1725
Chorus: Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid
Recitative and Choral: Wie schwerlich lässt sich Fleisch und Blut
Aria for Bass: Empfind ich Höllenangst und Pein
Recitative for Tenor: Es mag mir Leib und Geist verschmachten
Duet for Soprano and Alto: Wenn Sorgen auf mich dringen
Choral: Erhalt mein Herz im Glauben rein
"Ah, God, how much heartache"
Text & translation
Scored for four vocal soloists, a four-part choir, horn (to double the cantus firmus in the closing chorale), trombone (to reinforce the bass in the opening chorus), two oboes d'amore, two violins, viola, and basso continuo.
A chorale cantata based on the eighteen-verse hymn "Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid" by Martin Moller (1587). It is a paraphrase of the Latin "Jesu dulcis memoria," a medieval hymn attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux, a meditation on Jesus as comforter and helper in distress. The song was sung in Bach's time to one of the two melodies used for "O Jesu Christ, my Life's Light."
After the intimate encounter with the manger child, the readings on Epiphany Sundays are marked by grief for the lost Jesus, with Baroque librettists transforming the search for the boy savior on his way to the temple into a symbol of the church awaiting the Savior's return. Note that neither Moller's chorale nor the cantata text has any connection with this Sunday's Gospel reading, the story (John 2:1-11) of the "wedding feast at Cana," whereupon, when the wine runs out, Jesus immediately transforms water into wine: his first miracle. All three of Bach's cantatas for this Sunday begin with the difficult journey that believers must take on this earth and end with the joy of the comfort and support that Christ offers them (according to Eduard van Hengel).
Composed during Bach's second season in Leipzig, BWV 3 belongs to the cycle of chorale cantatas that Bach began in June 1724: the text and music of the first and last chorale verses form the basis of a large opening chorus and a short closing chorale, while a lyricist, perhaps the Thomasschule's emeritus vice-principal Andreas Stübel, paraphrased the verses in between into texts for two recitative/aria pairs.
Note that although Bach composed the cantata BWV 58 two years later by basing the opening chorus on the same chorale - hence the name - the later cantata is very different because it is not a chorale cantata (the rest of the text is not based on the chorale).
The opening chorus begins with an orchestral ritornello of great beauty: a pair of oboes d'amore lead into one of Bach's excellent chorale fantasias, in which the chorale melody, which Bach usually assigns to the sopranos, is given to the bass, doubled by trombones and continuo. The chorus is very chromatic and complex, in a general mood of gentle lamentation. The four-note descending tetrachord is a Baroque symbol for "mourning," often used in chaconnes of the period. The mood of mourning is further supported by the elegiac sounds of the oboes d'amore and sighing motifs in the strings. As Julian Mincham writes, "The fantasia portrays the Christian’s grief throughout his journey on the narrow path to heaven - how difficult it is for flesh and blood to make this sorrowful journey."
The second movement is a recitative/chorale in which a line of chorale melody alternates with a line of recitative, each time by a different soloist. It is most effective. Harmonically, the chorale+recitative contrasts sharply with the opening chorus: instead of using the lamento figure with its characteristic semitone steps, leading to notes with many sharps, here all chromaticism has disappeared, and all harmonies are simple and straightforward.
This is followed by a sinuous bass aria full of writhing chromaticism, with the violoncello expressing the "fear of hell" mentioned in the text. This is a reminder of the uncomfortable, difficult path the Christian must walk. There is a change of mood, however, and the tenor recitative expresses trust in Jesus to overcome despair.
The duet for soprano and alto banishes human sorrow with joyful singing. It is the climax of the cantata, an almost cheerful expression of thanksgiving that Jesus helps us to carry our crosses. The sadness of the mortal world is largely absent from this music, which reflects the simple contentment of surrender to Jesus. The obbligato motif, played in unison by the oboes d'amore and the violin, provides a remarkable timbre. Bach refers to the cross mentioned in the text by using a cross motif in the melody and double sharps marked with a cross.
The cantata concludes with a simply harmonized chorale. The chorale melody is supported by a horn.
Video: J.S. Bach-Foundation (St. Gallen) - Workshop (in German) - Contemplation (in German) - Explanation "Bach Factory" (English) - Meine Seufzer, meine Tränen, BWV 13, 20 January 1726
Aria (Tenor): Meine Seufzer, meine Tränen
Recitative (Alt): Mein liebster Gott läßt mich annoch
Chorale (Alt): Der Gott, der mir hat versprochen
Recitative (Sopran): Mein Kummer nimmet zu
Aria (Bass): Ächzen und erbärmlich Weinen
Choral: So sei nun, Seele, deine
"My sighs, my tears"
Text & translation
Scored for four soloists, soprano, alto, tenor, and bass, a four-part choir (SATB) in the chorales, two recorders, oboe da caccia, two violins, viola, and basso continuo.
Intimate chamber cantata without chorus. Were the text not derived from the devotional works of Georg Christian Lehms - and clearly written for general purposes - the cantata could be mistaken for a votive composition undertaken for personal reasons, or for a commissioned funeral composition (in the style of Cantata 157). Perhaps, then, we can consider it a consolation cantata with an unusually personal character.
The cantata begins with a lament by the tenor as a vivid picture of the sinner's struggle. It is a noble and grave aria, beautifully accompanied by two recorders and the dark tones of the oboe da caccia, which together form an interesting instrumental texture. At the words "way to death" the music sinks deeper and deeper.
After a recitative, the chorale is interestingly sung not by a small choir, but by the alto - and at a vigorous tempo. This is the second stanza of Johann Heermann's hymn "Zion klagt mit Angst und Schmerzen". Mercy is not yet in sight ("My dear God lets me call in vain").
In the following bass aria, "Moaning and most piteous weeping," the first violin accompaniment is in unison with the recorder, which plays an octave higher, again creating a very special sound. The music also sighs and weeps.
Only the chorale, the final stanza of Paul Fleming's "In allen meinen Taten", sung to the melody of "O Welt, ich muss dich lassen" by Heinrich Isaac, brings some comfort, but it is brief compared to what has gone before. This may be the most desolate cantata Bach ever wrote, but the intimate, almost private scale keeps the outpouring of grief within bounds.
Video: J.S. Bach-Foundation (St. Gallen) - Workshop (in German) - Contemplation (in German)