The first Sunday after Easter is also known as the "Octave of Easter" ("octave" because in the past it was believed that Easter lasted eight days, from Easter Sunday to the next Sunday) and the "Quasimodogeniti" Sunday. The Latin "quasimodogeniti" means "like newborn babes" and is the opening phrase of the introit for the Church's worship on this Sunday: "As newborn babies, desire the pure milk of the word, so that you may grow." (1 Peter 2:2-3)
The biblical account of this day is that of the "Appearance of Christ to the Twelve" and the "Doubting Thomas," an account that actually took place on the eighth day after the Resurrection. Eight days later, his disciples were back in the house, and Thomas was with them. The doors were shut, but Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you. Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands, and put your hand out and put it in my side; do not be unbelieving, but believing. Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.
Readings:
Epistle: 1 John 5: 4-10 (Faith overcomes the world);
Gospel: John 20: 19-31 (Christ appears to the Twelve; the "Doubting Thomas").
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 biblical account of this day is that of the "Appearance of Christ to the Twelve" and the "Doubting Thomas," an account that actually took place on the eighth day after the Resurrection. Eight days later, his disciples were back in the house, and Thomas was with them. The doors were shut, but Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you. Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands, and put your hand out and put it in my side; do not be unbelieving, but believing. Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.
Readings:
Epistle: 1 John 5: 4-10 (Faith overcomes the world);
Gospel: John 20: 19-31 (Christ appears to the Twelve; the "Doubting Thomas").
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 Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Caravaggio (1601-1602)]
Cantatas:
- Halt im Gedächtnis Jesum Christ, BWV 67 (April 16, 1724)
Chorus: Halt im Gedächtnis Jesum Christ
Aria: Mein Jesus ist erstanden
Recitative: Mein Jesu, heißest du des Todes Gift
Chorale: Erschienen ist der herrlich Tag
Recitative: Doch scheinet fast
Aria and chorus: Friede sei mit euch!
Chorale: Du Friedefürst, Herr Jesu Christ.
"Hold in remembrance Jesus Christ"
Text and translation
Scored for three vocal soloists (alto, tenor, bass), a four-part choir, corno da tirarsi (a slide horn that Bach scored for a short period), flauto traverso, two oboes d'amore, two violins, viola and basso continuo.
Having recycled some of his older music in the busy days of Easter, BWV 67 "Halt im Gedächtnis Jesum Christ" is an entirely new work with a wonderfully optimistic tone. The work is in seven movements, but by no means long, and is full of variety, both in vocal and instrumental combinations and in the range of moods. It was also Bach's first (albeit modest) use of the traverse flute. Together with the two oboes d'amore, the instrument adds color to the sensitive moments, while the slide trumpet emphasizes the festive nature of the chorale melodies.
The text of this cantata is linked to the Gospel reading of the story of the doubting Thomas: one of the disciples who is seen as a doubtful Christian whose heart is not at peace. The words of the cantata speak of divine mercy: forgiveness is granted to all who struggle and yet see the error of their ways.
The cantata begins with a lively chorus that establishes a joyful Easter spirit, an exhortation to cherish the memory of the risen Christ. The choral movement is divided symmetrically into seven sections, beginning with an instrumental Sinfonia for all instruments. The horn presents a theme commemorating Jesus' death and recalling the melody of the Passion chorale, "O Lamm Gottes, unschuldig" which Bach later used as the cantus firmus in the opening chorus of his St. Matthew Passion. In the second section, the soprano sings this melody, with the lower voices emphasizing the word "Keep! (Remember Jesus Christ who rose from the dead) with several homophonic interjections. In the third section, the soprano repeats the melody, while the alto, as the counter-subject of a fugue, presents a theme that represents the resurrection through a lively upward movement that spans more than an octave. The central fourth section repeats the sinfonia with an embedded chorus, and sections 5 through 7 modify sections 2 through 4.
This is followed by a tenor aria with obbligato oboe d'amore expressing conflicting emotions ("My Jesus is risen, why am I afraid?"): joy at the resurrection, but also doubt about its reality. The next recitative-chorale-recitative structure provides a dramatic narrative that continues the spiritual oscillation of the tenor aria, built around the Easter hymn "The glorious day has come.
The strings then introduce a short martial sinfonia whose violent movement depicts the onslaught of the enemy - as if a war were being waged for the soul of the believer. As this cantata proves, contrapuntal music is perfect for expressing conflicting emotions! In 3/4 time and accompanied by the soft dotted rhythms of the woodwinds, the bass appears as the Vox of Christ, singing three times the greeting that Jesus addresses to the disciples in verse 19 of the Gospel: "Peace be with you". The three upper voices of the choir respond to the music of the introduction, recognizing Jesus as a helper in the struggle: "Help us to fight and to quench the fury of our enemies." The greeting of peace and the response are repeated two more times, in the second verse "to refresh our weary spirit and body at the same time" and in the third verse "to penetrate through death". In the final greeting of peace, the strings play with the woodwinds as a symbol of peace. Bach included this movement in the Gloria of his Mass in A major, BWV 234.
The final chorale is the first verse of Jakob Ebert's hymn "Du Friedefürst, Herr Jesu Christ" by Jakob Ebert (1601), which Bach later adapted in the chorale cantata BWV 116 of the same name.
Video: Netherlands Bach Society - Interviews Root (flute), Van Veldhoven (conductor), Vanryne (trumpet) /
J.S. Bach Foundation (St. Gallen) - Workshop (in German) - Contemplation (in German) - Am Abend aber desselbigen Sabbats, BWV 42 (1725)
Sinfonia
Recitativo (tenor, bassoon): Am Abend aber desselbigen Sabbats
Aria (alto, oboes, bassoon): Wo zwei und drei versammlet sind
Aria (soprano, tenor, bassoon): Verzage nicht, o Häuflein klein
Recitativo (bass, bassoon): Man kann hiervon ein schön Exempel sehen
Aria (bass, violins, bassoon): Jesus ist ein Schild der Seinen
Chorale: Verleih uns Frieden gnädiglich
"On the evening of the very same Sabbath"
Text and translation
Scored for soprano, alto, tenor, and bass soloists, a four-part choir only in the closing chorale, two oboes, bassoon, two violins, viola and basso continuo.
In his second cantata cycle, Bach had composed exclusively chorale cantatas since the first Sunday after Trinity in 1724, and also performed a chorale cantata, BWV 4, at Easter 1725, but after Easter he returned to more textually free cantata forms. This cantata begins with an extended sinfonia.
The prescribed readings for Sunday were the appearances of Jesus to the disciples in Jerusalem, first without, then with Thomas. The unknown librettist begins with John 20:19. After the biblical quotation from the Gospel of John, the poet refers in stanza 3 to a word of Jesus from the Gospel of Matthew: "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them", Matthew 18:20. For the fourth movement, he used the first verse of the chorale Verzage nicht, o Häuflein klein (1632) by Jacob Fabricius, and for the conclusion, Luther's German version of Da pacem Domine (1531).
Begins with an extended orchestral sinfonia (like in the Brandenburg concertos) instead of an opening chorus. The sinfonia has a concertino woodwind section and may be based on a now-lost concerto. It has a lyrical and tender character and again evokes the joyful atmosphere of Easter.
The tenor recitative quotes from the Gospel about the appearance of Jesus to his disciples, accompanied by the continuo in rapid, repeating notes, perhaps illustrating the anxious heartbeat of the disciples in hiding. The long and gentle alto aria takes up the same theme and may well have been based on the slow movement of the lost concerto used at the beginning. The bassoon's throbbing remains, but the strings hold long chords and the oboes play wide melodic arcs.
This climax is followed by a soprano and tenor duet in a jerky rhythm ("Do not despair"). This duet is unusual because it takes its text from a well-known chorale whose melody is nowhere to be found in the cantata. Jakob Fabricius wrote this hymn in 1632, in the midst of the Thirty Years' War, a time of severe trials. A bass recitative and aria follow. In the bass aria we hear the impotent rage of Christ's adversaries in the restless violin figures, while the vocal line expresses the reassurance of faith and the unassertive rhythms in the continuo symbolize perseverance and strength.
As usual, the cantata concludes with a choral setting: "Verleih uns Frieden," the text and music of which Martin Luther borrowed around 1530 from the pre-Reformation Ambrosian hymn Da pacem Domini.
Like BWV 67, this is a large and highly original work, more impressive than the cantatas Bach wrote for Easter itself.
Video: Netherlands Bach Society / Van Veldhoven on Cantata BWV 42 /
J.S. Bach-Foundation (St. Gallen) - Workshop (in German) - Contemplation (in German)