Trinity was not a feast of the early church but was established on the present Sunday by Pope John XXII (1316–1334). The Athanasian Creed, named after St Athanasius, Archbishop of Alexandria, is often included in church services on Trinity Sunday because of its strong affirmation of the Triune nature of God.
Trinity is is one of the few feasts in the Christian calendar that celebrate a doctrine rather than an event. All Sundays until Advent are numbered from this day.
There are three cantatas for this day - a fourth one (BWV 194) was originally written for the dedication of a new organ and has already been discussed.
Readings:
Romans 11:33–36, "Who can know the riches and wisdom and judgements of God?"
John 3:1–15, "Nicodemus comes to Christ in the night"
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 Blessed Trinity with Crown by Max Fürst]
Cantatas:
- O heilges Geist- und Wasserbad, BWV 165, 16 June 1715
Arie S: O heilges Geist- und Wasserbad
Recitativ B: Die sündige Geburt verdammter Adamserben
Arie A: Jesu, der aus großer Liebe
Recitativ B: Ich habe ja, mein Seelenbräutigam
Arie T: Jesu, meines Todes Tod
Choral: Sein Wort, sein Tauf, sein Nachtmahl
"O holy bath of spirit and water"
Text & translation
Scored for four vocal soloists (soprano, alto, tenor and bass), a four-part choir (SATB) in the closing chorale, two violins, viola, bassoon, cello and basso continuo.
Intimate in scale, like other Weimar cantatas. The libretto by the court poet Salomo Franck is based on the Gospel reading of the day about the encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus. It is close in content to the Gospel and links the concept of the Trinity to baptism: "Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" - in other words, the purification of the human spirit through baptism.
It begins with a fugal soprano aria that uses the image of bath water as a cleanser of the soul. The first of two bass recitatives refers to the radiance of being clothed in the "white silk of Christ's innocence".
After a slow but steady alto aria that reflects on the need to renew the bond throughout life because it will be broken by man, the second bass recitative follows, which is very expressive. It contains an image of the "blood-red serpent," referring not to Satan but to the medieval depiction of Christ in limbo as a serpent on the cross.
And indeed, the ensuing tenor aria literally "snakes" along. It is a prayer for the realization that Jesus' death has brought salvation. The cantata concludes with a simple choral setting: the fifth stanza of Ludwig Helmbold's hymn "Nun laßt uns Gott dem Herren", which mentions scripture, baptism and the Eucharist, in a summary of the cantata's topic.
It is interesting to see how in this cantata Bach manages to translate the difficult ideology into music. The image of the serpent is used in several ways: as the serpent that tempted Adam and Eve to sin in paradise, as the symbol that Moses erected in the desert, and in relation to verse 14 of the Gospel: "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up".
Video: Kay Johannsen / J.S. Bach Foundation (St. Gallen) - Workshop (in German) - Contemplation (in German) - Explanation "Bach Factory" (English) - Es ist ein trotzig, und verzagt Ding, BWV 176, 27 May 1725
Chor: Es ist ein trotzig and verzagt Ding um aller Menschen Herze
Rezitativ A: Ich meine, recht verzagt
Arie S: Dein sonst hell beliebter Schein
Rezitativ B: So wundre dich, O Meister, nicht
Arie A: Ermuntert euch, furchtsam und schüchterne Sinne
Choral: Auf daß wir also allzugleich
"The heart is deceitful above all things"
Text & translation
Scored for three vocal soloists (soprano, alto and bass), four-part choir, two oboes, oboe da caccia, two violins, viola and basso continuo.
Bach wrote this very short cantata for Trinity Sunday in 1725. In his second year in Leipzig, Bach continued to write chorale cantatas from the first Sunday after Trinity through Palm Sunday for his second cantata cycle, but at Easter he switched back to cantatas based on a freer text. These included nine cantatas based on texts by the poet Christiana Mariana von Ziegler, including this last cantata of their collaboration. Bach later included them in his third cantata cycle.
BWV 176 has no chorale fantasia, no hybrid chorale/recitatives and both arias are under three minutes long. The structure is conservative, with two paired recitatives and arias sandwiched between an opening chorus and a closing chorale. There is no solo role for the tenor. But even though the scale of this work is extremely concise, the quality and intensity are very high.
The opening choral fugue is terse and verges on the aggressive. With no introduction, the chorus and orchestra plunge straight into the fugal exposition, paraphrasing a phrase from Jeremiah that describes the human heart as full of contradictions ("It is a defiant and despondent thing, the heart of all mankind"). The music is defiant rather than despondent.
In the alto recitative, the term "despondent" is then applied to the story of the Pharisee Nicodemus, a potential opponent of Jesus and a member of the Jewish ruling council, who visited Jesus at night. "He came to Jesus at night and said, 'Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could do these signs that you do unless God were with him.' Jesus replied, 'Most assuredly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again'."
In the soprano aria that follows, Nicodemus himself speaks, echoing the words of the Gospel. The aria is an attractive gavotte, at times without continuo.
In the following secco recitative for bass, Nicodemus speaks for Christians in general: "Do not wonder, O Master, why I ask you by night! I fear that during the day my inadequacy will not stand up to it". In the alto aria, the Trinity is emphasized by three obbligato oboes, one of which is an oboe da caccia, playing in unison. After the timid question, it is now time to trust what Jesus promises. The believing soul is assured that the promise will be fulfilled.
The final chorale is a four-part chorale set to the ancient modal melody "Christ our Lord came to the Jordan". The text (the eighth verse of Paul Gerhardt's hymn "Was alle Weisheit in der Welt") is a summary of the power of the Trinity.
Video: J.S. Bach Foundation (St. Gallen) - Workshop (in German) - Contemplation (in German) - Gelobet sei der Herr, mein Gott, BWV 129, 16 June 1726
Coro: Gelobet sei der Herr, mein Gott
Aria (bass): Gelobet sei der Herr, mein Gott, mein Heil
Aria (soprano): Gelobet sei der Herr, mein Gott, mein Trost
Aria (alto): Gelobet sei der Herr, mein Gott, der ewig lebet
Chorale: Dem wir das Heilig jetzt
"Praised be the Lord, my God"
Text & translation
Scored for three soloists, soprano, alto and bass, a four-part choir, three trumpets, timpani, flauto traverso, two oboes, oboe 7d'amore, two violins, viola, and basso continuo.
With this work, Bach completed his second cycle of chorale cantatas, which he had begun on the first Sunday after Trinity in 1724. In 1725, he had not composed any chorale cantatas for the Easter season. The text of the composition is the hymn Gelobet be der Herr, mein Gott (1665), prescribed for Trinity by Johann Olearius, which celebrates the Trinity in five verses. It is sung to a melody by Ahasverus Fritsch for O Gott, du frommer Gott. Bach left the text of the chorale unchanged.
It is a lovely little chorale cantata, a general praise of the Trinity, without reference to any particular Gospel reading. Bach left the chorale text unchanged and added no other text. The great opening chorus has trumpets and drums and a wonderful motoric rhythm. It begins with an instrumental concerto, an interplay of strings and woodwinds with interjections from the trumpets. The cantus firmus, a melody from O Gott, du pious God by Ahasuerus Fritsch (1679), is in the soprano, while the lower voices sing sometimes imitatively, sometimes homophonically. The text praises God the Creator.
Then follow three arias in succession, for bass (with continuo), soprano (with flute and violin), and alto (with oboe d'amore), all elegantly crafted.
In stark contrast to the large, polyphonic opening chorus, the verse praising God as the bringer of salvation is entrusted to the bass, accompanied only by the continuo. Bach may have had in mind the Vox Christi (voice of Christ), and the sparse accompaniment illustrates the humiliation of the Son of God. The word "Gelobet" is set as an expressive melisma.
In the second aria, which praises God the Comforter, the soprano is accompanied by flute and violin. In the third aria, a general song of praise, the alto and oboe d'amore are very vocal. This aria is a pastoral dance and the climax of the cantata.
The final choral verse is embedded in a jubilant orchestral concerto, similar to the final movements of Bach's Christmas Oratorio and Ascension Oratorio.
Video: J.S. Bach Foundation (St. Gallen) - Workshop (in Geman) - Contemplation (in German)
Nun danket alle Gott, BWV 192, June 4 1730
Chorus: Nun danket alle Gott
Duet aria (soprano and bass): Der ewig reiche Gott
Chorus: Lob, Ehr und Preis sei Gott
Scored for soprano and bass soloists, a four-part choir, two flutes, two oboes, two violins, viola, and basso continuo.
Bach probably composed BWV 192 as a chorale cantata for Trinity Sunday, setting the unmodified text of the three stanzas of Martin Rinckart's hymn of thanksgiving "Nun danket alle Gott" (1636). It was first performed on June 4, 1730, as a late addition to Bach's chorale year of 1724/25. The work may have been written for the palace chapel of the Duke of Saxony-Weissenfels, for whom Bach had also served as titular music director since 1729. The two tutti movements that frame the piece as magnificently mobile celebratory choirs emphasize the character of praise and thanksgiving, which is given a light rather than triumphant coloration by the traverse flutes and oboes. Since the soprano-bass duet inserted in between also has a delicately glowing basic theme despite all its determination, a wedding ceremony has been discussed as a possible reason for its composition, in addition to the Trinity or church consecration celebrations and Reformation Day. The original score is held by the Berlin State Library. The tenor part of this extraordinarily attractive cantata was lost and has been reconstructed by several scholars.
The cantata begins with a chorale fantasia. Unusually, the ritornello is not immediately followed by the chorale melody, but by a three- or even four-part imitative preparation. The first phrase of the chorale melody appears in the soprano over further imitation in the lower voices and staccato chords in the accompaniment.
The duet aria is introduced by a ritornello and is structured like a da capo aria, but lacks a contrasting middle section.
Unusually, the work ends not with a concluding chorale, but with another chorale fantasia with a "rollicking gigue melody". Again, the soprano carries the chorale melody. As in the first movement, the lower voices sing imitative lines.
Video: Netherlands Bach Society / J.S. Bach Foundation (St. Gallen) - Workshop (in Geman) - Contemplation (in German) - Explanation "Bach Factory" (in English)