There are no major church festivals in this second part of the church year. Instead, questions of faith and doctrine are explored. The lectionary readings use the parables and teachings of Christ to lead listeners to a better life. Each Sunday has an assigned epistle reading from the letters of Paul and a gospel from the actual life of Christ.
The two readings for this First Sunday of the Trinity are quite harsh, telling the faithful that the person who professes to love God but not his brother is a liar, and also emphasizing the unbridgeable gap between the worlds of heaven and hell. Two cantatas for this Sunday focus on the softer message of the difference between rich and poor and the need to feed the hungry from the story of Lazarus. Cantata BWV 20, however, ignores this theme and emphasizes the fate of the sinner in eternal suffering and calls for repentance.
This Sunday was particularly important to Bach because it was on this day in 1723 that he took up his post as Thomaskantor in Leipzig. His duties included training the St. Thomas Boys Choir and performing at the regular services of Leipzig's two main churches, St. Thomas' and St. Nicholas'. In the Thomaskirche, cantatas were performed every Sunday and on feast days. Soloists, choir, and orchestra performed from two galleries above and around the main organ loft in the center of the church.
Upon his appointment, Bach began the project of composing annual cycles of cantatas, one for each Sunday and feast day of the liturgical year. The first cantata he wrote was Die Elenden sollen essen, BWV 75, which began the first cycle on the first Sunday after Trinity in 1723; the cantata O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort, BWV 20 of 1724 began the second cycle, also on the first Sunday after Trinity. With BWV 20, Bach began a new scheme for the second cycle: to compose chorale cantatas based exclusively on the major Lutheran hymns associated with that day in the liturgical calendar. After completing his second cycle, Bach composed his third cycle sporadically between 1725 and 1727.
Readings:
1 John 4:16–21, "God is Love"
Luke 16:19–31, The parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus
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)
[Parable of the Rich man and Lazarus (detail), Pieter Cornelisz van Rijck, 1610-1620]
Cantatas:
Die Elenden sollen essen, BWV 75, 30 May 1723
Part I
1. Coro: Die Elenden sollen essen
2. Recitativo (bass): Was hilft des Purpurs Majestät
3. Aria (tenor): Mein Jesus soll mein alles sein
4. Recitativo (tenor): Gott stürzet und erhöhet
5. Aria (soprano): Ich nehme mein Leiden mit Freuden auf mich
6. Recitativo (soprano): Indes schenkt Gott ein gut Gewissen
7. Chorale: Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan
Part II
8. Sinfonia
9. Recitativo (alto): Nur eines kränkt
10. Aria (alto): Jesus macht mich geistlich reich
11. Recitativo (bass): Wer nur in Jesu bleibt
12. Aria (bass): Mein Herze glaubt und liebt
13. Recitativo (tenor): O Armut, der kein Reichtum gleicht!
14. Chorale: Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan
"The wretched shall eat that they become satisfied."
Text & translation
Scored for four vocal soloists (soprano, alto, tenor and bass), a four-part choir SATB, trumpet, two oboes, oboe d'amore, two violins, viola, and basso continuo including bassoon.
Bach's first full-length Leipzig cantata (except for BWV 76, Bach would write very few cantatas of this length!) - his "maiden speech," so to speak. The text ties in nicely with the story of Lazarus and the rich man from this Sunday's readings, and is about the need to care for the poor. The unknown poet begins his text with a quotation from Psalm 22 and elaborates on the contrast between the poverty of earthly life and the true riches of heaven - earthly riches turn out to be of no value in heaven.
Both parts conclude with a verse from the hymn "Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan" by Samuel Rodigast. The music is in the style of a French overture with dance movements (the tenor aria is a polonaise, the soprano aria is a minuet, the alto aria is a passepied, and the bass aria is a gigue).
The first part of the cantata begins with a dramatic chorus plus fugue and plaintive oboes ("Those who suffer in this life will one day be satisfied"). The chorus is in two parts, a slow section illustrating the plight of the hungry and a faster fugue begun by the four soloists and then taken up by the chorus. Note the plaintive chromaticism at the word "the wretched."
The bass recitative tells us that worldly pleasures are transitory, and the expansive but lyrical tenor aria (with oboe accompaniment) sings that Jesus is the supreme good. Those who overcome hell in this world will find joy in the next, says the tenor recitative.
The soprano aria refers directly to Lazarus, whose patient endurance of suffering led to divine favor. It is imbued with exquisite melancholy, a perfect expression of accepting pain with joy. The first part concludes with the choral "What God does is well done.
The second part of the cantata (meant to be played after the sermon) begins in an interesting way: a very effective instrumental version of the chorale, with the melody solidly in the trumpet. The alto aria sets a new mood with its melancholy insistence on "Jesus makes me spiritually rich.
The bass recitative tells us that self-denial leads a person to find both himself and God. And, as he sings in his bravura aria (with trumpet, the best in the entire cantata), the key to such a life is total surrender to Jesus. The triplets in the instruments are said to describe the healing, sweet flames of Jesus.
This long cantata achieves a cumulative dramatic effect. Bach presents himself to his new audience as a "contemporary" composer who is not afraid to use elements that were considered modern at the time. The number of movements, fourteen, is the sum of the letters for BACH in the numerical alphabet and the composer's symbolic "signature.
Video: Netherlands Bach Society - Interview I and interview II with Bassist Robert Franenberg- O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort, BWV 20, 11 June 1724
Part one
Coro: "O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort" for choir, tromba da tirarsi col Soprano, tutti.
Recitativo: "Kein Unglück ist in aller Welt zu finden" for tenor and continuo.
Aria: "Ewigkeit, du machst mir bange" for tenor, strings, and continuo.
Recitativo: "Gesetzt, es dau'rte der Verdammten Qual" for bass and continuo.
Aria: "Gott ist gerecht in seinen Werken" for bass, oboes, and continuo.
Aria: "O Mensch, errette deine Seele" for altus, strings, and continuo.
Chorale: "So lang ein Gott im Himmel lebt" for choir, tromba da tirarsi, oboes I/II, and violin I col Soprano, oboe III & violin II coll'Alto, viola col Tenore, and continuo.
Part two
Aria: "Wacht auf, wacht auf, verlornen Schafe" for bass and tutti.
Recitativo: "Verlass, o Mensch, die Wollust dieser Welt" for alto and continuo.
Aria (Duetto): "O Menschenkind" for altus, tenor, and continuo.
Chorale: "O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort" for choir, tromba da tirarsi, oboes I/II, and violin I col Soprano, oboe III & violin II coll'Alto, viola col Tenore, and continuo.
"O Eternity, O Word of Thunder"
Text & translation
Scored for three vocal soloists, a four-part choir, two tromba da tirarsi, three oboes, two violins, viola and basso continuo.
The first chorale cantata of Bach's second year in Leipzig (1724). In this cycle, Bach composed exclusively chorale cantatas based on the main Lutheran hymn for the occasion (Leipzig had a tradition of focusing on the hymns). Bach composed about forty chorale cantatas in his second cycle. Textually, this rather dark cantata is based on a long and rather somber hymn by Johann Rist "O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort", with a chorale melody by Johann Schop, loosely inspired by the story of Lazarus. The text speaks at length about the fate of the sinner - it is nothing but the wailing and gnashing of teeth of the damned, with an emphasis on the eternal nature of this unpleasant situation; and it also emphasizes the justice of God.
The opening chorus is in the form of a solemn French overture, symbolizing the endless march of time (the terrified heart of the sinner contemplates the sword that pierces the soul, i.e. the realization that eternity is really endless). The melody is sung as a cantus firmus in long notes. "Eternity" is rendered in long notes in the lower voices and instruments, "Donnerwort" appears as a sudden change to short notes with melisma in the bass. As John Eliot Gardiner noted: "Confronted with the enigmatic and unsettling subject of eternity, and especially the eternity of hell, Bach is fired up as never before".
The tenor aria ("Ewigkeit, du machst mir bange") dwells on the fear of damnation, with some exquisite word-painting in the accompaniment (sixteenth-note melismas for the burning flames). The bass aria exhorts the listener to save his soul ("Time is short, death is swift"). The alto aria repeats the same exhortation in a softer and more melancholy manner.
The second part of the cantata focuses on the need to renounce sin and take action to change one's life. The bass aria with trumpet here is quite lively, but also militaristic ("Wake up, lost sheep"). As if this call to arms had failed, the alto recitative then describes the last moments on earth: "Even tonight the coffin can be brought to your door". The duet for alto and tenor (with rather spare continuo accompaniment) again exhorts humanity to abandon its sinful ways. There is a sense of eternal damnation here. The short staccato figures in the spare continuo accompaniment are eerily reminiscent of the drops of water the rich man begged for in the reading from Luke.
As this is a very long cantata with 11 parts, the arias and recitatives are all relatively short. The two chorales are simple harmonizations.
Video: J.S. Bach Foundation (St. Gallen) - Workshop (in German) - Contemplation (in German) / Stiftsmusik Stuttgart - Brich dem Hungrigen dein Brot, BWV 39, 23 June 1726
Coro: Brich dem Hungrigen dein Brot
Recitativo (bass): Der reiche Gott
Aria (alto, violin and oboe obbligato): Seinem Schöpfer noch auf Erden
(bass): Wohlzutun und mitzuteilen vergesset nicht
Aria (soprano, recorders): Höchster, was ich habe
Recitativo (alto, strings): Wie soll ich dir, o Herr
Chorale: Selig sind, die aus Erbarmen
"Deal thy bread to the hungry"
Text & translation
Scored for three vocal soloists (soprano, alto and bass), a four-part choir SATB, two alto recorders, two oboes, first and second violins, violas and basso continuo.
In the two previous cantatas for this Sunday, Bach concentrated respectively on the distinction between rich and poor (Die Elenden sollen essen, BWV 75, 1723) and on a call to penitence (O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort I, BWV 20, 1724); in 1726 the emphasis is on to be grateful for God's gifts and to share them with the needy. The text of the cantata is taken from a 1704 collection of librettos from Meiningen, first used by Bach's distant cousin Johann Ludwig Bach, and attributed to Duke Ernst Ludwig I (Sachsen-Meiningen). The symmetrical structure of seven movements is typical for this collection: the opening quotation from the Old Testament, followed by a recitative and aria; then the central quotation from the New Testament, followed by an aria and recitative, leading into the final chorale.
The imposing (even monumental) four-part opening chorus, a plea for generosity in feeding the hungry (setting words of Isaiah), has an orchestral introduction and fugal end and dominates the whole cantata, as is often the case in Bach's third Leipzig cycle which was written sporadically between 1725 and 1727. Do the short notes in the accompaniment represent the breaking of bread or the tears of the needy? The chorus is followed by a sermon-like bass recitative and three delightful arias. As the cantata is formally in two parts, there is a break after the alto aria and before the bass aria.
The alto aria has nice lines for oboe and violins. The text speaks of the imitation of God's goodness, concluding with the metaphor of sowing on earth seeds that will be harvested after death. Those two images are captured in the music: that of imitation by having the oboe follow the violin throughout, and the scattering of fertile seeds by a melisma on the word ‘streuet.’
The bass aria (Vox Christi), in contrast, while forming the center around which the cantata is symmetrically organized, is stern and preachy. The style is typical of Bach's treatment of such declamatory texts, a compositional style between arioso and aria.
The soprano aria is almost childlike in its sweetness (as if to put the previous sermon in perspective) and features a nice pair of unison recorders in concertante style. The text, addressed to God, expresses faith, thankfulness and simple humility.
The penultimate movement is a recitative for alto, accompanied by lush strings, but set in a minor key, as if to emphasize the prayer-like mood. The cantata concludes with a straight harmonization of the chorale "Selig sind, die aus Erbarmen, Sich annehmen fremder Not."
Video: J.S. Bach Foundation (St. Gallen) - Workshop (in German) - Contemplation (in German) / Bach Collegium Zurich