New Advent Cantatas, Oratorio; All-Souls Day Cantatas

William L. Hoffman wrote (December 8, 2023)
The year 1723 was a monumental time for Sebastian Bach musical production. It marked the tercentenary of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation which was celebrated with the major jubilee observances of the 1517 posting of the 95 theses, the 1530 Augsburg Confession celebration, and the 1539 Leipzig acceptance of the Lutheran confession. For Bach it was the beginning of the fulfillment of his Lutheran calling "to create a well-ordered church music to the glory of God," as well as other profane vocal and instrumental music to enhance his production. During his first cycle of music created in 1723-24 in Leipzig, Bach explored all opportunities to create, prepare, and present music. The succeeding tercentenary observance to the present day would secure certain milestones such as the beginning of the publication of Bach's works, the growth of choral societies and musical ensembles to perform these works, and the Romantic period creation of organ music settings, as well as other adaptations and transcriptions. "Bach 300"¹ is the current theme of the Bachfest Leipzig observing the tercentenary celebration of Bach’s appointment as Thomascantor, which began in effect on the first Sunday after Trinity, May 30, 1723, which fell on June 11 this year. The Bachfest Leipzig 1723 was held from Thursday, June 8 to Sunday, June 18 with the motto “BACH for Future” (see American Bach Society: Aaach Notes 39), as well as major publications.² In recent years, Bach scholars and arrangers have found various works appropriate for Advent and All-Souls Day, taken from other Bach works.

Advent Cantatas, Chorales

While only a handful of Bach cantatas were composed for the initial season of Advent (see BCW, the beginning of the first half of the church year in de tempore Proper Time, Advent 1-4), an even larger number of cantatas and chorales are appropriate for all four Sundays of Advent, based upon their liturgical texts. These involve works for the interrelated, interim final three Sundays of Trinity Time (the 25th through the 27th Sundays after Trinity), the Marian feasts of Annunciation, Visitation, and Purification, and the feast of John the Baptist (see BCW: Bach's performance calendar). Additional works are listed in John S. Setterlund's Bach Through the Year in the three-year Revised Common Lectionary:³

+First Sunday of Advent: Year A (Matthew), BWV 62 (Advent 1, 1724, Luther hymn), "Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland II" (Now come, the gentiles' Savior, trans. Z. Philip Ambrose), alternate BWV 127 (Pre-Lenten Estomihi, 1725), (Herr Jesu Christ, wahr' Mensch und Gott" (Lord Jesus Christ, true man and God); Year B (Mark), BWV 61 (Advent 1, 1714, ?1717), "Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland I," alternate BWV 70.1 (S. Franck text, 2nd Sunday of Advent 1717, "Wachet! betet! betet! wachet!" (Watch ye, pray ye, pray ye, watch ye!); Year C (Luke), BWV 70.1, alternate BWV 61.

+Second Sunday of Advent: Year A (Matthew), BWV 90 (25th Sunday after Trinity 1723), "Es reißet euch ein schrecklich Ende" (To ruin you an awful ending), alternate BWV 30.2 (John's Day feast, 24 June 1738), "Freue dich, erlöste Schar" (Joyful be, O ransomed throng); Year B (Mark), BWV 30.2/1-6 (Part 1), alternate BWV 132 (Advent), "Bereitet die Wege, bereitet die Bahn!" (Make ready the pathways, make ready the road!, Is. 40:3, ); Year C (Luke), BWV 132, alternate BWV 61.

+Third Sunday of Advent: Year A (Matthew), BWV 186.1(a) (Advent 3, 1717), "Ärgre dich, o Seele, nicht" (Vex thyself, O spirit, not), alternate BWV 152 (Sunday after Christmas 1714), "Tritt auf die Glaubensbahn" (Walk on the road of faith), Year B (John), BWV 30.2/7-12 (Part 2), alternate BWV 167 (John's Day feast, 1723), "Ihr Menschen, rühmet Gottes Liebe"; Year C (Luke), BWV 136 (8th Sunday after Trinity, 1723), "Erforsche mich, Gott, und erfahre mein Herz" (Examine me, God, and discover my heart, Ps. 139:23), alternate BWV 168 (9th Sunday after Trinity 1723), "Tue Rechnung! Donnerwort" (Make a reck'ning!(Luke 16:2), Thund'rous word."

+Fourth Sunday of Advent: Year A (Matthew), BWV 36.4,5 (Advent 1, ?1725, 1731), "Schwingt freudig euch empor" (Soar joyfully aloft), alternate BWV 40 (St. Stephen's Day, 1723), "Dazu ist erschienen der Sohn Gottes" (For this is appeared the Son of God, 1 Jn. 3:8); Year B (Luke), BWV 1 (Marian Annunciation feast, 1726), "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern" (How beauteous beams the morning star, Nicolai hymn), alternate BWV 147.1(a), 1717 (Advent 4), "Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben" (Heart and mouth and deed and living); Year C (Luke), BWV 243.1(a) (Marian Visitation feast, 1723), Magnificat in E-Flat, "Magnificat anima mea" (My soul doth magnify the Lord, Lk. 1:46), alternate BWV 10 (Marian Visitation feast, 1724), "Meine Seel erhebt den Herren" (Now my soul exalts the Master, Lk. 1::46).

Other Bach Advent Performances

Other works that may be assigned to Bach Advent performances are BWV 141 (Advent 3, nd), "Das ist je gewißlich wahr" (That is indeed certainly true), Telemann TWV 1:183; TWV 1:1074 (Advent 1, Bach 1734), "Machet die Tore Weit” (Lift up your heads, ye gates, Ps. 24:7); John's Day feast, BWV 220 (nd, composer unknown) "Lobt ihn mit Herz und Munden" (Praise him with heart and mouth); Marian Annunciation Day feast (March 25): BWV 1135=Anh. 199 (1724 text only, no music), "Siehe, eine Jungfrau ist schwanger" (Lo now, there a virgin is pregnant, Is 7:14), and Telemann TWV 1:732=BWV Anh. 156 (nd), "Herr Christ der einge Gottessohn" (Lord Christ, the only Son of God, Kreuziger hymn), and BWV 96 (18th Sunday after Trinity, 1724); Marian Visitation Day feast, July 2, BWV 189, German Magnificat, ?Georg Melchoir Hoffmann, "Meine Seele rühmt und preist," and Johann Ludwig Bach, "Der Herr wird ein Neues im Lande erschaffen" (The Lord will create a new thing in the land), JLB 13 (1726). The Marian Purification Day feast on July 2 (Simeon's canticle, BCW) shows some 14 presentations of nine cantatas in Leipzig (1724-48); some seven presentations of two cantatas or two-part cantatas; four diverse original works composed and presented in Leipzig; possibly four works of three other composers (J. L. Bach, G. H. Stölzel, G. P. Telemann) presented in Leipzig; at least three cantatas that did double duty (BWV 158, 157 and 161); and three cantatas (BWV 161, 95, and 27) that have direct connections with the iconic 16th Sunday after Trinity. The Purification cantatas are: BWV 82 Ich habe genug (Leipzig, 1727); BWV 83 Erfreute Zeit im neuen Bande (Leipzig, 1724); BWV 125 Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin (Leipzig, 1725); BWV 157 Ich lasse du nicht, du segnest mich denn (Leipzig, 1727); BWV 158 Der Friede sei mit dir (Leipzig, 1735?); BWV 161 Komm, du süße Todesstunde (Weimar, 1715); BWV 200 Bekennen will ich seinen Namen [movement of Stölzel]; BWV Anh 157 Ich habe Lust zu scheiden (Hamburg, 1724) [by Georg Philipp Telemann]. In 1735-36, Bach presented one complete sacred cantata cycle of Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel, from the so-called "String Cycle" (BCW) and possibly a second, "Book of Names of Christ. In addition, Bach presented various chorales designated for Advent season (BCW: "Advent Chorales"). The Feast of John the Baptist on June 24 brought a plethora of Bach music (BCW).

Advent Oratorio

The Advent Oratorio,⁴ "J. S. Bach: Good Tidings of Great Joy," "Assembled from Cantata Movements and the Texts Translated by Richard T. Gore," involves 24 Bach cantata choruses, arias, chorales, and recitatives. It is in three parts, each lasting 30 minutes, focusing on the German Magnificat, John the Baptist feast, the late Trinity Time transition to Advent, and related worof joy. The selections involve BWV 10/1,5,7 (the German Magnificat), BWV 147.1/8/6 (Advent, Visitation), BWV 30.2/2,3,6 (St. John the Baptist Day feast); Advent Cantatas BWV 62/1/2, 36.4/8,7, and 70.1/1-3,11; and Cantatas BWV 151, "Süßer Trost, mein Jesus kömmt" (Comfort sweet, my Jesus comes; 3rd Day of Christmas, 1725), BWV 104, "Du Hirte Israel, höre" (Thou guide of Israel, hear me; 2nd Sunday after Easter), BWV 132 (Advent), 22, "Jesus nahm zu sich die Zwölfe" (Jesus took aside the twelve then; Pre-Lenten Estomihi, 1723), BWV 63, "Christen, ätzet diesen Tag" (Christians, etch ye now this day; Christmas, 1714), BWV 148, "Bringet dem Herrn Ehre seines Namens" (Bring to the Lord honor for his name's sake; Trinity 17, ?1723), and BWV 29, "Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir" (We give thee thanks, God, we give thee thanks; Town Council, 1731).

All-Souls Day Cantata Prospects

Historically, the response among Bach scholars and performers began with special arrangements and transcriptions such as Wilhelm Rust's adaptation of Cantata 198 for All-Souls Day, ⁵ November 2, also popularly known as the Day of the Dead (Wikipedia). Although not an authentic Lutheran liturgical work, it uses a general sacred text that replaces profane words found in Gottsched’s original text, in a partial parody, with five additional Bach plain chorale interpolations (BWV 248/58, 179/5; 92/6, 406, 145/1). It was arranged by Wilhelm Rust, the BGS editor who in 1865 published the original version, which originally began with the Gottsched text, “Laß, Fürstin, laß noch einen Strahl” (Let, Princess, let one more ray). Following similar practices of Bach who substituted one cantata subject’s name for another in subsequent parody, Rust titled his sacred version, "Laß, Höchster, laß der Hoffnung Strahl" (Let, Highest, let a beam of hope). Rust also found that the core music (choruses and arias), formed the basis of his final St. Mark Passion, BWV 247, of 1731, and that this music and music from the St. Matthew Passion became the Cöthen Funeral Ode, BWV 1143=244a, of 1729 (BCW). Recently, Bach cantata performances have been designated for All-Souls Day. One involves Cantata 161, "Komm, du süße Todesstunde" (Come, O death, thou sweetest hour, Knoll hymn), and related chorales and motets of Johann Rosenmüller (Dire Ire), Jacob Gallus, and Martin Luther, performed by the Netherlands Bach Society, Nedtherlands Bach Society. The Netherlands Bach Society also presented an All-Souls concert of Bach's Cantatas 31, 4, 12, and 172 (three for Easter and BWV 12 for Jubilate 3rd Sunday after Easter, with Rene Jacobs conducting (Netherlands Bach Society).

ENDNOTES

¹ Bach 300: There are three guides to the first cycle 1723-24: "Bach 300,"" J. S. Bach in Leipzig, Bach 1723-24, Carus-Verlag; Bach's first cantata cycle, wikipedia Wikipedia; and the Bach Cantatas Website accounting 1723-24, Lutheran Church Year, BCW). An important source is Leipzig University Festival Music, Universität Leipzig. Another important resource is Bach's parodies (new text underlay, BCW), beginning with Cöthen serenades transcribed as festive cantatas such as BWV 194 (Trinityfest 4 June 1724; BWV 66, Easter Monday, 10 April 1724; BWV 134, Easter Tuesday, 11 April 1724; BWV 173, Pentecost Monday, 29 May 1724; and Pentecost Tuesday, 29 May 1724; and BWV 184 Pentecost Tuesday, 30 May 1724 (Wikipedia).
² Bachfest Leipzig 1723 major publications: Carus publishers' accounting of the Bach 300, J. S. Bach in Leipzig, 1723-2023 (Carus-Verlag), Christoph Wolff's "Bach 300: The year 1723 and its repercussions" ("a new epoch in his creative life," Blog Carus-Verlag) and Wolff's accompanying Bach vocal: Ein Handbuch (Stuttgart 2021, Carus 24.073), and the new Breitkopf und Härtel Bach Werke Verzeichnis (Bach Works Catalogue), 3rd edition 2022, Thematic-Systematic Catalog of the Musical Works of Johann Sebastian Bach (BWV) arranged by Christine Blanken, Christoph Wolff and Peter Wollny, edited by Bach-Archiv Leipzig (Breitkopf). The BWV3 Catalogue lists 47 new works from BWV 1129-1176 (Wikipedia) with six theoretical works (BWV 1129-34); lost cantatas with no extant music, sometimes with texts (BWV 1136-63); recovered motet (BWV 1164=Anh. 1158) and Passion music (BWV 1166-67), and recovered organ chorale preludes (BWV 1168-76) still being authenticated in the Bärenreiter New Edition, Complete Works, Revised Edition supplement (Bärenreiter), with Christine Blanken's Organ Chorales I, BA 5939-01, in preparation.
³ John S. Setterlund, Bach Through the Year: The Church Music of Johann Sebastian Bach and the Revised Common Lectionary (Minneapolis MN, Lutheran University Press 2013), Amazon.com.
⁴ Advent Oratorio, "J. S. Bach: Good Tidings of Great Joy," ed. Richard T. Gore" (St. Louis MO: Concordia, 1970), vocal score No. 97-4810, eBay.
⁵ Cantata 198, All-Souls Day; BCML discussion BCW and BCW: 24, 27f, 42, 47-49, 56f, 64-66, 67f).

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To Come: Bach musical explorations — other observances, pasticcios or collections, newly-assembled gatherings, and transcriptions and adaptations.