|
William Hofman wrote (July 19, 2024):
Bach set another Communion Hymn, Martin Luther’s early chorale setting of Psalm 12, (Salvum me fac, Help, Lord),"Ach Gott vom Himmel sieh darein"1 (Ah God, from heaven look on us, trans. Z. Philip Ambrose) as Trinity 2 chorale Cantata BWV 2, for the next Sunday, the 2nd after Trinity (18 June 1724), a week following chorale Cantata BWV 20, “O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort I”. In Cantata 2, the opening chorale fantasia motet chorus, the cantus firmus enters in the alto voice at measure 16 in Cantata 2, found only in one other cantata, BWV 96, “Herr Christ, der einge Gottes Sohn,” for the 18th Sunday after Trinity 1724, notes Alberto Basso in the Oxford Composer Companions: J. S. Bach.2 Cantata 2 “contrasts sharply with the opening movements of cantatas, Nos. 20 and 7, and the contrast is underlined by the presence, as a kind of ostinato, of the passus duriusculus (a chromatic descent through the interval of a 4th) -- a feature also of the earlier Cantata 12/2 [chorus “Weinen, Klagen Sorgen Zagen,” Jubilate (Easter +2)] and the later Cantata 78/1 [chorale fantasia, “Jesu, der du meine Seele,” Trinity +24, 1724].”
Luther Motet Style
Bach’s treatment of the chorale text and melody is quite simple and straightforward in Cantata 2, following the complexity of its predecessor, Cantata 20, in the opening fantasia and four of the internal arias and recitatives (BCW. In the opening Cantata 2 motet setting (YouTube), “It is interesting that the phrase structure remains quite clear and one could almost say simple,” observes Craig Smith in Emmanuel Music Cantata 2 notes.3 “When we think of the elaborate phrase overlaps in the treatment of the previous week's chorale tune, O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort (YouTube), these phrases seem very direct. One senses that the very complexity of harmony is enough for Bach here. Also there is an extraordinary economy of motive.” Martin Luther takes pride of place in the motet-like early chorales as realized in Bach. Daniel Melamed, in his survey J. S. Bach and the German Motet,4 notes that chorales whose texts are by Luther are especially chosen for motet-style treatment:
*BWV 2/1 [SATB motet chorale chorus], "Ach Gott vom Himmel sieh darein," 2nd Sunday after Trinity 1724 (M. Luther);
*BWV 4/5 [SATB & continuo chorale chorus], S. 4, “Es war ein wunderlicher Krieg” (It was a strange battle), Christ lag in Todesbanden (Christ lies in the death’s bondage), Easter Festival 1707, 1724-25 (M. Luther);
*BWV 14/1 [chorale fantasia], “Wär Gott nicht mit uns diese Zeit,” 4th Sunday after Trinity 1735 (M. Luther);
*BWV 28/2 [motet chorale chorus], “Nun lob mein Seel), Sunday after Christmas 1725 (J. Gramann, 1530);
*BWV 38/1 [chorale fantasia], “Aus tiefer not schrei ich zu dir,” 21st Sunday after Trinity, 1724 (M. Luther]
*BWV 80/1 [chorale fantasia], “Ein fests Burg ist unser Gott,” Reformation c.1730]. Either there is a text by Luther, or a "dictum" specially suited to the objective, didactic workings of a strict motet form (M. Luther)
*BWV 121/1 [chorale fantasia], “Christum wir sollen loben schon,” 2nd Day of Christmas, 1724 (M. Luther);
*BWV 182/7 [chorale chorus with orchestra], “Jesu, deine Pasion,” “Jesu Leiden, Pein und Tod,” Palm Sunday, 1714, 1724 and 1728 (P. Stockman, 1663).
In his definitive article, "Bach's Chorale Cantatas," Alfred Dürr5 observes that because most of the hymns are from the Early Reformation (1517-77) and Lutheran Orthodoxy (1577-1677), the "chorale cantatas show how closely tradition and modern writing go hand in hand in Bach's work. The concertizing arrangements of old-fashion chorale melodies and, above all, the settings of chorale texts in the form of recitatives and arias proves this."
Opening Chorale Fantasias: Varied Forms
The varied forms of the opening chorale fantasias are the subject of Julian Mincham’s Commentary introduction (Julian Mincham's Commentary: BWV 2): <<This cantata [BWV 2] is a full ten minutes shorter [20 minutes] than that which preceded it, C 20. Its theme is the barrenness of life on earth when separated from the word, trust and love of God in the midst of false prophets. Noteworthy is Bach's return to the older Germanic motet form for the first movement [melody introduced in the alto]. It contrasts strongly with both C 76 (volume 1 chapter 3, written for this day one year earlier, [2nd Sunday after Trinity6 ) and with C 20 which had begun with a choral French Overture [theme introduced in the soprano]. If there was any danger that conservative elements at Leipzig might have considered this rather too frivolous a form for serious religious purposes, C 2 may have acted as a defense against criticism by reasserting traditional values. But the resurgence of the traditional is to be short lived. C 7, the third work of the cycle, will begin with an almost symphonic [concerto-style] representation of the waters of the river Jordan, constructed around a ‘modern’ Italianate ritornello concerto structure. C 135 follows with a wholly original, delicate tone poem [in chorale fantasia with the bass beginning the Cantus Firmus]. It would thus appear that, in making these wide ranging stylistic and structural choices for these four works performed in just over a fortnight, Bach is pre-empting his critics. He is, in effect, saying to his congregations and authorities, ‘you will be hearing music of all styles and nations; operatic, modern, traditional, experimental. All that matters is that the music is good and fit for purpose;' or indeed, 'well regulated' as he himself had described it some years before. If this is what he meant, is a statement of supreme confidence, even arrogance; but we may consider ourselves fortunate that his judgments were so sound! The fact that these four cantatas were all performed so closely together would, in itself, have highlighted the range and variety of styles, structures and modes of expression that Bach intended to present in the great Leipzig churches. In this respect his ambition was limitless.>>
Cycle Opening Chorales
The first four chorales in Bach''s cycle have several common characteristics: the form of each open chorale as a fantasia is unique with Trinity 3 Cantata 135 in a progressive motet style with "an extraordinary filigree of vocal and instrumental counterpoint framing the articulation of the Passion Chorale melody in the Penitential Psalm 6 chorale, Cyriakus Schneegaß, “Ach Herr, mich armen Sünder” (Ah Lord, poor sinner that I am, trans. Francis Browne; BCW), with the associated melody called "O Sacred Head Now Wounded" (BCW). The first four cantatas show the principle of unity through diversity with different voices sounding the Cantus Firmus in all four patterned Gospel parables, centered on the Trinity Time themes of “Justification” and “Christian Life and Conduct,” with increasing emphasis on confessional psalms that would appear again in later Trinity Time. Christoph Wolff's liner notes to the Ton Koopman recording of Cantata 135 cited two other clusters of four chorale cantatas each: BWV 78, 99, 8, 116 for the 14th through 17th Sundays after Easter and BWV 91, 121 for Christmas 1 and 2 and BWV 26 and 116 for the 24th and 25th Sundays after Trinity.
Gospel Thematic Patterns in Trinity Time
Another guiding principle Bach utilizes is the Thematic Patterns in the Gospels during Trinity Time. The literary patterns involve parables (short moralized allegories within the larger narratives of events in the life of ), Miracles (short self-contained narratives of miraculous healings), and teachings (excerpts from longer hortatory discourses by Christ). An outline if Trinity Time shows these patterns: 1) Trinity 1-4 is a four week sequence of parables; 2) Trinity 5-8 has a series of paired miracles and teachings; 3) Trinity 9-19 generally alternates a parable with a teaching or miracle. The gospels for the final eight Sundays after Trinity focus on one of the three thematic patterns of parables, miracles and teachings: Trinity 20, Matthew 22:1-14, Parable of the marriage of the king’s son; Trinity 21, John 4:46-54, Miracle of the nobleman’s son healed; Trinity 22, Matthew 18:23-35 Parable of the unmerciful servant; Trinity 23, Matthew 22:15-22, Teaching: The Pharisees and the tribute to Caesar; Trinity 24, Matthew 9:18-26 Miracle of the Raising of Jairus’s daughter; Trinity 25, Matthew 24:15-28, Teaching: Christ’s prediction; Trinity 26, Matthew 25:31-46, Teaching: The Last Judgement; and Trinity 27, Matthew 25:1-13 Teaching: The wise and foolish virgins.
The basic movement format in the chorale cantatas follows the general Neumeister-type for the sacred cantatas: opening fantasia statement, alternating pairs of paraphrased stanzas in narrative recitatives and interpretive arias, and closing plain chorale statement. The unusual, double-cantata format that begins the cycle in Cantata 20 (UVM) has a first-half cantata with additional aria and in the second part no statement but simply aria-recitative-aria-chorale. Cantata 2 follows with the standard six-movement format (UVM) of chorus, 2 recitative-aria pairs, and closing plain chorale. The chorales play a special role in the church cantatas and Bach selectively uses them in other applications such as in his Passion oratorios. In chorale Cantata 20 for the 1st Sunday after Trinity (2nd Sunday after Pentecost), Bach takes Stanza 13, "Wach auf, o Mensch, vom Sündenschlaf" (Wake up, o man, from the sleep of sin, trans. Z. Philip Ambrose) and paraphrases it in an aria, "Wacht auf, wacht auf, verlornen Schafe" (Wake up, wakeup, lost sheep, trans. Hans-Joachim Schulze), which Schulze describes as "handled more freely" in Cantata 20 (iOPEN Illinois Library: Ibid.: 104f), while Bach uses a plain-chorale setting, BWV 397, in his St. Mark Passion, BWV 247/11 in 1731 when Christ in the garden cautions his resting disciples on the trumpet call of the last judgement.
Apple of Sodom
In chorale Cantata 2, the first paraphrased recitative for tenor, No. 2, "Sie lehren eitel falsche List" (They teach vain, false cunning) "closes with a powerful comparison to the pair of opposites," says Schulze (Ibid.: 3): "schön von außen" (beautifully outward) and "innen schlimm" (inwardly evil). The unknown librettist has chosen "denen Totengräbern" (those graves of the dead) to signify the convention of so-called "Apple of Sodom," then "a favored vehicle for the comparison between outward appearance and inner condition" "was the Sodomsapfel (apple of Sodom), the fruit of a shrub living near the Dead Sea," says Schulze (Ibid.: 7). Bach's most basic reference is found in the internal, connecting recitative between the two arias, "Die Art verruchter Sünden" (The shape of vile transgression, trans. Z. Philip Ambrose), of the Weimar 1714 alto solo Cantata 54, "Widerstehe doch der Sünde" (Stand steadfast against transgression), for the 3rd Sunday in Lent or for Trinity Time. Here, the Darmstadt poet Georg Christian Lehms cites the Sodom's apple from "Josephus, Bellum Judaicum, IV. 8. 4, writes that apples of Sodom looked like edible fruit, but turned to smoke and ashes when picked." The phrase also is found in the harsh-texted Trinity Time Cantata arias 95/2 and 179/3, in the first church cycle, to anonymous authors, says Peter Smaill, possibly Christian Weiss the elder, St. Thomas pastor and Bach’s chief confessor (source, BCW). The opening aria (YouTube) was parodied almost 20 years later in the St. Mark Passion, BWV 247, as the aria ”Falsche Welt, dein schmeichelnd küssen” (False world, thy poisonous kisses, YouTube) at the point where Judas betrays Jesus in the Garden Gethsemane.
Psalm 12
Psalm 12 “laments that mankind turns away from God and is led astray into godless living by heretical teachings.” Luther’s hymn version, in a second generation treatment as a unique Bach musical sermon, follows in its paraphrasing arias and recitatives accurately and reflectively on Luther’s original teachings and sentiments. It is buttressed with the familiar sacred song text and melody beginning with the first stanza presented as an archaic, austere yet mesmerizing motet and closing in similar fashion as an affirmative congregational hymn with the final, sixth stanza.
Like so many psalms and Bach cantatas, Luther’s hymn moves from dire warnings and negative descriptions to God’s mercy and compassion, especially for the oppressed poor, to mercy in the strength of the word, yet with a cautionary conclusion that evil is still everywhere. Bach uses all manner of musical and literary devices to gain and hold the listeners’ attention and interest. The opening is a studied polyphonic motet girded with a solemn brass quartet to support the voices singing Luther’s familiar melody and words. A sense of unity and simplicity bolster the pairs of teaching recitatives and reflective arias as familiar chorale phrases and melody are literally sounded in the paraphrased arias and recitatives by an unknown librettist who stayed close to Luther’s poetic paraphrase musical setting.
END NOTES
1 "Ach Gott vom Himmel sieh darein": details, BCW; text, BCW; melody, BCW; manuscript, Bach Digital; discussions, Wikipedia, BCW, Carus Media: scroll down to "Foreword" (p.5), iOPEN Illinois Library, BCW; recording, YouTube; readings, BCW.
2 Oxford Composer Companions: J. S. Bach, ed. Malcolm Boyd (Oxford University Press: New York, 1999: 1f), Amazon.com.
3 Emmanuel Music Cantata 2 notes, Emmanuel Music; Mincham, The Cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach: A listener and student guide, Revised 2014.
4 Daniel Melamed, J. S. Bach and the German Motet (Cambridge MA: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1995: 113); Amazon.com
5 Alfred Dürr, "Bach's Chorale Cantatas," in BACH Essays, ed. Yo Tomita et al (Burlington VT: Ashgate Publications, 2011: Chapter 11, 111-119), Routledge - Taylor & Francis Group.
6 2nd Sunday after Trinity: readings, BCW; chorales, BCW: scroll down to Cantata 2, Trinity +2 Chorales (see also, Bach’s calendar for the "Second Sunday after Trinity," "Bach's uses of the chorale are").
__________
To Come: St. John's Day Chorale Cantata 7 |
