Johan Ludwig Bach
General Discussions

Ludwig Bach: Late Epiphany, Pre-Lenten Cantatas

William L. Hoffman wrote (February 14, 2017):
As part of his well-ordered church music, Bach in the third cycle in 1726 in later Epiphany Ordinary Time (omnes tempore) and in the pre-Lenten “Gesima” Sundays was able to begin composing his St. Matthew Passion while filling the church-year gaps with the first six appropriate cantatas from the 1715-16 cycle of his Meinengen cousin, Johann Ludwig Bach.

Beginning on Saturday, 2 February, for the Feast of the Purification of Mary, Sebastian presented Cantata JLB-9, “Mache dich auf, werde licht” (Rise up and shine, be a light), followed the next day, the 4^th Sunday after Epiphany, with Cantata JLB-1, Gott ist unsre Zuversicht und Stärke” (God is our Confidence and Strength, Psalm 46). The next week, for the even rarer 5^th Sunday after Epiphany, 10 February, he presented Cantata JLB-2, “Der Gottlosen Arbeit wird fehlen” (The wicked worketh a deceitful work, Proverbs 11:18). For the next three Sundays, Bach presented Cantata JLB-3, “Darum will ich auch erwahlen” (Therefore will I also be chosen), Septuagesima; JLB-4, “Darum sät euch Gerechtigkeit” (Therefore justice also says), Sexagesima; and Cantata JLB-5, “Ja, mir hast du Arbeit gemacht” (Yes, now hast thou labor made, Isaiah 43:24), Quinquagesima Estomihi. JLB-5.

Cantata JLB-1, “Gott ist unser Zuversicht” is the only cantata for 4^th Sunday after Epiphany Bach presented during the third cycle when he directed original compositions for the other Sundays and feast days, except for the 3^rd Sunday after Trinity. Bach was able to present chorale cantatas for all services in the second cycle between the 1^st Sunday in Advent and the Feast of the Annunciation. In the first cycle, no cantata is extant for the 5^th and 6^th Sundays afterv Trinity 1723 when Bach chose to present cantatas for the Feasts of John the Baptist and the Visitation.

Ludwig Bach’s sacred cantata for the 4th Sunday after Epiphany, “Gott ist unsre Zuversicht,” like most of the 18 cantatas Sebastian presented in 1726, is scored for SATB soloists and choir, with an accompaniment of two violin parts and one viola part, and basso continuo. Extant are the score in Bach’s hand, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin (D-B): Mus. ms. Bach P 397, https://www.bach-digital.de/rsc/viewer/BachDigitalSource_derivate_00059513/db_bachp0397_page003.jpg., and the parts set, https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00017420.

It is presumed that two-part Cantata JLB-1 was presented at the early main service of the Thomas Church, before and after the sermon of Pastor Christian Weise, based on the day’s Gospel, Mat. 8:23-27, Jesus calms the storm on the Sea of Galilee.

Ludwig Bach Cantata JLB-2, Der Gottlosen Arbeit wird fehlen,” was presented on the rare 5^th Sunday after Epiphany, 10 February 1726, at the early main service of the Nikolaikircke, with the sermon of Superintendent Salomon Deyling, on the day’s Gospel, Mat. 13:24-30, the parable of the weeds as symbolic of evil. This Sunday had occurred previously on 6 February 1718 (see Lutheran Church Year Dates, 5^th Sunday after Epiphany, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/LCY/5.So.n.Epiph..htm). The JLB-2 score (P 397) is found at https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00020639, and the parts set (St 303) at https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalSource_source_00017507. The Provenance of all the Ludwig Bach 18 cantatas was the inheritance of son Emmanuel, along with the Alt-Bachisches Arkiv of the Bach Family, then to sources in Berlin. An extensive accounting of these and the other extant Ludwig Bach works is found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Ludwig_Bach, as well as at BCW, Discussions in the Week of June 20, 2010, http://www.bach-cantatas.com/BWV15-D.htm. This BCW article traces the origins of early German cantatas and the Meinengen Court, Sebastian’s encounters with the Bach Family, Ludwig Bach’s music, and Emmanuel’s description of the Ludwig Bach cantatas he inherited.

A catalogue of these cantatas, incipts only, is found at Alfred Dörffel (editor), Verzeichnis der Kirchenkompositionen des Johann Ludwig Bach in Meiningen, Johann Sebastian Bach's Werke, Bach-Gesellschaft Ausgabe Vol. 41, Kirchenmusikwerke (Breitkopf& Härtel: Leipzig: 1894: 275–276).

Johann Ludwig Bach: Short Biography | General Discussions
Works: Cantata BWV 15 | Cantata Ja, mir hast du Arbeit gemacht, JLB-5 | Cantata Ich will meinen Geist in euch geben, JLB-7 | Cantata Die mit Tränen säen, JLB-8 | Cantata Mache dich auf, werde licht, JLB-9 | Cantata Er machet uns lebendig, JB-11 | Cantata Der Herr wird ein Neues im Lande erschaffen, JLB-13 | Cantata Die Weisheit kommt nicht in eine boshafte Seele, JLB-14 | Mass in C major, BWV Anh 25 | General Discussions | Mass in C minor BWV Anh 26 | Mass in E minor, BWV Anh 166 | Mass in G major, BWV Anh 167

Bach Family: Sorted by Name | Sorted by Number | Family Tree | Family History | Discussions: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3