Now come, the Gentile Savior, BWV 62

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Bach cantata
Now come, the Gentile Savior
BWV: 62
Occasion: 1st Advent
Year of origin: 1724
Place of origin: Leipzig
Genus: cantata
Solo : SATB
Choir: SATB
Instruments : Co 2Ob 2Vl Va Bc
text
unknown
List of Bach cantatas

Come on now, the Heiden Heiland ( BWV 62) is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach . He composed the choral cantata based on Martin Luther's Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland 1724 in Leipzig for the 1st Advent , December 3rd, 1724.

Story and words

In his second year in Leipzig, Bach wrote the cantata for the first Advent , which begins the church year , and performed it for the first time on December 3, 1724. The prescribed readings were Romans 13.11 to 14  LUT , "The night is far spent, the day is at hand." And Mt from 21.1 to 9  LUT , the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The chorale cantata is based on Martin Luther's song Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland , the main song for the 1st Advent. With the first verse of this song, Bach had already started the cantata Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 61 , in Weimar ten years earlier . The unknown poet kept the wording of the first and last (eighth) stanzas, rewrote stanzas 2 and 3 to an aria , stanzas 4 and 5 to a recitative , and the two other stanzas to an aria and a duet recitative.

Bach performed the cantata again in 1736, adding a violon part for all movements after the Thomas School had acquired an instrument at auction in 1735. Bach's successor Johann Friedrich Doles performed the cantata after Bach's death.

Occupation and structure

The cantata is made up of four soloists, soprano , alto , tenor and bass , four-part choir, horn to reinforce the chorale melody, two oboes , two violins , viola and basso continuo .

  1. Chorus: Now come, the Gentile Savior
  2. Aria (tenor): Admire, O people, this great secret
  3. Recitative (bass): So goes out of God's glory and throne
  4. Aria (bass): Argue, win, strong hero!
  5. Recitative (soprano, alto): We honor this glory
  6. Chorale: Praise be to God, the Father g'ton ("done")

music

The church year begins with the 1st Advent. The old melody of his main song consists of four lines, the first and last of which are the same. In the instrumental ritornello of the opening choir, this theme appears first in the continuo, then slightly modified in the oboes. Apart from this material from the chorale melody, the orchestra plays a free concerto in which the oboes introduce a theme and the first violin performs. The ritornello appears abbreviated three times as a caesura between the text lines and completely at the end of the sentence. The soprano sings the cantus firmus in long notes, each prepared by the imitation of the lower voices. Alfred Dürr suspects that the gospel of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem inspired the festive music in 6/4 time. Christoph Wolff emphasizes that the small cast takes into account the Lent of Advent, when cantata music was only allowed on the 1st Sunday in Leipzig.

The first aria deals with the “great secret: the highest ruler appears to the world. … O miracle! chastity is not stained at all ”in the siciliano rhythm with string accompaniment, which is doubled by the oboes in tutti sections by the oboes. In great contrast, the second aria for bass emphasizes the appeal “Streite, siege, starker Held!” With a “fighting, tumultuous” theme in continuo, which is doubled in a later version by the high strings. Gardiner regards the aria as a forerunner to “Great Lord and Strong King” in Part I of the Christmas Oratorio . The ensuing duet expresses heartfelt thanks: “We honor this glory”, gently accompanied by strings. The last stanza is simply composed of four voices.

Recordings

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b c d Christoph Wolff : Chorale cantatas from the cycle of the Leipzig church cantatas 1724-25 ( English , PDF; 4.8 MB) bach-cantatas.com. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
  2. a b John Eliot Gardiner : Cantatas for the First Sunday in Advent / St. Maria im Kapitol, Cologne ( English , PDF; 153 kB) bach-cantatas.com. 2007. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
  3. a b Julian Mincham: Chapter 27 BWV 62 Come on, the Gentile Savior ( English ) jsbachcantatas.com. 2010. Retrieved November 21, 2011.