I am happy with my happiness
Bach cantata | |
---|---|
I am happy with my happiness | |
BWV: | 84 |
Occasion: | Septuagesimae |
Year of origin: | 1727 |
Place of origin: | Leipzig |
Genus: | cantata |
Solo : | S. |
Choir: | SATB |
Instruments : | Whether 2Vl Va Bc |
text | |
Picander ? | |
List of Bach cantatas |
I'm happy with my happiness ( BWV 84) is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach . The solo cantata for soprano for Sunday Septuagesimae was on 9 February 1727 in Leipzig under the direction of Bach premiered .
Story and words
Bach wrote the cantata in Leipzig for the Sunday Septuagesimae, the third Sunday before Ash Wednesday. It is assigned to his third cantatas cycle and is one of the few cantatas that Bach himself referred to as a cantata. He had already composed two cantatas for the occasion, Take what is yours and go there in 1724 and the chorale cantata I have in God's heart and mind 1725. The prescribed readings were 1 Cor 9.24 LUT - 10.5 LUT , " Race for victory ”, and Mt 20 : 1–16 LUT , the parable of the workers in the vineyard . As in the earlier cantatas, the cantata text only relates generally to the Gospel: Christians should be content with the happiness that is bestowed on them, without envy of others who appear preferred. Title and text resemble Picander's I am delighted with my estate , published in 1728. It is unclear whether Picander based his text on an earlier template or whether Bach used a version of Picander that was modified for printing. As Klaus Hofmann observes, he contains thoughts from the early Enlightenment : “His verses are the price of frugality, of humility with what God has intended for us; a praise of contentment (that is what the word “happy” means, in its former meaning), lack of envy towards others and gratitude towards God. Like the world of thought, the language is not actually Bach's, but that of the next younger generation: the rhetorical pathos of Baroque poetry, the drastic and artificiality of the images are missing; the language is simple and concise and not figurative but rational. "
The final chorale is the 12th stanza of Aemilie Juliane von Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt's well-known song “Who knows how close my end is to me” (1686). Bach already used his first verse in his cantatas Where are you going? (1724) and who knows how close my end is to me? BWV 27 (1726).
Bach first performed the cantata on February 9, 1727.
Occupation and structure
The cantata is made up of chamber music with solo soprano , four-part choir only in chorale, oboe , two violins , viola and basso continuo .
- Aria: I am pleased with my happiness
- Recitativo: God doesn't owe me anything
- Aria: I am happy to eat my little bread
- Recitativo: In the sweat of my brow
- Choral: I live happily in you
music
The music shows a different line-up and character in order to offer variety despite only having one singing voice. The first aria is slow and thoughtful, accompanied by all instruments, and is reminiscent of an oboe concerto. The first recitative is secco, the second is accompanied by the strings. The second aria is dance-like, accompanied by two obligatory instruments, oboe and violin. In lively figuration of the violin and, somewhat more simply, the oboe, they illustrate the text "a happy spirit, a grateful heart that praises and praises". Hofmann notes that the aria represents "the musical genre image of a rural idyll with a rustic music scene, a homage to the enlightened utopia of a simple, happy life in the country". The violin figures are reminiscent of "drone sounds like a bagpipe or a hurdy-gurdy". Sixth jumps upwards in the singing voice have a folk effect and “at the same time convey the impression of cheerful serenity”.
The chorale is a simple four-part movement to the melody of Who only lets God rule .
Recordings
CD
- JS Bach: Cantatas No. 106, no. 84. Hermann Scherchen , Vienna Academy Chamber Choir , Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera , Magda Lászlò. Westminster, 1952.
- JS Bach: Cantatas BWV 49 & BWV 84. Wilhelm Ehmann , Westfälische Kantorei , instrumental ensemble, Agnes Giebel . Cantate, 1961.
- Bach: Cantatas BWV 52, BWV 84 & BWV 209. Raymond Leppard , English Chamber Orchestra , Elly Ameling . Philips, 1982.
- The Bach Cantata Vol. 26. Helmuth Rilling , Gächinger Kantorei , Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn , Arleen Augér . Hänssler, 1983.
- Bach Edition Vol. 15 - Cantatas Vol. 8. Pieter Jan Leusink , Holland Boys Choir , Netherlands Bach Collegium , Ruth Holton. Brilliant Classics, 2000.
- Bach Cantatas Vol. 20: Naarden / Southwell / For Septuagesima / For Sexagesima. John Eliot Gardiner , Monteverdi Choir , English Baroque Soloists , Miah Persson . Soli Deo Gloria, 2000.
- JS Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 20. Ton Koopman , Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir , Sandrine Piau . Antoine Marchand, 2003.
- JS Bach: Christ, Who Is My Life - Cantates BWV 27, 84, 95 & 161. Philippe Herreweghe , Collegium Vocale Gent , Dorothee Mields . Harmonia Mundi France, 2007.
- JS Bach: Sacred solo cantatas for soprano. Helmut Müller-Brühl , Bach Vocal Ensemble Cologne , Cologne Chamber Orchestra , Siri Thornhill . Naxos, 2007.
- JS Bach: Cantatas Vol 41 (Solo Cantatas) - BWV 56, 82, 84, 158,. . Masaaki Suzuki , Bach Collegium Japan , Carolyn Sampson . UP, 2007.
DVD
- "I am happy with my happiness". Cantata BWV 84. Rudolf Lutz , choir and orchestra of the JS Bach Foundation , Gerlinde Sämann . Including an introductory workshop and reflection by Eleonore Frey . Gallus Media, 2012.
literature
- Alfred Dürr : Johann Sebastian Bach: The Cantatas. Bärenreiter, Kassel 1999, ISBN 3-7618-1476-3
- Werner Neumann : Handbook of the cantatas Johann Sebastian Bach . 5th edition. 1984, ISBN 3-7651-0054-4 , first edition 1947
- Hans-Joachim Schulze : The Bach Cantatas: Introductions to all of Johann Sebastian Bach's cantatas . Evangelische Verlags-Anstalt, Leipzig, ISBN 3-374-02390-8 ; Carus-Verlag, Stuttgart 2006 (Edition Bach Archive Leipzig), ISBN 3-89948-073-2
- Christoph Wolff , Ton Koopman : The world of Bach cantatas . Verlag J. B. Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2006, ISBN 978-3-476-02127-4
Web links
- I'm delighted with my luck, BWV 84 : Sheet Music and Audio Files in the International Music Score Library Project
- I'm happy with my happiness at Bach Cantatas
- I am happy with my happiness on the Bach.de website
- BWV 84 I'm delighted with my happiness text, structure, cast, at the University of Alberta
- Julian Mincham: Chapter 37 BWV 84 I am pleased with my happiness . A listener and student guide, 2010 (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Klaus Hofmann: I am delighted with my happiness / (I am Content with my Happiness), BWV 84 (PDF; 2.0 MB) bach-cantatas.com. 2008. Retrieved January 30, 2012.
- ↑ Who knows how close my end is to me? at Bach Cantatas (English).
- ↑ Who only lets God rule with Bach Cantatas (English).
- ↑ Matthias Lange: Inspired. Review of the CD edition, at Klassik.com , accessed on June 18, 2014.