That is why the Son of God appeared

Bach cantata
That is why the Son of God appeared
BWV:	40
Occasion:	2nd Christmas Day
Year of origin:	1723
Place of origin:	Leipzig
Genus:	Church cantata
Solo :	ATB
Choir:	SATB
Instruments :	2Co 2Oa 2Vl Va Bc
text
unknown, Kaspar Füger , Paul Gerhardt , Christian Keymann
List of Bach cantatas

The Son of God ( BWV 40) is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach . He composed the Christmas cantata in Leipzig for Boxing Day and performed it for the first time on December 26, 1723.

Bach later arranged the opening choir as the final Cum Sancto Spiritu of his Missa in F major , BWV 233.

Story and words

Bach wrote the cantata for Christmas Day in his first year in Leipzig . On this day, the martyr Stephen and Christmas were celebrated alternately in Leipzig with various readings . The prescribed readings in 1723 were as Epistle Acts 6,8–7,22  LUT , Acts 7,51–59  LUT , the stoning of Stephen, and as the Gospel Mt 23,34–39  LUT , the lamentation over Jerusalem. The cantata text by an unknown poet does not deal with the martyr, but treats Jesus as the conqueror of sin. The poet quoted the Bible in sentence 1 with a verse from the 1st letter of John , 1 Joh 3,8  LUT . His own texts contain numerous allusions to Bible passages: Sentence 2 is based on Joh 1,14  LUT , sentence 5 relates to the creation story ( Gen 3,15  LUT ), the image of the snake used there also appears in sentences 4 and 6. In Sentence 7 is finally taken up on verse 37 of the Gospel: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you kill the prophets and stone them that are sent to you! How often have I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings; and you did not want! ".

Thomas Church , 2008

No fewer than three chorale verses from different hymns are part of the text, while Bach normally only chose one chorale verse at the end and the cantata from the Weimar period, Christians, etch this day , BWV 63, did not contain any chorale verse at all. During the Christmas season of 1723, Bach used the structuring element of three chorale stanzas, which is rather rare in his cantatas, two more times, Sehet, what love the father has shown us , BWV 64, and in Look, dear God, like my enemy , BWV 153. Bach used the structure of a larger work in scenes, each concluded by a chorale stanza, later in his Passions and in the Christmas Oratorio .

Movement 3 of the cantata is the third stanza of Kaspar Füger's “Wir Christenleut” (1592). From this song Bach used the stanza “Be glad, dieweil” at the end of Part III of the Christmas Oratorio . It is sung to the earlier melody of an anonymous composer (1589). Sentence 6 is the second stanza of Paul Gerhardt's "Swing up to your God" (1648). It is not a Christmas carol, but it fits particularly well with its mention of the "old snake" in the context. It is sung to a melody that may come from Friedrich Funcke . The final chorale is the fourth and last stanza of Christian Keymann's “Rejoice, all of you Christians” (1646). His melody was composed by Andreas Hammerschmidt and published in his collection Vierter Theill Musicalischer Andachten in Freiberg (Saxony) in 1646 as an eight-part set.

Nikolaikirche , 2012

Bach performed the cantata for the first time on December 26, 1723, during his first Christmas season in Leipzig, which brought six cantatas between Christmas Day and Epiphany , five of which were new compositions, as well as two further large choral works:

• 25 December

• BWV 63 , Sanctus in D major, BWV 238, in the main service
• BWV 63 , Magnificat in E flat major, BWV 243, in the Vespers service

• December 26th BWV 40
• December 27th, see what love the Father has shown us , BWV 64
• January 1 Sing a new song to the Lord , BWV 190
• January 2nd Look, dear God, like my enemy , BWV 153
• January 6th They will all come from Saba , BWV 65

The cantatas were performed twice each, both in the main church, alternately in the two main churches St. Thomas Church and St. Nicholas Church , and in the Vespers in the other church.

In 1738 Bach arranged the opening choir as Cum Sancto Spiritu of his Missa in F major , BWV 233.

Occupation and structure

The cantata is composed for three soloists, alto , tenor and bass , four-part choir, two horns , two oboes , two violins , viola and basso continuo .

1. Chorus: The Son of God appeared for this
2. Recitativo (tenor): The word became flesh
3. Chorale : Sin causes suffering
4. Aria (bass): Hellish snake, aren't you afraid?
5. Recitativo (Alt): The snake, so in paradise
6. Chorale : Shake your head and speak
7. Aria (tenor): Christian children, rejoice!
8. Chorale : Jesus, take your limbs

music

Julian Mincham sees the cantata divided into three sections, each of which ends with a chorale:

• Choir, recitative, chorale - Christ's task in a world full of sin
• Aria, recitative, chorale - Christ's act in the fight against Satan
• Aria, chorale - the Christian's joy about it

Bach used thematic material from the chorals for his own movements, for example the horn motif of the opening choir is derived from the beginning of the first chorale. This suggests that the structure of the cantata was fixed before he began composing.

The extended opening chorus in F major deals with the short text “The Son of God appeared to destroy the works of the devil.” The horn opens the ritornello with a short, signal-like motif, which is picked up and continued by the oboes and strings. Klaus Hofmann points out: "This work of destruction is visualized in the choir by hammering tone repetitions and extensive coloratura, but all this illustrative remains subordinate to a Christmas celebration and worship dignity of the text presentation in a broad musical framework". The sentence corresponds to the concept of prelude and fugue , because the text begins homophonically to a repetition of the ritornello, is then repeated in a fugue , and finally, similar to the beginning, summarized again in madrigal style. John Eliot Gardiner compares the style of the movement with the stilo concitato by Claudio Monteverdi . The text that speaks of the "works of the devil" is repeated in tone, both in the first section and in the fugue. In both parts, the destruction appears as a downward serpentine coloratura, while the text “Darzu has appeared the Son of God” in the fugue is represented by a new calm theme introduced by the tenor, followed by bass, soprano and alto, accompanied only from the continuo. This theme will be juxtaposed with the two elements that illustrate the works and the destruction. It remains present for most of the fugue.

The secco recitative is sung by the tenor, the usual voice for the evangelist , and conveys: “The word became flesh and dwells in the world”. The chorale leads back to overcoming sin: "Sin causes suffering".

The bass aria “Hellish snake, won't you worry?” Is accompanied by oboes and strings. Hofmann describes it as a "spacious, thoroughly operatic bass solo full of triumph over the 'hellish snake'". The Accompagnato recitative "The Serpent, so in Paradise" explains that sin has been overcome. The related second chorale also speaks of the snake: “Shake your head and say: Fleuch, you old snake!”. It is also a four-part choral setting.

The tenor aria “Christenkinder, reuet sich!” Is accompanied by the concerting horns and oboes and paints the word “reuet” with extensive coloratura , the word “frighten” with sudden pauses. The aria takes up the happy mood of the opening choir. The cantata is concluded with “Jesus, take your limbs”, the third four-part chorale that asks Jesus for further assistance in the coming year.

Recordings

• Les Grandes Cantatas de JS Bach Vol. 20. Fritz Werner , Heinrich Schütz Choir Heilbronn , Pforzheim Chamber Orchestra , Claudia Hellmann , Georg Jelden , Jakob Stämpfli . Erato , 1964.
• The Bach Cantata Vol. 62. Helmuth Rilling , Figural Choir of the Gedächtniskirche Stuttgart, Bach-Collegium Stuttgart , Verena Gohl , Adalbert Kraus , Siegmund Nimsgern . Hänssler , 1970.
• JS Bach: The Cantata Work - Sacred Cantatas Vol. 3. Gustav Leonhardt , Boys Choir Hanover , Leonhardt Consort , René Jacobs , Marius van Altena , Max van Egmond . Teldec , 1975.
• Bach Made in Germany Vol. 4 - Cantatas IX , Hans-Joachim Rotzsch , Thomanerchor , Neues Bachisches Collegium Musicum , Ortrun Wenkel , Peter Schreier , Siegfried Lorenz . Eterna, 1981.
• Bach: Cantata Advent / Cantata Christmas. Wolfgang Kelber , Heinrich Schütz Ensemble Munich , Monteverdi Orchestra Munich , Reiner Schneider-Waterberg , Kobie van Rensburg , Christian Hilz . Calig Publishing House, 1996.
• JS Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 8. Ton Koopman , Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir , Bogna Bartosz , Jörg Dürmüller , Klaus Mertens . Antoine Marchand, 1998.
• Bach Edition Vol. 15 - Cantatas Vol. 8. Pieter Jan Leusink , Holland Boys Choir , Netherlands Bach Collegium , Sytse Buwalda , Marcel Beekman , Bas Ramselaar . Brilliant Classics, 2000.
• JS Bach: Cantatas Vol. 15 - Cantatas from Leipzig 1723. Masaaki Suzuki , Bach Collegium Japan , Robin Blaze , Gerd Türk , Peter Kooij . UNTIL 2000.
• Bach Cantatas Vol. 14: New York. John Eliot Gardiner , Monteverdi Choir , English Baroque Soloists , Robin Tyson , James Gilchrist , Peter Harvey . Soli Deo Gloria, 2000.

literature

• Alfred Dürr: Johann Sebastian Bach: The Cantatas. Bärenreiter, Kassel 1999, ISBN 3-7618-1476-3 and Deutscher Taschenbuchverlag, 1995, ISBN 3-423-04431-4 .
• Werner Neumann : Handbook of the cantatas by JS Bach. Breitkopf und Härtel publishing house, Leipzig 1947. 5th edition 1984, ISBN 3-7651-0054-4 .
• Hans-Joachim Schulze: The Bach Cantatas: Introductions to all of Johann Sebastian Bach's cantatas. Leipzig: Evangelical publishing company; Stuttgart: Carus-Verlag 2006 (Edition Bach-Archiv Leipzig) ISBN 3-374-02390-8 (Evang. Verl.-Anst.), ISBN 3-89948-073-2 (Carus-Verl.)
• Christoph Wolff / Ton Koopman : The world of Bach cantatas. Verlag JB Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2006. ISBN 978-3-476-02127-4 .

Web links

• The Son of God (BWV 40) has been published for this purpose : Sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project
• For this purpose, the Son of God BWV 40 has been published by Bach Digital at the Leipzig Bach Archive
• The Son of God story, cast, sources for text and music, translations into several languages, recordings and discussions have been published on the private website Bach Cantatas (English)
• The Son of God cast and sources per sentence has been published on the private website bach.de
• The Son of God text and cast has been published for this on Walter F. Bischof's personal homepage
• BWV 40 The son of God, director Hans-Christoph Rademann , appeared at All of Bach for the Nederlandse Bachvereniging

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b c d e f} Alfred Dürr : The cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach , 4th edition, Volume 1, Deutscher Taschenbuchverlag, 1981, ISBN 3-4230-4080-7 , pp. 178–179.
2. ↑ Thomas Braatz, Aryeh Oron: Chorale Melodies used in Bach's Vocal Works / Wir Christenleut habn jetzund Freud ( English ) bach-cantatas.com. 2005. Retrieved December 7, 2012.
3. ↑ ^{a b} Julian Mincham: Chapter 31 BWV 40 For this, the son of God appeared / The son of God came forth for this. ( English ) jsbachcantatas.com. 2010. Retrieved December 4, 2012.
4. ^ Francis Browne, Aryeh Oron: Wir Christenleut habn jetzund Freud / Text and Translation of Chorale ( English ) bach-cantatas.com. 2005. Retrieved December 7, 2012.
5. ↑ Thomas Braatz, Aryeh Oron: Chorale Melodies used in Bach's Vocal Works / Rejoice, you Christians all ( English ) bach-cantatas.com. October 2005. Retrieved December 7, 2012.
6. ↑ Francis Browne, Aryeh Oron: Rejoice, you Christians all / Text and Translation of Chorale ( English ) bach-cantatas.com. December 2005. Retrieved December 7, 2012.
7. ↑ Thomas Braatz, Aryeh Oron: Chorale Melodies used in Bach's Vocal Works / Swing up to your God ( English ) bach-cantatas.com. December 2005. Retrieved December 7, 2012.
8. ↑ Francis Browne, Aryeh Oron: Swing up to your God / Text and Translation of Chorale ( English ) bach-cantatas.com. 2006. Retrieved December 7, 2012.
9. ↑ ^{a b c} Christoph Wolff : On the 1st year of Bach's Leipzig church cantatas (1723-1724) (III) (PDF; 10.7 MB) bach-cantatas.com. P. 24, 26. 1998. Retrieved December 4, 2012.
10. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Klaus Hofmann : For this, the Son of God was published, BWV 40 (PDF; 3.6 MB) bach-cantatas.com. P. 12, 13.2000. Accessed December 4, 2012.
11. ↑ John Eliot Gardiner : Christmas Day / St Bartholomew's, New York ( English , PDF; 68 kB) bach-cantatas.com. S. 3. 2005. Accessed December 4, 2012.