Most Serene Leopold
| Bach cantata | |
|---|---|
| Most Serene Leopold | |
| BWV: | 173a |
| Occasion: | birthday |
| Year of origin: | 1717? 1722? |
| Place of origin: | Koethen |
| Genus: | cantata |
| Solo : | SB |
| Instruments : | Ft; Fg; Vl, Va, Vn; BC |
| text | |
| unknown | |
| List of Bach cantatas | |
Serene Leopold ( BWV 173a) is a secular cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach . He composed it in Koethen for the birthday of Leopold von Anhalt-Koethen . It is not certain whether Bach performed the cantata at the beginning of his tenure in 1717 or not until 1722, the year the score was composed.
Story and words
Bach composed the birthday cantata for his employer, Prince Leopold von Anhalt-Köthen, on December 10th. It is also known as a serenata . The relatively simple work may have been written in a hurry in 1717, when Bach was appointed Kapellmeister , according to Alfred Dürr . The score was written later, probably in 1722, which is also a possible year of composition. The unknown poet composed eight sentences. Only two of them, 1 and 5, are recitatives , but even they are in regular verse form and may have been intended for arias . The first recitative even contains a da capo in the first line, the salutation "Highest Leopold". The two vocal parts were perhaps intended as allegorical figures, as for example in the New Year's cantata The time that makes days and years , but it is not indicated in the text.
In 1724 Bach used six of the eight movements to form his cantata for the 2nd day of Pentecost, Increased Flesh and Blood , and in 1725 he put movement 7 in his cantata for the 3rd day of Pentecost. He calls his sheep by name .
Occupation and structure
The cantata is occupied by two soloists, soprano and bass , two flauti traversi , bassoon , two violins , viola and basso continuo , with violone and harpsichord . The last movement is called the chorus, but was probably also sung by the two soloists.
- Recitativo (soprano): Most Serene Leopold
- Aria (soprano): Güldner Sonnen happy hours
- Aria (bass): Leopold's excellence
- Aria (soprano, bass): Under its purple border
- Recitativo (soprano, bass): Most noble, whom Anhalt calls father
- Aria (soprano): So look at this lovely light of day
- Aria (bass): Your name goes like the suns
- Chorus (soprano, bass): Take us too, great prince
music
Bach composed varied music on a rather monotonous text. The beginning of the recitative is accompanied by the strings and leads to a virtuoso coloratura on the repetition of the first line that Leopold addresses. Movement 2 is reminiscent of a dance, two flutes and strings play triplets . Sentence 3 is a short praise, labeled vivace . Movement 4 is a duet , entitled “Al tempo di minuetto”, which deals with three stanzas in increasing variations: the first stanza is for bass and strings in G major, the second for soprano a fifth higher in D major with additional flutes , the last for both voices, again a fifth higher in A major and with livelier movement. The structure of this duet is unique in Bach's cantatas; the increase on several levels expresses the increase of the ruler. Movement 5 ends in an arioso . Movement 6 is a bourrée , dominated by the flute, which sometimes doubles the violins, then is silent again. Movement 7 is set in great contrast for low voice and low instruments, bassoon and violoncello play in unison , while the continuo is made up of violone and harpsichord. The last movement echoes a polonaise . Both of its parts begin with an instrumental concerto that is repeated with built-in voices.
Recordings
- Bach Made in Germany Vol. 4 - Cantatas V , Hans-Joachim Rotzsch , Thomanerchor , Gewandhausorchester , Regina Werner , Siegfried Lorenz , Eterna 1974
- JS Bach: Secular Cantatas , Bernard Labadie , Les Violons du Roy , Dorothea Röschmann , Kevin McMillan , Dorian Recordings 1994
- JS Bach: Secular Cantatas BWV 173a & 201 , Gustav Leonhardt , Choir & Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment , Monika Frimmer , David Wilson-Johnson , Philips 1995
- JS Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 9 , Ton Koopman , Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir , Lisa Larsson , Klaus Mertens , Antoine Marchand 1998
literature
- Alfred Dürr : Johann Sebastian Bach: The Cantatas. Bärenreiter, Kassel 1999, ISBN 3-7618-1476-3
- Werner Neumann : Handbook of the cantatas JSBachs . 1947. 5th edition 1984, ISBN 3-7651-0054-4
- Hans-Joachim Schulze : The Bach Cantatas: Introductions to all of Johann Sebastian Bach's cantatas . Evangelische Verlags-Anstalt, Leipzig, ISBN 3-374-02390-8 (Edition Bach Archive Leipzig); Carus-Verlag, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-89948-073-2
- Christoph Wolff , Ton Koopman : The world of Bach cantatas . Verlag JB Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2006, ISBN 978-3-476-02127-4
Web links
Digitized
Sheet music and audio files
- Cantatas, BWV 171-180 : Sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project
Further information
- Source description of the original score , source database RISM
- Data, text and sources at Bach Digital
- Most Serene Leopold at Bach Cantatas (English)
- BWV 173 Most Serene Leopold. University of Vermont
Individual evidence
- ↑ Serene Leopold, serenata for 2 voices, flute, bassoon, strings & continuo, BWV 173a ( English ) Allmusic . 2011. Retrieved June 8, 2011.
- ↑ Most Serene Leopold . bach.de. 2011. Retrieved June 8, 2011.
- ↑ Julian Mincham: Chapter 89 BWV 173a Serene Leopold ( English ) jsbachcantatas.com. 2010. Retrieved June 5, 2011.
