A strong castle is our God, BWV 80
| Bach cantata | |
|---|---|
| A Mighty Fortress Is Our God | |
| BWV: | 80 |
| Occasion: | Reformation day |
| Year of origin: | 1730 |
| Place of origin: | Leipzig |
| Genus: | Choral cantata |
| Solo : | SATB |
| Choir: | SATB |
| Instruments : | 2Ob 2Oa Oc Ot 2Vl Va V |
| AD : | approx. 30 min |
| text | |
| Martin Luther , | |
| List of Bach cantatas | |
A mighty fortress is our God ( BWV 80) is a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach , the well-known on the same hymn A Mighty Fortress Is Our God of Martin Luther based.
Emergence
The genesis of this work is largely uncertain. The basis is the cantata 80a Everything Born of God , BWV 80a, which Bach composed in Weimar in 1715 or 1716 and whose music is lost. However, the original text poems by Salomon Franck have survived . For the Reformation Festival in Leipzig , a simple version of the cantata, BWV 80b, was composed by Bach in Leipzig, presumably between 1728 and 1731, but possibly also as early as 1723, which was adapted several times in the following years. The trumpets in movements 1 and 5, prescribed in one of the traditional versions, were added by his son Wilhelm Friedemann Bach after Bach's death .
Subject
The chorale cantata contains all four stanzas of the Luther song as the primary text source, which, based on Psalm 46, addresses trust in God. According to the original determination of the second text source for the 3rd Sunday of Lent , Franck's poetry is about Satan's war against God.
occupation
- Solos: soprano , alto , tenor , bass
- Choir: soprano, alto, tenor, bass
- Various oboes for a total of three players (including oboe d'amore I / II, waist , oboe da caccia ), strings, basso continuo
In the version by Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, three trumpets are also used, some of which replace the oboes.
particularities
The artistically composed opening chorale is regarded as one of the highlights of Bach's chorale processing. He sings the first stanza in the form of a choral motet accompanied by a colla parte , in which the voices play every single line of the song in fugue . In particular, the piece begins with a double fugue: after the beginning tenor has completed the first chorale line for the first time, the alto follows with the comes , while the tenor sets the second chorale line against it. After the execution of the individual lines of the song, the chorale melody appears as a double, canonically delayed cantus firmus in the oboes (or in the son's version in the trumpets) and in the orchestral bass. It is noticeable that, in contrast to otherwise written choir opening movements, there is no ritornello at the beginning, but rather the choir performance begins directly.
In the second movement, the martial theme is underlined by the sixteenth notes played by the strings. Between the chorale stanzas, the poem by Salomon Franck of the original Weimar version is incorporated in the form of arias and recitatives , with the second stanza of the hymn being performed as a cantus firmus by the soprano of the choir in the 2nd movement parallel to Franck's aria text. In general, the musical symbolism of this Bach cantata is of outstanding importance, with which the composer expresses the self-confident victory in the struggle of good against evil in the sense of this “hymn” of Protestant Lutheranism.
Movement 5 brings the chorale melody as a cantus firmus in the choir, in unison , which symbolizes the unity of the congregation , over moving orchestral play, which symbolizes the battle between the heavenly and diabolical forces .
Recordings (selection)
DVD
- Johann Sebastian Bach: A solid castle is our God. Cantata BWV 80. Rudolf Lutz , choir and orchestra of the JS Bach Foundation , Dorothee Mields (soprano), Terry Wey (alto), Bernhard Berchtold (tenor), Klaus Mertens (bass). Including an introductory workshop and reflection by Johannes Anderegg . Gallus Media, 2017.
literature
- Alfred Dürr : Johann Sebastian Bach: The Cantatas. Bärenreiter, Kassel 1999, ISBN 3-7618-1476-3 .
- Werner Neumann : Handbook of the cantatas by JS Bach. 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; Carus-Verlag, Stuttgart 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
- A strong castle is our God, BWV 80 : Sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project
- Cantata BWV 80 A strong castle is our God on bach cantatas website
- Our God is a solid castle on the Bach website
- BWV 80 A firm castle is our God Text, structure and cast on the personal homepage of Walter F. Bischof at the University of Alberta
Individual evidence
- ↑ Booklet ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF file) on the JS Bach Foundation website, accessed on May 17, 2017.
