He calls his sheep by name

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Bach cantata
He calls his sheep by name
BWV: 175
Occasion: 3rd day of Pentecost
Year of origin: 1725
Place of origin: Leipzig
Genus: cantata
Solo : ATB
Choir: SATB
Instruments : 2Tr 3Fl 2Vl Va Vp BC
text
Christiana Mariana from Ziegler
List of Bach cantatas

He calls his sheep by name ( BWV 175) is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach . He composed it in Leipzig for the 3rd day of Pentecost and performed it for the first time on May 22, 1725.

Story and words

In his second year in Leipzig, Bach composed the cantata for the third day of Pentecost and performed it for the first time on May 22, 1725. In his second year in Leipzig, Bach consistently composed choral cantatas from the first Sunday after Trinity to Palm Sunday for his second cycle of cantatas , but at Easter he switched back to cantatas based on freer text. These included nine cantatas based on texts by the poet Christiana Mariana von Ziegler , including the cantata for the 3rd day of Pentecost, which Bach later assigned to his third cycle of cantatas.

The prescribed readings for the feast day were Acts 8,14–17  LUT and Joh 10,1–10  LUT , the meeting of Jesus with Nicodemus . The cantata deals with two themes, in movements 1 to 4 the Good Shepherd and the sheep who hear his voice, in movements 5 to 7 those who do not hear him. The poet uses the phrase “deluded reason” for them, thereby addressing the tendency towards the beginning of the Enlightenment . The cantata ends with the ninth stanza of Johann Rist's O Gottes Geist, mein Solst und Ruh .

Occupation and structure

The cantata has an unusual set of instruments. Three vocal soloists, alto , tenor and bass , and a four-part choir in the final chorale make music with three recorders , two trumpets , violoncello piccolo, two violins , viola , and basso continuo . The recorders emphasize the pastoral aspect.

  1. Recitativo (tenor): He calls his sheep by name
  2. Aria (old): Come on, guide me
  3. Recitativo (tenor): God willing, O you human beings
  4. Aria (tenor): I think I see you coming
  5. Recitativo (alto, bass): You did not hear
  6. Aria (bass): Open up, you two ears
  7. Chorale: Well, dear spirit, I am following you

music

The opening quote from the Bible is sung by the tenor, the voice of the evangelist . Three recorders, instruments of shepherd music, accompany this recitative “He calls his sheep by name and leads them out”. The recorders also give the first aria in 12/8 time characteristic color. The following short recitative asks in dramatic excitement full of dissonances, like a lost sheep after its shepherd: “Where do I find you? Oh, where are you hidden? " To describe the relief of his frescoed arrival, Bach transposed the seventh movement of his congratulatory cantata Durchlauchtster Leopold , an extended da capo - Bourrée with obbligato cello and bassoon in unison to a minor third for a five-string violoncello piccolo. The meter of the poem is not tailored to the fact that Bach had not agreed the intention of the parody with the poet.

The central recitative in movement 5 is the movement of the cantata, which is accompanied by the strings. It begins with a biblical quote recited by the altar, “They did not hear what it was that he had said to them,” and leads to a bass arioso on the last lines, a warning that the words of Jesus should not be delivered Ignore. The warning is reinforced by the accompaniment of two trumpets in the following aria, which speaks of the devil and death: “Jesus has sworn to you that he will kill the devil”. The trumpets are silent in the middle section, which mentions the gifts of Jesus: “Grace, grace, full life”. This aria may also be a parody, but the source is unknown.

The chorale is repeated from the Pentecost cantata Whoever loves me will keep my word, BWV 59 . The melody of the Pentecost song Come, Holy Spirit, Lord God is set for a four-part choir. Three independent recorder parts take up the instrumentation from the beginning.

Recordings

LP / CD
DVD

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b c d e John Eliot Gardiner : Cantatas for Whit Tuesday / Holy Trinity, Blythburgh ( English ) monteverdiproductions.co.uk. 2008. Archived from the original on July 28, 2011. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved June 7, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.monteverdiproductions.co.uk
  2. Julian Mincham: Chapter 47 BWV 183 & 175, each commencing with a recitative ( English ) jsbachcantatas.com. 2010. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  3. Chorale Melodies used in Bach's Vocal Works / Komm, Heiliger Geist, Herre Gott ( English ) bach-cantatas.com. 2006. Retrieved June 1, 2011.