Rejoice, hearts
| Bach cantata | |
|---|---|
| Rejoice, hearts | |
| BWV: | 66 |
| Occasion: | 2nd Easter day |
| Year of origin: | 1724 |
| Place of origin: | Leipzig |
| Genus: | Church cantata |
| Solo : | ATB |
| Choir: | SATB |
| Instruments : | Tr 2Ob Fg 2Vl Va Bc |
| AD : | 32 min |
| text | |
| unknown | |
| List of Bach cantatas | |
Rejoice, you hearts ( BWV 66) is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach .
Occasion and content
Bach composed the cantata for the 2nd Easter festival day ( Easter Monday ) in Leipzig . It goes back to a secular cantata that he had composed in Köthen for December 10th, 1718, the music of which is lost. The Easter cantata was premiered on April 10, 1724.
The unknown poet had a difficult task repackaging the text. This was mainly due to the fact that the original text followed a strong dialogue character in individual sentences. He solved this problem by neglecting this character in some places and inserting a dialogue between “confidence” and “weakness” in others. In a later performance, Bach changed these personifications to "Hope" and "Fear". The original text is limited to the general consideration of Jesus' death and resurrection . It shows no reference to the Gospel , the walk to Emmaus ( Lk 24 : 13-35 LUT ).
construction
The cantata is divided into six movements:
- Chorus : Rejoice, hearts
- Recitativo (bass): The grave breaks and with it our misery
- Aria (bass): Let the Most High sound a song of thanks
- Recitativo (à 2) (alto, tenor): Be joyful in Jesus' life
- Aria (à 2) (alto, tenor): I fear / not the darkness of the grave
- Chorale : Alleluia! alleluja! alleluja!
music
Bach developed the opening choir from the final chorus of the birthday cantata. It is one of the longest and liveliest choral movements from Bach's early creative period. The movement begins with an instrumental introduction of 24 bars in which figurations in thirty-second notes up to the three-stroke a show the beginning of life. The old man calls out first: “Rejoice, you hearts”, the tenor continues “Escape, you pain”, all voices unite homophonically : “The Savior lives and rules in you”. In great contrast, in the middle section of the da capo form, the alto and bass voices sing of sadness and fear. These postures are musically represented in expressive motifs of sighs and chromatic lines over a bass that paints a pounding heartbeat as in the recitative “O pain! Here the tormented heart trembles ”in Bach's St. Matthew Passion , although the text speaks of chasing them away:“ You can chase away the sadness, the fear, the anxious trepidation ”. The choir joins in comforting: "The Savior refreshes his spiritual kingdom", the voices begin one after the other and hold on to "Savior" for a long time, so that a chord is gradually built up.
After a short recitative, the bass continues with a general invitation to sing a thank you song. The aria in a dance-like gesture reveals the origin of the congratulatory cantata. In the middle section, long tones on "Peace" are contrasted with coloraturas on "Leben".
The fourth movement begins with the tenor who also wants to sing a “song of victory and thanks”. In “My eye sees the Savior raised” the awakening is represented by a long melisma . But already after one bar the alto doubts "No eye sees ..." After a long time singing together, the various positions alternate, with the alto finally wanting to join the Easter belief: "I believe, but help me who are weak".
In the following duet, the two voices sing predominantly homophonically, but small rhythmic variations express their different attitudes towards “the darkness of the grave”. The alto sings “I fear” in evenly long notes, while the tenor sings “I do not fear” in the ornate figure of the solo violin. The swinging 12/8 time and the virtuoso violin part are reminiscent of the Koethen birthday music and are particularly suitable for the content of the middle section, in which both voices agree “Now my heart is full of comfort”.
As the final chorale, Bach added the last section of the chorale Christ ist erupt , which begins with a triple alleluia , to the cantata . It is the only use of this chorale, derived from the Easter sequence Victimae paschali laudes in the 12th century, in Bach's vocal works.
literature
- Alfred Dürr : Johann Sebastian Bach: The Cantatas. Bärenreiter, Kassel 1999, ISBN 3-7618-1476-3 .
- Werner Neumann : Handbook of JS Bach's Cantatas , 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
- Rejoice, Hearts : Sheet Music and Audio Files in the International Music Score Library Project
- BWV 66 Enjoy your hearts text, structure and cast on the personal homepage of Walter F. Bischof at the University of Alberta
- Cantata BWV 66 Rejoice, your hearts on bach-cantatas.com (English)
- JS Bach - Cantata BWV 66 “Delight yourselves, your hearts” Recording under the direction of Rudolf Lutz in the YouTube channel of the JS Bach Foundation
Individual evidence
- ↑ John Quinn: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) / The Bach Cantata Pilgrimage - Volume 22 / Cantatas for Easter ( English ) musicweb-international.com. 2007. Retrieved April 19, 2011.
- ↑ a b Julian Mincham: Chapter 48 BWV 66 Rejoice, your hearts ( English ) jsbachcantatas.com. 2010. Retrieved April 19, 2011.
- ↑ Chorale Melodies used in Bach's Vocal Works / Christ ist erupt ( English ) bach-cantatas.com. 2011. Retrieved April 19, 2011.
