King of Heaven, be welcome
| Bach cantata | |
|---|---|
| King of Heaven, be welcome | |
| BWV: | 182 |
| Occasion: | Palm Sunday |
| Year of origin: | 1714 |
| Place of origin: | Weimar |
| Solo : | SATB |
| Choir: | SATB |
| Instruments : | Fl 2Vl 2Va Vc Bc |
| AD : | approx. 30 min |
| text | |
| Salomon Franck | |
| List of Bach cantatas | |
King of Heaven, Be Welcome ( BWV 182) is a sacred cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach .
Emergence
With the appointment of Bach as concertmaster at the court of Weimar, he was obliged to compose a new cantata per month. As far as we know today, the cantata “Himmelskönig is welcome” is the first of his cantatas in this new role; it was premiered on Palm Sunday , March 25, 1714, in the Weimar Palace Chapel. There may be different opinions about his role in the performance:
“It was therefore only appropriate for him to present himself as composer, concertmaster and solo violinist at the same time as he performed his first cantata under new conditions. The leading role of the concert violin in the first [...] movement is unmistakable from the very first bar; the same applies to the first aria (No. 4) "
"If, however, Bach foresaw one of his most representative recorder roles in his first composition as concertmaster [...] and one does not recur in the Weimar cantatas, it must be considered whether the new ensemble leader could have introduced himself with it."
Because of his style, Salomon Franck is assumed to be the lyricist , who at that time mainly worked for the Weimar court, although there is no clear evidence for this either.
Subject
In accordance with the Palm Sunday provision, the cantata focuses on Jesus' entry into Jerusalem and the beginning of Holy Week . The believing Christian is called upon to dedicate his heart to the Son of God in gratitude for the sacrifice made by Jesus and to stand by Jesus in his suffering.
occupation
- Singing parts: soprano , alto , tenor , bass , except for the soprano, all of them are also entrusted with solo tasks ( recitative , arias ).
- Instruments: recorder , violin , viola I / II, basso continuo with violoncello
particularities
The work marks the beginning of the composer's transition from the traditional choral concerto as a cantata type of the 17th century to the modern, mainly Italian-influenced cantatas. The simple instrumentation with recorder and small ensemble, as well as the subordinate role of the recitative , which appears only once and very briefly in the form of a biblical passage in this work , point to the old style . The Italian-inspired leadership of the solo violin and the pronounced role of the three consecutive contemplative arias in da capo form correspond to the new style . Overall, the still young Bach succeeds in impressively depicting the meaning of the text - including individual words - using a wide variety of musical means. He makes use of the musical formulas for typical affects, mainly from Italian opera. An example of this are the minor harmonies occurring in the final chorus on the word "suffering".
It is interesting that the main theme of the first movement (Sonata) consists of the (rhythmically changed) first eight notes of the chorale O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort . This chorale was used by Bach in several other works, including cantatas BWV 20 and BWV 60 , both of which bear the title of this chorale.
Performances, changes of appointment and cast
Based on the diplomatic findings of the original sources (handwriting of Bach and his scribes, paper and watermarks), at least three performances can be proven:
Premiere
The first performance took place on Sunday Palmarum, March 25, 1714, in Weimar.
Instrumentation: The solo instruments ("Concerto") flauto (recorder in f) and violin, as well as viola 1 and 2, cello, organ continuo and a four-part choir with soprano, alto, tenor and bass. According to the performance conditions of the "Himmelsburg" (a small room above the palace chapel in Weimar, in which the organ, choir and orchestra were housed), a small number of instruments and choirs can be assumed.
A second part for “Violino ripieno” was made before 1724. In movement 1 it is only a supplement to the harmonies and in the choirs it contains the musical text of the solo violin. It cannot be clarified whether the creation of this part indicates a re-performance before Leipzig, or whether it was already performed at the first performance and was only added after the score was completed. (The usual string line-up in the Weimar cantatas is 2 violins, 2 violas and cello.)
Leipzig, March 25, 1724
Bach used all the cantatas of the Weimar period to integrate them in Leipzig into his cantata cycle of 1724/25. As a rule, however, he had to adapt them to the performance conditions in Leipzig.
There is a text print for 1724 with the cantata text for the Annunciation. However, this does not contain the text for “The King of Heaven is welcome”, but the text for the cantata “See, a virgin is pregnant” (BWV Appendix I, 199), the music of which has not survived. Nevertheless, the production of the parts for BWV 182 points to a performance on March 25, 1724. In Leipzig it was customary not always to include the text for the cantata, which was performed during the distribution of the Lord's Supper ( "sub communionis" ), in the text print, in which the congregation could read the text. It is also conceivable that Bach only made the decision after it went to press to set up the Weimar cantata with less effort instead of composing a new cantata.
- Determination extension
Unlike in Weimar, no cantata was played in Leipzig during Lent before Easter. The exception was the feast day of the Annunciation on March 25th. Since the Sunday Palmarum falls during this time without the cantatas being performed, the Weimar cantata “Himmelskönig is welcome” would no longer have been usable for Bach in Leipzig. Since in 1714 the Sunday Palmarum coincided with the Annunciation and the text is also valid for the Annunciation, he entered the expanded provision on the newly created cover of the score: "Tempore Passionis aut Festo Mariae Annunciationis" ("in the Passion time or for the feast Annunciation ”).
- Change of key
For the first performance in Weimar, Bach chose the basic key of G major. In Weimar, the chorus tuning of the organ served as a reference system for the tuning of the string instruments. That is why in Weimar all string parts were written out in G. The woodwind instruments, on the other hand, were tuned in the concert pitch, which was a minor third lower. They therefore had to be notated a minor third higher - i.e. in B.
In Leipzig all instruments, including the strings, were tuned to the concert pitch, which there was a whole tone lower than the chorus pitch of the organ. Bach now had to adapt the Weimar parts to the Leipzig mood: in order to achieve the same pitch as in Weimar, he performed the cantata in G major. For this he had new voices made. The flute had to be transposed down a minor third. Since the lowest note to be grasped in the Weimar B flat major part was g ', the voice now extended to e'. However, since the flute can only be played up to f ', the undercircumference had to be avoided by buckling the voice at the appropriate points. Bach entered the changes in the Weimar score and had the corresponding flute part copied from it. Nikolaus Harnoncourt supports the hypothesis that in Leipzig the aria movement 5 was intended for the transverse flute , which can play the part without kinking the voice. Therefore, in his complete recording of the cantatas (episode 42, 1988), he recorded this movement with the flute without buckling.
Leipzig, March 25, 1728
- Line-up change
When it was performed again on the Feast of the Annunciation in 1728, Bach changed the line-up of the solo parts: the recorder was replaced by a violin, while the solo violin was played by an oboe. He also strengthened the continuo with a violone .
structure
The large structure of the cantata can be represented by the scoring and types of movements as well as the basic key and time signature of the individual movements and related to the respective text.
text
The cantata text is based on the Palm Sunday Gospel Matthew 21, verses 1 to 9 (Jesus' entry into Jerusalem) as well as the epistle Philippians 2, verses 5 to 11 (everyone should be minded like Christ).
The text for sentence 3 is taken from Psalm 40, verses 8 and 9; Sentence 7 is the 33rd stanza of the hymn of Jesus suffering, torment and death by Paul Stockmann.
The lyricist reinterprets the story of the entry of Jesus as king into Jerusalem to the entry of Jesus into the hearts of believers. Who, like Jesus, submits to God's will in suffering, will enter the kingdom of heaven with him.
Already in sentences 1 and 2 the reinterpretation of the Palmarum text takes place from the entry into Jerusalem (= Zion) to the entry of Jesus into the hearts of Christians.
In sentence 3, the preaching psalm text is related to Jesus ( Bach's Vox Christi is usually assigned to the bass) and thus already points to the passion theme.
The image of the immaculate robes in sentence 5 refers to the people of Jerusalem, who laid their robes at Jesus' feet when he entered to honor him as king.
Movement 6 is not composed as a da capo aria in a way that interprets the text .
In the chorale stanza of sentence 7, the suffering of Christ is reinterpreted in the joy of the Christian.
In sentence 8 the thought of the opening chorus is taken up again: Just as Jesus once moved into Jerusalem, the believing Christian will move into Salem (that is Jerusalem), the symbol for the kingdom of heaven, redemption and eternal life, with him.
In the text there are now key words that are interpreted by the music:
| sentence | Motifs | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 + 2 | Indent | joy | ||
| 3 | Indent | humility | ||
| 4th | passion | |||
| 5 | humility | |||
| 6th | passion | |||
| 7th | joy | passion | ||
| 8th | Indent | joy | passion | |
| The entry of Jesus as king is represented by movements 1 and 2, which formally correspond to a French overture . This type of overture was played in French opera during the entry of the king. The slow first part (it finds its equivalent in the cantata in the instrumental sinfonia) with its solemn rhythm represents the entry of a king or prince. This slow introduction was followed by a usually fugitive fast part, which in the cantata from the to the Sinfonia following choral fugue (movement 2) is adopted.
In the text, this text motif can be found again in sentence 3 (“See, I'm coming”) and in the final chorus (“So let's go in Salem”). In Bach's Christmas Oratorio (BWV 248, Cantata III, Movement 26) there is a similar passage (“Let's now go to Bethlehem”), which Bach uses similar musical means (ascending eighth-note scale in the theme, ascending and descending sixteenth-note scale chains in the accompaniment, odd beat). |
music
Those sentences in which the Christian community itself speaks or is addressed are laid out as full-part choirs. The sentences that can be seen as addressing the individual, as a solo recitative (movement 3) or as a solo aria (movements 3 to 6).
With one exception (sentence 6), all madrigal stanzas (that is, not linked to a chorale or a biblical word) are laid out as da capo arias. The application of this form to choirs is novel for 1714.
| sentence | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 5 | 6th | 7th | 8th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record type | Sonata | Chorus | Recitative | Aria | Aria | Aria | Chorale | Chorus |
| Tempo markings | Grave.Adagio | Andante | largo | |||||
| Record type | slow introductory part of a French overture | faster second part of a French overture as a permutation fugue | Arioso with an introductory secco recitative | Chorale motets | Permutation fugue | |||
| key | G | G | C. | C. | e | H | G | G |
| Level related to G major | I. | I. | IV | IV | VI | III | I. | I. |
| Tone gender | major | major | major | major | minor | minor | major | major |
| Time signature | 4/4 | 4/4 | 4/4 | 4/4 | 4/4 | ¾ | 4/4 ( alla breve ) | 3/8 |
The structure of the cantata can be seen as a framework that is symmetrical about an axis between the 4th and 5th movements:
- The outer frame is formed by the four tutti movements in the basic key of G major, which can be combined into two pairs of movements:
- Movements 3 and 6 form an inner frame, which on the one hand stands out from the tutti of the outer frame due to its low-voiced scoring, namely only singing part and continuo, and on the other hand is marked by a change of key:
- These two groups of sentences form the framework for the two internal parts, which on the one hand are similar (singing voice and solo instrument are imitatively related to one another), on the other hand they differ in terms of accompaniment and key:
In addition to this symmetrical arrangement, some sentences are related to one another by special features:
- In the tutti movements, the strings are directly involved in the polyphonic structure of the sentence, partly independently partly with the voices (colla parte). In movements 1 and 4 they only mark the harmonies with supporting chords in the form of an exposed figured bass, in movement 1 pizzicato, in movement 2 arco.
- The two choirs (movement 2 and movement 8) are permutation fugues, both in the DaCapo form, which is new for choirs.
- The entanglement of the content of the individual parts of the cantata text corresponds to the entanglement of the musical means. Sentence 7 ("Jesus, your passion is pure joy to me") refers to the preceding aria with the word "Passion" (sentence 6: "The world also cries: Crucify"). The word "joy" again refers to the following final chorus (sentence 8: "Now let's go into Salem of joy"): From sentence 6 to 7 there is a change from minor to major, corresponding to the reinterpretation of the Passion of Christ as joy of Christians.
- Key architecture
The keys of the cantata movements are tonally related:
- The pair of movements 1 and 2 are related to fifths (subdominant of G major) to pairs of movements 3 and 4, this is related to thirds to movement 5 (level VI), this again is related to fifths to movement 6 (III). The return to the basic key occurs through a relationship in thirds. This results in a ranking of the relationships third - fifth - third - fifth
- Time signatures
With two exceptions, all parts are in 4/4 or alla breve time (movement 7). This gives the two pieces in odd time signature an outstanding meaning:
- Sentence 6 with the call to humility ("Lie under the Savior"), symbolized by the deep alto position (descending down to a)
- Movement 8 with its cheerful effect as the final chorus in gigue style.
literature
- Alfred Dürr : On the chronology of the Leipzig vocal works by JS Bach. 2nd Edition. Bärenreiter-Verlag, Kassel 1976, ISBN 3-7618-0544-6 . Pp. 67, 105, 165 (addendum 11)
- Alfred Dürr: The cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach. , 4th edition. dtv / Bärenreiter, Munich / Kassel 1981, ISBN 3-423-04080-7 , pp. 226 ff. and 549.
- Alfred Dürr: Strange in the sources of Bach's Weimar cantatas. In: Bach Yearbook 1987, Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Berlin, p. 154, ISSN 0084-7682 ..
- Ulrich Prinz, Konrad Küster : 300 years of Johann Sebastian Bach. Catalog for the exhibition of the International Bach Academy in the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart. Hans Schneider, Tutzing 1985, ISBN 3-7952-0459-3 . P. 101 f.
- 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-Verlag)
- Christoph Wolff , Ton Koopman : The world of Bach cantatas . Verlag JB Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2006, ISBN 978-3-476-02127-4 .
Web links
- King of Heaven, Be Welcome, BWV 182 : Sheet Music and Audio Files in the International Music Score Library Project
- BWV 182 Himmelskönig, be welcome Text, structure and cast on the personal homepage of Walter F. Bischof at the University of Alberta
Individual evidence
- ^ Ulrich Prinz, Konrad Küster: 300 years of Johann Sebastian Bach , catalog for the exhibition of the International Bach Academy in the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart. Hans Schneider, Tutzing 1985, ISBN 3-7952-0459-3 , p. 101 f.
- ↑ Nikolaus Harnoncourt : Comments on the performance - Cantata 182 . Booklet for the complete recording "Joh: Seb: Bach - Das Kantatenwerk", Volume 42, p. 3. Teldec, Das Alte Werk, Hamburg 1988.
- ^ Alfred Dürr: The cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach . 4th edition. dtv / Bärenreiter, Munich / Kassel 1981, ISBN 3-423-04080-7 , pp. 226 ff. and 549.
- ↑ Paul Walker: The emergence of the permutation fugue . In: Bach yearbook 1989, Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Berlin, ISBN 3-374-00548-9 , p. 22 ff.
