I won't let you, you bless me
| Bach cantata | |
|---|---|
| I won't let you, you bless me | |
| BWV: | 157 |
| Occasion: | 3rd Sunday after the apparition of the Lord |
| Year of origin: | 1726/27 |
| Place of origin: | Leipzig |
| Genus: | cantata |
| Solo : | T, B |
| Choir: | (S, A, T, B) |
| Instruments : | Ft, Ob, Oa; 2Vl Vt; Bc |
| text | |
| Christian Friedrich Henrici | |
| List of Bach cantatas | |
I won't let you, you bless me because ( BWV 157) is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach . He composed the work in Leipzig in 1726/27; it was performed for the first time on February 6, 1727 in Pomßen .
history
The work seems to have been commissioned as a funeral cantata for Johann Christoph von Ponickau (1652–1726), a Saxon chamberlain . Christian Friedrich Henrici (also known as Picander ), Bach's librettist , clearly linked the cantata with Ponickau and published an extended funeral service for his death, followed by the text of the cantata. The first known performance took place on February 6, 1727 at a memorial service for Ponickau in the church of his home village Pomßen (20 km from Leipzig). The event is quite well documented in that a memorial sermon was printed there with information about the performance of the music, which contained a second Bach cantata, which is now lost (Cantata BWV Anh. 209). It is not known whether Bach was present, although some authors assume so.
The cantata seems to have been adapted for performance as part of the Leipzig church music, specifically for the feast of the Purification of the Virgin , which was celebrated on February 2nd. The existence of more than one version is included in the earliest surviving manuscripts after Bach's death, copied by Christian Friedrich Penzel . The first surviving score is from 1755 and there are parts from the 1760s.
The prescribed scriptures for the feast day came from Malachi , “The Lord Will Come Into His Temple” ( Malachi 3 : 1-4 EU ), and from the Gospel of Luke , the purification of Mary, and the presentation of Jesus in the temple , including Simeon Canticum (Bible) Nunc dimittis ( Luke 2, 22–32 EU ). The idea of Simeon's chant of walking in peace was often used as an image for the death of a Christian. In the first sentence Henrici added a quote from Genesis ( Genesis 32, 26–32 EU ) and in the fifth sentence the last stanza of the hymn " I won't let my Jesus " by Christian Keimann .
Occupation and structure
The cantata for tenor - and Bass - soloists , a four-part choir , a flute , a oboe , a d'amore Oboe , two violins , a viola and basso occupied.
The work has five movements:
- Duet aria (tenor and bass): I will not let you, you will bless me
- Aria (tenor): I hold fast to my Jesus
- Recitative (tenor): My dear Jesus you
- Aria, recitative and arioso (bass): Yes, yes, I hold on to Jesus
- Chorale: I will not leave my Jesus.
music
The opening sentence consists of a single line: the biblical quote from the 1st book of Moses (32.27 b LUT ), which became the title of the cantata. The movement has an eight-bar ritornello that opens, ends and halves the movement. It features a prominent imitative motif .
The second movement is a tenor aria that the bass and a amore oboe d' obligative is accompanied, and a long Ritornell plays the approximately the same structural function as the first set. Craig Smith suggests that this is "perhaps the most difficult tenor aria in the entire repertoire," with "wild and extremely elaborate melismas ".
The tenor recitative is for string instruments and figured bass. It is reminiscent of part of the motif material from the first movement.
The fourth movement combines elements of aria , recitative and arioso . It begins with a ritornello made up of violin , flute and figured bass. Structurally, the movement completes most of a da capo aria, before a recitative episode interrupts the recapitulation of the first part. The music moves twice between aria and recitative before a final section of the aria ends the movement.
The cantata ends with a four-part setting of the chorale with a conjunct melody and an active continuo line.
Recordings
- Choir and Orchestra “Pro Arte” Munich / Kurt Redel . JS Bach: Cantatas Nos. 157 55 151 . Erato, 1956
- Gächinger Kantorei Stuttgart / Bach-Collegium Stuttgart / Helmuth Rilling . The Bach cantata . Hänssler Verlag , 1983
- Holland Boys Choir / Netherlands Bach Collegium , Pieter Jan Leusink . Bach Edition Vol. 14 . Brilliant Classics, 2000.
See also
Web links
- Structure and text
- I will not let you, you will bless me, BWV 157 : Sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project
- I won't let you, you bless me because BWV 157.2; BWV 157; BC A 170 Bach Digital
Individual evidence
- ↑ Pamela Dellal : BWV 157 - "I will not leave you, you will bless me" . Emmanuel Music . Retrieved July 28, 2018.
- ↑ a b c d Cantata BWV 157 I will not leave you, you will bless me! . Retrieved December 14, 2012.
- ↑ a b Liner notes to Cantatas Vol. 51 . Retrieved June 13, 2013.
- ^ A b c Alfred Dürr , Richard DP Jones: I will not leave you, you will bless me, BWV 157 . In: The Cantatas of JS Bach: With Their Librettos in German-English Parallel Text . Oxford University Press , 2006, ISBN 978-0-19-929776-4 , pp. 765-771.
- ↑ BWV 157 . University of Alberta. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
- ↑ a b c d e Mincham, Julian: Chapter 46 BWV 157 . Retrieved June 3, 2013.
- ^ Smith, Craig: BWV 157 . Emmanuel Music. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
