Jesus, be praised now
| Bach cantata | |
|---|---|
| Jesus, be praised now | |
| BWV: | 41 |
| Occasion: | New Year |
| Year of origin: | 1725 |
| Place of origin: | Leipzig |
| Genus: | Choral cantata |
| Solo : | SATB |
| Choir: | SATB |
| Instruments : | 3Tr Ti 3Ob 2Vl Va Vp Bc |
| text | |
| unknown, Johann Hermann | |
| List of Bach cantatas | |
Jesu, now be praised ( BWV 41) is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach . He composed the choir cantata in Leipzig for the New Year and performed it for the first time on January 1, 1725. It is based on the hymn of the same name by Johann Hermann .
Story and words
Bach wrote the cantata in his second year in Leipzig. That year he composed a cycle of choral cantatas beginning with the first Sunday after Trinity in 1724. New Year's Day was also celebrated as the feast of the circumcision of the Lord . The prescribed readings for the feast day were Gal 3 : 23-29 LUT , "the Gentiles will be converted", and Lk 2,21 LUT , the prescribed circumcision and naming of Jesus after eight days.
The cantata text is based on the hymn in three stanzas for New Year's Day by Johann Hermann (1591), who was also Thomas's cantor . The melody comes from Melchior Vulpius , who published it in Jena 1609 in Ein Schön Geistlich Gesangbuch . The song calls on Jesus by name, appropriate to the celebration of the naming. Otherwise, however, it deals with the beginning of the new year.
The song was popular in Leipzig. Bach used individual stanzas in two other cantatas for the same occasion. These are Sing a new song to the Lord , BWV 190 and God, like your name, so is your fame , BWV 171 . An unknown poet retained the wording of the first and last stanzas and rewrote the inner stanza to an alternating sequence of arias and recitatives .
Bach first performed the cantata on January 1, 1725, and at least one other performance took place between 1732 and 1735.
Occupation and structure
The cantata is festively cast with four soloists, soprano , alto , tenor and bass , three trumpets , timpani , three oboes , two violins , viola , cello piccolo and basso continuo .
- Coro: Jesus, now be praised
- Aria (soprano): Let us, O supreme God
- Recitativo (alto): Oh! your hand, your blessing must be alone
- Aria (tenor): Woferne you the noble peace
- Recitativo (bass, choir): But because the enemy is day and night
- Chorale: Your only honor is yours
music
In the opening chorus, a chorale fantasy, Bach solves the problem of structuring the unusually long stanza of 14 lines, of which the first two are usually repeated at the end in Leipzig. The Concerto of the orchestra is dominated by a syncopated fanfare motif of trumpets. In the first four lines, repeated for the following four and the two final lines, the soprano sings the cantus firmus , the lower voices move in free polyphony . Lines 9 and 10, which mention “in good silence”, are slower, overwritten adagio , the choir sings homophonically in 3/4 time , accompanied by the orchestra without trumpets. Lines 11 and 12, repeated in 13 and 14, are a presto fugato in which the instruments play colla parte to the text “We want to surrender to you”. The fugue theme is derived from the beginning of the chorale melody. Lines 15 and 16 repeat the music of lines 1 and 2. They express: “protect body, soul and life”.
In contrast to the large entrance choir, both arias were described as chamber music. The first aria for soprano is accompanied by three oboes in pastoral 6/8 time. A short secco recitative leads to a tenor aria, which is dominated by the lively accompaniment of an obbligato piccolo. The last recitative for bass leads to a line from Martin Luther's Deutscher Litanei , which Bach set for four-part choir Allegro , as if the congregation were joining in the individual's prayer. The final chorale refers to the opening chorus in that its lines are framed by its trumpet motifs. The trumpets are silent in the contrasting lines 9 to 14, of which lines 11 to 14 are in 3/4 time. The final fanfare resumes the beginning of the cantata.
John Eliot Gardiner notes that Bach makes the cyclical character evident in that the first movement and the whole work end as the cantata began.
Recordings
- Bach Made in Germany Vol. 1 - Cantatas II , Günther Ramin , Thomanerchor , Gewandhausorchester , soloists of the Thomanerchor, Gert Lutze, Johannes Oettel, Leipzig Classics 1950
- Bach Aria Group - Cantatas & Cantata Movements , Robert Shaw , Bach Aria Group Robert Shaw Chorale & Orchestra, Eileen Farrell , Carol Smith, Jan Peerce , Norman Farrow, RCA 1954
- The Bach Cantata Vol. 19 , Helmuth Rilling , Gächinger Kantorei , Bach-Collegium Stuttgart , Helen Donath , Marga Höffgen , Adalbert Kraus , Siegmund Nimsgern , Hänssler 1973
- JS Bach: Das Kantatenwerk - Sacred Cantatas Vol. 3 , Nikolaus Harnoncourt , Wiener Sängerknaben , Chorus Viennensis , Concentus Musicus Wien , Soloist of the Wiener Sängerknaben, Paul Esswood , Kurt Equiluz , Ruud van der Meer , Teldec 1974
- JS Bach: Cantatas Nos. 27, 34 & 41 , Gustav Leonhardt , Tölzer Knabenchor , Baroque Orchestra, soloist of the Tölzer Knabenchor, Markus Schäfer, Harry van der Kamp , Sony 1995
- JS Bach: Cantatas with Violoncelle Piccolo (Vol. 3) , Christophe Coin , Chœur de Chambre Accentus , Ensemble Baroque de Limoges , Barbara Schlick , Andreas Scholl , Christoph Prégardien , Gotthold Schwarz , Astrée Auvidis 1995
- JS Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 11 , Ton Koopman , Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir , Sibylla Rubens , Annette Markert, Christoph Prégardien , Klaus Mertens , Antoine Marchand 1999
- Bach Cantatas Vol. 17: Berlin , John Eliot Gardiner , Monteverdi Choir , English Baroque Soloists , Ruth Holton , Lucy Ballard , Charles Humphries , James Gilchrist , Peter Harvey , Soli Deo Gloria 2000
- Bach Edition Vol. 21 - Cantatas Vol. 12 , Pieter Jan Leusink , Holland Boys Choir , Netherlands Bach Collegium , Ruth Holton , Sytse Buwalda , Knut Schoch , Bas Ramselaar , Brilliant Classics 2000
- JS Bach: Cantatas Vol. 33 , Masaaki Suzuki , Bach Collegium Japan , Yukari Nonoshita , Robin Blaze , Jan Kobow , Dominik Wörner , BIS 2005
literature
- Alfred Dürr: Johann Sebastian Bach: The Cantatas. Bärenreiter, Kassel 1999, ISBN 3-7618-1476-3
- Werner Neumann : Handbook of JSBachs 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 . Evangelische Verlags-Anstalt, Leipzig 2006, ISBN 3-374-02390-8 ; Carus-Verlag, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-89948-073-2 (Edition Bach Archive Leipzig)
- Christoph Wolff, Ton Koopman : The world of Bach cantatas Verlag JB Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2006, ISBN 978-3-476-02127-4
Web links
- Jesus, now be praised, BWV 41 : Sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project
- Cantata BWV 41 Jesu, now be praised by Bach Cantatas (English)
- Jesus, now be priced on the Bach website
- BWV 41 Jesu, now be praised University of Alberta
Individual evidence
- ↑ Christoph Wolff : On the chorale cantatas year (1724-25) of the Leipziger Kirchenkantaten (III) (PDF), bach-cantatas.com, 2000, p. 16 (accessed on August 28, 2012).
- ↑ Jesus, now be praised / Text and Translation of Chorale ( en ) bach-cantatas.com. 2003. Retrieved December 27, 2012.
- ↑ Chorale Melodies used in Bach's Vocal Works / Jesu, now be priced ( en ) bach-cantatas.com. 2006. Retrieved December 27, 2012.
- ↑ a b c d e Klaus Hofmann : Jesu, now be priced, BWV 41 (PDF; 523 kB) bach-cantatas.com. 2006. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
- ↑ a b c John Eliot Gardiner : Cantatas for New Year's Day / Gethsemanekirche, Berlin ( en , PDF; 112 kB) bach-cantatas.com. 2008. Accessed December 31, 2012.
- ↑ a b Julian Mincham: Chapter 32 BWV 41 Jesu, now be priced ( en ) jsbachcantatas.com. 2010. Retrieved December 31, 2012.
