Jesus is sleeping, what should I hope?
Bach cantata | |
---|---|
Jesus is sleeping, what can I hope for | |
BWV: | 81 |
Occasion: | 4th Sunday after Epiphany |
Year of origin: | 1724 |
Place of origin: | Leipzig |
Genus: | cantata |
Solo : | ATB |
Choir: | SATB |
Instruments : | 2Fl 2Oa 2Vl Va Bc |
text | |
unknown | |
List of Bach cantatas |
Jesus sleeps, what should I hope ( BWV 81) is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach . He composed it in Leipzig for the 4th Sunday after Epiphany and performed it for the first time on January 30, 1724.
Story and words
In his first year in Leipzig, Bach wrote the cantata for the 4th Sunday after Epiphany and performed it for the first time on January 30, 1724. The 4th Sunday after Epiphany is rare and only occurs in years when Easter is late. The prescribed readings were Rom 13,8-10 LUT and Mt 8,23-27 LUT , the calming down of the storm . The lyricist is unknown, Erdmann Neumeister and Christian Weiss were suggested. The poet refers to the Gospel and shows Jesus as hidden (sleeping) and manifest (acting), similar to My God, how long, oh long? , Written in Weimar in 1716 and performed again three weeks earlier. The words of the fourth sentence quote the Gospel: “You of little faith, why are you so fearful?” The final chorale is the second stanza of Johann Franck's Jesus, my joy .
Occupation and structure
The cantata is made up of three soloists, alto , tenor and bass , four-part choir in the chorale, two recorders , two oboe d'amore , two violins , viola and basso continuo . The flutes and oboes were played by the same musicians.
- Aria (alto, recorders): Jesus is sleeping, what should I hope?
- Recitativo (tenor): Lord! why do you step so far?
- Aria (tenor): The foaming waves of Belial's brooks
- Arioso (bass): You of little faith, why are you so scared?
- Aria (bass, oboe d'amore): Silence, piled sea!
- Recitativo (old): Happy me, my Jesus speaks a word
- Chorale: Under your umbrellas
music
Bach presents the questions of the fearful soul dramatically, similar to the dialogues in O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort, BWV 60 . The first aria illustrates sleeping through recorders, low registers of the strings and sustained notes in the singing voice. Bach also used similar means of expression in the aria Gentle shall my death sorrow of his Easter oratorio . In movement 3, the lines of the instruments storm and waves trace, similar to the operas of the time. The central movement in the symmetrical arrangement of the cantata is movement 4. The bass as Vox Christi (voice of Christ) poses the question of Jesus. Continuo and singing voice use similar material in this Arioso , which intensifies the words. The following aria, labeled allegro , contrasts the storm in unison runs of the strings with calmer movement in the oboes. The final chorale is simply set in four parts.
Bach composed a similar symmetrical arrangement around a passage from the Bible in 1726 in Brich the Hungry Your Bread, BWV 39 .
Recordings
- Bach Cantatas Vol. 1 - Advent and Christmas. Karl Richter , Munich Bach Choir , Munich Bach Orchestra , Anna Reynolds , Peter Schreier , Theo Adam . Archive production, 1972.
- JS Bach: The Cantata Work - Sacred Cantatas Vol. 5. Nikolaus Harnoncourt , Tölzer Knabenchor , Concentus Musicus Wien , Paul Esswood , Kurt Equiluz , Ruud van der Meer. Teldec, 1978.
- The Bach Cantata Vol. 25. Helmuth Rilling , Gächinger Kantorei , Bach-Collegium Stuttgart , Julia Hamari , Adalbert Kraus , Siegmund Nimsgern . Hänssler, 1983.
- JS Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 8. Ton Koopman , Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir , Bogna Bartosz, Jörg Dürmüller , Klaus Mertens . Antoine Marchand, 1998.
- JS Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 8. Pieter Jan Leusink , Holland Boys Choir , Netherlands Bach Collegium , Sytse Buwalda, Knut Schoch , Bas Ramselaar. Brilliant Classics, 1999.
- Bach Cantatas Vol. 19: Greenwich / Romsey. John Eliot Gardiner , Monteverdi Choir , English Baroque Soloists , William Towers, Paul Agnew, Peter Harvey . Soli Deo Gloria, 2000.
- JS Bach: Cantatas Vol. 21 - Cantatas from Leipzig 1724. Masaaki Suzuki , Bach Collegium Japan , Robin Blaze , James Gilchrist , Peter Kooij . UP, 2002.
- JS Bach: Cantatas for the Complete Liturgical Year, Vol. 8. Sigiswald Kuijken , La Petite Bande , Gerlinde Sämann , Petra Noskaiová, Christoph Genz , Jan van der Crabben. Accent, 2008.
DVD
- "Jesus is sleeping, what should I hope". Cantata BWV 81. Rudolf Lutz , Orchestra of the JS Bach Foundation , Roswitha Müller, Bernhard Berchthold, Wolf Matthias Friedrich. Including an introductory workshop and reflection by Rolf Dubs . Gallus Media, 2009.
literature
- Alfred Dürr : Johann Sebastian Bach: The Cantatas. Bärenreiter, Kassel 1999, ISBN 3-7618-1476-3
- Werner Neumann : Handbook of the cantatas JSBachs . 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 sleeps, what should I hope ?, BWV 81 : Sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project
- Cantata BWV 81 Jesus is sleeping, what should I hope? at Bach Cantatas (English)
- Jesus is sleeping, what should I hope? BWV 81 on the Bach website
- BWV 81 Jesus is sleeping, what should I hope? Text, structure and line-up on Walter F. Bischof's personal homepage at the University of Alberta
- Public domain notes from Jesus sleeps, what should I hope for? in the Choral Public Domain Library - ChoralWiki (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Julian Mincham: Chapter 39 BWV 81 Jesus is sleeping, what should I hope? ( English ) jsbachcantatas.com. 2010. Retrieved January 18, 2011.