O eternal fire, o origin of love, BWV 34
| Bach cantata | |
|---|---|
| O eternal fire, o origin of love | |
| BWV: | 34 |
| Occasion: | Pentecost Sunday |
| Year of origin: | 1727 |
| Place of origin: | Leipzig |
| Genus: | cantata |
| Solo : | ATB |
| Choir: | SATB |
| Instruments : | 3 Tr, Ti, 2 Ft, 2 Ob, 2 Vl, Va, Bc |
| AD : | 20 minutes |
| text | |
| Psalm 128 , unknown | |
| List of Bach cantatas | |
O eternal fire, o origin of love ( BWV 34) is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach . He composed it for Pentecost Sunday and directed the premiere in Leipzig's Nikolaikirche on June 1, 1727.
history
Bach took from a wedding cantata of the same name O eternal fire, o origin of love, BWV 34a parts for this Pentecost cantata. In both cases the lyricist is unknown. Until a few years ago it was assumed that the work was made around 1746. The musicologist Klaus Hofmann has pointed out, however, that a printed libretto from 1727 was found in the Russian National Library at the beginning of the 21st century , which contains the text used for the two days of Pentecost and for Trinity . In 1746 the cantata was performed again, probably with musical changes, since Bach wrote a new score for the occasion . The music from the 1727 version has not survived, so no conclusions can be drawn in this regard.
Occupation and structure
The cantata has a festive cast with three vocal soloists ( alto , tenor and bass ), a four-part choir and an orchestra made up of three trumpets , timpani , two flutes , two oboes , two violins , viola and basso continuo .
- Choir: O eternal fire, o origin of love
- Recitative (tenor): Lord, our hearts hold you
- Aria (alto): Well done to you, you chosen souls
- Recitative (bass): God chooses the holy huts
- Choir: Peace over Israel
music
The introductory chorus is characterized by two contrasting motifs : the E of eternal is sustained over several bars, while the fire is symbolized by rising melisms .
After a short recitative for the tenor, the aria for Alt Wohl dich, you chosen souls forms the center of the work. The movement is kept in a swaying rhythm, with the solo part being accompanied by two flutes and muted strings.
The following short bass recitative is not harmoniously closed by a cadenza , but leads directly to the final chorus, the introduction of which Peace over Israel! taken from the final verse of Psalm 128 ( Ps 128 EU ). John Eliot Gardiner compares this passage in its solemnity with the introductory Kyrie at the beginning of the B minor Mass . A jubilant song of thanks leads the work to a triumphant conclusion.
Individual evidence
- ↑ John Eliot Gardiner : Cantatas for the Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity / Dreikönigskirche, Frankfurt (PDF; 127 kB) bach-cantatas.com. 2007. Retrieved November 4, 2018.
Web links
- BWV 34 O eternal fire, o origin of love Text, structure and composition on the personal homepage of Walter F. Bischof at the University of Alberta
- O eternal fire, o origin of love, BWV 34 : Sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project
- Concert on May 29, 2009 , choir and orchestra of the JS Bach Foundation
- Workshop with Rudolf Lutz
literature
- Alfred Dürr : Johann Sebastian Bach: The Cantatas. Bärenreiter, Kassel 1999, ISBN 3-7618-1476-3 and Deutscher Taschenbuchverlag, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-423-04431-4 .
- 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 .
- Arthur Godel : Reflection on the Bach cantata "O eternal fire, o origin of love" BWV 34. In: Bach Anthologie 2009 . Verlag Neue Zürcher Zeitung.
