Soar up joyfully
| Bach cantata | |
|---|---|
| Soar up joyfully | |
| BWV: | 36 |
| Occasion: | 1st Advent |
| Year of origin: | 1731 |
| Place of origin: | Leipzig |
| Genus: | Church cantata |
| Solo : | SATB |
| Choir: | SATB |
| Instruments : | 2Oa 2Vl Va Bc |
| text | |
| unknown, Martin Luther , Philipp Nicolai | |
| List of Bach cantatas | |
Swing up joyfully ( BWV 36) is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach . He composed it in Leipzig for the 1st Advent and performed it for the first time on December 2nd, 1731.
Story and words
Bach wrote the cantata in Leipzig in 1731 for the 1st Advent, the beginning of the Lutheran church year. This Sunday was the only Advent Sunday in Leipzig on which a cantata was performed, on the rest of the time the tempus clausum was observed. The prescribed readings were Rom 13 : 11-14 LUT , "The night has advanced, but the day is coming", and Mt 21 : 1-9 LUT , the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The cantata goes back to a congratulatory cantata with the same text beginning in 1725, Swing joyfully upwards, BWV 36c , which he had written for the birthday of a teacher at the University of Leipzig . Its text was possibly written by Picander , who reworked it into a congratulatory cantata for Charlotte Friederike Wilhelmine von Anhalt-Köthen, Risigt joyfully in the air, BWV 36a . This cantata was first performed on November 30, 1726. Another version, presumably 1735, was the congratulatory cantata for a member of the Rivinius family of lawyers in Leipzig, Joy stirs itself, BWV 36b .
Bach reworked the cantata into a church cantata by combining four of its movements and ending with the last stanza of Philipp Nicolai's hymn How beautifully the morning star shines . The librettist of this arrangement, which is closely based on the text of the secular cantata without going into the readings, is unknown. Klaus Hofmann notes that the cheering opening chorus fits well with the Gospel of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, which mentions the “cheering hosanna calls of the people”. The date on which it was edited is also unknown, as only a copy of Bach's student Christoph Nichelmann has survived .
Finally, in 1731, Bach undertook a fundamental revision and wrote a new score. He did not alternate the arias with recitatives , but with three other hymn verses that he took from Martin Luther's Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland . With this main song for the 1st Advent he had already started his cantata for the same occasion in 1714, Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 61 , and in his year of choir cantatas in 1724 he had the cantata Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 62 , based on. The song stanzas "anchor the cantata firmly on the Advent background, give it liturgical clarity and a clear contextual reference". Bach laid out the new cantata in two parts, making music before and after the sermon. He concluded Part I with a verse from Nicolai's song. In the lyrical context, he chose the sixth stanza. He concluded Part II with the last stanza of the Luther song.
Bach performed the cantata for the first time on December 2, 1731, a week after Wachet, the voice calls us, BWV 140 .
Occupation and structure
The cantata is set for four soloists ( soprano , alto , tenor and bass ), four-part choir, two oboes d'amore , two violins , viola and basso continuo .
- part One
- 1. Coro: Soar up joyfully
- 2. Chorale (soprano, alto): Now come, the Gentile Savior
- 3. Aria (tenor): Love moves with gentle steps
- 4. Chorale: Forces the strings in Cythara
- Part II
- 5. Aria (bass): Welcome, dear darling!
- 6. Chorale (tenor): You are like your father
- 7. Aria (soprano): Also with muffled, weak voices
- 8. Chorale: Praise be to God the Father ton
music
The opening chorus begins with a ritornello that is dominated by opposing motifs : the strings play short upswing motifs in triplets , the oboes d'amore an extended melody. The sequence from the lowest voice to the highest also illustrates the upswing of which the text speaks. As in the secular model, the sentence consists of two similar parts, each of which consists of two contrasting sections, “Swing joyfully up to the lofty stars” and “But stop!”. John Eliot Gardiner describes the movement as “a spiritual madrigal - capricious, easily composed and deeply satisfying, once all the technical requirements that make up their virtuosity have been mastered: those tricky runs, variations, and chromatic intervals in all voices and the chains of triplet figurations in the oboes d'amore and first violins performed in unison ”.
All three settings of song verses from Luther's chorale are different, starting with a duet for soprano and alto for the first verse. The parts are doubled by the oboes d'amore and bring the text in sections of various lengths, in sixteen bars for the concluding "God ordered such birth for him". Alfred Dürr describes the “extremely heightened expressivity”, the “pleading sextals” for the call “now come”, syncopation in “all the world wonders”, and chromatic boldness in the final line. The tenor aria illuminates "Love moves with gentle steps", while the oboe d'amore, the "sound symbol of love", acts as an obligatory instrument. The sentence alludes to the image of Jesus as the bridegroom and the soul as the bride. Nicolai's song is also based on this idea, the stanza of which ends Part I in a “rousing four-part harmonization”.
The bass aria, with which Part II begins, “Welcome, dear darling!” Is reminiscent of the first movement and avoids a da capo structure. It represents the symbolic entry of Christ into the hearts of the believers. The next stanza is performed by the tenor as a cantus firmus , while the oboes d'amore play a "peg of sixteenths with the performance designation molt 'allegro ". Dürr sees it as the expression for the "battle and victory of the Son of God over the 'sick flesh' of man". Gardiner describes the last aria as " Berceuse , which is pure delight" and compares it with the echo aria from Part IV in Bach's Christmas Oratorio . The text “Even with muted, weak voices” is made clear by a muted solo violin. The final chorale is a simple four-part movement.
Recordings
LP / CD
- Bach Made in Germany Vol. 1 - Cantatas I. Günther Ramin , Thomanerchor , Gewandhausorchester , Elisabeth Meinel-Asbahr , Rolf Apreck , Johannes Oettel . Leipzig Classics, 1952.
- JS Bach: Cantatas BWV 36, BWV 64. Wilhelm Ehmann , Westfälische Kantorei , German Bach soloists , Maria Friesenhausen , Andrea von Ramm , Johannes Feyerabend , Hartmut Ochs . Cantate, 1969.
- JS Bach: The cantatas - sacred cantatas, Vol. 2. Nikolaus Harnoncourt , Vienna Boys Choir , Chorus Viennensis , Concentus Musicus Vienna , soloist of the Vienna Boys Choir, Paul Esswood , Kurt Equiluz , Ruud van der Meer . Teldec , 1974.
- Bach Made in Germany Vol. 4 - Cantatas VIII. Hans-Joachim Rotzsch , Thomanerchor, Neues Bachisches Collegium Musicum , Arleen Augér , Peter Schreier , Siegfried Lorenz . Eterna, 1981.
- The Bach Cantata Vol. 61. Helmuth Rilling , Gächinger Kantorei , Bach-Collegium Stuttgart , Arleen Augér, Gabriele Schreckenbach , Peter Schreier , Walter Heldwein . Hänssler , 1982.
- JS Bach: Advent Cantatas. John Eliot Gardiner , Monteverdi Choir , English Baroque Soloists , Nancy Argenta , Petra Lang , Anthony Rolfe Johnson , Olaf Bär . Archive production , 1992.
- JS Bach: Advent cantatas. Philippe Herreweghe , Collegium Vocale Gent , Sibylla Rubens , Sarah Connolly , Christoph Prégardien , Peter Kooy . Harmonia Mundi France, 1996.
- Bach: Cantata Advent / Cantata Christmas. Wolfgang Kelber , Heinrich Schütz Ensemble Munich , Monteverdi Orchestra Munich , Silke Wenzel , Reiner Schneider-Waterberg , Kobie van Rensburg , Christian Hilz . Calig Publishing House, 1996.
- Bach Edition Vol. 14 - Cantatas Vol. 7. Pieter Jan Leusink , Holland Boys Choir , Netherlands Bach Collegium , Ruth Holton , Sytse Buwalda , Knut Schoch , Bas Ramselaar . Brilliant Classics , 2000.
- JS Bach: Complete Cantatas, Vol. 18. Ton Koopman , Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir , Sandrine Piau , Bogna Bartosz , James Gilchrist , Klaus Mertens . Antoine Marchand, 2002.
- Thomanerchor Leipzig - The Church Year with Bach, Vol. 1: Advent - Cantatas BWV 36, 61, 62. Sigiswald Kuijken , La Petite Bande , Gerlinde Sämann , Petra Noskaiová , Christoph Genz , Jan van der Crabben . Accent, 2008.
- Bach Made in Germany Vol. 1 - Cantatas I. Georg Christoph Biller , St. Thomas Choir, Gewandhaus Orchestra, soloists of the St. Thomas Choir, Christoph Genz , Andreas Scheibner . Rondeau Production, 2009.
- JS Bach: Cantatas Vol. 47. Masaaki Suzuki , Bach Collegium Japan , Hana Blažíková , Robin Blaze , Satoshi Mizukoshi , Peter Kooij. UNTIL 2010.
DVD
- "Swing up joyfully" BWV 36. Rudolf Lutz , choir and orchestra Schola Seconda Pratica (concertmaster John Holloway ), Nuria Rial , Claude Eichenberger , Julius Pfeifer , Klaus Häger . With an introductory workshop and reflection by Urs Widmer . Gallus Media, 2008. (Online: introduction , performance , reflection )
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 / Carus-Verlag, Stuttgart 2006. (Edition Bach Archive Leipzig). ISBN 3-374-02390-8 (Evang. Verl.-Anst.) / ISBN 3-89948-073-2 (Carus-Verl.).
- Christoph Wolff and Ton Koopman : The world of Bach cantatas. Verlag JB Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2006, ISBN 978-3-476-02127-4 .
Web links
- Cantata BWV 36 “Swing joyfully upwards” : Sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project
- Cantata BWV 36 "Swing joyfully upwards" in bach-cantatas (English)
- "Swing up joyfully" on the Bach website
- BWV 36 Swing up joyfully Text, structure and composition on the personal homepage of Walter F. Bischof at the University of Alberta
- BWV 36 - Work introduction by Jörg-Andreas Bötticher , on the website “Bach Cantatas in the Predigerkirche ” in Basel
- BWV 36 - Work introduction by Matthias Lotzmann, at the Association for the Promotion of Protestant Church Music in Wuppertal
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Christoph Wolff : For the third Leipzig cantatas year (1725-1727), III (PDF; 72 kB) bach-cantatas.com. Pp. 8, 10, 11. 2002. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
- ↑ a b c d e f g Klaus Hofmann: Swing joyfully upwards, BWV 36 / Soar Joyfully Aloft (PDF; 3.5 MB) bach-cantatas.com. S. 12. 1998. Retrieved November 30, 2012.
- ↑ Come on now, the Gentile Savior / Text and Translation of Chorale ( English ) bach-cantatas.com. 2005. Retrieved December 1, 2012.
- ↑ a b c d e f John Eliot Gardiner : Cantatas for the the First Sunday in Advent / St. Maria im Kapitol Cologne (PDF; 3.7 MB) bach-cantatas.com. Pp. 22, 25, 16, 2009. Retrieved November 30, 2012.
- ↑ Thomas Braatz, Aryeh Oron: Chorale Melodies used in Bach's Vocal Works / "Now come, the Heiden Heiland" ( English ) bach-cantatas.com. May 28, 2006. Retrieved November 26, 2010.
- ↑ a b Julian Mincham: Chapter 34: BWV 36 "Swing joyfully upwards" ( English ) jsbachcantatas.com. 2010. Retrieved November 30, 2012.
