of poetry and a noted Cicero scholar of
his day, was the rector or headmaster of
Leipzig’s St. Thomas School from 1684
until his death in 1729. The opening of the
motet for double chorus is dance-like and
abounds with imitation. The last part is
a harmonization of the third verse of the
chorale “Komm heiliger Geist, Herre Gott.”
This chorale was adapted by Martin Luther
from an older hymn Veni Sancte Spiritus
and published in 1524.
PROGRAM NOTES
PAST AND PRESENT
As another year concludes, so much
of what we see and do encourages
us to reflect on the past, even as
we look forward to the future. Our
traditions reinforce this feeling of past
and present, grounding what is new
with connections to what is familiar.
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
bridges past and present in the motet
and cantatas on this program by
weaving the musical traditions of his
Lutheran faith into compositions of
rich textures and colors.
Underlying all of these compositions
are Lutheran chorales with texts
and music inspired by or originating
with Martin Luther (1483-1546).
Luther, who described music as
“the excellent gift of God,” felt the
worship service should include
music sung by the congregation.
He recommended that all pastors
be trained in music and that every
child’s education include music.
His chorales reflect his belief that
“both the text and notes, accent,
melody, and manner of rendering
ought to grow out of the true mother
tongue and its inflection.” To this
end, he and his contemporaries
adapted familiar tunes from sacred
and secular sources. These chorales
were, and remain, an integral part
of the service; they also provide an
abundance of musical material to
incorporate into new compositions.
The four pieces we will hear today
are indicative of his unlimited
imagination in using the chorale tune
and depicting the text musically.
Of the six motets composed by Bach,
we know the specific function of only
one: Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit
auf. Bach composed this motet for a
memorial service for Johann Heinrich
Ernesti (1652-1729). Ernesti, professor
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Cantata 36, Schwingt freudig euch empor,
was performed on the first Sunday of
Advent 1731, one week after Cantata 140.
In this two-part cantata, in which each
half was sung to frame the sermon, Bach
uses the chorale “Nun komm, der Heiden
Heiland” in the second and last movements
of each half, creating parallel structures.
The chorale tune is attributed to Martin
Luther and reflects his belief in the
importance of the relationship between
text and music. Luther translated the
Latin text of the eight-stanza hymn Veni
Redemptor gentium (Come Savior of the
Nations), by Saint Ambrose (ca. 340397) into German. He also simplified the
melody of the original chant, creating a
chorale that begins and ends with the
same musical idea. Luther’s friend Johann
Walter (1496-1570) published the first
polyphonic setting of this chorale in his
Geistliche Gesangbüchlein (Little Book of
Sacred Song) in 1524.
Instrument
Spotlight:
Oboe
d’Amore
The Baroque
oboe d’amore,
with its rounded
bell, produces
a slightly lower
and sweeter
sound than a
Baroque oboe.
The oboe d’amore
was Invented
around 1720
and J.S. Bach
was one of the
first composers
known to have
written for this
instrument.
The balance in the overall structure
of the two parts of Cantata 36 is
reflected in the scoring of the individual
movements as well. For example, Bach
initially sets the chorale in the second
movement for a pairing of high and low
instruments: soprano and alto in imitation
accompanied by a basso continuo line,
which is also based on the chorale tune.
In the sixth movement, the tenor sings
the chorale melody in long note values
accompanied by two oboes d’amore in
another manifestation of low and high
instrumental pairings.
Sung on the last Sunday before Advent in
1731, Cantata 140, Wachet auf, ruft uns die
Stimme, reminds the faithful to be ready
for the coming of Jesus by referencing the
2015–2016 SEASON: BACH CHRISTMAS25
The World Beyond
1681:
Ban on Christmas
celebrations is lifted
in New England.
1685:
Johann Sebastian
Bach is born in
Eisenach, Germany.
1699:
As part of a
reorganization
of the Russian
calendar, Peter
the Great moves
the new year from
September 1 to
January 1.
1720s:
Beginning of
the first Great
Awakening
in America, a
movement that
emphasized individual salvation
and deep personal
spirituality rather
than ritual practice.
1723:
Bach is appointed
Cantor of the St.
Thomas School and
Director of Music.
He and his family
arrive in Leipzig in
late May.
1724:
Bach’s Cantata 133,
Ich freue mich in dir,
is sung for the third
day of Christmas.
1729:
Bach’s motet Der
Geist hilft unser
Schwachheit auf
is sung at the
memorial service
for J. H. Ernesti,
headmaster of
Leipzig’s St. Thomas
School.
1731:
Bach’s Cantata 140,
Wachet auf, ruft uns
die Stimme, is sung
on November 25.
The following week,
Cantata No. 36,
Schwingt freudig
euch empor, is sung
for the first Sunday
in Advent.
1732:
Poor Richard’s
Almanack is
published in
Philadelphia on
December 28. This annual pamphlet,
begun by Benjamin
Franklin, sells up
to 10,000 copies a
year before ceasing
publication in 1758.
1750:
Bach dies on July 28
in Leipzig.
1800s:
The second Great
Awakening, a
forerunner of
the Abolitionist
movement in the
United States, seeks
a pure practice
of faith including
revivals, traveling
preachers, and
preparations for the
end of the world.
1815:
The Handel and
Haydn Society’s first
concert takes place
at King’s Chapel on
December 25.
story of the bridegroom and the
wise and foolish maidens. In this
parable from Matthew
25:1-3, Jesus tells the story
of ten young women who
traveled at night to meet the
bridegroom. Five of the young
women brought enough oil to
light their lamps while the other
five did not. As the night wore
on, the lamps of the five who
were not prepared went out and
they had to leave before the
bridegroom arrived.
When the bridegroom did
arrive, only the five who were
prepared were allowed to join
him at the wedding feast. The
story concludes with Jesus
saying, “watch therefore, for
you know neither the day nor
the hour.”
Bach fuels the listener’s
imagination as he evokes a
feeling of anticipation in the
opening movement. Two
instrumental ideas, a long-short
rhythmic pattern and a rising
line continually imitated, set
the scene of the movement:
waiting for the arrival of the
bridegroom. When the voices
enter, the sopranos sing the
chorale tune “Wachet auf” in
long steady notes doubled by
the horn; they are the cry of
the watchman while a series
of short motives in the lower
voices flurry with eagerness
over the bridegroom’s arrival.
In the third movement, the story
becomes more personal and
moves to the present as the
soprano soloist (the believer)
gives voice to the human need
to know when Jesus will return.
In this duet, the bass (Jesus)
replies without giving a specific
time. The evasiveness of that
answer is not disconcerting
because Bach sets this
conversation as a dance and
frames it with a virtuosic
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melody for violin piccolo (a higher
pitched violin) accompanied by a bass
line that moves in measured steps. It
is a complex layering of musical ideas
that never overwhelms but instead
exudes a sense of hopeful longing.
The chorale tune returns in the
fourth movement, scored for tenor
with basso continuo and an added
melody in the strings. With these,
Bach fashions a stately musical
circle. The chorale, sung by the
tenor, summarizes the parable;
however, the string melody, which
Bach derived from the chorale tune,
continually returns to its beginning.
While the tenor sings a linear story,
the violins remind us that it is a story
without end.
The text of the fourth movement
refers to the wedding feast in the
parable. The next recitative elaborates
on this so that the return of the
soprano and bass duet in movement
six is no longer about waiting. Instead,
it is about fulfillment. By returning
to a duet for bass and soprano, Bach
creates a balanced overarching
structure in the cantata and highlights
the musical and story-telling centrality
of the fourth movement.
Cantata 133, Ich freue mich in
dir, was sung on the third day of
Christmas, December 27, 1724. In the
first movement, the sopranos sing
the chorale tune as part of a fourpart harmonization. Each phrase
of the chorale is separated by an
instrumental ritornello. This pattern
is interrupted at the phrase “Ach wie
ein süsser Ton!” (Oh, how sweet a
sound!). Here the sopranos hold the
sweet tone as the other voices repeat
this text with a new rhythm. With the
final phrase, “der grosse Gottessohn!”
(the almighty son of God), Bach
creates a similar, but heightened,
effect that connects the movement as
a whole.
The opening of the first aria is
exquisite with its rising flourishes
in the alto and oboes d’amore.
The next section of text, “Ich habe
Gott,” explains the reason for this
exclamation so that the return of the
opening music sounds all the more
joyous. Bach achieves the same effect
in the soprano aria, which proclaims
Jesus’s birth in a manner similar to
a love aria in an opera. The central
section of this aria, marked Largo,
clarifies the choice of a minor key:
it decries those who do not believe.
Similar to the alto aria, but again
expanded and magnified, Bach uses
this contrasting section to return to
the opening sentiment with deepened
understanding. Bach completes this
story of welcome and hope with a
four-part setting of verse four of the
chorale, which the congregation may
have joined in singing.
Chorales were (and still are) the
stock-in-trade of a church musician’s
life. We must also remember that
most of Bach’s Leipzig congregation
would have been very familiar with all
of the chorales used in these works.
No matter how well we know the
chorales today, we can still appreciate
how Bach uses each as a foundation,
whether as an audible structural pillar
or as a more subtle inspiration that
infuses the entire composition. Bach’s
music remains vibrant through its
blend of past and present in a way
that is unique to each composition.
© 2015 Teresa M. Neff, PhD
2015–2016 CHRISTOPHER HOGWOOD HISTORICALLY
INFORMED PERFORMANCE FELLOW
2015–2016 SEASON: BACH CHRISTMAS27