Oregon Bach Festival Discovery Series
Motets BWV 230 Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden
BWV 160 Anhang Jauchzet dem Herrn, alle Welt
BWV 228 Fürchte dich nicht
2003
This afternoon we will discuss three motets of Johann Sebastian Bach. In Bach’s time,
the motet was no longer the prevailing form of church music. It had been so in the 17th
century with the works of North German composers Heinrich Schütz, Johann Schein,
Samuel Scheidt and others, but by the 18th century the sacred cantata was the form used
for the church.
The motet is a musical form that is vocally oriented. It is composed for a choir and
instruments that generally double the voices, although there are occasional instrumental
obbligato parts.
We will begin with the motet BWV 230 Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden [Praise the Lord,
all nations]. Before we look at the specifics of this work, let’s talk about the designation
of BWV and what it means. The abbreviation BWV stands for Bach Werke Verzeichnis
and is a way of cataloguing the works of Bach. The BWV catalogue has over 1000
numbers. They are not chronological; that is, BWV 1 is not Bach’s earliest composition.
Rather, Bach’s compositions are grouped thematically: all cantatas together, all organ
works together, etc. At the time of Bach’s death his music was considered outdated, and
it quickly disappeared from contemporary usage. His sons, Philip Emanuel and Johann
Friedeman, were much better known to the general public than was their father. By the
second half of the 18th century, only a few musicologists knew the music of Bach. In
1829, seventy-nine years after Bach’s death, Felix Mendelssohn performed the St.
Matthew Passion. There are newspaper reports and letters of the time that describe the
surprise and wonder that such music existed. Mendelssohn and his friends, among them
well-known composers Johannes Brahms and Robert Schumann, started an edition of the
complete works of Bach. By then, Bach’s autographed scores had been scattered to
libraries in Leipzig and Berlin, and to many individuals throughout the world. But as they
were found they were edited and became part of the Bach catalogue.
Now back to BWV 230. There is no autographed score for this work. The only source is a
copy that dates from the second half of the 18th century. It is possible that this motet is the
opening movement of a larger work that has been lost. It is written for double chorus
accompanied by instruments. The higher winds and upper strings double the voices. The
low instruments have a separate continuo part and occasionally have an obbligato role.
This is a frequent instrumentation for Bach’s opening cantata movements, more evidence
that this is part of a lost work. The piece begins polyphonically. The sopranos begin; the
motive is then taken up by the altos, then the tenors, and finally the basses. The
instruments always double the voices.
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For the text Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden, Bach uses a motive that seems to purposely
stride along. The next part of the text continues with the words und preiset ihn, alle
Völker [and praise Him, all people]. It is a typical characteristic of the motet style to
introduce a new motive with a new text, and so this section changes to a faster rhythm.
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The polyphonic structure remains the same and follows the entrance pattern of sopranoalto-tenor-bass. Typical of Bach, although not typical for the traditional form of the
motet, the two contrasting motives are brought together in a double fugue.
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There is another section of the piece that has a different character and a different text. At
the text Denn seine Gnade und Wahrheit waltet über uns [His truth and mercy will stay
with us] the music becomes melodic, giving expression to the idea of eternal grace.
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The text now expands to say und Wahrheit waltet über uns in Ewigkeit [and mercy will
stay with us for eternity]. Bach now focuses on the concept of eternity. As in the
beginning, he connects two motives in a double fugue. The first motive has a long held
note symbolizing eternity. The tenors state a rhythmic and lively fugal subject.
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To conclude the motet, Bach changes to a fast tempo in triple meter for the word Alleluja.
It is a joyous dance-type piece, but retains the polyphonic characteristic of the earlier
sections.
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The motet has three clear sections: the fugato of the beginning, the slower harmonic
section that ponders the idea of eternity, and finally the joyous Alleluja.
The next motet we will examine today is one of four motets with the unusual
classification of BWV 160 Anhang, Jauchzet dem Herrn, alle Welt [Shout to the Lord, all
the earth]. The word Anhang means appendix, and the Anhang to the Bach Werke
Verzeichnis contains works by Bach that are believed incomplete, of doubtful
authenticity, or, as in the case of this motet, an arrangement by Bach of another
composer’s work.
This work was originally by George Philipp Telemann, a colleague of Bach who worked
in Leipzig and Hamburg. Scholars believe that Telemann’s composition was written for
one choir and that Bach expanded it to a double chorus. The string instruments double the
1st choir; the winds accompany the 2nd choir.
Double choir compositions have a long tradition in church music. It originated with
composers writing for large churches designed with many balconies. Such architecture
lends itself to positioning choirs in various spaces around the congregation, filling the
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church with beautiful music. The music of Italian composers Giovanni and Andrea
Gabrieli, and Claudio Monteverdi are examples of this style. The Lutheran German
composers adopted this form, and Bach incorporated it into his motets.
The beginning of this motet clearly demonstrates the double choir qualities: the 1st chorus
states a short motive; the 2nd choir responds.
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This exchange between the two choirs extends throughout the piece. The addition of the
echo effects creates a playful and joyous mood. The separate identities of the two choirs
are supported by the differing colors of the instruments, and when Bach brings the two
choruses and their corresponding instruments together, the sound is strong and intense.
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Bach’s vocal compositions often use an instrumental form, and such is the case with this
motet. This opening homophonic dialogue between the choirs and instruments is
followed by a fugue. The theme is light and playful.
An unusual characteristic of this fugue is that the theme is not stated alone, but is
immediately accompanied with the other voices and instruments.
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The lighthearted character of this fugue is not what one normally associates with a
polyphonic structure. Normally a fugue grows in intensity and climaxes with stretto at the
highest point. But that is not true of this playful fugue.
Since this motet is a reworking of another composer’s piece, Bach must have been in a
hurry and had no time to write something completely original. So it is not surprising to
see that the next movement is a transcription of a piece Bach had already composed. It is
the second movement from Cantata 28 Gottlob! Nun geht das Jahr zu Ende. This cantata
is a chorale cantata based on Nun lob, mein Seel, den Herren. In the cantata this music is
set to verse one; in this motet Bach sets the identical music to verse five. The double
choirs are now combined into one chorus, and the movement begins with the sopranos
singing the melody in long extended rhythm. The other voices and instruments
accompany the soprano, using motives derived from the chorale melody.
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The entire move continues in this manner: the sopranos with the cantus firmus,
accompanied by the other voices.
The last motet to be performed this afternoon, Fürchte dich nicht [Do not be afraid],
belongs to the corpus of well-known Bach motets. Like the first movement of BWV 160,
it is for double choir. The text is expressed with a new motive for each new thought, a
typical device of the 17th century motet. This handling of the text makes the music very
colorful and varied, but it does not result in a clearly defined structural form.
Bach begins by having the 1st chorus sing Fürchte dich nicht, which is repeated by the 2nd
chorus. The 1st chorus continues with ich bin bei dir [I am with you], and again the 2nd
chorus answers. Then Bach turns it around by having the 2nd chorus begin and the 1st
chorus answer. This is all stated with much intensity: do NOT be afraid.
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The text continues with weiche nicht, denn ich bin dein Gott [yield not, for I am thy
God]. The new motive is syncopated, suggesting an energetic imperative. Weiche nicht
[yield not] is illustrated with a long held note.
And again a new text and a new motive Ich stärke dich [I strengthen you]. Four times a
section of the choir sings a short coloratura passage that is followed with strong
homophonic chords, reinforcing the idea of this text.
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Now the text is expanded Ich stärke dich, ich helfe dir auch, ich erhalte dich [I will help
you, I will uphold you]. Bach again finds a new musical way to express this idea. The
key phrase is erhalte dich [I will uphold you]. Not unexpectedly, the text is sung to a long
held note. The 2nd choir will repeat it, and there will be more exchanges of this text.
I would like to go on to the second part of this motet. Here the style changes from short
text-driven motives to a polyphonic style. It is based on three short motives that have a
connection to the text. The first, ich habe dich bei deinem Namen [I have called thee by
thy name] is introduced by the basses.
This motive is accompanied with another text and a different musical idea: denn ich habe
dich erlöset [you have been called and summoned]. It is a descending chromatic lamento
figure. The idea of redemption is pointing directly to Christ’s Passion.
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There is a final motive made up of three notes Du bis mein [Thou art mine].
Bach constructs a fugato with these motives in the lower voices. These three musical
ideas will always be present, resulting in a dense polyphonic texture; and yet there is
more. The sopranos sing a chorale melody over the lower voices. The text Herr mein
Hirt, Brunn aller Freuden [Lord, my Shepherd, fount of all joy] is a personal creed. It is a
subjective statement of trust and faith in the Shepherd, the origin of our joy and gladness.
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This will continue for two verses of the chorale. Then Bach does something very special.
He does not end the motet with this music, but restates the material of the beginning:
Fürchte dich nicht du bist mein! The repeat of this motive at the end gives form and
structure to the motet.
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There is another special element in this motet. The basses sing these notes:
These are the transposed intervals of Bach’s name when the letters are assigned to the
pitches of the scale—B-A-C-H (in German key notation, B is B-flat, H is B-natural). At
the end of this motet Bach puts his personal sign, a statement of this personal belief, in
the music.
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I think you would all agree that this motet is a much better piece than the two previous
motets that we have discussed. It is important to try to understand what separates a
mediocre piece from a good one. In this instance, it is the architecture. We discussed the
inherent weakness when the musical form is based on a series of short sections, the way
Fürchte dich nicht begins. But Bach counterbalances this weakness by composing a
substantial fugato with chorale, concluding it with a repeat of the opening material, all
over his own musical “signature”.
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