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BACH MUSIC DATABASE

CHURCH CANTATAS
NOTES ON FIELDS

The Church Cantatas:



BWV Number BWV = Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis, Catalogue of Bach’s works compiled by Schmieder (publ. 1950 Leipzig, and Wiesbaden 1990)



BG Volume Details BG = Bachgesellschaft (Bach Society) originally founded in 1850 to publish the complete works of Bach and wound up on completion of task in 1899, refounded in 1900.



NBA Volume Details NBA = Neue Bach-Ausgabe (New Bach Edition) published by Bärenreiter.



Bach Compendium Details BC = Bach Compendium edited by Hans-Joachim Schulze and Christoph Wolff



Church Year
Upon his arrival at Leipzig in 1723, Bach set about providing what he called ‘a well-regulated church music’, a stock of specially composed music to serve and for use throughout the church year (1st Sunday after Trinity to Trinity Sunday). These were the famous ‘Jahrgang’, the annual cycles of church cantatas, five in all, and composed between 1723 and 1728. These works could overshadow the significance of the collection of both church and secular cantatas that flowed from as early as 1707, for this great outpouring of musical creativity came at the beginning of his Leipzig tenure. The post of Cantor at the Leipzig Thomasschule ideally suited Bach because it gave him a reason to put down on paper what had probably been gestating in his head on the one hand and, on the other, an opportunity to revise existing material. A case could be made that Bach applied to the assembly and planning of his organ repertory the same orderly thinking that accompanied the composition of his cantata treasury.

Equally on examination of the Organ Works, most of which date much earlier than 1723, substantial provision for the main seasons of the Church Year - Advent, Christmas, Passiontide and Whitsuntide - can all be found in the form of Chorale Preludes, with Toccatas and Fugues, Preludes and Fugues and Fantasias and Fugues composed for the pre-service music and postludes. These works would also be called upon for recitals or demonstrations on the organs Bach happened to be playing and inspecting at the time.



Epistle Text See Gospel Text.



Gospel Text Composed for the Sundays in the church year, Bach has naturally considered the Gospel for the day when selecting his texts for each cantata. The biblical references, including the Epistle where possible and Gospel for the day, are included with the data for each individual work. Some references requiring more explanation perhaps are contained in the Notes Field.



Librettist
For most of the cantatas it is not possible to give the name of the known librettist used by Bach. The composer may well have written some of the texts himself and certainly adapted many already in existence. There are five principal librettists known to have provided Bach with texts for some of his church (and secular) cantatas.

Christiane Marianne von Ziegler Author of Versuch in gebundener Schreib-Art (publ. Leipzig1728) that include the nine cantata texts used by Bach
(1695 to 1760)
Christian Friedrich Henrici, Picander who also provided the text for the St.Matthew Passion as well as some of the secular works.
(1700-1764)
Salomo Franck First Secretary of the Council in Weimar and author of “Evangelisches Andacts-Opfer”(Weimar, 1715). Bach used about 20 texts by Franck.
(1659-1725)
Erdmann Neumeister whose Geistliche Kantaten statt einer Kirchen-Musik (Sacred Cantatas in place of liturgical music) was published in 1700. Bach set about five texts by Neumeister.
(1671-1756)
Georg Christian Lehms who was poet and librarian at the Court of Darmstadt. Bach set about ten texts written by Lehms.
(1684-1717)



Solo Vocal Forces See Choral Vocal Forces



Choral Vocal Forces Modern scholarship has revealed that Bach’s vocal forces were small-scale with the choral singers also taking the solo parts. The database provides separate entries for soloists (SATB) and for choir (SATB) as in modern times the works can be performed perfectly well using larger choral forces with up to four separate soloists.



Instrumental Forces
In identifying the different instruments required in each cantata, the names used are a mixture of the modern and the period version e.g. horn or trumpet instead of corno da caccia or tromba, and oboe da caccia (taille) as opposed to the modern equivalent of cor anglais.

1.OBOES including ‘doublings’
Most cantatas include substantial woodwind obbligatos and Bach often provides for say two oboes, two oboes d’amore, and one oboe da caccia to be played at some point, but not always all together. It is possible for oboists to ‘double’ on the other instruments required. There are some cantatas where the writing for oboe is particularly demanding and also includes movements using the oboe d’amore and/or the oboe da caccia in pairs, or separately, or a combination. To spread the load consider using extra players and avoid oboists ‘doubling’ on more than one instrument. The modern equivalent of oboe da caccia/taille is cor anglais. N.B. The pre-Leipzig cantatas requiring oboes may need transposition when using period instruments.

2.BRASS INSTRUMENTS
Some of the most difficult solos for horn and trumpet anywhere in music are to be found in the cantatas. Bach has marked the trumpet parts tromba (natural trumpet), tromba da tirarsi (slide trumpet) or cornett. Using modern instruments, the trumpet played will usually be in D or C, and the horn in F, but if period instruments are used the player will need to know which instrument the score indicates and the range of the music written. For the horn it is often a much more difficult decision. The score will often state corno da caccia, or *corno da tirarsi (slide horn) or corne du chasse. However the instrument itself underwent numerous changes in the 18th century and no clear example of the type of horn Bach used is available. Whether using modern or period instruments consultation with the players concerned is advisable to decide which instrument should be used particularly if there is a high horn part. For cantatas with trombones the period instrument equivalent is added in brackets (Sackbuts) on the database.

3.STRINGS inc *solo violin, *vcl.piccolo
Many cantatas include solos for violin and the orchestra leader will expect to play these. To assist, if there is a violin solo the fact is mostly stated. Period-scale performances of various cantatas in movements where "tutti" violins 1 and 2 appear might be better served by reducing the sections to solo violins. Solos for vcl.piccolo are also a feature e.g. BWV 6, 115 and 175. The availability of the instrument itself may be a problem here.

4.CONTINUO inc *organ solo
This section has been entitled ‘basso continuo’ and refers to the instruments ‘cello, bass and organ. In some cantatas there has been a specific provision for a bassoon and this is included where appropriate. Mention has been made of any solos for organ (marked by *) e.g. BWV 29. The continuo organist will expect to play these. Modern scholarship also suggests that Bach used a harpsichord as a continuo instrument in his church cantatas in addition to the organ- read ‘Bach’s Continuo Group’ by Laurence Dreyfus.

5.MODERN OR PERIOD INSTRUMENTS?
Bach’s cantatas can be performed using modern or period instruments. If modern instruments are to be used the pitch will be A=440. If period ones then the pitch will be at least one semi-tone lower at A=415, or perhaps even A=392 for the early works. The number of strings required will be determined by the dimensions of the concert venue or, preferably, the church, and chosen to balance with the vocal forces to be engaged.



Type of Cantata This is a whole area of study in itself, but for the purposes of the database we have only identified the cantatas specifically written for solo voice(s) and included them under this heading.

© Margaret Steinitz