Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis (I had much grief),[1] BWV 21 in Weimar, possibly in 1713, partly even earlier. He used it in 1714 and later for the third Sunday after Trinity of the liturgical year. The work marks a transition between motet style on biblical and hymn text to operatic recitatives and arias on contemporary poetry. Bach catalogued the work as e per ogni tempo (and for all times), indicating that due to its general theme, the cantata is suited for any occasion.
| Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis | |
|---|---|
BWV 21 | |
| Church cantata by J. S. Bach | |
 | |
| Occasion |
|
| Cantata text | Likely Salomon Franck |
| Bible text | |
| Chorale | by Georg Neumark |
| Performed | 17 June 1714: Weimar |
| Movements | 11 in two parts (6 + 5) |
| Vocal |
|
| Instrumental |
|
The text is probably written by the court poet Salomon Franck, who includes four biblical quotations from three psalms and from the Book of Revelation, and juxtaposes in one movement biblical text with two stanzas from Georg Neumark's hymn "Wer nur den lieben Gott lässt walten". The cantata is structured in eleven movements, including an opening sinfonia. It is divided in two parts to be performed before and after the sermon, and scored for three vocal soloists (soprano, tenor, and bass), a four-part choir, and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of three trumpets, timpani, oboe, strings and continuo.
Bach led a performance in the court chapel of Schloss Weimar on 17 June 1714, known as the Weimar version. He revised the work for performances, possibly in Hamburg and several revivals in Leipzig, adding for the first Leipzig version four trombones playing colla parte.
History and words
editBach composed the cantata in Weimar, but the composition history is complicated and not at all stages certain.[1][2] Findings by Martin Petzoldt suggest that the cantata began with the later movements 2–6 and 9–10, most of them on biblical text, performed at a memorial service of Aemilia Maria Haress, the wife of a former prime-minister of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, at the church St. Peter und Paul in Weimar on 8 October 1713.[3] Bach may then have expanded it and presented it for his application in December 1713 at the Liebfrauenkirche in Halle. The performance material of this event, the only surviving source, shows on the title page the designation e per ogni tempo, indicating that the cantata with its general readings and texts is suitable for any occasion.[1][2]
Bach designated the cantata to the Third Sunday after Trinity of 1714. The prescribed readings for the Sunday were from the First Epistle of Peter, "Cast thy burden upon the Lord" (1 Peter 5:6–11), and from the Gospel of Luke, the parable of the Lost Sheep and the parable of the Lost Coin (Luke 15:1–10). The librettist was probably the court poet Salomon Franck, as in most cantatas of the period, such as Erschallet, ihr Lieder, erklinget, ihr Saiten! BWV 172. The text shows little connection to the prescribed gospel, but is related to the epistle reading. The poet included biblical texts for four movements: for movement 2 Psalms 94:19, for movement 6 Psalms 42:11, translated in the King James Version (KJV) to "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.", for movement 9 Psalms 116:7 (KJV: "Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee."),[1][4] and for movement 11 Revelation 5:12–13, "Worthy is the Lamb", the text also chosen to conclude Handel's Messiah.[2] Similar to other cantatas of that time, ideas are expressed in dialogue: in movements 7 and 8 the soprano portrays the Seele (Soul), while the part of Jesus is sung by the bass as the vox Christi (voice of Christ).[1] Only movement 9 uses text from a hymn, juxtaposing the biblical text with stanzas 2 and 5 of "Wer nur den lieben Gott lässt walten" by Georg Neumark,[5] who published it with his own melody in Jena in 1657 in the collection Fortgepflantzter Musikalisch-Poetischer Lustwald.[6]
Bach performed the cantata in the court chapel of Schloss Weimar on 17 June 1714, as his fourth work in a series of monthly cantatas for the Weimar court which came with his promotion to Konzertmeister (concert master) in 1714.[1] The so-called Weimar version, his first composition for an ordinary Sunday in the second half of the liturgical year,[1] marked also a farewell to Duke Johann Ernst who began a journey then.[3] A performance, documented by original parts, could have been in Hamburg to apply for the position as organist at St. Jacobi in November 1720, this time in D minor instead of C minor.[2] As Thomaskantor in Leipzig, Bach performed the cantata again on his third Sunday in office on 13 June 1723, as the title page shows. For this performance, now again in C minor, he also changed the instrumentation, adding four trombones to double the tutti voices within movement 9. This version was used in several revivals during Bach's lifetime and is mostly played today.[1]
Music
editScoring and structure
editBach structured the cantata in eleven movements in two parts, Part I (movements 1–6) to be performed before the sermon, Part II (7–11) after the sermon. He scored it for three vocal soloists (soprano (S), tenor (T) and bass (B)), a four-part choir SATB, three trumpets (Tr) and timpani only in the final movement, four trombones (Tb) (only in Movement 9 and only in the 1723 version to double voices in the fifth stanza of the chorale), oboe (Ob), two violins (Vl), viola (Va), and basso continuo (Bc), with bassoon (Fg) and organ (Org) explicitly indicated.[7] The duration is given as 44 minutes.[1]
In the following table of the movements, the scoring and keys are given for the version performed in Leipzig in 1723. The keys and time signatures are taken from Alfred Dürr, using the symbol for common time (4/4).[1] The instruments are shown separately for winds and strings, while the continuo, playing throughout, is not shown.
| No. | Title | Text | Type | Vocal | Winds | Strings | Key | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sinfonia | Ob | 2Vl Va | C minor | 
| |||
| 2 | Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis in meinem Herzen | Psalm 94:19 | Chorus | SATB | Ob Fg | 2Vl Va | C minor |
|
| 3 | Seufzer, Tränen, Kummer, Not | Likely Franck | Aria | S | Ob | C minor | 12/8 | |
| 4 | Wie hast du dich, mein Gott | Likely Franck | Recitative | T | 2Vl Va |
| ||
| 5 | Bäche von gesalznen Zähren | Likely Franck | Aria | T | Fg | 2Vl Va | F minor |
|
| 6 | Was betrübst du dich, meine Seele | Psalm 42:11 | Chorus | SATB | Ob Fg | 2Vl Va |
|
|
| No. | Title | Text | Type | Vocal | Winds | Strings | Key | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Ach Jesu, meine Ruh | Likely Franck | Recitative Dialogus | S B | 2Vl Va | E-flat major |
| |
| 8 | Komm, mein Jesu, und erquicke / Ja, ich komme und erquicke | Likely Franck | Aria | S B | E-flat major |
| ||
| 9 | Sei nun wieder zufrieden, meine Seele | Chorus and Chorale | SATB | Ob 4Tbne Fg | 2Vl Va | G minor |
| |
| 10 | Erfreue dich, Seele, erfreue dich, Herze | Likely Franck | Aria | T | F major | 3/8 | ||
| 11 | Das Lamm, das erwürget ist | Revelation 5:12–13 | Chorus | SATB | 3Tr Timpani Ob Fg | 2Vl Va | C major |
|
Movements
edit
The music for this early cantata uses motet style in the choral movements. Biblical words are used in a prominent way. They are treated in choral movements, different from other cantatas of the Weimar period where they were typically composed as recitatives. John Eliot Gardiner, who conducted all of Bach's church cantatas in 2000 as the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage, termed the cantata "one of the most extraordinary and inspired of Bach's vocal works". He notes aspects of the music which are similar to movements in Bach's early cantatas, suggesting that they may have been composed already when Bach moved to Weimar in 1708: the psalm verses resemble movements of cantatas such as Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich, BWV 150, and Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, Herr, zu dir, BWV 131, the dialogue of the Soul and Jesus (movement 8) is reminiscent of the Actus tragicus, and the hymn in motet style (movement 9) recalls movements 2 and 5 of the chorale cantata Christ lag in Todes Banden, BWV 4.[2]
Part I
editThemes of deep suffering, pain and mourning dominate the music in the first part of the cantata. Gardiner notes that five of the six movements are "set almost obsessively in C minor".[2]
1
editThe work is opened by a Sinfonia similar to the one of the cantata Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen, BWV 12, possibly the slow movement of a concerto for oboe and violin. A sighing motif, the picture of a storm of tears, and the flood image conjured by the upwelling music characterizes the dark and oppressive feeling.[8]
2
editThe first vocal movement is a choral motet on the psalm verse "Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis in meinem Herzen" (I had much trouble in my heart).[1][9] The music has two contrasting sections, following the contrast of the psalm verse which continues "aber deine Tröstungen erquicken meine Seele" (but your consolations revive my soul).[1] The word "Ich" (I) is repeated several times, followed by a fugal section. A homophonic setting of aber (but) leads to the second section, in free polyphony, marked Vivace. It broadens to Andante for a solemn conclusion.[1]
3
editThe soprano aria "Seufzer, Tränen, Kummer, Not" (Sighs, tears, anguish, trouble)[9] is one of the first arias in Italian style in a Bach cantata, accompanied by an obbligato oboe.[10]
4
editThe tenor sings in accompanied recitative with the strings "Wie hast du dich, mein Gott" (What? have You therefore, my God,).[1][9]
5
editThe tenor, accompanied by the strings, intensifies the mood: "Bäche von gesalznen Zähren" (Streams of salty tears).[1][9]
6
editA consoling verse from a psalm is treated as a closing motet of Part I: "Was betrübst du dich, meine Seele" (Why do you trouble yourself, my soul).[1][9] Alfred Dürr analyzes in detail how different means of expression follow the text closely, with shifts in tempo and texture, culminating in a "permutation fugue of remarkably logical structure"[1] on the final "daß er meines Angesichtes Hilfe und mein Gott ist" (for being the help of my countenance and my God).[1]
Part II
editThe second part begins in a different mood, through the trust of sinners in the grace of God. In a recitative and an aria, the Soul (soprano) and Jesus (bass as the voice of Christ) enter a dialogue, leading to a final choral movement as a strong hymn of praise.
7
editSoprano and bass enter a dialogue in accompanied recitative with the strings. The Soul asks: "Ach Jesu, meine Ruh, mein Licht, wo bleibest du?" (Ah, Jesus, my peace, my light, where are You?).[1][9] Dialogue was common in Protestant church music from the 17th century but is especially dramatic here.[1]
8
editSoprano and bass unite in an aria: "Komm, mein Jesu, und erquicke / Ja, ich komme und erquicke" (Come, my Jesus, and revive / Yes, I come and revive),[9] accompanied only by the continuo. It resembles passionate love duets from contemporary opera.[1]
9
edit
In a movement unusual in Bach works, biblical text from a psalm, "Sei nun wieder zufrieden, meine Seele" (Be at peace again, my soul),[9] is juxtaposed with two stanzas from Georg Neumark's hymn,[1] stanza 2, "Was helfen uns die schweren Sorgen" (What good are heavy worries?), and stanza 5, "Denk nicht in deiner Drangsalshitze" (Think not, in your heat of despair,) [9] The first hymn stanza is sung by tenors while solo voices render the biblical text. In the second stanza the soprano has the melody and the voices are doubled by a choir of trombones introduced in the Leipzig version of 1723.[1]
10
editThe tenor aria "Erfreue dich, Seele, erfreue dich, Herze" (Rejoice, soul, rejoice, heart)[9] is accompanied only by the continuo. Dürr describes the mood as "spirited, excited abandon".[1]
11
editThe concluding movement is a motet on a quotation from Revelation, "Das Lamm, das erwürget ist" (The Lamb, that was slain).[9] Three trumpets and timpani appear only in this triumphant movements of praise. It begins in homophony and expresses the text "Lob und Ehre und Preis und Gewalt" (Glory and honour and praise and power) in another permutation fugue with a climax in the subject played by the first trumpet.[1]
Recordings
editA list of recordings is provided on the Bach Cantatas Website.[11] Ensembles playing period instruments in historically informed performance are marked by a green background.
| Title | Conductor / Choir / Orchestra | Soloists | Label | Year | Orch. type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| J. S. Bach: Kantaten BWV 21, 110 (Ramin Edition Vol. 1) | Günther RaminThomanerchorGewandhausorchester |
|
Fidelio | 1947 | |
| J. S. Bach: Cantata BWV 21 | Fritz LehmannBerliner MotettenchorBerliner Philharmoniker | Deutsche Grammophon | 1952 | ||
| J. S. Bach: Cantata BWV 21 | Marcel CouraudStuttgarter ChorStuttgarter Orchester | Les Discophiles | 1955 | ||
| Les Grandes Cantates de J. S. Bach Vol. 11 | Fritz WernerHeinrich-Schütz-Chor HeilbronnPforzheim Chamber Orchestra | Erato | 1962 | ||
| Bach Cantatas Vol. 3 – Ascension Day, Whitsun, Trinity | Karl RichterMünchener Bach-ChorMünchener Bach-Orchester | Archiv Produktion | 1969 | ||
| J. S. Bach: Das Kantatenwerk • Complete Cantatas • Les Cantates, Folge / Vol. 20 | Nikolaus HarnoncourtWiener SängerknabenConcentus Musicus Wien |
|
Teldec | 1973 | Period |
| Die Bach Kantate Vol. 14 | Helmuth RillingIndiana University Chamber SingersBach-Collegium Stuttgart | Hänssler | 1976 | ||
| J. S. Bach: Magnificat BWV 243 · Cantata BWV 21 | Sigiswald KuijkenNederlands KamerkoorLa Petite Bande | Virgin Classics | 1983 | Period | |
| J. S. Bach: Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis | Philippe HerrewegheCollegium Vocale GentLa Chapelle Royale | Harmonia Mundi | 1990 | Period | |
| Christmas With the Vienna Boys Choir | Peter MarschikWiener SängerknabenStuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra |
|
Delta Entertainment Corporation | 1993 | |
| J. S. Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 1 | Ton KoopmanAmsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir | Antoine Marchand | 1994 | Period | |
| J. S. Bach: Cantatas Vol. 6 | Masaaki SuzukiBach Collegium Japan | BIS | 1997 | Period | |
| Bach Edition Vol. 19 – Cantatas Vol. 10 | Pieter Jan LeusinkHolland Boys ChoirNetherlands Bach Collegium | Brilliant Classics | 2000 | Period | |
| Bach Cantatas Vol. 2: Paris/Zürich / For the 2nd Sunday after Trinity / For the 3rd Sunday after Trinity | John Eliot GardinerMonteverdi ChoirEnglish Baroque Soloists | Soli Deo Gloria | 2000 | Period
|
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Dürr, Alfred; Jones, Richard D. P. (2006). The Cantatas of J. S. Bach: With Their Librettos in German-English Parallel Text. Oxford University Press. pp. 405–412. ISBN 9780199297764.
- ^ a b c d e f Gardiner, John Eliot (2010). Bach: Cantatas Nos 2, 10, 21, 76 & 135 (Cantatas Vol 2) (Media notes). Soli Deo Gloria (at Hyperion Records website). Retrieved 11 August 2018.
- ^ a b Hofmann, Klaus (1997). "BWV 2l: Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis / (There were many afflictions)" (PDF). Bach Cantatas Website. p. 2. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
- ^ Dürr, Alfred (1981). Die Kantaten von Johann Sebastian Bach (in German). Vol. 1 (4 ed.). Deutscher Taschenbuchverlag. pp. 348–350. ISBN 3-423-04080-7.
- ^ "Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten / Text and Translation of Chorale". Bach Cantatas Website. 2008. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
- ^ "Chorale Melodies used in Bach's Vocal Works / Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten". Bach Cantatas Website. 2006. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
- ^ Bischof, Walter F. "BWV 21 Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis". University of Alberta. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
- ^ Mincham, Julian (2010). "Chapter 4 Bwv 21 – The Cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach". jsbachcantatas.com. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Dellal, Pamela. "BWV 21 – Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis". Emmanuel Music. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- ^ Wolff, Christoph (1994). "Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis, BWV 21" (PDF). Bach Cantatas Website. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
- ^ Oron, Aryeh. "Cantata BWV 21 Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis". Bach Cantatas Website. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
External links
edit- Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis, BWV 21: performance by the Netherlands Bach Society (video and background information)
- Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis, BWV 21: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
- Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis (1st version) BWV 21; BC A 99a / Sacred cantata (3rd Sunday after Trinity), Bach Digital
- Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis (2nd version) BWV 21; BC A 99a / Sacred cantata (3rd Sunday after Trinity), Bach Digital
- Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis (3rd version) BWV 21; BC A 99a / Sacred cantata (3rd Sunday after Trinity), Bach Digital