Weihnachtsoratorium? No, six cantatas for all ‘holy days’ between Christmas 1734 and Epiphany 1735
Bach thematically linked the cantatas he had to write for the six celebrations during the High Feast of Christmas in 1734-5 (from 25 December to 6 January) but performed them separately in Leipzig on the prescribed Sundays and holidays. He himself called it an ‘oratorio’ (it is written on the score and textbook, see below, post factum), but by using the term ‘oratorio’ he did not mean that the cantatas should be performed concertante during one session. That is our backward-projection from later ‘oratorio’. Nor do the six form a true musical unit, although many musicologists claim this, including Alfred Dürr, whom I highly esteem.
Proof of how tough surviving representations (fictions) can be. The first three could still be said to form a unit (= 25, 26, 27 December), but then it stops. There is no overarching emotional movement, that holds all cantatas together. When Bach does call them ‘oratorio’ (in six partes), I think he is referring to the composition style : the gospel story is integrated into the ‘music’. That this is spread over a series of days, is a performance practice also used by Buxtehude in his ‘Abendmusiken’. At the beginning of the century, the latter had e.g. performed a series of ‘Abendmusiken’ during Advent that followed one another thematically. Nor should we forget that people actually experienced the Christmas period as one festive event, spread over almost two weeks. He hardly writes new cantatas anymore. He is in his ‘recycling-compilation period’ (and I mean that without negative connotation) and has apparently figured out that the musical form ‘oratorio’ offers an opportunity to valorise older material in an original way. The Easter Oratorio and the Ascension Oratorio (1735) are both also based on older material, and are from the same liturgical year. So, the fiction has its origins with Bach (he himself called his six cantatas with continuous gospel recite an oratorio), but he meant something different from what we understand it to mean.
Summa: What distinguishes Bach’s Christmas cantatas of 1734/5 from ordinary cantatas is that he included the text of the Gospel in the cantata as a recitative. This never occurs in other cantatas. The Christmas Gospel fragments are in chronological order. The integration into the cantatas has been nicely done by the librettist (Bach himself ?, Picander?). Wonderful how, for example, in the first cantata the secco recitative is led via a meditative theological piece (accompagnato in No 3, or in dialogue with a chorale in No 7) to an aria.
Overview (date and location)
- December 25, 1734 (Saturday): Part I: Jauchzet, frohlocket, auf, preiset die Tage
‘Frühe zu St Nicolai und Nachmittags zu St. Thomae’ (early in the stNicholas, afternoon in stThomas) - December 26, 1734 (Sunday): Part II: Und es waren Hirten in derselben Gegend
St. Thomas Church; St. Nicholas Church - December 27, 1734 (Monday, 3rd Christmas Day): Part III: Herrscher des Himmels, erhöre das Lallen St Nicholas Church
- Jan 1, 1735 (Saturday, Circumcision and Naming): Part IV: Fallt mit Danken, fallt mit Loben
St. Thomas Church; St. Nicholas Church - Jan 2, 1735 (Sunday): Part V: Ehre sei dir, Gott, gesungen St Nicholas Church
- Jan 6, 1735 (Thursday, Epiphany-Thursday): Part VI: Herr, wenn die stolzen Feinde schnauben St. Thomas Church; St. Nicholas Church
text booklet (libretto) – printed afterwards, 1735
The ‘text booklet’ (libretto)for the six cantatas Bach performed during the Christmas season of 1734-1735 has been preserved. What is striking about this booklet is that it looks like a standard textbook as Bach published in advance for his cantatas (so you could follow along in the mass), but the title speaks of the performance in the past tense : ‘Oratorium, welches… zu Leipzig… musiciret wurde…. Anno 1734.’ (Oratorium, which … in Leipzig … was performed … in 1734). Could it be a second issue… because of success or to retrospectively qualify the six cantatas as an oratorio? I’m just thinking out loud. The booklet cannot be downloaded digitally (CARUS-Verlag has apparently acquired the rights – it sells reprints. Here is the first page:
The layout and announcement style is quite similar to the other textbooks we know. Nice to see how the Christmas season began with the performance of the first cantata during the main mass on Christmas Day ‘frühe zu St. Nicolai’ (i.e. at 7:00 in the morning!) and the repeat in the afternoon ‘zu St. Thomae’. Not only among preachers is the Christmas season sometimes called a ten-day campaign. From Christmas Eve (24 December – midnight mass) to the feast of Epiphany on 6 January, almost two weeks of full on service.
Bachs Parodieverfahren (reuse of festive secular cantatas from 1733/1734, in particular BWV 213 en 214)
Compare both scores: The first image is page 1 of the cantata for Christmas Day, Jauchzet, frohlocket, the famous opening chorus of the Weihnachtsoratorium. The word ‘Oratorium’ was added later. In the top left corner, if you look closely, you will see JJ . Jesu Juva (Jesus, help me!). The title is: Feria 1 Nativitatis Xti (=Christi) à 4 voci etc…. (The first feast day of Christmas)
The second image is the beginning of the Congratulatory Cantata for the birthday of Elector Queen Maria Josepha on 8 December 1733: Thönet ihr Pauken, erschallet Trompeten (BWV 214). It is the same music. The oratorio parts 1, 8 (Pars I) and 15, 24 (Pars II, III) are from this work which sounded at Café Zimmermann on 8 December 1733, performed by Bach with his Collegium Musicum. Also there on the top left ]]…. Bach calls this work a Drama p(er) Musica à 4 voci etc….
Below the page where Bach shows how he transforms this already festive opening chorus from 1733 into the great Christmas overture, which we all now associate with the Weihnachtsoratorium. With timpani and trumpets (like the original). In the new score, he still writes that phrase below the notes. Mistake? Or would the cantata have originally started with this phrase too? Be that as it may. He deletes the old text and writes the new text above the soprano line and below the bass line. That’s it.
Dram[m]a per musica
By the way, textbooks of this kind of festive music were often printed as well. Below is the title page of the already mentioned BWV 214, the Congratulatory Cantata for the Elector Queen Maria Josepha (Queen of Poland). Here the title page and the first page: Thönet ihr Pauken, erschallet Trompeten with in the B section a triple “Long Live the Queen!” NB: so this is the primal text of the opening chorus of the Weihnachtsoratorium. That has implications for the word-tone relationship I would think (see below)
Further items include:
- the cantata: Laßt uns sorgen, laßt uns wachen. Herkules auf dem Scheidewege (BWV 213), a congratulatory cantata for the birthday of the Elector Prince Friedrich Christian (5 September 1733). From this the oratorio movements 4, 19, 29, 36, 39, 41
- The cantata Preise dein Glücke, gesegnetes Sachsen (BWV 215), from which the oratorio part 47 was taken.
The remaining recycled elements are taken from a lost spiritual cantata (BWV 248a) for an unknown destination (from it the oratorio parts 54, 56, 57, 61-64). And elements from another lost cantata and the 1731 Markus Passion (also not extant).
Is that a lot? Yes, that’s the vast majority of the elaborated musical pieces (to be precise: 9 of the 10 arias, 5 of the 8 choruses, the duet and the trio. What Bach composed ‘new’ are 1 aria, 3 choral pieces and a mass of recitatives (25 out of 27 – the 2 ‘accompagnata’ recitatives were also ready) and chorale settings. Furthermore, he had to retouch some arias because of a very different intended ‘affekt’ (Example below: Affekt ‘rejection’ had to be changed to ‘welcoming’. No problem for Bach).
Implications for text expression:
The same music should express ‘welcoming’ and ‘rejection’. I illustrate this by comparing the lyrics of Bereite dich Zion vs. Ich will dich nicht hören : with audio. From Hercules to Saviour.
Bereite dich Zion vs. Ich will dich nicht hören (BWV213 – BWV 248)
Is that a bad thing? No, enjoy the magisterial music, but it does mean that the textual expressiveness of certain parts (especially the choruses and the arias) in the Weihnachtsoratorium is compromised when original and parody text do not match. Such is the case in the lovely aria Bereite dich Zion, mit zärtlichen Trieben (4): a call to tenderly welcome the Christ child. the original contains a decided rejection of the temptation of ‘Wellust’ (Ich will dich nicht hören, ich will dich nicht wissen!), which then also features, in wordpainting, a snake that is ‘zermalmet, zerrissen’ (crushed, torn) in the final line. The original is BWV 213, the congratulatory cantata, evoking the story of Herkules am Scheidewege. ‘Lust’ competes with ‘Virtue’ for Hercules’ attention. The hero does not succumb and ‘Welllust’ has to decline. This strong rejection (‘Ich will dich nicht hören’, with the repeated ich will nicht, ich mag nicht) is part A of the aria. He doesn’t kick in, Hercules, then refers to an earlier attack on his life when he was an infant. Just as he had given short shrift to those writhing serpents then as a baby/hero, so too now to the serpent of the seductively writhing ‘Pleasure’. This is part B of the aria. All in all, surely a rather large substantive contrast with the Oratorio’s call to approach Christ full of desire.
BWV 213 (nr. 9)
Ich will dich nicht hören, ich will dich nicht wissen,
Verworfene Wollust, ich kenne dich nicht.
Denn die Schlangen,
So mich wollten wiegend fangen,
Hab ich schon lange zermalmet, zerrissen.
BWV 248 (nr. 4)
Bereite dich, Zion, mit zärtlichen Trieben,
Den Schönsten, den Liebsten bald bei dir zu sehn!
Deine Wangen
Müssen heut viel schöner prangen,
Eile, den Bräutigam sehnlichst zu lieben!
If you watch and listen to the music, you will hear the fierce rejection at the beginning an the aria. In the B movement, the bass line at ‘Denn die Schlangen’ begins to meander more and more fiercely as the text progresses, only to make short work of the snake after the long-held word ‘lange’ at the words ‘zermalmet, zerrissen’.
You may, of course, say that retaining this wordpainting in the aria in the Christmas cantata is very profound, associative subtext: The serpent as a kind of inside joke by Bach (Isn’t the serpent the Old Enemy from the Garden of Eden, to which the so-called ‘Mother Promise’ from Genesis refers: a daughter of Eve will crush the serpent). But that, of course, is too far-fetched and too much honour. If so, Picander would have mentioned that snake in the alto aria. The alto has no ‘snake-like’ word at all, not even by association. He just has to sing ‘Cheeks’ while the ‘snake’ meanders on in the music and so has to make the best of it.
And when at the end the music suggests that Hercules has crushed and strangled that snake, she has to sing that she sehnlichst liebt the groom. Go for it. And
Bach, as a concession, softened the articulation (among other things, took out the staccatos), replaced the violins with oboes, and on ‘zermalmet, zerrissen’ took out the leaps (made melodic line flowing). [The yellow notes from both music examples cover each other]
It is enough to get away with, but the transformation of a belligerent rejection into a yearning declaration of love does not convince me. Hear the original here: (René Jacobs as conductor. High tempo, but the mood is well struck. Afterwards, put on the Weihnachtsoratorium again and listen to aria 4).
And in case you are surprised by the original Echo aria (No 39), know that this aria too comes from the same mythological cantata, where ‘Echo’ is a real person (persona) in the ‘drama per musica’ as Bach himself called these concertante theatre pieces at the time, a genre that was very popular, especially in Dresden (where the court was located…)
Thönet ihr Pauken vs. Jauchzet frohlocket, (BWV 214 – BWV 248)
Tenslotte een voorbeeld van hoe gemakzuchtig (snel tevreden) Bach op het punt van tekstplaatsing kan zijn, d.w.z. een relativering van de visie dat Bach altijd eerst een ‘Dienaar des Woords’ is. Haal u de muziek van het openingskoor Jauchzet, frohlocket te binnen. Dan weet u dat het tweede gedeelte van deze zin wat vreemd klinkt: Auf preiset die Tage. Het lijkt alsof je auf en preiset aan elkaar moet zingen, zozeer zelfs dat niet Duitse zangers dat gewoon doen, alsof het werkwoord ‘aufpreisen’ bestaat. Toch staat er in het tekstboekje (zie boven), heel duidelijk een cesuur. Vier uitroeptekens: Jauchzet! Frohlocket! Auf! Preiset die Tage! Wat zoveel wil zeggen als Sta op! Prijst de dagen! De muziek laat dat uitroepteken echter absoluut niet toe. Logisch, want in het origineel staat: Thönet ihr Pauken ! Erschallet Trompeten. Snapt u trouwens meteen waarom de ouverture met een paukenmotief begint, beantwoord door een trompetcascade…
Finally, an example of how facile (quickly satisfied) Bach can be in terms of text placement, i.e. putting into perspective the view that Bach is always a ‘Servant of the Word’ first. Recall the music of the opening chorus Jauchzet, frohlocket. Then you will know that the second part of this phrase sounds a bit strange:
– Auf preiset die Tage
It seems like you have to sing auf and preiset together, so much so that non-German singers just do it, as if the verb ‘aufpreisen‘ would really exist. Yet the textbook (see above), very clearly states a caesura. Four exclamation marks: Jauchzet! Frohlocket! Auf! Preiset die Tage! Which means as much as Get up! Praise the days!
However, the music absolutely does not allow that exclamation mark. Logical, because the original reads: Thönet ihr Pauken ! Erschallet Trompeten. By the way, you immediately understand why the overture begins with a timpani motif, answered by a trumpet cascade….
BWV 214
Tönet, ihr Pauken! Erschallet, Trompeten!
Klingende Saiten, erfüllet die Luft!
Singet itzt Lieder, ihr muntren Poeten,
Königin lebe! wird fröhlich geruft.
Königin lebe! dies wünschet der Sachse,
Königin lebe und blühe und wachse!
BWV 248:
Jauchzet, frohlocket! auf ! Preiset die Tage,
Rühmet, was heute der Höchste getan!
Lasset das Zagen, verbannet die Klage,
Stimmet voll Jauchzen und Fröhlichkeit an!
Dienet dem Höchsten mit herrlichen Chören,
Lasst uns den Namen des Herrschers verehren!
Here is a performance of the beginning of the secular cantata. The atmosphere, the music and the text (‘Tönet ihr Pauken) are all right, which you can’t really say about the opening chorus of the Weihnachtsoratorium. But it is still beautiful music… So enjoy it above all, but leave aside the myth-making around Bach. In this, the ancient Greeks far surpassed us.
the final chorus of BWV 214 (opening and closing chorus of Christmas oratorio BWV248/III)
In the final piece (not chorus!) of the congratulatory cantata BWV 214 (s.b.), the four protagonists (mythical persons: Irene, Bellona, Pallas and Fama) join their voices for a final toast (A festive wish) for the birthday queen. Irene (the tenor, peaceful) begins: May the Linden trees (Lipa > Lipsiensis > Leipzig) bloom like cedars. Bellona (soprano, goddess of war) replies: That the weapons clatter and the chariots with their wheels may thunder over the roads (yes, warfare still was …). Pallas (alto, patroness of art and science) calls on all the muses once more to sing with loud chanting, to which finally Fama (bass, the fame) wishes much mirth and joy to the birthday queen: And then finally all together one more time: Long live the queen. Long may she live!
Tekst van deze Aria:
Irene (Tenor): Blühet, ihr Linden in Sachsen, wie Zedern!
Bellona (Sopraan): Schallet mit Waffen und Wagen und Rädern!
Pallas (Alt): Singet, ihr Musen, mit völligem Klang!
Fama (Bas): Fröhliche Stunden, ihr freudigen Zeiten!
Gönnt uns noch öfters die güldenen Freuden:
Königin, lebe, ja lebe noch lang!
This is the material of the opening chorus (and repeated as the closing chorus, even though it is not in the textbook) of the third Christmas cantata, BWV 248/III: Herrscher des Himmels, erhöre das Lallen.
Herrscher des Himmels, erhöre das Lallen,
Laß dir die matten Gesänge gefallen,
Wenn dich dein Zion mit Psalmen erhöht!
Höre der Herzen frohlockendes Preisen,
Wenn wir dir itzo die Ehrfurcht erweisen,
Weil unsre Wohlfahrt befestiget steht!
A solo performance urges itself, at least of the first three text inserts, I would say. In the performance below, even in the secular version, it is done chorally, incorrectly. Because what does it say at the top of the textbook: ARIA. And if you look at the musical form, you see the snare-filled scheme of an old dance in 3/4 measure (6 x 16 measures), a Passepied. Dance away!
Since I haven’t found a satisfactory solo performance of the world cantata BWV 214, here’s the one (= same performance as above, with the opening chorus of BWV 248/I)…