Uns ist ein Kind geboren, BWV 142

Last updated

First page of opening sinfonia of Uns ist ein Kind geboren in manuscript copy made in 1756 by C. F. Penzel, who named Bach as composer in the heading BWV142-concerto-Penzel-1756.png
First page of opening sinfonia of Uns ist ein Kind geboren in manuscript copy made in 1756 by C. F. Penzel, who named Bach as composer in the heading
Gnome-mime-audio-openclipart.svg
Concerto
Uns ist ein Kind geboren
Dein Geburtstag ist erschienen
Ich will den Namen Gottes loben mit einem Liede
Jesu, dir sei Dank gesungen
Immanuel!
Jesu, dir sei Preis gesungen
Alleluja, Alleluja, gelobet sei Gott
Problems playing these files? See media help.

Uns ist ein Kind geboren (Unto us a child is born), BWV 142 / Anh. II 23, is a Christmas cantata by an unknown composer. [1] [2] In the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis it is listed among the works with a doubtful attribution to Johann Sebastian Bach. [3] The text is based on a libretto by Erdmann Neumeister first published in 1711. Although attributed to Bach by the Bach-Gesellschaft when they first published it in the late nineteenth century, that attribution was questioned within thirty years and is no longer accepted. Johann Kuhnau, Bach's predecessor as Thomaskantor in Leipzig, has been suggested as the probable composer, but without any certainty.

Contents

The cantata is in eight movements, and is scored for vocal soloists, choir, recorders, oboes, strings and continuo.

History, authenticity and attribution

Title page of Leipzig word-book containing text of 1720 Christmas Day cantata Leipzig-Textdruck-1720.jpg
Title page of Leipzig word-book containing text of 1720 Christmas Day cantata

The biblical text, chorale and free verse come from the 1711 collection of librettos of the writer, theologian, pastor and theorist, Erdmann Neumeister. [5] A libretto, based on Neumeister's text, survives in the Stadtgeschichtliches Museum, Leipzig for a cantata with this title. The cantata was listed to be performed in both of the main churches in Leipzig—the Thomaskirche and Nikolaikirche—on Christmas Day 1720, during the period when Johann Kuhnau was Thomaskantor. The earliest surviving manuscript copy of BWV 142 made by Christian Friedrich Penzel in Leipzig on 8 May 1756 is also based on Neumeister's text. Penzel credited J.S. Bach as the author in the heading of the sinfonia on the first page of the manuscript; and he signed the last page, giving the date and place. Differences between the 1720 and 1756 librettos and Neumeister's original text are discussed by Glöckner (2000), but it has not been possible to determine whether the 1756 cantata is a subsequent reworking of the 1720 cantata. [6]

Around the 1830s Franz Xaver Gleichauf  [ scores ] made a hand copy of the score of the BWV 142 cantata, without mentioning a composer in his manuscript. [7] [3] In 1843 the Penzel manuscript was copied in Vienna. [8] [9] Another copy of the cantata, made around the same time, was later owned by Johann Theodor Mosewius, who listed Uns ist ein Kind geboren as one of five Christmas cantatas by Bach in an 1845 publication. [10] [11] [12] 19th-century Bach-biographies by Hilgenfeldt (1850), Bitter (1865), Spitta (1873), and Lane Poole (1882) mention Uns ist ein Kind geboren as a cantata composed by Bach. [13] [14] [15] [16]

In 1873, before questions of authenticity had been raised, Philipp Spitta devoted 18 pages of his two-volume biography of Bach to a comparison of Bach and Telemann cantatas that set the same Neumeister text: [17] Spitta's commentary—praising Bach's music while disparaging Telemann's—was typical of musical criticism in the late nineteenth century. [18] [19] Spitta compares the BWV 142 cantata with TVWV  1:1451, [20] a cantata by Telemann on the same libretto by Neumeister: he is fairly dismissive about the Telemann composition ("... probably written in half-an-hour ...", "... shows us the worst side of the church music of the time ..." etc.), only finding a few places where Telemann's composition compares favourably to the composition he attributes to Bach. [15] [21] According to Spitta, Bach "adhered throughout the cantata to the subdued minor key, which offers so singular a contrast to the bright joyfulness of Christmas. It gives a tone as of melancholy reminiscences of the pure Christmas joys of our childhood ...; in contrast to this Telemann's eternal C major is often unutterably shallow and flat." [21] [15]

The cantata was first published as a work of Bach in 1884 by the Bach-Gesellschaft, with Paul Waldersee as editor. [5] [22] After subsequent commentary by Bach scholars Johannes Schreyer, Arnold Schering and Alfred Dürr, that attribution was no longer generally accepted, although the identity of the original composer has not so far been established with certainty. After Schreyer and Schering had cast doubts in 1912–1913 on authorship by Bach, Dürr subjected the cantata in 1977 to the same detailed and rigorous musical analysis as all the other cantatas of Bach. Having established that, if by Bach, the cantata could only have been composed in 1711–1716 during Bach's period in Weimar, Dürr ruled out authorship by Bach based on the presence of uncharacteristic stylistic features (such as the restricted range of the vocal part in the recitative; excessive homophony in the choruses; two obbligato instruments and over-frequent instrumental episodes in the arias, with the solo voice dominating and the instruments consigned to an imitative decorative role), as well as the absence of characteristic elements (such as permutation fugues in choruses; balanced concertato alternation between solo voices and instruments in arias; ostinato-type forms in arias and ritornellos). [23] [24]

According to David Erler, writing in the program notes of a 2015 concert, the cantata has been widely attributed to Kuhnau. [25] Schering had suggested Kuhnau as the possible composer of the cantata in the Bach-Jahrbuch of 1912. [23] [26] Five years later he retracted that suggestion, then thinking it more likely that the cantata was written by one of Kuhnau's students. [27] In the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis of 1998, the cantata is listed in Anhang II, the annex of doubtful works. [26] [28] According to the critical commentary of the New Bach Edition, written by Andreas Glöckner, possible problems with the attribution to Kuhnau arise from differences between the surviving 1720 Leipzig libretto for Kuhnau's cantata and the text in Penzel's version; with the modernity of the opening sinfonia, which departs from Kuhnau's more conservative style; and from the absence in Penzel's version of trumpets and drums, instruments traditionally used in the two main churches of Leipzig for Christmas Day cantatas. [29]

Movements

First page of the closing chorale of BWV 142 in Penzel's manuscript copy of 1756 BWV142-chorale-Penzel-1756.png
First page of the closing chorale of BWV 142 in Penzel's manuscript copy of 1756

The cantata is scored for three vocal soloists (alto, tenor and bass), a four-part choir, two alto recorders, two oboes, two violins, viola and continuo. [30]

The piece has eight movements: [31]

  1. Sinfonia, an instrumental concerto for two alto recorders, two oboes and strings.
  2. Chorus: Uns ist ein Kind geboren (For unto us a child is born), a double fugue with the first theme set to the text "Uns ist ein Kind geboren" and the second set to "Eins Sohn ist uns gegeben".
  3. Aria (bass): Dein Geburtstag ist erschienen (So appears the Natal day). In this aria in E minor the bass is accompanied by two obbligato violins and continuo.
  4. Chorus: Ich will den Namen Gottes loben (I will praise the name of God). This short choral movement begins with a fugato section in which the four vocal parts are accompanied by the first and second violins. After the fugal entries, the music is homophonic.
  5. Aria (tenor): Jesu, dir sei Dank (Jesus, thanks be to you). In this relatively short da capo aria, the tenor is accompanied by two obbligato oboes.
  6. Recitative (alto): Immanuel (Emmanuel!)
  7. Aria (alto): Jesu, dir sei Preis (Praise be to you, Jesus). Set to new words, this aria is a transposition of the 5th movement from A minor to D minor, with the alto replacing the tenor and the two alto recorders replacing the oboes.
  8. Chorus: Alleluia. Over an almost uninterrupted stream of semiquaver figures played in unison by alto recorders, oboes and violins, the choir sings the final four-part chorale line by line.

Translations

In 1939, Sydney Biden provided the English translation for the cantata For us a child is born. [32]

Arrangements

In 1940, William Walton orchestrated the first bass aria in the cantata as dance music for Frederick Ashton's ballet The Wise Virgins. [33] Arrangements of the final chorus for organ and one or more brass instruments have been published separately. [34]

Recordings

Recordings of the cantata include:

Notes

  1. ↑ Work 00174 at Bach Digital website. 10 April 2017.
  2. ↑ RISM   467300002
  3. 1 2 RISM   220036186
  4. ↑ Glöckner 2000 , p. 118 The title page reads: Texte | zur Leipziger | Kirchen Music, | auf die Heiligen | Weynachts-Feyertage, | und den Sonntag darauf, | 1720. | Ingleichen auf das Fest | Der Beschneidung Christi, | den darauf folgenden Sonntag, | Das Fest der Offenbahrung, | und den Sonntag darauf, | des 1721sten Jahres. | Leipzig, | gedruckt bey Immanuel Tietzen.
  5. 1 2 Glöckner 2000 , p. 117
  6. ↑ See:Glöckner 2000; Dürr 1977 , p. 57; Buelow 2001; Palisca, Claude V. (1991), Baroque Music (3rd ed.), Prentice-Hall, p. 321; Küster 1999
  7. ↑ D-HAmi Ms. 165 at Bach Digital website
  8. ↑ D-B Mus. ms. Bach P 464, Fascicle 1 at Bach Digital website
  9. ↑ Waldersee 1884, pp. XV–XXI.
  10. ↑ PL-Wu RM 5908, Fascicle 5 at Bach Digital website
  11. ↑ RISM   300512416
  12. ↑ Mosewius 1845, p.  20.
  13. ↑ Hilgenfeldt 1850, p.  99.
  14. ↑ Bitter 1865, vol. II, p. XCVII.
  15. 1 2 3 Spitta 1873 , pp. 480–485 , n. 21 pp. 797–798 (English translation: Spitta 1899 , Vol. I, pp. 487–491 , n. 20, pp. 630–631)
  16. ↑ Lane Poole 1882, p.  131.
  17. ↑ Talle 2013 , p. 50
  18. ↑ Buelow 2004 , pp. 566–567
  19. ↑ Zohn 2001, see "Georg Philipp Telemann & Bach – Discussions – Part 1. For further commentary on Spitta's comparison of Telemann and Bach, see also Hirschmann 2013 , p. 6, Swack 1992 , p. 139
  20. ↑ Swack 1992, p. 139.
  21. 1 2 Sandberger 1997 , pp.  188 – 189
  22. ↑ Waldersee 1884
  23. 1 2 Schering 1913, p. 133.
  24. ↑ See: Dürr 1977 , pp. 209–211; Dürr 2006; "Uns ist ein Kind geboren". Bach Digital (in German). Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  25. ↑ Erler 2015.
  26. 1 2 Simon Crouch. Uns ist ein Kind geboren (Unto us a child is born): Cantata 142. Classical Net, 1998.
  27. ↑ Schering 1918, p. XLIV.
  28. ↑ Schmieder, Dürr, and Kobayashi 1998, p. 459.
  29. ↑ Glöckner 2000.
  30. ↑ "Cantata BWV 142 Uns ist ein Kind Geoboren". Bach Cantatas Website. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  31. ↑ See: Zedler 2009, Whittaker 1959 , pp. 160–161
  32. ↑ "Bach Bibliography".
  33. ↑ Boyd 1999.
  34. ↑ Laster 2005, p.  11.

Related Research Articles

The Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis is a catalogue of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was first published in 1950, edited by Wolfgang Schmieder. The catalogue's second edition appeared in 1990. An abbreviated version of that second edition, known as BWV2a, was published in 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johann Ludwig Bach</span> German composer

Johann Ludwig Bach was a German composer and violinist.

<i>Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern</i>, BWV 1 Church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach

Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, BWV 1, is a church cantata for Annunciation by Johann Sebastian Bach. In 1725, when the cantata was composed, the feast of the Annunciation coincided with Palm Sunday. Based on Philipp Nicolai's hymn "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern" (1599), it is one of Bach's chorale cantatas. Bach composed it in his second year as Thomaskantor in Leipzig, where the Marian feast was the only occasion during Lent when music of this kind was permitted. The theme of the hymn suits both the Annunciation and Palm Sunday occasions, in a spirit of longing expectation of an arrival. As usual for Bach's chorale cantata cycle, the hymn was paraphrased by a contemporary poet who retained the hymn's first and last stanzas unchanged, but transformed the themes of the inner stanzas into a sequence of alternating recitatives and arias.

<i>Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben</i>, BWV 8 Church cantata by J.S. Bach

Liebster Gott, wenn werd ich sterben?, BWV 8, is a church cantata for the 16th Sunday after Trinity by Johann Sebastian Bach. It is a chorale cantata, part of Bach's second cantata cycle. Bach performed it for the first time on 24 September 1724 in St. Nicholas Church in Leipzig. The cantata is scored for SATB singers, four wind instruments, strings and continuo.

<i>Meine Seel erhebt den Herren</i>, BWV 10 Church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach

In 1724 Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata Meine Seel erhebt den Herren, BWV 10, as part of his second cantata cycle. Taken from Martin Luther's German translation of the Magnificat canticle, the title translates as "My soul magnifies the Lord". Also known as Bach's German Magnificat, the work follows his chorale cantata format.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magnificat (Bach)</span> Musical composition by Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach's Magnificat, BWV 243, is a musical setting of the biblical canticle Magnificat. It is scored for five vocal parts, and a Baroque orchestra including trumpets and timpani. It is the first major liturgical composition on a Latin text by Bach.

<i>Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott</i>, BWV 80 Cantata by J.S. Bach

Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott, BWV 80, is a chorale cantata for Reformation Day by Johann Sebastian Bach. He reworked it from one of his Weimar cantatas, Alles, was von Gott geboren, BWV 80a. The first Leipzig version of the church cantata, BWV 80b, may have been composed as early as 1723, some five months after Bach had moved to Leipzig. Some years later he reworked the cantata one more time, writing an extended chorale fantasia as its opening movement. The text of the BWV 80a version was written by Salomon Franck and contained one stanza of Martin Luther's hymn "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott"; for his chorale cantata versions, BWV 80b and 80, Bach added the complete text of this Lutheran hymn.

As Thomaskantor, Johann Sebastian Bach provided Passion music for Good Friday services in Leipzig. The extant St Matthew Passion and St John Passion are Passion oratorios composed by Bach.

<i>Schlage doch, gewünschte Stunde</i>, BWV 53 Aria from a church cantata formerly attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach

Schlage doch, gewünschte Stunde, BWV 53, is an aria for alto, bells, strings and continuo. It was likely composed in the early 18th century, although its date of first performance is unknown. From the second half of the 18th century until the early 1950s the aria was attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach. In 1955, it was suggested by the Bach scholar Karl Anton that the aria's composer was more likely to be a member of Melchior Hoffmann's circle.

In Johann Sebastian Bach's time, the election or inauguration of a new town council, normally an annual event, was celebrated with a church service. A cantata written for such occasion was indicated with the term Ratswahl or Ratswechsel. Bach composed such cantatas for Mühlhausen and for Leipzig. Five of these cantatas are entirely extant. One further cantata, BWV 193.2, lost part of its music, and there are another five that have only been known to exist, or for which only the text is extant.

<i>Wer ist der, so von Edom kömmt</i> Pasticcio Passion oratorio

Wer ist der, so von Edom kömmt is a pasticcio Passion oratorio based on compositions by Carl Heinrich Graun, Georg Philipp Telemann, Johann Sebastian Bach and others. The pasticcio was assembled around 1750.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BWV Anh.</span> Abbreviation for contentious attributions to Bach

The BWV Anh., is a list of lost, doubtful, and spurious compositions by, or once attributed to, Johann Sebastian Bach.

Performances of Johann Sebastian Bach's Magnificat come in three formats:

  1. D major version, BWV 243 with the twelve movements of that version;
  2. D major version, with the Christmas interpolations from the earlier version BWV 243a transposed and inserted after movements 2, 5, 7 and 9.
  3. E flat major version, BWV 243a. The difference with the previous format is not only the key signature, there are also differences in orchestration, e.g. in the earlier version flutes are not part of the tutti, so do not play in the choral movements 1, 7 and 12, and a trumpet solo in movement 10 instead of the later unison oboes. Other differences are minor, but there is for instance a slightly harsher harmony near the end of movement 4 in the earlier version.

The late church cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach are sacred cantatas he composed after his fourth cycle of 1728–29. Whether Bach still composed a full cantata cycle in the last 20 years of his life is not known, but the extant cantatas of this period written for occasions of the liturgical year are sometimes referred to as his fifth cycle, as, according to his obituary, he would have written five such cycles – inasmuch as such cantatas were not late additions to earlier cycles, or were adopted in his oratorios.

The Dietel manuscript, D-LEb Peters Ms. R 18, also known as the Dietel Collection and, in German, Choralsammlung Dietel, is the oldest extant manuscript with a large collection of four-part chorales by Johann Sebastian Bach. It contains 149 of Bach's chorale harmonisations and originated around 1735. The music in the manuscript was copied by Johann Ludwig Dietel, one of Bach's pupils from the Thomasschule.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magnificat in A minor (Hoffmann)</span> Vocal composition by Melchior Hoffmann of the Song of Mary from the Gospel of Luke

The Magnificat in A minor, BWV Anh. 21, TWV 1:1748, is Melchior Hoffmann's musical setting of a German version of the Song of Mary from the Gospel of Luke. The composition originated around 1707, when the composer was director musices and organist of the Neue Kirche in Leipzig. Composed in A minor, the Magnificat is scored for soprano and small orchestra. The work was first published in the 1950s, and it was recorded by Magda László, by Joshua Rifkin, by Wolfgang Helbich, and by Deborah York, among others.

<i>Der Gerechte kömmt um</i> (motet) Motet with arrangement attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach

Der Gerechte kömmt um, BWV 1149, is a motet for SSATB singers and instrumental ensemble, which, for its music, is based on the five-part a cappella motet Tristis est anima mea attributed to Johann Kuhnau, and has the Luther Bible translation of Isaiah 57:1–2 as text. The arrangement of the Latin motet, that is, transposing it to E minor, adjusting its music to the new text, and expanding it with an instrumental score for two traversos, two oboes, strings and basso continuo, is attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach. The setting is found in a manuscript copy, likely written down in the 1750s, of Wer ist der, so von Edom kömmt, a Passion oratorio which is a pasticcio based on compositions by, among others, Carl Heinrich Graun, Georg Philipp Telemann and Bach. Likely Der Gerechte kömmt um existed as a stand-alone motet, for example for performance on Good Friday or at a funeral, before being adopted in the pasticcio.

<i>Ich will den Kreuzweg gerne gehen</i> Church cantata by Georg Philipp Telemann

Georg Philipp Telemann composed the church cantata Ich will den Kreuzweg gerne gehen, TWV 1:884, for bass, violin and continuo for the 21st Sunday after Trinity. He used a text by Erdmann Neumeister.

References

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.