Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen
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Ich will den Kreuzstab gerne tragen (I Will Gladly Bear the Cross), BWV 56, is a solo cantata for bass by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was first performed in Leipzig on October 27, 1726.
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[edit] Origin
This cantata belongs to the third cantata season in Leipzig and was created for the 19th Sunday after Trinity Sunday (the first Sunday after Easter), which in 1726 was October 27. The original score has Bach's handwritten comment "Cantata à Voce Sola e Stromenti" (Cantata for a solo voice and instruments). This is one of the few examples in which Bach uses the generic musical term cantata in his own writing.
[edit] Theme
The text, written by an unknown poet, refers indirectly to the planned gospel reading for this Sunday which deals with the healing of a man with a palsy (Matt 9:1-8 KJV). The major theme is the sorrows and physical pains that the faithful endure in the hope of redemption after this life is over. Referring to the first verse of the reading "And he (Jesus) entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own city" (Matt 9:1), the text of the first Recitative compares life to a voyage by ship. The comparison between the desire for a journey's end and the longing for heaven is expressed in the concluding Chorale "Komm, o Tod, du Schlafes Bruder" (German: Come, O Death, Thou Brother of Sleep). This chorale refers to the sixth verse of the song "Du, o schönes Weltgebäude" (German: Thou, O lovely World's Creations) written by Johann Franck in 1653, which again describes life as a ship's journey.
[edit] Arrangement
Bass solo, Four voice Chorus in the final Choral Verse
Orchestra: Oboe I/II, Taille or Deep Oboe, Violin I/II, Viola, Basso Continuo. Except for an oboe solo in one aria, the oboes follow the strings colla parte.
[edit] Features
This relatively short work with its simple arrangement is one of the better known and most often played Bach cantatas. Additionally, the poetic text is of a very high quality and connects very well to the music. The solo voice paints the sighs of the soul as it groans under the weight of human suffering. The undulations of the music in the second section are easily recognizable as the movement of waves, which provide the background music to the reference to the ship's journey in the text. The second aria is a strong musical contrast to the opening movement and expresses the confidence of the Faithful clearly. Despite the simple composition which is usual in Bach's final chorales, the composer manages to grasp in music the longing for death and the resulting redemption with impressive intensity in the final movement.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- (German) Alfred Dürr: Johann Sebastian Bach: Die Kantaten. Bärenreiter, Kassel 1999, ISBN 3-7618-1476-3
- (German) Werner Neumann: Handbuch der Kantaten J.S.Bachs, 1947, 5th edition 1984, ISBN 3-7651-0054-4
- (German) Hans-Joachim Schulze: Die Bach-Kantaten: Einführungen zu sämtlichen Kantaten Johann Sebastian Bachs. Leipzig: Evangelische Verlags-Anstalt; Stuttgart: Carus-Verlag 2006 (Edition Bach-Archiv Leipzig) ISBN 3-374-02390-8 (Evang. Verl.-Anst.), ISBN 3-89948-073-2 (Carus-Verl.)
- (German) Christoph Wolff/Ton Koopman: Die Welt der Bach-Kantaten Verlag J.B. Metzler, Stuttgart, Weimar 2006 ISBN-13: 978-3-476-02127-4
This article incorporates text translated from the corresponding German Wikipedia article as of October 16, 2007.
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