Entfliehet, verschwindet, entweichet, ihr Sorgen (Fly, vanish, flee, o worries), BWV 249a, is a secular cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach, first performed in 1725, also known as Shepherd cantata. Bach reworked the music in his Easter Oratorio.
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The cantata was written in 1725 for the 43rd birthday of Christian, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels and first performed at Schloss Neu-Augustusburg on 23 February 1725. The text was written by Picander and published. The music is lost but was reworked in the Easter Oratorio. Friedrich Smend researched that the order of movements was not changed, and that therefore the music could be reconstructed. The missing recitatives were added by Hermann Keller. It is not known if the two instrumental movements opening the oratorio were already part of the cantata.
The simple story shows four shepherds leaving their flock to congratulate. The shepherds are Doris (soprano), Sylvia (alto), Damoetas (tenor) and Menalcas (bass). The orchestra is festively scored for three trumpets, timpani, two oboes, oboe d’amore, bassoon, two recorders, transverse flute, violins, and basso continuo.
The tenor aria Wieget euch, ihr satten Schafe is accompanied by muted violins doubled by recorders, suggesting a lullaby as well as pastoral music.
J.S. Bach: Schäferkantate BWV 249a · Doppelkonzert nach BWV 1060, Edith Mathis, Hetty Plümacher, Theo Altmeyer, Jakob Stämpfli, Gächinger Kantorei & Figuralchor der Gedächtniskirche Stuttgart, Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, conductor Helmuth Rilling, Cantate-Musicaphon 1967
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