Klagt, Kinder, klagt es aller Welt, BWV 244a
The funeral cantata Klagt, Kinder, klagt es aller Welt, BWV 244a, also called Köthener Trauermusik, is a lost composition of Johann Sebastian Bach. The Trauermusik was composed for the memorial service for Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen on 24 March 1729 in the St. Jakob church in Köthen, one day after the prince's burial in the crypt of the church. Bach's librettist Picander wrote the text. The libretto exists in three versions, which differ in some details.[1]
A partial reconstruction was performed by Hans Grüß. The first complete reconstruction, by Andrew Parrott, was performed in 2004 and recorded in 2010. A subsequent reconstruction has been made by Alexander Ferdinand Grychtolik in 2010.
The Trauermusik BWV244a is important to understand the history of the St Matthew Passion, BWV 244.
Structure
The Trauermusik is an extended funeral cantata in 24 movements (choruses, arias and recitatives) in four parts. The first part is about the national mourning, the second part is about the prince's departing and the salvation of his soul. The third part, that followed after the homily, deals with Leopold's commemoration. The last part is about the farewell and about the deathlike silence.
Reconstructions
Wilhelm Rust discovered that Bach used for the Trauermusik older movements from the Trauer-Ode Laß, Fürstin, laß noch einen Strahl, BWV 198 and from the St Matthew Passion.[2]
Several reconstructions exist:
- The German musicologist Hans Grüß reconstructed in 2000 all arias and most of the choruses. In this version the text of the recitatives has to be performed by a speaker.
- The first complete reconstruction was made by Andrew Parrott and first performed under his direction by the New York Collegium in 2004. He recorded this edition in 2010 with his Taverner Consort and Players (J.S. Bach Trauer-Music: 'Music to mourn Prince Leopold', Avie Records, 2011). See Andrew Parrott, J. S. Bach's Trauer-Music for Prince Leopold: clarification and reconstruction, Early Music 39/4 (November 2011).
- The German harpsichordist Alexander Ferdinand Grychtolik made an edition of another full reconstruction of the Trauermusik in 2010. In this version most of the recitatives of the Trauermusik are adapted from accompagnato recitatives of the St Matthew Passion. This reconstruction is based on an assumption of the German musicologist Detlef Gojowy which supposed, that there is a parody connection not only between arias and choruses, but also between the accompagnato recitatives of both works.[3]
References
- ^ 1. Reproduction of a hand written version: Kritischer Bericht, Neue Bach-Ausgabe (BWV 244a), Volume II/5b, p. 137 ff.
2. The first print from Cöthen (1729), reproduction in: Sämtliche von Johann Sebastian Bach vertonte Texte, edited by Werner Neumann, Leipzig 1974, p. 398 ff.
3. A shorter reprint in Picanders Ernst-Schertzhaffte und Satyrische Gedichte, Part III, Leipzig 1732, p. 189–195 and 4. another reprint, that has only small differences in typography and syntax compared to Picander's first edition from 1732: Picanders bis anhero herausgegebene Ernst-Scherzhafte und Satyrische Gedichte, auf das neue übersehen und in einer bessern Wahl und Ordnung an das Licht gestellet, Leipzig 1748, p. 328–333.
- ^ Bach-Gesamtausgabe (BGA), Volume 20/2, p. X ff.
- ^ Gojowy, Detlef: Zur Frage der Köthener Trauermusik und der Matthäuspassion, in: Bach-Jahrbuch 1965, p. 86 ff. and p. 131 ff.
External links