O ewiges Feuer, o Ursprung der Liebe, BWV 34

O ewiges Feuer, o Ursprung der Liebe (O eternal fire, o source of love), BWV 34, is a church cantata composed by Johann Sebastian Bach.

As an adaptation of a previously composed secular cantata, BWV 34a, it reached its current form in Leipzig in 1740^[1] or by 1746 for the first day of Pentecost. The date of the work's premiere is unknown, but it certainly took place in or before 1746.

The prescribed readings for the day are Acts 2: 1-13 and John 14: 23-31.

The texts are of unknown authorship.^[2][3]

Scoring and structure

The piece is scored for oboes I/II, flauti traversi I/II, timpani (tamburi), trombe in D I/II/III, violins I/II, viola, and basso continuo, along with three vocal soloists (altus, tenor, bass) and four-part choir. It is in five movements:

1. (Coro): "O ewiges Feuer, o Ursprung der Liebe" for choir, trombe, timpani or tamburi, strings, and continuo.
2. Recitativo: "Herr, unsre Herzen halten dir" for tenor and continuo.
3. Aria: "Wohl euch, ihr auserwählten Seelen" for altus, flauti traversi, strings, and continuo (organo solo).
4. Recitativo: "Erwählt sich Gott die heilgen Hütten" for bass and continuo (tutti).
5. Coro: "Friede über Israel" for choir, trombe, timpani or tamburi, oboes, strings, and continuo.

Recordings

• Bach Cantatas Vol. 26: Long Melford - Alt.: Nathalie Stutzmann & Derek Lee Ragin; Ten.: Christoph Genz; Bass: Panajotis Iconomou; Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists; John Eliot Gardiner, conductor. Label: Soli Deo Gloria
• Bach Cantatas Vol. 3 - Ascension Day, Whitsun, Trinity - Alt.: Anna Reynolds; Ten.: Peter Schreier; Bass: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau; Münchener Bach-Chor, Münchener Bach-Orchester; Karl Richter, conductor. Label: Archiv Produktion
• Bach Edition Vol. 21 - Cantatas Vol. 12 - Alt.: Sytse Buwalda; Ten.: Marcel Beekman; Bass: Bas Ramselaar; Holland Boys Choir/Netherlands Bach Collegium; Pieter Jan Leusink, conductor. Label: Brilliant Classics
• Bach: Cantatas 34, 50, 147 - Alt.: David James; Ten.: Ian Partridge; Bass: Michael George; The Sixteen; Harry Christophers, conductor. Label: Collins Classics/Coro
• Die Bach Kantate Vol. 36 - Alt.: Helen Watts; Ten.: Adalbert Kraus; Bass: Wolfgang Schöne; Gächinger Kantorei/Bach-Collegium Stuttgart; Helmuth Rilling, conductor. Label: Hänssler
• J.S. Bach: Cantatas BWV 11 & BWV 34 - Alt.: Alfreda Hodgson; Ten.: Martyn Hill; Bass: Stephen Roberts; King's College Choir Cambridge/English Chamber Orchestra; Philip Ledger, conductor. Label: HMV
• J.S. Bach: Cantatas BWV 187 & BWV 34 - Alt.: Lotte Wolf-Matthäus; Ten.: Hans-Joachim Rotzsch; Bass: Olav Eriksen; Kantorei & Kammerorchester der Christuskirche Mainz; Diethard Hellmann, conductor. Label: Cantate 640210
• J.S. Bach: Cantatas BWV 34 & BWV 56 - Alt.: Lorna Sydney; Ten.: Hugues Cuénod; Bass: Alois Pernerstorfer; Wiener Kammerchor/Wiener Symphoniker; Jonathan Sternberg, conductor. Label: Bach Guild/Artemis Classics
• J.S. Bach: Cantatas Nos. 27, 34 & 41 - Alt.: Michael Sapara; Ten.: Markus Schäfer; Bass: Harry van der Kamp; Tölzer Knabenchor (Chorus Master: Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden)/Baroque Orchestra; Gustav Leonhardt, conductor. Label: 0
• J.S. Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 21 - Alt.: Bogna Bartosz; Ten.: Paul Agnew; Bass: Klaus Mertens; Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir (Choir Master: Ulrike Grosch); Ton Koopman, conductor. Label: Antoine Marchand
• J.S. Bach: Das Kantatenwerk - Sacred Cantatas Vol. 2 - Alt.: Paul Esswood; Ten.: Kurt Equiluz; Bass: Siegmund Nimsgern; Wiener Sängerknaben & Chorus Viennensis (Chorus Master: Hans Gillesberger)/Concentus Musicus Wien; Nikolaus Harnoncourt, conductor. Label: Teldec
• J.S. Bach: Kantaten - Alt.: Rebecca Martin; Ten.: Markus Schäfer; Bass: Sebastian Bluth; Windsbacher Knabenchor, Deutsche Kammer-Virtuosen Berlin; Karl-Friedrich Beringer, conductor. Label: Rondeau Production
• J.S. Bach: The Ascension Oratorio and Two Festive Cantatas - Alt.: Daniel Taylor; Ten.: Frederick Urrey; Bar.: Christòpheren Nomura; Bach Choir of Bethlehem/The Bach Festival Orchestra; Greg Funfgeld, conductor. Label: Dorian Recordings
• J.S. Bach: Whitsun Cantatas - Alt.: Bernarda Fink; Ten.: Steve Davisilim; Bass: Christopher Foster; Monteverdi Choir/English Baroque Soloists; John Eliot Gardiner, conductor. Label: Archiv Produktion
• Les Grandes Cantates de J.S. Bach Vol. 8 - Alt.: Claudia Hellmann; Ten.: Helmut Krebs; Bass: Jakob Stämpfli; Heinrich-Schütz-Chor Heilbronn, Pforzheim Chamber Orchestra; Fritz Werner, conductor. Label: Erato/MHS

References

Sources

• Craig Smith, Programme notes - BWV 34, Emmanuel Music.
• Walter F. Bischof, Text and orchestration for BWV 34, Bach Cantatas, University of Alberta.
• Alfred Dürr: Johann Sebastian Bach: Die Kantaten. Bärenreiter, Kassel 1999, ISBN 3-7618-1476-3
• Alfred Dürr: The Cantatas of J.S. Bach, Oxford University Press, 2006. ISBN 0-19-929776-2
• Werner Neumann: Handbuch der Kantaten J.S.Bachs, 1947, 5th Ed. 1984, ISBN 3-7651-0054-4
• 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.)
• Christoph Wolff/Ton Koopman (Eds.): Die Welt der Bach-Kantaten, Metzler/Bärenreiter, Stuttgart und Kassel, 3 Bände Sonderausgabe 2006 ISBN 3-476-02127-0
• Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini. Studi sui testi delle Cantate sacre di J. S. Bach. Università di Padova, pubblicazioni della Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia, vol. XXXI, Padova & Kassel, 1956, xv-291.
• Geoffrey Turner. Singing The Word: The Cantatas of J S Bach. New Blackfriars, volume 87, issue 1008, pages 144-154.
• J. C. J. Day. The texts of Bach's Church cantatas: some observations. German Life and Letters, volume 13 (1960), num. 2, pages 137-144.
• Harald Streck. Die Verskunst in den poetischen Texten zu den Kantaten J. S. Bachs. Dissertation: Universität Hamburg 1971, 214 pages.

External links

• Piano & vocal score of BWV 34 on bach-cantatas.com
• Discussion of the work on bach-cantatas.com