Wachet! betet! betet! wachet! BWV 70

Wachet! betet! betet! wachet! (Watch! Pray! Pray! Watch!) is the title of two church cantatas written by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed a first version, BWV 70a, in Weimar for the second Sunday in Advent of 1716 and expanded it in 1723 in Leipzig to BWV 70, a cantata in two parts for the 26th Sunday after Trinity.

Contents

History and words

Bach wrote the cantata originally in Weimar, in his last year as the court organist of Johann Ernst von Sachsen-Weimar, for the Second Sunday of Advent, and performed it first in the Schlosskirche on 6 December 1716.

The prescribed readings for the Sunday were from the Epistle to the Romans, call of the Gentiles (Romans 15:4–13), and from the Gospel of Luke, the Second Coming of Christ, also called Second Advent (Luke 21:25–36). The cantata text was provided by the court poet Salomon Franck, published in Evangelische Sonn- und Fest-Tages-Andachten in 1717. He wrote five movements, a chorus and four arias, and concluded with the fifth verse of the chorale Meinen Jesum laß ich nicht of Christian Keymann.[1][2]

In Leipzig, Advent was a quiet time (tempus clausum), no cantata music was performed in services from Advent II to Advent IV. In order to use the music again, Bach had to dedicate it to a different liturgical event and chose the 26th Sunday after Trinity with a similar theme.[3] The prescribed readings for this Sunday were 2 Peter 3:3-13 and Matthew 25:31–46,[4] the Last Judgement. An unknown poet kept the existing movements and added recitatives and a chorale to end part 1 of the new cantata, the final verse of Freu dich sehr, o meine Seele of Christoph Demantius.[5][2]

Bach performed the extended cantata first on 21 November 1723, and a second time on 18 November 1731.

Scoring and structure

The instrumentation of the Weimar cantata is lost. The cantata was scored in Leipzig for soprano, alto, tenor, and bass soloists, a four-part choir, trumpet, oboe, bassoon, two violins, two violas, and basso continuo. The movement numbers of cantata 70a are given in brackets.[2]

1. Coro: Wachet! betet! betet! wachet! (1.)
2. Recitativo (bass): Erschrecket, ihr verstockten Sünder
3. Aria (alto): Wenn kömmt der Tag, an dem wir ziehen (2.)
4. Recitativo (tenor): Auch bei dem himmlischen Verlangen
5. Aria (soprano): Laßt der Spötter Zungen schmähen (3.)
6. Recitativo (tenor): Jedoch bei dem unartigen Geschlechte
7. Chorale: Freu dich sehr, o meine Seele,
Part 2
8. Aria (tenor): Hebt euer Haupt empor (4.)
9. Recitativo (tenor e chorale): Ach, soll nicht dieser große Tag
10. Aria (bass): Seligster Erquickungstag (5.)
11. Chorale: Nicht nach Welt, nach Himmel nicht (6.)

Music

Bach shaped the opening chorus in a da capo form and used a technique to embed the vocal parts in the concerto of the orchestra. A characteristic trumpet calls to wake up, initiating figurative movement in the other instruments and the voices. The choir contrasts short calls "Wachet!" and long chords "betet!".[3]

All instruments accompany the recitative, illustrating the fright of the sinners, the calmness of the chosen ones, the destruction of the universe, and the fear of the ones called to be judged.

Part 1 is closed by the final verse of Freu dich sehr, o meine Seele in a four-part setting.[6]

The recitative in movement 9 opens with a Furioso depicting the "unerhörten letzten Schlag" ("the unheard-of last stroke"), while the trumpet quotes the chorale Es ist gewisslich an der Zeit (Indeed the time is here). This chorale had been used as kind of a Dies irae during the Thirty Years' War.[7] The recitative ends on a long melisma on the words "Wohlan, so ende ich mit Freuden meinen Lauf" ("Therefore I will end my course with joy"). The following bass aria begins immediately, without the usual ritornell, molt' adagio. After this intimate reflection of the thought "Jesus führet mich zur Stille, an den Ort, da Lust die Fülle." (Jesus leads me to quiet, to the place where pleasure is complete.) the closing chorale is set richly for seven parts, independent parts for the upper three strings forming a "halo" for the voices.[2][8][9]

Recordings

References

  1. ^ "Meinen Jesum laß' ich nicht Text and Translation of Chorale". bach-cantatas.com. 2005. http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/Chorale054-Eng3.htm. Retrieved November 27, 2010. 
  2. ^ a b c d Alfred Dürr. 1971. "Die Kantaten von Johann Sebastian Bach", Bärenreiter 1999, ISBN 3-7618-1476-3 (in German)
  3. ^ a b c John Eliot Gardiner (2009). "Cantatas for the First Sunday in Advent St. Maria im Kapitol, Cologne". solideogloria.co.uk. http://www.solideogloria.co.uk/resources/sdg162_gb.pdf. Retrieved 19 November 2010. 
  4. ^ "Lutheran Church Year Readings for the Twenty Sixth Sunday after Trinity". bach-cantatas.com. March 11, 2010. http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Read/Trinity26.htm. Retrieved November 26, 2010. 
  5. ^ "Freu dich sehr, o meine Seele Text and Translation of Chorale". bach-cantatas.com. 2005. http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/Chorale030-Eng3.htm. Retrieved November 27, 2010. 
  6. ^ "Chorale Melodies used in Bach's Vocal Works Freu dich sehr, o meine Seele". bach-cantatas.com. 2005. http://www.bach-cantatas.com/CM/Freu-dich-sehr.htm. Retrieved November 28, 2010. 
  7. ^ "Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750), Kantate „Wachet! betet! betet! wachet!“ BWV 70" (in German). altstadtherbst.de. 2006. http://www.altstadtherbst.de/2006/de/programm/mozartrequiem_2.htm. Retrieved November 28, 2010. 
  8. ^ Julian Mincham (2010). "Chapter 28 BWV 70 Wachet! betet! betet! Wachet!". jsbachcantatas.com. http://www.jsbachcantatas.com/documents/chapter-28-bwv-70.htm. Retrieved 27 November 2010. 
  9. ^ "Chorale Melodies used in Bach's Vocal Works Meinen Jesum laß ich nicht". bach-cantatas.com. 2005. http://www.bach-cantatas.com/CM/Meinen-Jesum-lass-ich-nicht.htm. Retrieved November 28, 2010. 

Sources

The first source is the score.

General sources are found for the Bach cantatas. Several databases provide additional information on each single cantata: