Bach's Cantata 140, Part 2. T. Herbert Dimmock continues his discussion of pairings in this work BDP #307. http://bachinbaltimore.org/.
<music: J. S. Bach,
Brandenburg Concerto No. 1>
So, Bach now is going to return to the idea of two throughout the piece. It shows up again at the first aria, which follows, which is actually a duet. This is for two people: a bass and a soprano accompanied by a solo violin. So, when Bach writes for a bass and soprano inevitably the soprano represents the soul and the bass represents Christ. Again, with this idea of two it represents the bride and the bridegroom. The bride is longing for the bridegroom. She is longing for a connection to God and a connection to Christ.
The piece opens with a gorgeous line for the solo instrument associated with this, which is a solo violin. There is a lot to say about this including Bach’s love of this interval [music]. It is a very expressive moment. He gives it to a violin who plays a line full of longing. It is just permeated with that sense.
[music]
The idea of two shows itself in yet another way. We have this tune, which the soprano will imitate as will the bass. They will dialog one after the other. But the violin also shows the second idea that we talked about with the bridesmaids: some with the lamps who were prepared with oil and some without the oil. What do oil lamps give off besides light? Well, they give off smoke. So, Bach shows that in this piece. This is one of those details that is really more for the performers than the audience or the congregation. On the page there is a whole cluster of 32nd notes on three staff lines. It looks like a black smudge on the page. It looks like a puff of smoke.
After this gorgeous, plaintive, longing which the singers pick up, Bach adds this second idea of the smoke. Here it is.
[music]
It sounds a little frenetic, but it is meant to be more a visual detail than one for your ears, It is such a delightful one that I wanted to share it with you. I really enjoy that when it goes by.
Cantata 140 has only one actual solo. All of the rest are for choir and duets. That solo is for a tenor accompanied by all of the upper strings in unison: violin 1, violin 2, the viola. There is a little detail about this that I would love to share with you. In 1747, just three years before Bach’s death, a music publisher named Schübler came to Bach and asked for a small set of arias to be reworked as organ pieces for him to publish. So, Bach went through all of his cantatas, which, according to the death notice number about 300. We only have 200 left to us—some were lost. Out of all of those cantatas Bach picked six and reworked them for organ. Of course, the number six is interesting. Bach uses the number six for his most creative things. He wrote six Brandenburg Concertos, six solo works for cello, six of many things. Six is the number associated with the biblical story of creation. God created the world, according to the Bible, in six days. So, when Bach wanted to do something creative, he would reference that number six. So, here is one of those six, which must have been one of Bach’s absolute favorites. The aria is as beautiful as it is straightforward. The strings play this inventive melody that flows on endlessly. It is kind of like what we saw with the word alleluja.
The text here is “Zion hears the watchman singing, her heart with joy is dancing.” That is exactly what this melody is. It is meant to be the song of the watchman through night. There are these little dance rhythms in it. It is creative and it goes on through the night, if you will. Here is the opening of that as arranged for organ, which I will play right now on piano.
[music]
In this aria then the soloist would come in singing the song, the same tune Wachet Auf [music] while the song of the watchman dances all around it. I just love this particular piece and I play this organ piece a lot. In fact, many people ask to have it at weddings. I think that they relate to the joyfulness of it.
Now, before the closing chorale, which is something today we more likely call a hymn, we have one final duet. As before, it is for soprano and bass. As before the soprano is the bride or soul in dialog with the bass, who is Christ or the bridegroom. This time they are accompanied by a solo oboe. As with the first duet, the two singers are in dialog, searching and seeking to find the bass, whom she is calling her friend and for love. The bass is replying is a kind of theologically correct way for Bach that he is already here for her.
I want to show you something here in this aria. As I said they sing in dialog over and over again. But towards the end the two come together and merge and they sing in parallel this beautiful harmony of the text that nothing shall separate the love. It is a lovely device that Bach uses in this composition. Pulling them together and saying nothing will separate us again.
[music]
Bach cantatas always conclude with a closing chorale. The closing chorale, which in today’s lingo would be called a hymn, was meant to be understood to express with the congregation, who heard this, their response to the story. The response could be a moral response or a theological response, or some combination. This tune that you heard in the tenor and the opening chorus now comes for the entire choir in four-part harmony. This is a famous hymn of Phillip Nicolai, Wachet auf.
[music]
It is a wonderful cantata. What a great treasure it is for us all. It has been fun to share a little bit of it with you. I hope that you will look for opportunities to hear the whole cantata. Bach in Baltimore last performed this in the year 2013. I think that we will be performing it again in the next one or two seasons. Thank you.
<music: J. S. Bach,
Brandenburg Concerto No. 1>