Ich freue mich in dir by J.S. Bach
Thanks to all of you who showed up for our Bachelbel Sing last night! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did--such great music, and such great people to share it with. For those interested, here's a link to that crazy arrangement of 'Victimae paschali laudes', of which I played a short segment.
Today we're all about joy. We're focusing on Bach's Cantata 133: Ich freue mich in dir (I rejoice in you), based upon the chorale of the same name. This cantata was written for the Third Day of Christmas, 1724, so it falls right in the middle of Bach's Second Leipzig Jahrgang (1724-1725). As some of you will recall, this was the cycle in which all the cantatas
(until after Easter, 1725) were so-called chorale cantatas.
As was Bach's custom in this cycle, Cantata 133 features the chorale melody and words virtually unchanged in the outer movements--a sort of chorale fantasy in the first movement, this one melded with what's essentially a concerto; and a 4-part, mostly homophonic arrangement for the last movement.
The middle movements are arias and recitatives with mainly new text paraphrasing the inner verses of the chorale.
The chorale itself is unusual in its provenance. The text, by Kaspar Ziegler, was published in 1697. It was sung to a tune of uncertain origin, usually identified as 'O Gott, du frommer Gott'. Bach however uses a different tune, unknown until his use of it. It was not published until 1738, 14 years after our cantata was written.
The tune does appear slightly before the cantata, though, in an unusual location: As a marginal note in Bach's manuscript of the Sanctus which eventually became part of the 'B Minor Mass'. This Sanctus was premiered at Christmas of 1724, just a few days before the cantata. I am attaching a pdf of the first page of the manuscript, which anyone who's ever sung or played this amazing piece will recognize; the chorale appears at the bottom of the page,
a blown-up detail of which I'm also attaching.
At the top of the detail, you can discern a one-line sketch for one of the lines of the 'Pleni sunt caeli' section of the Sanctus. This is followed by the chorale melody (with several variants from the version used in Cantata 133) and its text.
We don't know exactly what's going on here. Perhaps as he was writing the Sanctus, Bach had a chance to learn the new melody for 'Ich freue mich in dir', and jotted it down so as not to forget it. Or (who knows) maybe Bach composed the new tune himself. In any case, he immediately put it to good use by basing his cantata for a few days later upon it.
Here's a link to a very nice live recording of the cantata; the piano-vocal score and a text-translation sheet is attached. You might want to focus upon the outer movements. As mentioned above, the first movement is essentially a vigorous and exciting concerto, featuring violins and oboes d'amore. Interspersed into this vivid texture are the phrases of the chorale, essentially in homophonic style, with the exception of the last phrase--'the great Son of God'--which is extended to emphasize the word 'great'. As (almost) always, the last movement (which begins at 17:03 in the video) is a so-called 'Bach chorale'.
This music embodies so perfectly the over-the-top joy inherent in the words of the chorale. I hope it gives you a lift!
Thanks to all of you who showed up for our Bachelbel Sing last night! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did--such great music, and such great people to share it with. For those interested, here's a link to that crazy arrangement of 'Victimae paschali laudes', of which I played a short segment.
Today we're all about joy. We're focusing on Bach's Cantata 133: Ich freue mich in dir (I rejoice in you), based upon the chorale of the same name. This cantata was written for the Third Day of Christmas, 1724, so it falls right in the middle of Bach's Second Leipzig Jahrgang (1724-1725). As some of you will recall, this was the cycle in which all the cantatas
(until after Easter, 1725) were so-called chorale cantatas.
As was Bach's custom in this cycle, Cantata 133 features the chorale melody and words virtually unchanged in the outer movements--a sort of chorale fantasy in the first movement, this one melded with what's essentially a concerto; and a 4-part, mostly homophonic arrangement for the last movement.
The middle movements are arias and recitatives with mainly new text paraphrasing the inner verses of the chorale.
The chorale itself is unusual in its provenance. The text, by Kaspar Ziegler, was published in 1697. It was sung to a tune of uncertain origin, usually identified as 'O Gott, du frommer Gott'. Bach however uses a different tune, unknown until his use of it. It was not published until 1738, 14 years after our cantata was written.
The tune does appear slightly before the cantata, though, in an unusual location: As a marginal note in Bach's manuscript of the Sanctus which eventually became part of the 'B Minor Mass'. This Sanctus was premiered at Christmas of 1724, just a few days before the cantata. I am attaching a pdf of the first page of the manuscript, which anyone who's ever sung or played this amazing piece will recognize; the chorale appears at the bottom of the page,
a blown-up detail of which I'm also attaching.
At the top of the detail, you can discern a one-line sketch for one of the lines of the 'Pleni sunt caeli' section of the Sanctus. This is followed by the chorale melody (with several variants from the version used in Cantata 133) and its text.
We don't know exactly what's going on here. Perhaps as he was writing the Sanctus, Bach had a chance to learn the new melody for 'Ich freue mich in dir', and jotted it down so as not to forget it. Or (who knows) maybe Bach composed the new tune himself. In any case, he immediately put it to good use by basing his cantata for a few days later upon it.
Here's a link to a very nice live recording of the cantata; the piano-vocal score and a text-translation sheet is attached. You might want to focus upon the outer movements. As mentioned above, the first movement is essentially a vigorous and exciting concerto, featuring violins and oboes d'amore. Interspersed into this vivid texture are the phrases of the chorale, essentially in homophonic style, with the exception of the last phrase--'the great Son of God'--which is extended to emphasize the word 'great'. As (almost) always, the last movement (which begins at 17:03 in the video) is a so-called 'Bach chorale'.
This music embodies so perfectly the over-the-top joy inherent in the words of the chorale. I hope it gives you a lift!