In this episode we delve into Bach’s second cantata cycle begun in 1724. The first two cantatas are briefly covered, (with two further cantatas to follow next episode) as well as the connection between the Lutheran church melodies and the significance of the year Bach began this ambitious project.
Great to see you back, Dear Evan (Substack must have accidentally unsubscribed me). Funny you mentioned the systematic way Bach worked. I touch upon that in my latest post. Check it out and hope you enjoy:
Thanks, I learned a lot, including the cantus firmus migration down from soprano to bass in 1st 4 cantatas of the cycle.
Love the syncopation and “poly-meter” of “Zeit ohne Zeit” and the chromatic wandering and half-cadence of “where can I turn.”
Appreciate the contrasting Old-School style of 2nd cantata, wish there were more comment on tone-painting, and we might benefit in that regard from an English translation -- this is a compliment on your programmatic explications, not a criticism!
Here is the first stanza of BWV 2 from the Bach cantatas site:
Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein
Und lass dich's doch erbarmen!
Wie wenig sind der Heilgen dein,
Verlassen sind wir Armen;
Dein Wort man nicht lässt haben wahr,
Der Glaub ist auch verloschen gar
Bei allen Menschenkindern.
Ah God, look down from heaven
and still have mercy on us!
How few of the saints belong to you,
We poor wretches are forsaken,
people simply will not believe your word,
faith is also now fading away
among all mankind.
To be honest, I couldn't find too many examples of tone painting here. The music certainly changes at "Dein Wort man nicht..." but I don't really see the music changing to reflect the text, but maybe there is something there I haven't found. I'll be sure to go over word painting thoroughly in the next episode!
Great to see you back, Dear Evan (Substack must have accidentally unsubscribed me). Funny you mentioned the systematic way Bach worked. I touch upon that in my latest post. Check it out and hope you enjoy:
https://thepseudointellectual.substack.com/p/bach-the-supercomputer
Thanks, I learned a lot, including the cantus firmus migration down from soprano to bass in 1st 4 cantatas of the cycle.
Love the syncopation and “poly-meter” of “Zeit ohne Zeit” and the chromatic wandering and half-cadence of “where can I turn.”
Appreciate the contrasting Old-School style of 2nd cantata, wish there were more comment on tone-painting, and we might benefit in that regard from an English translation -- this is a compliment on your programmatic explications, not a criticism!
Looking forward to the next two cantatas
Thanks, Dave.
Here is the first stanza of BWV 2 from the Bach cantatas site:
Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein
Und lass dich's doch erbarmen!
Wie wenig sind der Heilgen dein,
Verlassen sind wir Armen;
Dein Wort man nicht lässt haben wahr,
Der Glaub ist auch verloschen gar
Bei allen Menschenkindern.
Ah God, look down from heaven
and still have mercy on us!
How few of the saints belong to you,
We poor wretches are forsaken,
people simply will not believe your word,
faith is also now fading away
among all mankind.
To be honest, I couldn't find too many examples of tone painting here. The music certainly changes at "Dein Wort man nicht..." but I don't really see the music changing to reflect the text, but maybe there is something there I haven't found. I'll be sure to go over word painting thoroughly in the next episode!