WTF Bach

“The consummate expressiveness of {BWV 4] has always been marvelled at. Each verse is as if chiselled in music.” -Albert Schweitzer, Vol. 2
Bach’s early Easter cantata remains one of the most beloved in the entire canon. Barely 22 years old, he is already in full command of his tone-painting. Here are three measures particularly packed with symbolism:
Filling the music with rests at the word nothing, ‘one death eating another’ through the closest possible canon, crosses both in shape and every note ‘sharped’ (gekreuzt,) dripping blood on the Passover doors with short 8th notes, leaping a diminished 12th (!) in the bass aria at the word death, this cantata is a dictionary of text painting.
…und singen Halleluja!

The chorale cantata was probably composed for Bach’s Easter Sunday audition in 1707 for the organist post at St. Blaise’s Church in Mühlhausen, left vacant by the death of Johann Georg Ahle. Bach’s older cousin, Johann Gottfried Walther, had an audition for the same post, but withdrew— possibly because Bach himself was interested! Later, Bach revived this cantata his first two Easters in Leipzig, 1724 and 1725. Only the Leipzig parts survive, hence the original 1707 version is lost. Any differences between the revised and earliest versions— which may have been substantial— are lost. In any case, the remaining style certainly reflects his early vocal writing par excellence.
The cantata is one of only a handful of per omnes versus cantatas, going through all seven verses of Martin Luther’s 1524 hymn text. Theologically, the text goes deeply into Lutheran ideas linking Jewish Passover— the blood-marked doorposts and unleavened bread— to Christian Easter, reading the Passover lamb as a prefiguration of Christ’s crucifixion and the Eucharist. Such deep theological reflection was something Bach understood and made apparent in tone.
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PS! Shelly conveniently does in fact quote the biblical, ‘O Death, where is thy sting?’ but the poem I was thinking of was Pope’s, The Dying Christian to his Soul:
VITAL spark of heav’nly flame!Quit, O quit this mortal frame:Trembling, hoping, ling’ring, flying,O the pain, the bliss of dying!Cease, fond Nature, cease thy strife,And let me languish into life.
Hark! they whisper; angels say,Sister Spirit, come away!What is this absorbs me quite?Steals my senses, shuts my sight,Drowns my spirits, draws my breath?Tell me, my soul, can this be death?
The world recedes; it disappears!Heav’n opens on my eyes! my earsWith sounds seraphic ring!Lend, lend your wings! I mount! I fly!O Grave! where is thy victory?O Death! where is thy sting?
Write That Fugue!

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Sometimes an article from the EB strikes me as so amusing, I simply have to share it with you. See you next week (or the week after, latest) for the conclusion of our early cantata survey, with Christ lag in Todes Banden, BWV 4. Thanks for listening!
Well, That’s Fascinating!

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Q: If, after you attended a Bach concert, someone told you that your favorite piece on the program was not, after all, by Bach… how would you feel?
Does this cantata actually fail to move us? Or does it fail to move us when we know its authenticity is up for debate? Can we truly hear some compositional weaknesses?
If we are to ascribe this music to Bach, it was probably from the years 1709-1711. No other cantatas from the period from his first years in Weimar (that is, before being promoted to concertmaster) survive. The early cantatas are occasional, sporadic, and very different to one another. Richard D. P. Jones says, on the extant early cantatas: “since at a later date Bach very likely came to regard these early works as outmoded—perhaps representing that ‘former style of music’ which ‘no longer seems to please our ears’—he seems to have made no attempt to preserve them, with the result that the few that survive do so by accident.”
Jones himself excludes this cantata from the canon, but, on the subject of authenticity, admits there must be some subjectivity when making such cuts: “No less thorny is the issue of authenticity. … There are inevitably borderline cases, however, and in this area the author has had to make up his own mind as to which compositions merit inclusion and which do not.” Among other scholars— as far as I can tell— this cantata’s authenticity is still up for debate.
Oh, Bach’s Art. The Prelude to my Heart.

Fun fact! If this indeed is Bach ca. 1709, that would make movement 3 the first recitativo in Bach’s works. It’s only five measures long!
I neglected to mention the text in the movements where Du Friedefürst Herr Jesu Christ is the cantus firmus, these are stanzas 1 and 3, sung in movements 2 and 7, respectively:
You prince of peace, Lord Jesus Christ,
true man and true God,
you are a strong helper in distress,
in life and death.
Therefore we only
in your name
cry to your Father!

Be mindful, Lord, now of your office,
that you are a prince of peace,
and graciously help us in all ways
now at this time.
Grant that henceforth
your divine word
may resound still longer in peace!
Well, what do you think? Does this piece sound like early Bach? Do you care? Could you enjoy it even if it were written by... gasp! …Telemann!?
Write That Fugue!

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Concepts covered: The 3 corno da caccia in this cantata, the difference between natural horn and corni da caccia, the authenticity of this cantata, the early cantatas pre-weimar, word painting, text settings from Psalm 146, and hymns, Bach’s earliest recitativo.
The performance of Inssbruck, ich muss dich lassen can be heard here (there is one other verse!)


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Forever paired with the giant Toccata BWV 540, it’s unlikely the two were conceived together. Still, owing to certain sources and the fact that this fugue is a dignified and stately complement to the capricious toccata, the pairing works delightfully.
Now, is this the fugue, BWV 540? Or which piece is this?
And is this not the same music?
Top: Italian Concerto. Bottom: today’s fugue. Seeing such similar vocabulary is as thrilling as it is remarkably rare in Bach’s works.
Wow. That Fugue!

Here are the fugue’s two contrasting themes. The first, slow moving, noble:
The second, carefree and playful:
They combine toward the end of the piece to marvelous effect:
A complete version of the MIDI synths in the episode (Headphones are best! I found it quite relaxing.)
I said I would attach the MIDI files, but Substack won’t allow it. If you leave a comment or send me a DM, I’ll send them over. Thanks!
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Bach married his second cousin, Maria Barbara, on October 17, 1707, in St. Bartholomäi’s Church (pictured in the cover image) in a charming little village called Dornheim. They were both 22. According to Spitta, some eight months later, Bach and Maria returned to that same church to attend the wedding of the man who had officiated their own: Johann Lorenz Stauber. J.S. Bach carried with him the parts to a cantata, and this work was heard for the first time in June, 1708.
…or so the legend goes. Modern scholarship calls Spitta’s anecdote into question, but in any case, Der Herr denket an uns BWV 196, is one of Bach’s earliest vocal works.
Despite being from the same period as the other cantatas we recently covered, the work might show more outward signs of being similar to Bach’s later cantatas: we get a da capo aria for the first time, and the choruses only figure into the first and last movements. We see no sudden shifts of tempo, and movements are clear cut. The only abrupt change of texture comes in the second movement:
‘The lord blesses us.’ Segnet uns. Bach will set the word ‘bless’ differently in every movement. Notice how the soprano soloist amplifies the Lord’s blessings:
Despite these examples, the cantata fails to impress us the same way his other early cantatas do. Instead, we take joy in the fugal writing in the outer movements. The finale of the opening chorus is a fugue where the subject is never absent. A glance at a few pages shows this:
The closing movement features a fugue with two subjects on the word, Amen! I called the first theme the ‘stomping theme’ and the second theme the ‘climbing theme’ —whatever helps you understand the distinct shapes. When looking for wedding ideas to back up Spitta’s story (though we must be aware of confirmation bias!) I might see the musical representation of two separate figures, always appearing together, never one without the other:
Bach adds a classic ‘early Bach’ touch at the end, ending the entire cantata piano, disappearing with a whisper:
Write That Fugue!

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Concepts Covered:
Bach's Cantata BWV 196, Der Herr denket an uns (The Lord Thinks of Us), one of only seven surviving cantatas from Bach’s earliest period. The traditional story behind the piece — Bach wrote it as a wedding gift for the pastor who had officiated his own marriage to Maria Barbara — and examines why modern scholarship casts doubt on that account, since the text itself doesn't clearly point to a wedding occasion. Bach draws his libretto directly from Psalm 115, making this one of the textually simplest cantatas in his early output, how a single rising melodic motif ties together the Sinfonia, arias, and choruses. Bach's word painting on the recurring word "bless" (segnet), walks through the construction of the cantata's central choral fugue, and highlights the soprano aria's use of da capo form — possibly the earliest example of that structure in Bach's output. Vokaleinbau ‘vocal insertion’ might be used here for the first time. The cantata's final movement, a double fugue built on two contrasting ‘Amen’ subjects, other early stylistic features and analysis.


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