Oregon Bach Festival Discovery Series Cantata BWV 140 Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme 2004 Our final cantata of this year s Oregon Bach Festival is an especially beautiful one. Bach composed Cantata 140 in 1731, by which time most of his other cantatas had been written. Cantata 140 is a chorale cantata, with personal and intimate features that make it distinctive. The text of the cantata is the Biblical parable of the bridegroom coming to meet his bride. The chorale on which the cantata is based, Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme [Wake, awake, the voices call us] is a joyful one. It is clear that there is going to be a wedding feast, and Bach composes an orchestral setting that reveals a lot about this event. First we hear the dotted rhythms of the French Overture signifying a King is going to make an entrance. The motives are exchanged between the strings and three oboes. A motive in the first violins is imitated in the first oboe. It is a joyous motive, but is also impatient and eager for the bridegroom s arrival. 1
There are scales in the first violins that go from low to high range. The last phrase of the chorale is ihr müsset ihm entgegengehn! [Go meet him as he comes!], so these figurations are running up to meet the bridegroom. 2
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All of these motives appear before the chorale begins. 4
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Here the chorus enters with the chorale. The sopranos have the melody in high range with long held notes. The other voices have independent motives that contribute to the atmosphere of excitement and expectation. 8
This is the basic structure of the chorale that will continue through many staves of the text. Bach combines the chorus setting with all the motives in the orchestral introduction: the majestic dotted rhythm, the expectant joy, and the ascending scales. 9
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What a joyous piece! In this opening movement there is one stave that Bach treats in a different way. At the text Alleluja! the altos expose a motive that is related to the expectant joy motive in the orchestra. 18
Bach delays the soprano statement of the chorale until after the lower three voices have sung this joyful allelujah! 19
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As we continue, the story that was unfolding in the opening movement is continued by the tenor in the following recitative. The tenor as storyteller in this cantata is the same role as the Evangelist in Bach s Passions. He continues by announcing Er kommt, er kommt, der Bräutgam kommt! [He comes, he comes, the Bridegroom comes!] The time of waiting and preparation is over. The Bridegroom comes leaping in the hills like a deer, and bringing the wedding feast to his bride. 25
Now the music turns to a different idea. Bach writes a duet for the soprano and the bass. As often in Bach s cantatas, these two solo voices represent a dialogue between Jesus (the bass voice), and the Soul (the soprano voice). The violin obbligato has an expressive motive. This motive is strikingly similar to the solo violin in Erbarme dich in the St. Matthew Passion. With this statement in the violin, Bach has established the mood of the piece, and pinpointed what he wants to say even before the singers begin their text. The music is no longer happy or joyous, but evokes yearning and longing. After the beginning motive, the violin plays fast running notes. Perhaps this is the flowing dress of the bride; or the smoke from the burning oil in the lamps with which the bride keeps vigil Ich warte mit brennenden Öle. 26
After this introduction the soloists begin their dialogue. Wenn kömmst du, mein Heil? [When do you come, my Savior?] Ich komm, dein Teil. [I come to be part of you]. They speak in a continued conversation, accompanied by the continuo and the solo violin. 27
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Later in the movement the text focuses on the phrase ich warte [I m waiting]. Bach uses a musical technique that he uses frequently: a long stretched note for the soprano to depict waiting. The bass responds ich komme [I will come]. The interesting thing is that even though they occasionally sing at the same time, there is no fulfillment of the conversation. 30
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So this movement is a longing love duet between bride and groom, between the soul and Jesus, who address each other in tender phrases. The next movement of the cantata is another change of mood. Now Bach returns to the chorale and sets the third verse Zion hört die Wächter singen, das Herz tut ihr vor Freuden springen [Zion hears the watchmen singing, the heart dances with joy]. Bach takes this absolutely literally: the orchestra plays the song the watchmen sing a beautiful, joyous song. 32
Did you note the echo that occurs at the beginning? The bride is straining to hear the bridegroom s coming footsteps. Now this orchestral motive is joined with the chorale, sung by the tenors of the chorus. 33
The tenors will continue to sing all the staves of the chorale, and in between we hear the song of the watchmen. Once again the cantata changes in an unexpected way. The next movement is a recitative for solo bass voice accompanied by the full string orchestra. This is another similarity to the St. Matthew Passion--the bass solo voice of Jesus accompanied by the halo of strings in the orchestra. Here Jesus is the Bridegroom and speaks to the soul, saying I will put you on my arm as a seal. I will make your saddened soul rejoice. At the end he will say I am your bridegroom; you shall rest on my left hand and with my right I will embrace you. At this point the music becomes very joyful. Another moment of special beauty is when the bass sings und dein betrübtes Aug ergötzen [to thy troubled eye bring pleasure]. 34
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With this beautiful ending of the recitative, Bach makes a transition to another duet. It is again between the Soul (soprano) and Jesus (the bass). There is an obbligato oboe, instead of the violin used in the earlier movement. The unrealized yearning in the first duet is now fulfilled, and they sing with complete and utter joy. 36
The soloists will take up the oboe motive with the text Mein Freund ist mein, und ich bin sein, die Liebe soll nichts scheiden [My friend is mine and I am thine, and nothing can separate our love.] 37
Bach will keep this joyous tension throughout this rather long piece by toying with the distances of the two lovers. At first they are separated by one complete measure. Later the distance is reduced to half a measure, and then they are separated by only a quarter note. One thinks, now they will get together, but Bach separates them again. First with a half-measure distance, then a quarter note distance, and finally at the end they come together and sing the same words with the same rhythm at the same time. The love duet finds its fulfillment. 38
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As I said, the lovers finally come together and unite, but Bach adds a further comment. He writes a canon in which the soprano begins, the bass follows one measure later with the text da Freude die Fülle, da Wonne wird sein [Where pleasure will be fulfilled, and joy will abound]. The lovers 41
have sought each other, been separated, come together, and now follow on to the blessings of eternity. They will end on the same pitch, as will the orchestra. All come together in unison. The da capo aria returns us to the joyous material of the beginning. Bach ends this cantata with a choral setting of the text Gloria sei dir gesungen mit Menschen und englischen Zungen, mit Harfen und mit Zimbeln schon [Glory be sung to Thee by men and angels, with harps and cymbals]. What does this chorale, with references to men and angels have to do with the preceding intimate duet? I think with this verse of the chorale, the view broadens. The relationship of Jesus and the Soul, which has been portrayed as personal and private, is the same for all Christians, and this relationship will culminate in unlimited and eternal joy in the celestial city of Jerusalem. 42
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In this chorale, as in many others of Bach, the instruments double the chorus there is no obbligato. But Bach has the solo violin play the chorale melody one octave higher. It is as if heaven shines down on the earthly chorale. In heaven there is no darkness only clear, pure light. Let s look at the chorus part at the text Von zwölf Perlen sind die Pforten [The doors of Jerusalem will be made with twelve pearls]. The basses, both in the orchestra and the chorus, have twelve notes. The last part of the text is Io, io. These are not German words, but a pure expression of joy before the cantata ends ewig in dulci jubilo [ever in sweet praise.] 44
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