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7 the Mature Vocal Works and Their Theological and Liturgical Context

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7 the Mature Vocal Works and Their Theological and Liturgical Context 7 The mature vocal works and their theological and liturgical context Robin A. Leaver Many superlatives have been lavished on Bach's mature vocal works, such as Georg Nageli's acclamation of the B minor Mass as one of the 'greatest musical works of art of all times and of all peoples',! or Mendelssohn's veneration of the Matthew Passion as 'the greatest of Christian works'. 2 But such evaluations have usually been based on the concept that these incomparable works of Bach are self-standing musical monuments. Following Mendelssohn's revival of the Matthew Passion in 1829, Bach's cantatas, oratorios, passions, Magnificat and the B minor Mass have generally been performed as autonomous works in a concert setting. But this later usage was not what the composer envisaged. What Robert Marshall writes with regard to the cantatas applies equally to most of Bach's other vocal works: 'such compositions were not intended primarily for the "delectation" of a concert public, but rather for the "edi­ fication" of a church congregation ... Bach's cantatas, in fact, were con­ ceived and should be regarded not as concert pieces at all but as musical sermons; and they were incorporated as such in the regular Sunday church services.'3 This chapter therefore discusses these works against the background of the liturgical imperatives that brought them into being. Liturgy and music in Leipzig The specific liturgical practices of Leipzig provide the immediate context for the creation of Bach's mature vocal works.4 Liturgical usage in Leipzig during the eighteenth century was somewhat conservative. Compared with other areas of Germany, where traditional Lutheran liturgical forms, based on Luther's two liturgies, were already beginning to be eroded,5 Leipzig retained a highly developed and rich liturgical and musical tradi­ tion. The details of this tradition can be reconstructed from a number of sources, such as the Saxon Agenda (1539/40), the manuscript notes of the Thomaskirche Custos (Sacristan) Johann Christoph Rost, the Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch ( 1682) edited by Gottfried Vopelius, and a number 86 87 The mature vocal works of lay devotional books, such as the Leipziger Kirchen-Andachten (1694) and the Leipziger Kirchen-Staat ( 171 0). But an important source is Bach himself. According to the Nekrolog, the obituary written primarily by C. P. E. Bach, Johann Sebastian Bach composed 'Five annual cycles of church pieces, for all Sundays and Festivals [of the church year] '.6 The compositional chronology of the first three annual cycles of cantatas has been fairly completely identified, largely by the researches of Dadelsen and Diirr/ the evidence for the fourth and fifth cycles remains fragmentary. The creation and compila­ tion of these 'Jahrgange' began with the First Sunday after Trinity each year, because it was on this Sunday that Bach assumed his duties in Leipzig in 1723. This 'Jahrgang' division is appropriate for establishing the sequence of Bach's composition and performance of his cantatas but this is not how he would have assembled them in his library of scores and parts. The Nekrolog states that the annual cycles were 'for all Sundays and Festivals', which implies that Bach would have collected each 'Jahrgang' according to the sequence of the church year. The first Sunday of the church year is the First Sunday in Advent (hereafter Advent 1). For his first 'Jahrgang' (1723-4) Cantata 61 was performed on this day, and for the second ( 1724-5) Cantata 62 was specifically composed and per­ formed. It is highly significant that both these cantatas for Advent 1 should have on their covers a listing of the basic eucharistic liturgy in Leipzig.8 There have been many hypotheses as to when Bach might have penned these, but the editors of Bach-Dokumente suggest that the list on Cantata 61 -originally composed in Weimar in 1714- was probably written in November 1723 when the cantata was first performed in Leipzig; and the list on Cantata 62 - composed in 1724 - was probably written in 1736, around the time of its second performance in Leipzig. But since the two lists are virtually identical, they may well have been written around the same time. Whatever the dating, they suggest that Bach was organising his scores and parts into complete (or near com­ plete) cycles of cantatas according to the church year, thus underlining the liturgical purpose not only of these cantatas for Advent 1 but also for all the cantatas in the respective 'Jahrgange'. The eucharistic order of worship for Advent 1 is given in Bach's hand on the cover of Cantata 61 thus: 1 [Organ] Preluding 2 [Latin] Motetta 3 Preluding on the Kyrie, which is wholly concerted 4 [Collect] intoned before the altar 88 Robin A. Leaver 5 Epistle read 6 The Litany is sung [only in Advent and Lent] 7 Preluding on the chorale [which is then sung] 8 Gospel read 9 Preluding on the principal music [i.e., the cantata, which follows] IO The Faith [Der Glaube] is sung [i.e., the credal hymn Wir glauben all an einen Gott] II The sermon [which concludes with confession and absolution, intercessions and notices] I2 After the sermon, the usual various verses from a hymn are sung I3 Verba lnstitutionis I4 Preluding on the music. And after which alternating preluding and the singing of chorales until communion is ended & sic porro. The reference to the Kyrie (3) designates a Lutheran Missa, that is, a concerted Kyrie and Gloria. Although the Gloria was traditionally omitted during the season of Advent, Advent Sunday itself was consid­ ered a major feast of the church year and therefore a complete Missa, both Kyrie and Gloria, was necessary, as the Leipzig liturgical sources indicate. That Bach should refer only to the Kyrie is not surprising, since both Kyrie and Gloria usually appeared under a single number in contempo­ rary hymnals; for example, in the Vopelius Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch the heading is: 'MISSA, oder, das Kyrie Eleison'. The congregational chorale (7) before the Gospel refers to the tradi­ tional Lutheran Graduallied (Gradual hymn) that underscored the primary teaching of the day or celebration, found in the Gospel that follows. In Bach's time a core repertory of such Graduallieder had been established,9 and its principal chorales are frequently found in his can­ tatas, such as the use of Luther's Nun komm der Heiden Heiland in the Advent 1 cantatas BWV 61,62 and 36. On Advent 1 and other major festivals, the cantata (9) immediately fol­ lowed the reading of the Gospel of the day (8) and was, in a sense, its musical counterpart. On other Sundays the Latin Nicene Creed was sung between the Gospel and the cantata- usually in chant, although it could, from time to time, be a more expansive setting. Thus the cantata was closely associated with the Graduallied, the Gospel of the day, the exposi­ tion of the Gospel in the sermon and the confession of faith in Luther's credal hymn, Wir glauben all (which was sung congregationally, though from time to time the Latin Credo was also sung). At principal celebrations such as Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, 89 The mature vocal works Ascension, Pentecost and Trinity (but not Advent I ), the 'Sursum cord a' and a Latin Preface were intoned, leading into the Latin Sanctus, before the Verba Institutionis. The Sanctus could either be sung in simple monody, a six-part setting in Vopelius's Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch, or a concerted setting. •o Following the Verba Institutionis there was musica sub communione ( I4)- that is, the second part of a two-part cantata, another cantata, or some other appropriate music-performed at the beginning of the distrib­ ution of communion. Thus, as part of his candidature for the vacant posi­ tion of Thomaskantor, Bach presented two cantatas on 7 February 1723, on Estomihi, the Sunday before Lent. The first,]esu nahm zu sich die Zwolfe (the opening words of the Gospel of the day) (BWV 22), was performed during the earlier part of the eucharistic Hauptgottesdienst, in close prox­ imity to the reading of the Gospel and the sermon. The second, Du wahrer Gott und Davids Sohn (BWV 23), was performed as musica sub commu­ nione, three of its four movements being appropriately based on the German Agnus Dei, Christe, du Lamm Gottes, which in Lutheran usage was associated with the distribution of communion. After the cantata, or other concerted music, Bach notes that there should follow 'alternating preluding and the singing of chorales until communion is ended' (14). Various liturgical sources list the appropriate eucharistic hymns that could be sung at this juncture. The Saxon Agenda gives the further information that the Latin Agnus Dei could also be sung during the distribution, but that the German version, Christe, du Lamm Gottes, should customarily conclude the musica sub communione. The cantata which had been sung in the morning at the Thomaskirche was repeated in the afternoon Vespers at the Nikolaikirche (or vice versa). The liturgical structure of Vespers was simpler and more straightforward than the morning eucharistic Hauptgottesdienst: Organ Prelude 2 Latin motet 3 Cantata 4 Hymn, appropriate to the day or season 5 Sermon, preceded by the reading of the Epistle in German; concludes with confession and absolution, intercessions and notices. 6 Second part of the Cantata (if necessary) 7 Magnificat 10 Verse and Collect II Benediction I2 Hymn 90 Robin A. Leaver As with the morning Eucharist, the cantata was primarily associated with the controlling biblical lection, the Gospel in the morning and the Epistle in the afternoon. The function of the cantata, however, remained the same: a musical homily, which, if in two parts, effectively framed the sermon.
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