BachKantaten BWV 70, 75, 76 & 78

​Note: ​Peter Wollny (Director of the Bach Archive), Michael Maul (Director of BachFest), and Sir Eliot Gardiner (President of the Bach Archive) have selected the most famous sacred cantatas composed by J.S. Bach in December 2018. I shall highlight all 33 of them by their consecutive BWV numbering in the following months. The fifth series of four cantatas are listed today. 
 
BWV 70: Wachet! betet! betet! wachet!
 
Johann Sebastian Bach composed Watch! Pray! Pray! Watch! a first version, BWV 70a, in Weimar for the second Sunday in Advent of 1716, and expanded it in 1723 in Leipzig to BWV 70, a cantata in two parts for the 26th Sunday after Trinity. The prescribed readings for the Sunday were from the Epistle to the Romans, call of the Gentiles (Romans 15:4–13), and from the Gospel of Luke, the Second Coming of Christ, also called Second Advent (Luke 21:25–36). The cantata text was provided by the court poet Salomon Franck, published in Evangelische Sonn- und Fest-Tages-Andachten in 1717. Bach wrote five movements, a chorus and four arias, and concluded with the fifth verse of the chorale "Meinen Jesum laß ich nicht" by Christian Keymann. Bach first performed the cantata on 6 December 1716. In order to use the music again, Bach had to dedicate it to a different liturgical event and chose the 26th Sunday after Trinity with a similar theme. The prescribed readings for this Sunday were from The Second Epistle of Peter, "look for new heavens and a new earth" (2 Peter 3:3–13), and from the Gospel of Matthew, the Second Coming of Christ, also called Second Advent (Matthew 25:31–46). An unknown poet kept the existing movements and added recitatives and a chorale to end part 1 of the new cantata, the final verse of "Freu dich sehr, o meine Seele" by Christoph Demantius. Bach performed the extended cantata first on 21 November 1723.
 
The instrumentation of the Weimar cantata is lost. The cantata in two parts of 7 and 4 movements was scored in Leipzig for soprano, alto, tenor, and bass soloists, a four-part choir, trumpet, oboe, bassoon, two violins, viola, and basso continuo. 
 
Bach shaped the opening chorus in a da capo form and used a technique to embed the vocal parts in the concerto of the orchestra. A characteristic trumpet calls to wake up, initiating figurative movement in the other instruments and the voices. The choir contrasts short calls "Wachet!" and long chords "betet!." All instruments accompany the recitative, illustrating the fright of the sinners, the calmness of the chosen ones, the destruction of the world, and the fear of the ones called to be judged. Part I is closed by the final verse of "Freu dich sehr, o meine Seele" in a four-part setting. The recitative in movement 9 opens with a Furioso depicting the "unerhörten letzten Schlag" (the unheard-of last stroke), while the trumpet quotes the hymn "Es ist gewisslich an der Zeit" (Indeed, the time is here). This chorale had been used as kind of a Dies irae during the Thirty Years' War. The recitative ends on a long melisma on the words "Wohlan, so ende ich mit Freuden meinen Lauf" (Therefore, I will end my course with joy). The following bass aria begins immediately, without the usual ritornello, molt' adagio. After this intimate reflection of the thought "Jesus führet mich zur Stille, an den Ort, da Lust die Fülle." (Jesus leads me to quiet, to the place where pleasure is complete) the closing chorale is set richly for seven parts, independent parts for the upper three strings forming a "halo" for the voices.
 
BWV 75: Die Elenden sollen essen
 
Bach composed The miserable shall eat, for the first Sunday after Trinity. He led its first performance in Leipzig on 30 May 1723, his first Sunday in the position of Thomaskantor. The complex work is in two parts, each consisting of seven movements, and marks the beginning of his first annual cycle of cantatas. The work's structure is unusual in that it is in two symmetrical parts; seven of the fourteen movements are intended to be performed before the sermon, the other seven after it. The first part's text begins with a quotation from Psalm 22 and contrasts wealth and poverty. The text in the second part is focused on being poor or rich in spirit. Each part is concluded by a stanza of Samuel Rodigast's hymn "Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan." Bach scored the cantata for four vocal soloists and a four-part choir (SATB), and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of trumpet, two oboes, oboe d'amore, two violins, viola, and basso continuo including bassoon. Parts I and II are each arranged in the same sequence: an opening movement (which is a chorus in Part I, a sinfonia in Part II), followed by alternating recitatives and arias, and a concluding chorale. The performance was acknowledged in the press, noting that Bach "produced his first music here with great success.” 
 
The prescribed readings for the Sunday were from the First Epistle of John, "God is Love" (1 John 4:16–21), and from the Gospel of Luke, the parable of the Rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19–31). An unknown poet begins the cantata with a verse from a psalm, Psalms 22:26 (verse 27 in the Luther Bible), "The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the Lord that seek him: your heart shall live for ever," connecting the gospel to the Old Testament as a starting point. The later cantata for the same occasion, Brich dem Hungrigen dein Brot, BWV 39 (Break your bread for the hungry), begins similarly with a quotation from the Old Testament. The poet expanded on the contrast of "Reichtum und Armut" (wealth and poverty, rich and poor) in fourteen elaborate movements, arranged in two parts to be performed before and after the sermon. The poet focused on the contrast of "Reichtum und Armut" (wealth and poverty, rich and poor) Both parts are concluded by a stanza of Samuel Rodigast's hymn "Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan," stanza 2 in movement 7, and stanza 6 in movement 14. 
 
The cantata is structured in two parts of seven movements each, to be performed before and after the sermon. It is scored for four vocal soloists (soprano (S), alto (A), tenor (T) and bass (B)), a four-part choir SATB, trumpet, two oboes,  oboe d'amore, two violins, viola, and basso continuo including bassoon. The two parts of seven movements each are composed as the same arrangement of alternating recitatives and arias with a concluding chorale, only Part II is opened by a sinfonia instead of a chorus. The duration is given as 40 minutes.
 
BWV 76: Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes
 
Bach composed The heavens are telling the glory of God, in Leipzig for the second Sunday after Trinity of the liturgical year and first performed it on 6 June 1723. 
 
The prescribed readings for the Sunday were from the First Epistle of John, "Whoever doesn't love, remains in Death" (1 John 3:13–18), and from the Gospel of Luke, the parable of the great banquet (Luke 14:16–24). The unknown poet was likely the same as for the first cantata for Leipzig, also in 14 movements, also arranged in two symmetrical parts to be performed before and after the sermon. Again the cantata begins with words from Psalms 19:1,3 (verses 2 and 4 in the Luther Bible), "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork. There is no speech or language, where their voice is not heard," connecting the Gospel to the Old Testament. The poet first expands, in movements 2 and 3, the thought of the universe praising God's creation. In the following two movements he deplores, following the Gospel, that nonetheless people did not follow the invitation of God, therefore he had to invite "von allen Straßen" (from all streets) and bless those, as movement 6 says. Part I closes with the first stanza of Luther's chorale "Es woll uns Gott genädig sein" (1524), a paraphrase of Psalm 67. Part I was to be performed before the sermon, Part II after the sermon and during communion. Part II talks about the duties of those who follow God's invitation, to pass the love of Christ in order to achieve heaven on earth, a thought also expressed in the Epistle reading. The third stanza of Luther's chorale closes the work. 
 
The cantata is structured in two parts of seven movements each, to be performed before and after the sermon. It is scored for four vocal soloists (soprano (S), alto (A), tenor (T) and bass (B)), a four-part choir SATB, trumpet, two oboes, oboe d'amore, two violins, viola, viola da gamba and basso continuo. The two parts of seven movements each are composed as the same arrangement of alternating recitatives and arias with a concluding chorale, only Part II is opened by a sinfonia instead of a chorus. The duration is given as 35 minutes.
 
BWV 78: Jesu, der du meine Seele
 
Jesus, you who [rescued] my soul was composed in Leipzig for the 14th Sunday after Trinity and first performed it on 10 September 1724.  Bach chose the chorale of Johann Rist, "Jesu, der du meine Seele," in 12 stanzas, published in 1641. Rist wrote the text and probably also the melody. The prescribed readings for the Sunday were from the Epistle to the Galatians, Paul's teaching on "works of the flesh" and "fruit of the Spirit" (Galatians 5:16–24), and from the Gospel of Luke, Cleansing ten lepers (Luke 17:11–19). The chorale seems only distantly related, dealing with the Passion of Jesus, which cleanses the believer. An unknown librettist wrote the poetry for seven movements, retaining the first and last stanza for choral movements unchanged, and paraphrased the inner stanzas into a sequence of recitatives and arias, retaining some original lines. The second movement 2 corresponds to stanza 2 of the chorale, the third to stanzas 3–5, the fourth to stanzas 6–7, the fifth to stanzas 8–10, and the sixth to stanza 11. The poet referred to sickness and healing in a few lines, more than the chorale does, such as "Du suchst die Kranken" (you search for the sick).
 
Bach structured the cantata in seven movements and scored it for four vocal soloists (soprano, alto, tenor and bass), a four-part choir, and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of a horn to reinforce the chorale tune in the outer movements, flauto traverso, two oboes, two violins, viola, violone and basso continuo, including pipe organ. 
 
The cantata's autograph score is lost. The first set of parts, copied essentially by Johann Andreas Kuhnau and Christian Gottlob Meißner with Bach supervising, was inherited by Anna Magdalena Bach and belonged to the Thomasschule already in 1750. It is held by the Bach Archive. Flute parts for movements 1 and 7 were added only for a performance after 1735.
 
Here are four albums:
 
Johann Sebastian Bach: Volume 15 – Cantatas 40, 60, 70a, 90. Masaaki Suzuki with Yukari Nonoshita (soprano), Robin Blaze (counter-tenor), Gerd Türk (tenor), Peter Kooij (bass), and Bach Collegium Japan. Release Date: 1 Sept 2001. Label: BIS. Catalogue No: BISCD1111. FLAC (CD Quality, 44.1 kHz, 16 bit).
 
Johann Sebastian Bach: Volume 8 – Cantatas 22, 23, 75. Masaaki Suzuki with Midori Suzuki (soprano), Yoshikazu Mera (counter-tenor), Gerd Türk (tenor), Peter Kooij (bass), and Bach Collegium Japan. Release Date: 1 Aug 1998. Label: BIS. Catalogue No: BISCD901. FLAC (CD Quality, 44.1 kHz, 16 bit).
 
Johann Sebastian Bach: Volume 9 – Cantatas 24, 76, 167. Masaaki Suzuki with Midori Suzuki (soprano), Robin Blaze (counter-tenor), Gerd Türk (tenor), Chiyuki Urano (bass), and Bach Collegium Japan. Release Date: 1 Dec 1998. Label: BIS. Catalogue No: BISCD931. FLAC (CD Quality, 44.1 kHz, 16 bit).
 
Johann Sebastian Bach: Volume 25 – Cantatas 78, 99, 114. Masaaki Suzuki with Yukari Nonoshita (soprano), Daniel Taylor (counter-tenor), Makoto Sakurada (tenor), Peter Kooij (bass), and Bach Collegium Japan. Release Date: 30 Aug 2004. Label: BIS. Catalogue No: BISCD1361. Hi-Res FLAC (Lossless, 44.1 kHz, 24 bit).

​References:
Wachet! betet! betet! wachet! BWV 70 (2024, July 9). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wachet!_betet!_betet!_wachet!_BWV_70
 
Die Elenden sollen essen. BWV 75. (2024, June 16). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Elenden_sollen_essen,_BWV_75
 
Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes. BWV 76. (2024, October 26). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Himmel_erzählen_die_Ehre_Gottes,_BWV_76
 
Jesu, der du meine Seele. BWV 76. (2024, September 10). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesu,_der_du_meine_Seele,_BWV_78