Music History: The Early to Late Changes in John Sebastian Bach Cantata

Music History Research Paper
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Music History Research Paper
Many classical music fans have heard of John Sebastian Bach and know that he was a musician from the baroque era. Born in 1685 in Eisenach, Germany, Johann Sebastian Bach displayed great musical talent early. He was the youngest child of Johann Ambrosius Bach, a church organist, and Maria Elisabeth Lämmerhirt. His father taught him to play the clavichord and violin. At ten, Johann Sebastian started taking harpsichord lessons from his eldest brother, Johann Christoph Bach. By age twelve, he had composed his first piano sonata and was writing in many different musical styles. This paper will focus on the early to late changes in his Cantata.[Atwood, G. E. (2019). Time, death, eternity: Imagining the soul of Johann Sebastian Bach. In New trends in psychobiography (pp. 299-323). Springer, Cham.]
As John Sebastian Bach became famous and his career progressed, his work later on in life became more complex. One of the examples of this is the early to late changes that he made to his cantata. This period was also a time where temperaments changed, and musical scales were not universally accepted as they are today. As a result, it was normal to change the work of other composers to make the music fit under the established rules. This is what Bach did with his cantata. John Sebastian Bach’s Cantata no. 199 and 200 were originally written in 1715. According to Bach, they are both enjoyable cantatas suitable for every Sunday and Feastday. Cantata no. 199 is a work in D minor scored for three vocal soloists, a four-part choir, and an orchestra of strings, horns, and continuo. Cantata no. 200 is scored for three vocal soloists, a four-part choir, and one oboe d'amore, bassoon, and continuo. Both cantatas had undergone changes that affected the music they were written in before Bach published them under his name in 1725. The first change was cantata no. 200, which Bach changed to a Christmas cantata called Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis [I had much affliction] for four voices and two oboes d'amore, two violins, and a cembalo. The second change that took place involved Cantata no. 199. Cantata no. 199 was originally written in D minor and scored for three vocal soloists, a four-part choir, and an orchestra of strings, horns, and continuo. In 1725, Bach changed the instrumentation to four vocal soloists, a four-part choir, and strings with continuo. He also changed the key to E minor. In the preface to this edition, Bach wrote that he was responsible for the changes made.[van der Leij, Anna. "Musical watercourses: German vocal music before and including Johann Sebastian Bach." (2020): 275-278.] [Friddle, David. "JS Bach Cantata 51: Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen-Who Might Have Sung It?." Journal of Singing 77, no. 4 (2021): 471-484.] [Riley, Benjamin. "Lost in Translation? A Comparison of the Anna Magdalena Bach Manuscript and John W. Duarte Arrangement of Cello Suite No. 3, BWV 1009 by Johann Sebastian Bach." (2021).] [Yoo, Sujeung. "Accessible Bach Cantatas for Church Choirs Comprised of Amateur Singers and BWV 133 as Demonstration." (2020).] [van Erkelens, David, and Daan van den Berg. "Johann Sebastian Bach’s Music is Speeding Up: Fake News?." DATA ANALYTICS 2019 (2019): 14.]
Cantata no. 199 is scored for three vocal soloists (soprano,[S], alto,[A], tenor [T]) and a 4-part choir and an orchestra of 2 horns, strings, and continuo. The instruments for strings, horns, and continuo are not specified. The key for the work is D minor, and the time signature is. There are four movements. The first movement is a chorale movement with a bass ostinato of half notes in long notes while the soprano sings. This antiphon is repeated as a refrain throughout the movement. The movement ends with a long chord that ends in a cadence to G minor (V). The second movement is a recitative with a melody with rising and falling vocal range. The third movement is a Lamento. The fourth movement is an instrumental prelude in D minor played by the strings until the soprano entrance. The soprano sings for this section of the cantata, which ends in the key of E minor with a cadence to C major (V). This cantata and its subsequent revisions passed through many changes. It was originally written in D minor, then changed to E minor, and the orchestra was changed from strings with continuo to strings with continuo.[Franklin, Don O. "Notational and Performance Issues in JS Bach's Preludes and Fugues for Organ." Bach 51, no. 2 (2020): 241-258.]
Cantata no. 200 is scored for three vocal soloists (soprano,[S], alto [A], tenor [T]), and a 4-part choir and an orchestra of 1 oboe d'amore, bassoon, and continuo. The instruments for strings, oboe d'amore, bassoon, and continuo are not specified. The key for the work is D minor, and the time signature is. The four movements include a soprano recitative and a concluding chorale. In this ascension, the soprano sings a melody made of two rising and falling melodic lines that end in E minor (V) . Movement no. 1 begins with an orchestration of a simple melody played by pizzicati that ends in C minor (ii). Movement no. 2 begins with a tune in B minor (ii). Movement no. 3 begins with a melody made of melodic rising and falling lines that end in A minor (V) . Movement no. 4 is a recitative where the soprano sings a melody made of two rising and falling lines that rise to F minor (V) before descending back to A minor (ii).[van Erkelens, David, and Daan van den Berg. "Johann Sebastian Bach’s Music is Speeding Up: Fake News?." DATA ANALYTICS 2019 (2019): 14.]
John Sebastian Bach's cantata is also known for its harmony. The cantata is a vocal composition, typically with secular themes and written for solo voice, choir usually consisting of four or five voices and full orchestra. In the 1720s, Bach began composing more compositions for the cantata in Leipzig. A cantata BWV 207 was completed on 24 February 1748. The cantata is based on a specific Biblical story of Daniel in the lion's den. "Daniel in the Lion's Den" is one of 100 cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach that are set to one of the 149 surviving libretti attributed to him. The cantata was composed for the 25th Sunday after Trinity and first performed in 1748. In this particular cantata, the chorus opens with a cheerful and powerful statement repeated one more time at the end of the movement. The soprano part begins with the aria "Ich will dir mein Herze schenken" ("I want to give you my heart"). The oboe and trumpets take over in the context of the chorus, and the soprano background is formed by strings. The duet "O Heiliger Daniel" (Holy Daniel) between soprano and alto voice begins with a moving melody in the alto voice, accompanied by violin and flute. The final movement includes the angelic chorale "Herr, Dein Gewalt stillest allerkühnstes Worte" ("Lord, Your power stills stubborn words"). The movement is built on a firm basso continuo, played by the violone and continuo. The words and music capture the Biblical meaning of Daniel being saved from the lion's den while symbolically standing for Christ who saved Daniel.[van Erkelens, David, and Daan van den Berg. "Johann Sebastian Bach’s Music is Speeding Up: Fake News?." DATA ANALYTICS 2019 (2019): 14.] [Remeš, Derek. "New Sources and Old Methods: Reconstructing and Applying the Music-Theoretical Paratext of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Compositional Pedagogy." Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für Musiktheorie [Journal of the German-speaking Society of Music Theory] 16, no. 2 (2019): 51-94.]
Bach might have made changes to his Cantata because he wanted his work to conform to strict baroque rules or because he wanted it to be played in churches that adhered strictly to old methods and did not use instruments like oboes or violins. The above visual represents a C-minor work of Bach. The changes he made left the music more in line with the more common practice, which was to use instruments like oboes and violins. Bach used these material changes to help his work be accepted by people looking for good music in their Sunday services. The people who knew Bach were aware of his talent growing, and they probably wanted him to continue doing what he did best: composing cantatas and oratorios. Bach's changes to these works also helped his peers accept him. His peers could have requested that he compose music for them in the style of cantatas he composed for people like Thomas Elyot.[Franklin, Don O. "Notational and Performance Issues in JS Bach's Preludes and Fugues for Organ." Bach 51, no. 2 (2020): 241-258.] [Cortens, Evan. "Compositional Choices and Meaning in the Vocal Music of JS Bach ed. by Mark A. Peters and Reginald L. Sanders." Notes 78, no. 2 (2021): 249-252.]
The most popular of Bach's cantatas, Cantata nos.3 and 7, were originally composed in D minor. They are both scored for two vocal soloists and a four-part choir. Bach knew that there were people who did not like how cantatas were written in the time of his father, Johann Sebastian Bach. To these people, he wrote that the cantata was used chiefly to propagate new ideas or doctrines in the time of Bach's father. Since that time, however, the cantata has become more and more artwork of music and music alone. He also said that it does not need to be supplemented to give pleasure; indeed, it would be dull if it were so supplemented. The changes Bach made to these two cantatas were a way for him to write music the way he wanted without being forced to conform to previous styles or ideas. He only wanted to make the music he wrote more popular so the people could enjoy it. He used his free will to do this by changing the original material. Bach was never interested in making uncommon or difficult music to play.[Tigchelaar, Henk. "Transactional analysis and the spiritual dimension in the religious music of Johann Sebastian Bach." Transactional Analysis Journal 49, no. 2 (2019): 131-143.] [Olson, Douglas. "How to approach and sing Bach cantata arias in the tenor voice." PhD diss., Indiana University, 2020.]
John Sebastian Bach changed his cantata...