BWV 134.1
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Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...
composed the
secular cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of t ...
(Time, which day and year doth make),
BWV The (, ; BWV) is a Catalogues of classical compositions, catalogue of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was first published in 1950, edited by Wolfgang Schmieder. The catalogue's second edition appeared in 1990 and the third edition in ...
134.1, BWV134a, while he was in the service of the court of
Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen Leopold of Anhalt-Köthen (29 November 1694 – 19 November 1728) was a German prince of the House of Ascania and ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Köthen. Today, he is best remembered for employing Johann Sebastian Bach as his Kapellmeister ...
. Bach wrote the work as a ''
serenata In music, a serenade (; also sometimes called a serenata, from the Italian) is a musical composition or performance delivered in honour of someone or something. Serenades are typically calm, light pieces of music. The term comes from the Italia ...
'' for the celebration of
New Year's Day In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Day is the first day of the calendar year, January 1, 1 January. Most solar calendars, such as the Gregorian and Julian calendars, begin the year regularly at or near the December solstice, northern winter ...
1719. The libretto by
Christian Friedrich Hunold Christian Friedrich Hunold (born 29 September 1680 in Wandersleben near Gotha, died 16 August 1721 in Halle) was a German author who wrote under the pseudonym Menantes. Biography Hunold went to school in Arnstadt and continued in 1691 at ...
, an academic at the
University of Halle Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (), also referred to as MLU, is a public research university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg. It is the largest and oldest university in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. MLU offers German and i ...
, takes the form of a dialogue between two
allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory throughou ...
figures, ''Time'' and ''Divine Providence'', representing the past and future, respectively. Bach set the words in eight
movements Movement may refer to: Generic uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Movement (sign language), a hand movement when signing * Motion, commonly referred to as movement * Movement (music), a division of a larger c ...
consisting of alternating
recitative Recitative (, also known by its Italian name recitativo () is a style of delivery (much used in operas, oratorios, and cantatas) in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms and delivery of ordinary speech. Recitative does not repeat lines ...
s and
aria In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air (music), air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrument (music), instrumental or orchestral accompan ...
s, culminating in a choral finale. Most movements are duets of solo voices, an
alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: '' altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In four-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in ch ...
as ''Divine Providence'' and a
tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...
as ''Time''. Even the closing movement features long duet passages, leading to parts for
four voices Four Voices is a barbershop quartet based in Tennessee. After winning the SPEBSQSA Collegiate Barbershop Quartet Championship in 1996, Four Voices went on to become international champions in 2002. The quartet's sound is distinguished by its te ...
. The singers are supported by a baroque instrumental ensemble of two oboes, two violins, viola and continuo. The character of the music is close to
baroque opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
, including French dances. Later, in
Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...
, Bach used the secular cantata as the basis for a church cantata for the
Easter Tuesday Easter Tuesday is the third day of Eastertide and is a holiday in some areas. Easter Tuesday in the Western Christian liturgical calendar is the third day in the Octave of Easter and analogously, in the Byzantine Rite, is the third day of Brigh ...
1724, . In the initial version of the Easter cantata, he made no changes to the 1719 music other than to omit two movements and replace the text with words for the occasion, written by an unknown author. In an adaptation for performances in the 1730s, he composed new recitatives for the Easter texts and made further changes to the music. The cantata, written for a specific occasion, has not been recorded as often as other
Bach cantata The cantatas composed by Johann Sebastian Bach, known as Bach cantatas ( German: ), are a body of work consisting of over 200 surviving independent works, and at least several dozen that are considered lost. As far as known, Bach's earliest can ...
s. It has been used for congratulatory events such as the 80th birthday of Bach scholar
Alfred Dürr Alfred Dürr (3 March 1918 – 7 April 2011) was a German musicologist. He was a principal editor of the Neue Bach-Ausgabe, the second edition of the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach. Professional career Dürr studied musicology and Clas ...
, when the cantata title was chosen as that of an international conference about chronology in Bach's music, on which Dürr had focused.


History and words

Bach composed in
Köthen Köthen () is a town in Germany. It is the capital of the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld in Saxony-Anhalt, about north of Halle. Köthen is the location of the main campus and the administrative centre of the regional university, Anhalt Univers ...
, where he served at the court of
Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen Leopold of Anhalt-Köthen (29 November 1694 – 19 November 1728) was a German prince of the House of Ascania and ruler of the principality of Anhalt-Köthen. Today, he is best remembered for employing Johann Sebastian Bach as his Kapellmeister ...
, between 1717 and 1723. Bach had earlier been employed at the subordinate position of
concert master The concertmaster (from the German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (UK) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (clarinet or oboe in a concert band). After the conductor, the concertmaster is the most significant ...
at the
Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...
court, now was ''
Kapellmeister ( , , ), from German (chapel) and (master), literally "master of the chapel choir", designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term has evolved considerably in i ...
'' in Köthen, directing a qualified musical ensemble. The prince was enthusiastic about music, was a good bass singer, and played violin, viola da gamba and harpsichord. The court adhered to the
Reformed Church Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyterian, ...
; therefore, Bach had no obligation to compose church music as he had in his earlier posts and later as ''
Thomaskantor (Cantor at St. Thomas) is the common name for the musical director of the , now an internationally known boys' choir founded in Leipzig in 1212. The official historic title of the Thomaskantor in Latin, ', describes the two functions of Cantor ( ...
'' in
Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...
. In Köthen, he had to write cantatas only for the court's two secular feast days: the prince's birthday and
New Year's Day In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Day is the first day of the calendar year, January 1, 1 January. Most solar calendars, such as the Gregorian and Julian calendars, begin the year regularly at or near the December solstice, northern winter ...
. He wrote as a congratulatory cantata for New Year's Day of 1719. Only few cantatas survived of the twelve that Bach is thought to have composed in his six years while in Köthen, including , composed for the prince's birthday, probably in 1722. The homage cantatas were performed as ''serenatas'' or evening serenades. Their style is similar to opera of the period and includes dance-like music. ''Die Zeit, die Tag und Jahre macht'' is based on words by
Christian Friedrich Hunold Christian Friedrich Hunold (born 29 September 1680 in Wandersleben near Gotha, died 16 August 1721 in Halle) was a German author who wrote under the pseudonym Menantes. Biography Hunold went to school in Arnstadt and continued in 1691 at ...
, whose pen name was Menantes. A
novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...
as well as a
librettist A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major ...
, Hunold taught at the
University of Halle Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (), also referred to as MLU, is a public research university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg. It is the largest and oldest university in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. MLU offers German and i ...
, about from Köthen. Bach collaborated with him on several cantatas between 1718 and 1720. Hunold published the text in the collection (Selected and partly never printed poems of different notable and skillful men) in Halle in 1719. Other texts published by Hunold include that of Bach's cantata , written for the prince's birthday on 10 December 1718. Literally "Heaven thought of Anhalt's glory and fortune", it has also been translated in a singable version as "Since Heaven Cared for Anhalt's Fame and Bliss". The text of the serenata , for most of the movements, recounts a dialogue between two
allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory throughou ...
figures: ''Time'', representing the past, and ''Divine Providence'', representing the future. The music remained in manuscript and, like most of Bach's works, was not printed in his lifetime. Bach led the first performance of the cantata on 1 January 1719.


Easter cantata

Bach later used the secular cantata in Leipzig as a basis for the Easter cantata , which was first performed in the
Nikolaikirche The following cathedrals, churches and chapels are dedicated to Saint Nicholas: Austria * Church of St. Nikolaus, Lockenhaus * St. Nicholas Church, Inzersdorf, Vienna Albania * St. Nicholas Church, Moscopole * St. Nicholas Church, Perondi * Chu ...
on 11 April 1724. In the first version of this Easter cantata, Bach made no significant changes to the music other than omitting the fifth and sixth movements. The new text, by an unknown poet, did not require musical adaptation. Bach had the parts for the singers of the retained movements copied without text and added the new text himself, with minor changes to the music. The instrumental parts were usable without changes but were duplicated for more performers. Perhaps for lack of time, Bach managed only the first page of a score with the new text and probably conducted from the Köthen score. For another performance of the Easter cantata on 27 March 1731, Bach made changes to the music, including the composition of new recitatives for the 1724 text. He probably used this revised version again on 12 April 1735 and likely wrote a new score for this occasion.


Publication

With the revival of interest in Bach's music in the 19th century,
Philipp Spitta Julius August Philipp Spitta (27 December 1841 – 13 April 1894) was a German music historian and musicologist best known for his 1873 biography of Johann Sebastian Bach. Life He was born in , near Hoya, and his father, also called Phili ...
, the author of a three-volume biography of Bach, discovered the printed text, making reconstruction of the entire work possible. The editors of the
Bach-Gesellschaft-Ausgabe Joh. Seb. Bach's Werke () is the Bach Gesellschaft's collected edition of Johann Sebastian Bach's compositions, published in 61 volumes in the second half of the 19th century. The series is also known as Bach-Gesellschaft edition (; BGA), or as ''B ...
, the first complete edition of the composer's works, were aware of the cantata and observed its relationship to BWV 134. However, the Bach-Gesellschaft-Ausgabe printed in 1881 only as a fragment edited by Paul Waldersee. It is titled , which is a line from the first tenor aria. In 1963, the cantata was published in the ''
Neue Bach-Ausgabe The New Bach Edition (NBE) (; NBA), is the second complete edition of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, published by Bärenreiter. The name is short for Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750): New Edition of the Complete Works (''Johann Sebastian ...
'' (NBA), the second complete edition of Bach's works, edited by
Alfred Dürr Alfred Dürr (3 March 1918 – 7 April 2011) was a German musicologist. He was a principal editor of the Neue Bach-Ausgabe, the second edition of the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach. Professional career Dürr studied musicology and Clas ...
, with a critical report the following year.


Music


Structure and scoring

The cantata is structured in eight movements, with alternating
recitative Recitative (, also known by its Italian name recitativo () is a style of delivery (much used in operas, oratorios, and cantatas) in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms and delivery of ordinary speech. Recitative does not repeat lines ...
s and
aria In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air (music), air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrument (music), instrumental or orchestral accompan ...
s including mostly duets, culminating in a final choral movement. Bach scored the work for two soloists,
alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: '' altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In four-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in ch ...
as ''Divine Providence'' and
tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...
as ''Time'', a four-part choir ( ), and a baroque instrumental ensemble of two
oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...
s (Ob), two
violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...
s (Vl),
viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...
(Va) and
basso continuo Basso continuo parts, almost universal in the Baroque era (1600–1750), provided the harmonic structure of the music by supplying a bassline and a chord progression. The phrase is often shortened to continuo, and the instrumentalists playing th ...
. The duration is given as 41 minutes. In the following table, the scoring follows the (''New Bach Edition''). The
keys Key, Keys, The Key or The Keys may refer to: Common uses * Key (cryptography), a piece of information needed to encode or decode a message * Key (instrument), a component of a musical instrument * Key (lock), a device used to operate a lock * ...
and
time signature A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates th ...
s are from Alfred Dürr and use the symbol for common time. The continuo, played throughout, is not shown.


Movements

The cantata develops from a sequence of alternating recitatives and arias to a final chorus. This structure is similar to other cantatas Bach composed in Köthen, but it is different from most of his church cantatas, which begin with a weighty choral movement and end with a four-part chorale. All recitatives and one aria are dialogues. The recitatives are
secco recitative Recitative (, also known by its Italian name recitativo () is a style of delivery (much used in operas, oratorios, and cantatas) in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms and delivery of ordinary speech. Recitative does not repeat lines ...
s, accompanied only by the continuo. Richard D. P. Jones notes that the music of the Köthen secular cantatas is abundant in duets in the spirit of opera, with dances in Italian and French style.


1

The cantata begins with a recitative for both solo voices, "Die Zeit, die Tag und Jahre macht" (Time, which day and year doth make). It reflects that
Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt ( ; ) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.17 million inhabitants, making it the 8th-largest state in Germany by area an ...
, the prince's domain, was given many hours of blessing in the past.


2

The second movement is an aria for tenor, "Auf, Sterbliche, lasset ein Jauchzen ertönen" (Arise, mortals, let your jubilation resound), calling the people to give thanks for the blessings. An
obbligato In Western classical music, ''obbligato'' (, also spelled ''obligato'') usually describes a musical line that is in some way indispensable in performance. Its opposite is the marking '' ad libitum''. It can also be used, more specifically, to ind ...
oboe dominates the movement.


3

The next recitative for both voices, "So bald, als dir die Sternen hold, o höchstgepriesnes Fürstentum" (As soon as the stars were favorable to you, o highly praised princedom), addresses Leopold, the ruler.


4

The fourth movement is a duet aria, in which the soloists sing slightly different text. The alto as Divine Providence considers the future: "Es streiten, es siegen die künftigen Zeiten im Segen für dieses durchlauchtigste Haus." (The future times struggle, they triumph in blessings for this illustrious house.) The tenor as Time looks at the past: "Es streiten, es prangen die vorigen Zeiten im Segen für dieses durchlauchtigste Haus." (The past times struggle, they glory in blessings for this illustrious house.) Bach's instrumentation complements the text well, accompanying the movement by the strings alone to match the text "strings of the heart". The competition of Time and Divine Providence is expressed in virtuoso singing and illustrated by figurations in the first violins.


5

The next recitative, again for both voices, "Bedenke nur, beglücktes Land, wieviel ich dir in dieser Zeit gegeben" (Yet consider, fortunate land, how much I have given you at this time), gives some details about Leopold's qualities and calls to pray for further happiness.


6

The second solo aria is for the alto, "Der Zeiten Herr hat viel vergnügte Stunden, du Götterhaus, dir annoch beigelegt" (The Lord of Ages has many happy hours, o godly house, bestowed upon you). Accompanied only by the continuo in
ostinato In music, an ostinato (; derived from the Italian word for ''stubborn'', compare English ''obstinate'') is a motif or phrase that persistently repeats in the same musical voice, frequently in the same pitch. Well-known ostinato-based pieces inc ...
motives, it freely expresses the "" (harmony of the souls).


7

The last recitative is again for both voices, "Hilf, Höchster, hilf, daß mich die Menschen preisen" (Help, o Highest, help, so that all people praise me), and calls for divine help to praise God and pray for further protection.


8

The cantata culminates in a choral movement opening by the tenor's "" (Delight upon earth), followed by the alto's "" (rejoice on high), then all voices sing together in
homophony In music, homophony (;, Greek: ὁμόφωνος, ''homóphōnos'', from ὁμός, ''homós'', "same" and φωνή, ''phōnē'', "sound, tone") is a texture in which a primary part is supported by one or more additional strands that provide ...
"" (blessed ages, bring joy to this house). The pattern is repeated two more times, increasing in richness. The middle section is again started by alto and tenor, but this time together. With the following words, "" (May they flourish, may they live), a
fugal In classical music, a fugue (, from Latin ''fuga'', meaning "flight" or "escape""Fugue, ''n''." ''The Concise Oxford English Dictionary'', eleventh edition, revised, ed. Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson (Oxford and New York: Oxford Universit ...
development of all voices begins, quite similar to the opening chorus of , a fast succession of the voices and a long
melisma Melisma (, , ; from , plural: ''melismata''), informally known as a vocal run and sometimes interchanged with the term roulade, is the singing of a single syllable of text while moving between several different notes in succession. Music sung in ...
on the word , creating lively music. Alto and tenor start a fugue twice more, singing increasingly embellished lines on "" (most illustrious souls). Close to the end of the middle section all voices shout together the word (shout) twice, accented by a following rest. Then, the complete first part is repeated
da capo Da capo ( , , ; often abbreviated as D.C.) is an Italian musical term that means "from the beginning" (literally, "from the head"). The term is a directive to repeat the previous part of music, often used to save space, and thus is an easie ...
. The lively finale in 3/8 time and with regular phrases, like the French
gigue The gigue ( , ) or giga () is a lively baroque dance originating from the English jig. It was imported into France in the mid-17th centuryBellingham, Jane"gigue."''The Oxford Companion to Music''. Ed. Alison Latham. Oxford Music Online. 6 July ...
or
passepied The passepied (, "pass-foot", from a characteristic dance step) is a French court dance. Originating as a kind of Breton branle, it was adapted to courtly use in the 16th century and is found frequently in 18th-century French opera and balle ...
, is typical of Bach's secular cantatas in Köthen. He had written music like this before in
Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...
cantatas, for example the opening of the cantata for Pentecost , and he would use it again in compositions in Leipzig, both secular and sacred.


Recordings and performances

The following table is based on the list at the Bach Cantatas website. While the derived Easter cantata was included in the complete recordings of Bach's church cantatas by
Nikolaus Harnoncourt Johann Nikolaus Harnoncourt (6 December 1929 – 5 March 2016) was an Austrian conductor, known for his historically informed performances. He specialized in music of the Baroque period, but later extended his repertoire to include Classical ...
and
Gustav Leonhardt Gustav Maria Leonhardt (30 May 1928 – 16 January 2012) was a Dutch keyboardist, conductor, musicologist, teacher and editor. He was a leading figure in the historically informed performance movement to perform music on period instruments. Leo ...
,
Helmuth Rilling Helmuth Rilling (born 29 May 1933) is a German choral conductor and an academic teacher. He is the founder of the Gächinger Kantorei (1954), the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart (1965), the Oregon Bach Festival (1970), the Internationale Bachakade ...
,
Ton Koopman Antonius Gerhardus Michael "Ton" Koopman (; born 2 October 1944) is a Dutch conductor, organist, harpsichordist, and musicologist, primarily known for being the founder and director of the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir. He is a professor ...
,
Pieter Jan Leusink Pieter Jan Leusink (born 5 April 1958 in Elburg) is a Dutch conductor of classical music. He studied organ in Zwolle at the Municipal Conservatory and took conducting lessons from Gottfried van der Horst. He founded the Stadsknapenkoor Elburg (E ...
,
John Eliot Gardiner Sir John Eliot Gardiner (born 20 April 1943) is an English conductor, particularly known for his performances of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, especially the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage of 2000, performing Church cantata (Bach), Bach's church ...
and
Masaaki Suzuki is a Japanese organist, harpsichordist, conductor, and the founder and music director of the Bach Collegium Japan. With this ensemble he is recording the complete choral works of Johann Sebastian Bach for the Swedish label BIS Records, for whi ...
, the festive secular cantata dedicated to the specific occasion has only been recorded a few times. In the table, ensembles playing period instruments in
historically informed performance Historically informed performance (also referred to as period performance, authentic performance, or HIP) is an approach to the performance of Western classical music, classical music which aims to be faithful to the approach, manner and style of ...
s are indicated by a green background. The first recording was made in 1996, conducted by Wolfgang Unger, who had revived in 1992 the Leipziger Universitätsmusik, ensembles formed by students and teachers of the
University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...
. He paired the cantata with ''Die Freude reget sich'', BWV 36b. Koopman recorded the cantata in 1998 as part of volume 10 of his complete recordings of Bach's church cantatas, combined with the Easter cantata based on it and with other church cantatas. In 2000, Rilling recorded, as volume 139 of Bach's cantatas, five ''Congratulatory and Hommage Cantatas'', two of them for the first time: ''Angenehmes Wiederau'' and ''Schwingt freudig euch empor''. In his 2011 recording, Suzuki paired the cantata with the ''
Hunting Cantata ''Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd'' (The lively hunt is all my heart's desire), BWV,  208.1, BWV 208,Work at Bach Digital website. also known as the ''Hunting Cantata'', is a secular cantata composed by Johann Sebastian Bach, b ...
'' and the Sinfonia in F major, BWV 1046a/1, from an early version of the
Brandenburg Concerto The ''Brandenburg Concertos'' (BWV 1046–1051) by Johann Sebastian Bach are a collection of six instrumental works presented by Bach to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, in 1721 (though probably composed earlier). The origina ...
No. 1, with the same scoring as the ''Hunting Cantata''. Reviewer Parry-Ridout notes the "purity of tone" of the alto, the "richness and expression" of the tenor, and the virtuosity of both when competing in a duet. The cantata was performed in 2011 to conclude the festival Köthener Herbst in the Johann-Sebastian-Bach-Saal of
Schloss Köthen Schloss Köthen is a palace (''schloss'') in Köthen (Anhalt), Germany. Begun as a castle, it was protected by a moat. It was the residence of the Princes and Dukes of Anhalt from 1244 to 1847, and now belongs to a foundation for the preservation ...
. The program was
Carl Friedrich Abel Carl Friedrich Abel (22 December 1723 – 20 June 1787) was a German composer of the pre-Classical period (music), Classical era. He was a renowned player of the viol, viola da gamba, and produced significant compositions for that instrument ...
's Symphony No. 1, Bach's cantata ''Durchlauchtster Leopold'', BWV 173a, his ''
Brandenburg Concerto The ''Brandenburg Concertos'' (BWV 1046–1051) by Johann Sebastian Bach are a collection of six instrumental works presented by Bach to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, in 1721 (though probably composed earlier). The origina ...
'' No. 4, and finally ''Die Zeit, die Tag und Jahre macht'', with soloists
Veronika Winter Veronika Winter (born February 2, 1965, in Limburg an der Lahn) is a German soprano. She is particularly noted for her recordings of Baroque music. She studied musicology and Italian at the University of Erlangen A university () is an institut ...
,
Franz Vitzthum Franz Vitzthum is a German countertenor, a male classical singer in the alto vocal range, specialising in Baroque music. He was trained as a boy singer with the Regensburger Domspatzen and studied with Kai Wessel at the Musikhochschule Köln. He ...
, Immo Schröder and Matthias Vieweg, and the ensemble Das Kleine Konzert, conducted by
Hermann Max Hermann Max (born 1941 in Goslar) is a German choral conductor. In 1977, he founded the Jugendkantorei Dormagen, which in 1985 became the basis of the Rheinische Kantorei and Das Kleine Konzert. In 1992, he founded the Knechtsteden Early Music ...
.


Legacy

In 1998, an international
musicological Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...
conference was held in
Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...
, Germany, on the occasion of the 80th birthday of Bach scholar Alfred Dürr, who had devoted his life to studies of Bach's works and their chronology. It was titled "'Die Zeit, die Tag und Jahre macht': zur Chronologie des Schaffens von Johann Sebastian Bach", and featured a public performance of the cantata. Essays by the international musicologists who gathered, such as
Hans-Joachim Schulze Hans-Joachim Schulze (born 3 December 1934) is a German musicologist, a Bach scholar who served as the director of the Bach Archive in Leipzig from 1992 to 2000. With Christoph Wolff, he was editor of the ''Bach-Jahrbuch'' (Bach yearbook) from 19 ...
, Andreas Glöckner and
Jean-Claude Zehnder Jean-Claude Zehnder (born 1941) is a Swiss organist in church and concert, harpsichordist, and musicologist. In research and playing, he is focused on Baroque music, and has played and recorded at historic organs in Europe. He led the department ...
, were published. Most of them focused specifically on the person's field of expertise in relation to Dürr's achievements.


Notes


References


Cited sources

''From Bach Digital'' * * * *


Books

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Online sources

* * * * * * * * * * * *


External links

*
''Die Zeit, die Tag und Jahre macht'' (manuscrit autographe) / Johann Sebastian Bach
(handwritten manuscript)
French National Library French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

BWV 134a ''Die Zeit, die Tag und Jahre macht''
English translation,
University of Vermont The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, commonly referred to as the University of Vermont (UVM), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont, United States. Foun ...
* Alfred Dürr,
Martin Staehelin Martin Staehelin (born 25 September 1937) is a Swiss musicologist and university lecturer. Life Born in Basel, Staehelin first studied ancient languages, history, school music and flute. In 1967, he received his doctorate in musicology and anci ...

''Die Zeit, die Tag und Jahre macht''
2001,

s-line.de * James Leonard
Johann Sebastian Bach / ''Die Zeit, die Tag und Jahre macht'', serenata (secular cantata) for 4 voices, chorus & orchestra, BWV 134a (BC G5)
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
* * Günther Zedler
Die erhaltenen Kantaten Johann Sebastian Bachs (Spätere Sakrale- und Weltliche Werke): Besprechungen in Form von Analysen – Erklärungen – Deutungen
, 2009
''J.S. Bach – Secular Cantatas'', Vol. 2 (BWV 208, 134a)
BIS Records BIS Records is a record label founded in 1973 by Robert von Bahr. It is located in Åkersberga, Sweden. BIS focuses on classical music, both contemporary and early, especially works that are not already well represented by existing recording ...

Bach, Johann Sebastian / Festmusiken für die Fürstenhäuser von Weimar, Weißenfels und Köthen
Bärenreiter 3rd edition, 2013

Köthen, Saxony-Anhalt {{DEFAULTSORT:Zeit Die Tag Und Jahre Macht BWV 134a 1719 compositions Secular cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach