Die Auferstehung Und Himmelfahrt Jesu
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''Die Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt Jesu'' (The Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus) is an
oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...
by
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (8 March 1714 – 14 December 1788), also formerly spelled Karl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, and commonly abbreviated C. P. E. Bach, was a German composer and musician of the Baroque and Classical period. He was the fifth ch ...
to a text by
Karl Wilhelm Ramler Karl Wilhelm Ramler (25 February 1725 – 11 April 1798) was a German poet who was the Berlin Cadet School master. Ramler was born in Kolobrzeg, Kolberg. After graduating from the University of Halle, he went to Berlin, where, in 1748, he w ...
on the subject of the
resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions involving the same person or deity returning to another body. The disappearance of a body is anothe ...
and
ascension Ascension or ascending may refer to: Religion * "Ascension", the belief in some religions that some individuals have ascended into Heaven without dying first. The Catholic concept of the Assumption of Mary leaves open the question of her deat ...
of
Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...
. The first documented performance evidently took place in 1774, and was first publicly performed in 1778; it was further revised between 1778 and 1780. Along with the other oratorios that CPE Bach composed, ''Die Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt Jesu'' has been described as being "among the most important Protestant vocal works of the second half of the 18th century".


Background

While known mainly for his keyboard works and performance treatises,
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (8 March 1714 – 14 December 1788), also formerly spelled Karl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, and commonly abbreviated C. P. E. Bach, was a German composer and musician of the Baroque and Classical period. He was the fifth ch ...
also composed several
oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...
s during his career as a composer. These oratorios fall into the category of the late 18th-century German ''lyric oratorio'', where the story is assumed to be known to the listener and the drama is expressed through unnamed 'idealized' personages. The
libretto 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 theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...
written by Ramler was written in 1760 as the final part of a trilogy of oratorios (the other two being ''Der Tod Jesu'' and '' Die Hirten bei der Krippe zu Bethlehem''), and had already been set by
Telemann Georg Philipp Telemann (; – 25 June 1767) was a German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist. He is one of the most prolific composers in history, at least in terms of surviving works. Telemann was considered by his contemporaries to be ...
(C.P.E. Bach's godfather and predecessor as musical director to the principal churches (''Kapellmeister'') of
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
) as well as Graun, JF Agricola (1761) and his own younger brother JCF Bach (1771–72). CPE Bach made a few revisions to the libretto in his setting. CPE Bach first premiered the work in a private performance on Easter Saturday, April 2, 1774. Four years later, a revised edition was performed on March 18, 1778, in the "Auf dem Kamp" concert hall in
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
. From its lack of
chorale A chorale is the name of several related musical forms originating in the music genre of the Lutheran chorale: * Hymn tune of a Lutheran hymn (e.g. the melody of " Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme"), or a tune in a similar format (e.g. one o ...
s, it seems that the oratorio was composed expressly for a concert hall audience rather than any church congregation. Alongside further revision, Bach negotiated publication with the music publisher Breitkopf in 1787. The work received several performances in 1788 in
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
, sponsored by
Baron van Swieten Gottfried Freiherr van Swieten (29 October 1733 – 29 March 1803) was a Dutch-born Austrian diplomat, librarian, and government official who served the Holy Roman Empire during the 18th century. He was an enthusiastic amateur musician and is be ...
and conducted by
Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...
with some of his own modifications. The later impact of the work after CPE Bach's death was far-reaching, reaching not only Catholic parts of southern Germany but was also performed occasionally outside the German-speaking world in England and Italy.


Orchestration

The oratorio is written for three solo parts, soprano, tenor, bass; and a four-part (SATB) mixed choir, with the orchestra consisting of strings, two flutes, two oboes (although flutes and oboes are never used in the same number), a bassoon, two horns, three trumpets, timpani 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 ...
. Flutes are heard in the first chorus (No. 2) and the duet (No. 9). There are obbligato parts for trumpet in the Part I tenor aria (''Ich folge dir'') and for bassoon in one of the bass arias (''Willkommen, Heiland''). The final bass aria (''Ihr Torre Gottes'') is particularly strongly orchestrated, with trumpet and horn fanfares.


Structure

The oratorio consists of 22 numbers, which are divided into two parts of roughly equal length. The first part centres on the resurrection of Jesus, the second centres on the ascension. There are no concrete dramatic roles assigned to the singers, and no dramatic action is described. Instead, the arias and choruses portray sensations, thoughts and feelings that reflect their reactions to Jesus' resurrection and ascension; as a rule, these are linked to the previous recitative. Although Ramler's libretto is partly based on biblical texts, it consists primarily of original poetry; occasionally biblical quotations are interspersed (e.g. the chorus at the end of Part I, No. 12, is a quotation of 1 Corinthians 15:55 "Death, where is thy sting?"). Both parts of the oratorio begin with an introduction played only by the strings, and both end with a choral fugue. There is also a recurring chorus (first in No. 5, then in No. 16 and finally in No. 19) in E-flat major that begins with the word "Triumph" and that is scored with timpani and trumpets in a particularly jubilant setting. The recitatives in the first part, including a verse from Psalm 114, describe the phenomena associated with Jesus' resurrection, the arrival of Archangel Michael (both in No. 3), the entrance of the open grave by the women from Jerusalem (No. 6) and Jesus' meeting with
Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cr ...
(No. 8) and the rest of the women (No. 10). In the second part, the first recitative (No. 14) is unusually long with 43 lines of text and tells of Jesus' encounter with the disciples at
Emmaus Emmaus ( ; ; ; ) is a town mentioned in the Gospel of Luke of the New Testament. Luke reports that Jesus appeared, after his death and resurrection, before two of his disciples while they were walking on the road to Emmaus. Although its geograp ...
. The other two recitatives contain the appearance of Jesus before the eleven chosen disciples, the teaching of the unbelieving Thomas (both in No. 17) and the ascension to heaven in the company of his companions (No. 20). The longest number of the oratorio is the closing chorus of praise (No. 22), consisting of on longer, mostly homophonic choral section, and finally a choral fugue on the final words from
Psalm 150 Psalm 150 is the 150th and final psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "Praise ye the . Praise God in his sanctuary". In Latin, it is known as "Laudate Dominum in sanctis eius". In Psalm 150, the psalmist ...
. Several recitatives use the "halo of strings" in the recitatives for quotations of Jesus, reminiscent of Bach's father Johann Sebastian's setting of Jesus' voice in the
St Matthew Passion The ''St Matthew Passion'' (), BWV 244, is a '' Passion'', a sacred oratorio written by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1727 for solo voices, double choir and double orchestra, with libretto by Picander. It sets the 26th and 27th chapters of th ...
, for example in No.8 where Jesus comforts Mary Magdalene. Only one of the six arias is a
da capo aria The da capo aria () is a musical form for arias that was prevalent in the Baroque era. It is sung by a soloist with the accompaniment of instruments, often a small orchestra. The da capo aria is very common in the musical genres of opera and orato ...
(No. 11), and none uses the
dal segno In music notation, dal segno (, , ), often abbreviated as D.S., is used as a navigation marker. Defined as "from the sign" in Italian, D.S. appears in sheet music and instructs a musician to repeat a passage starting from the sign shown at ...
; four of six arias use a modified da capo form A1–B–A2; one (No. 7) has an AB structure, marked ''allegro – adagio''. Performances generally last 70 to 75 minutes.


Movements

Part I * 1. Introduction (orchestral) * 2. Chorus (''Gott! Du wirst seine Seele'') * 3. Recitative (''Judäa zittert'') * 4. Aria (''Mein Geist voll Furcht und Freuden'') * 5. Chorus (''Triumph! Triumph!'') * 6. Recitative (''Die frommen Töchter'') * 7. Aria (''Wie bang hat dich mein Lied beweint'') * 8. Recitative (''Wer ist die Sionitin'') * 9. Duet (''Vater deiner schwachen Kinder'') * 10. Recitative (''Freundinnen Jesu'') * 11. Aria (''Ich folge dir'') * 12. Chorus (''Tod! Wo ist dein Stachel?'') Part II * 13. Introduction (orchestral) * 14. Recitative (''Dort seh’ ich aus den Toren Jerusalems'') * 15. Aria (''Willkommen, Heiland'') * 16. Chorus (''Triumph! Triumph!'') * 17. Recitative (''Elf auserwählte Jünger'') * 18. Aria (''Mein Herr, mein Gott'') * 19. Chorus (''Triumph! Triumph!'') * 20. Recitative (''Auf einem Hügel'') * 21. Aria (''Ihr Tore Gottes'') * 22. Chorus (''Gott fähret auf mit Jauchzen'')


Discography

* Hyperion CDA67364: Ex Tempore,
La Petite Bande La Petite Bande is a Belgium-based ensemble specialising in music of the Baroque and Classical eras played on period instruments. They are particularly known for their recordings of works by Corelli, Rameau, Handel, Bach, Haydn, and Mozart. Hi ...
,
Sigiswald Kuijken Sigiswald Kuijken (; born 16 February 1944) is a Belgian violinist, violist, and conductor known for playing on period and original instruments. Biography Kuijken was born in Dilbeek, near Brussels. He was a member of the Alarius Ensemble o ...
* Phoenix PE456: Rheinische Kantorei, Das Kleine Konzert,
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 ...
* Virgin 0077775906929:
Collegium Vocale Gent Collegium Vocale Gent is a Belgian musical ensemble of vocalists and supporting instrumentalists, founded by Philippe Herreweghe. The group specializes in historically informed performance. Founding and program Collegium Vocale Gent was founded ...
,
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (OAE) is a British period instrument orchestra. The OAE is a resident orchestra of the Southbank Centre, London, associate orchestra at Glyndebourne Festival Opera Artistic Associate at Kings Place, and ...
,
Philippe Herreweghe Philippe Maria François Herreweghe, Knight Herreweghe (born 2 May 1947) is a Belgian conductor and choirmaster. Herreweghe founded La Chapelle Royale and Collegium Vocale Gent and is renowned as a conductor, with a repertoire ranging from ...
* Passacaille PAS1115: Vlaams Radiokoor, Il Gardellino Baroque Orchestra, Bart Van Reyn


References


External links

*
Bach Digital: ''Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt Jesu''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt Jesu, Die Compositions by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach 1774 oratorios Oratorios based on the Bible German-language oratorios Depictions of Jesus in music