Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen (Weeping, lamenting,
worrying, fearing), BWV 12,[a] is a church cantata by
Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in Weimar for
Jubilate, the third Sunday after Easter, and led the
first performance on 22 April 1714 in the
Schlosskirche, the court chapel of the Schloss in
Weimar.
Bach was appointed Konzertmeister in Weimar in the
spring of 1714, a position that called for the
performance of a church cantata each month. He composed
Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zag...(+)
Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen (Weeping, lamenting,
worrying, fearing), BWV 12,[a] is a church cantata by
Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in Weimar for
Jubilate, the third Sunday after Easter, and led the
first performance on 22 April 1714 in the
Schlosskirche, the court chapel of the Schloss in
Weimar.
Bach was appointed Konzertmeister in Weimar in the
spring of 1714, a position that called for the
performance of a church cantata each month. He composed
Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen as the second cantata in
the series, on a text probably written by court poet
Salomon Franck. The work is structured in seven
movements, an instrumental Sinfonia, a choral
passacaglia, a recitative on a Bible quotation, three
arias and, as the closing chorale, the last stanza from
Samuel Rodigast's hymn "Was Gott tut, das ist
wohlgetan" (1674). The cantata is scored for three
vocal soloists, a four-part choir, trumpet, oboe,
bassoon, two violins, two violas, and basso
continuo.
Bach performed the cantata again in his first year as
Thomaskantor – director of church music – in
Leipzig, on 30 April 1724. He reworked the first
section of the first chorus to form the Crucifixus
movement of the Credo in his Mass in B minor. Franz
Liszt based extended keyboard compositions on the same
material.
The cantata in seven movements is scored for three
vocal soloists (alto (A), tenor (T) and bass (B)), a
four-part choir SATB, trumpet (Tr), oboe (Ob), bassoon
(Fg), two violins (Vl), two violas (Va) and basso
continuo (Bc).
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weinen,_Klagen,_Sorgen,_
Zagen,_BWV_12).
in the second aria, "Ich folge Christo nach" (I follow
after Christ), the decision to follow Jesus is made.
"Walking steps" in imitation symbolize the following.
The first motif is an upward scale, illustrating the
direction of Heaven, played by the first violin,
imitated in fast succession by the second violin and
then the continuo. The voice enters with the same
motif. Towards the end, the steps are expanded to more
than an octave, reaching Heaven. The bass singer and
the continuo are in unison, interpreted as a mystical
union of man and God.
I created this arrangement of the second Aria: "Ich
folge Christo nach" (I follow after Christ) for
Euphonium & Piano. |
SHEET MUSIC