Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten ("If a man
love me, he will keep my words", more literally: "He
who loves me will obey my commands"), BWV 74, is a
church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed
this cantata in his second year in Leipzig for the
first day of Pentecost (Whit Sunday). The prescribed
readings for the feast day were from the Acts of the
Apostles (Acts 2:1–13) and the Gospel of John, part
of the Farewell discourse (John 14:23–31).Bach first
performed the cantata o...(+)
Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten ("If a man
love me, he will keep my words", more literally: "He
who loves me will obey my commands"), BWV 74, is a
church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed
this cantata in his second year in Leipzig for the
first day of Pentecost (Whit Sunday). The prescribed
readings for the feast day were from the Acts of the
Apostles (Acts 2:1–13) and the Gospel of John, part
of the Farewell discourse (John 14:23–31).Bach first
performed the cantata on 20 May 1725.
This, the opening chorus of the cantata is shorter than
average and is a substantial reworking of the opening
chorus from Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten,
BWV 59, composed two years earlier and performed again
the previous year. It employs a ritornello theme
followed by a fanfare-like choral entry. The original
movement was a two-part vocal entry; the expansion
relies on imitative pairings, reflecting the earlier
texture. Craig Smith suggests that this is one of
Bach's most successful arrangements of his own work
because it remakes the "patchy" and "hollow" duet into
"something richly varied and exquisitely delicate". The
movement is in C major and common time.
Source: Wikipedia
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wer_mich_liebet,_der_wird
_mein_Wort_halten,...)
Although originally scored for four solo voices
(soprano, alto, tenor, and bass), a four-part choir,
three trumpets, timpani, two oboes, an oboe da caccia,
two violins, viola, and basso continuo, I created this
Arrangement for Winds (Piccolo Trumpet, Bb Trumpet,
Flugelhorn, Flute, Oboe, Bb Clarinet, English Horn,
French Horn, Bassoon) and Strings (2 Violins, Viola &
Cello).
