SKU: CA.3140119

ISBN 9790007296889. German/English. Text: Franck, Salomon.

Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott BWV 80 (Carus 31.080/00) is one of Johann Sebastian Bach's most frequently-performed cantatas. But the well-known form of the work, with its great opening chorale chorus, represents the final stage of a multi-layered version history, beginning with the cantata Alles, was von Gott geboren BWV 80a, probably composed for Oculi Sunday (the third Sunday in Lent) 1716. As no cantatas were performed during Passiontide in Leipzig, if Bach wanted to re-use the cantata he had to rewrite it for another Sunday or feast day. Reformation Day suggests itself, as Bach had also incorporated the hymn Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott into the Oculi cantata (as an instrumental cantus firmus in the opening movement and in the final chorale). The first version of the Reformation cantata Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott BWV 80b (Carus 31.080/50) was simply expanded by the addition of chorale movements, then the movements of the Oculi cantata, slightly altered, were included in the cantata in the form known today as BWV 80.Only the text of the Oculi cantata Alles, was von Gott geboren BWV 80a survives today. However, the early version of the cantata can easily be extrapolated from the two later versions. This first published reconstruction to date, by the renowned Bach scholar Klaus Hofmann, represents a welcome addition to the small repertoire of Bach cantatas for Passion Sundays.

SKU: CA.3116400

ISBN 9790007187170. Language: German/English.

This six-movement cantata was performed for the first time on 26 August 1725 in Leipzig. The text was written by Bach's Weimar cantata poet Salomon Franck and had been published earlier in 1715 in his collection Evangelisches Andachts-Opffer. Here, Bach bases his work around the form of the Weimar cantatas which take their texts from Franck's printed collection (BWV 132, 152, 161-163, 165): movements 1-5 are performed by vocal soloists, whilst only the final chorus is given to the chorus. The key concepts of the text are Barmherzigkeit [compassion], Erbarmen [mercy] and wahre Christenliebe [true Christian love]; the chamber music arrangement of the cantata corresponds with this. The two arias for tenor and alto, and the duet for soprano and bass do not contain da capo sections, but repeat the entire text in a condensed form. The instruments do not contrast as a rule, but are treated as a string group (movements 1, 4), duetting (movement 3), and as full unison (movement 5). What is remarkable in all three movements is the thematic linking of the instrumental ritornello parts with the vocal parts through which Bach achieves a kind of unity of form.