Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt (God so loved the
world), BWV 68, is a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach,
a church cantata for the second day of Pentecost. Bach
composed the cantata in Leipzig and first performed it
on 21 May 1725. It is one of nine cantatas on texts by
Christiana Mariana von Ziegler, which Bach composed at
the end of his second annual cycle of cantatas in
Leipzig. In a unique structure among Bach's church
cantatas, it begins with a chorale and ends with a
complex choral movement ...(+)
Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt (God so loved the
world), BWV 68, is a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach,
a church cantata for the second day of Pentecost. Bach
composed the cantata in Leipzig and first performed it
on 21 May 1725. It is one of nine cantatas on texts by
Christiana Mariana von Ziegler, which Bach composed at
the end of his second annual cycle of cantatas in
Leipzig. In a unique structure among Bach's church
cantatas, it begins with a chorale and ends with a
complex choral movement on a quotation from the Gospel
of John. Bach derived the two arias from his Hunting
Cantata.
In his second year in Leipzig, Bach composed chorale
cantatas between the first Sunday after Trinity and
Palm Sunday, but for Easter returned to cantatas on
more varied texts, possibly because he lost his
librettist. Nine of his cantatas for the period between
Easter and Pentecost are based on texts by Christiana
Mariana von Ziegler, including this cantata. Bach had
possibly commissioned them in 1724 for his first
cantata cycle but not composed then. He later inserted
most of them in his third annual cantata cycle, but
kept this one and Auf Christi Himmelfahrt allein, BWV
128, composed for Ascension, in his second cycle,
possibly because they both begin with a chorale
fantasia. The poetess opened the cantata in an unusual
way with the first stanza from Salomo Liscow's hymn
(1675). It is close to the beginning of the Gospel:
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should
not perish, but have everlasting life". In the final
movement, she quoted verse 18 from the Gospel, set by
Bach as an unusual choral movement.
The opening chorus is a chorale fantasia, as in Bach's
chorale cantatas. The hymn melody by Gottfried Vopelius
(1682) is sung by the soprano, doubled by a horn. Bach
changed the rhythm of the tune from the original common
time to 12/8. The musicologist Julian Mincham notes
that he "embellishes it to a degree whereby 'it hardly
seems like a chorale any more'".
The two arias are based on arias from Bach's 1713
Hunting Cantata (Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre
Jagd, BWV 208). The soprano aria "Mein gläubiges
Herze" (My faithful heart) resembles the former aria of
the shepherd goddess Pales "Weil die wollenreichen
Herden" (While the herds all woolly-coated). In the
church cantata, Bach used an obbligato violoncello
piccolo, an instrument he experimented with in cantatas
of the second cantata cycle (1724–25). John Eliot
Gardiner describes it as "surely one of Bach's most
refreshing and unbuttoned expressions of melodic joy
and high spirits". The bass aria is based on the aria
of the god Pan, "Ein Fürst ist seines Landes Pan" (A
prince is his own country's Pan). Klaus Hofmann notes
that the "splendid wind writing gives some hint of the
pathos with which Pan ... is portrayed in Bach's
hunting music".
The final movement is not, as in many church cantatas,
a simple four-part chorale, but a motet-like structure
which conveys a verse from the Gospel of John. The
juxtaposition of "wer an ihn gläubet" (Whoever
believes in Him) and "wer aber nicht gläubet" (but
whoever does not believe) is expressed by a double
fugue with two contrasting themes. The voices are
doubled by a choir of trombones.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Also_hat_Gott_die_Welt_g
eliebt,_BWV_68).
The cantata in five movements is scored for two
soloists, soprano and bass, a four-part choir, horn,
cornett, three trombones, two oboes, taille (tenor
oboe), two violins, viola, violoncello piccolo and
basso continuo.
I created this arrangement of the Chorus: Wer an ihn
gläubet, der wird nicht gerichtet "Whoever believes in
Him will not be judged (BWV 68 No. 5) for Horn &
Strings (2 Violins, Viola & Cello).
