Bach, J.S.: Cantatas, Bwv 51 And 208

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Cat No: 8550643

Release Date: 12 January 1999

Label: Naxos - Nxc / Naxos Classics

Packaging Type: Jewel Case

No of Units: 1

Barcode: 4891030506435

Genres: Classical

Composer/Series: BACH, J.S.

Description
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750)Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen, BWV 51 Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd!, BWV 208The career of Johann Sebastian Bach, the most illustrious of aprolific musical family, falls neatly into three unequal parts. Born in 1685 in Eisenach,from the age of ten Bach lived and studied music with his elder brother in Ohrdruf, afterthe death of both his parents. After a series of appointments as organist and briefly as acourt musician, he became, in 1708, court organist and chamber musician to Duke WilhelmErnst of Weimar, the elder of the two brothers who jointly ruled the duchy. In 1714 he waspromoted to the position of Konzertmeister to the Duke, but in 1717, after a brief periodof imprisonment for his temerity in seeking to leave the Duke's service, he abandonedWeimar to become Court Kapellmeister to Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cothen, a position heheld until 1723. From then until his death in 1750 he lived in Leipzig, where he wasThomaskantor, with responsibility for the music of the five principal city churches, in1729 assuming direction of the university collegium musicum, founded by Telemann in 1702.At Weimar Bach had been principally employed as an organist,and his compositions of the period include a considerable amount written for theinstrument on which he was recognised as a virtuoso performer. At Cothen, where Pietisttraditions dominated the court, he had no church duties, and was responsible rather forcourt music. The period brought the composition of a number of instrumental works. Thefinal 27 years of Bach's life brought a variety of preoccupations, and while his officialemployment necessitated the provision of church music, he was able to provide music forthe university collegium musicum and to write or re-arrange a number of important worksfor the keyboard.The cantata Jauchzet Gott inallen Landen, BWV 51, was written for performance on the Fifteenth Sunday afterTrinity, possibly 17th September 1730, in Leipzig. It is scored for a solo soprano,trumpet, strings and basso continuo. The splendid florid opening aria, with trumpetobbligato, is followed by an accompanied recitative, leading to an A minor aria in lilting12/8 metre. The cantata ends with a closing chorale and melismatic Alleluia, a vehicle for coloratura performance. The secular cantata Was mirbehagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd!, BWV 208, with a text by Salomo Franck, waswritten during Bach's employment at Weimar, commanded for the birthday of Duke Christianof Saxe-Weissenfels, celebrated in a hunting festival perhaps as early as 1713. Thecantata was later performed in honour of Duke Ernst August of Sachsen-Weimar, co-regentand nephew of the disapproving Duke Wilhelm Ernst, whose intransigence led in 1717 toBach's departure. The music of a later adaption in honour of the name-day of August III inthe 1740s has been lost. The cantata makes use of four singers, two sopranos, representingDiana and Pales, a tenor, Endymion, and a bass, Pan. The instrument
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