Darzu ist erschienen der Sohn Gottes, BWV 40

Darzu ist erschienen der Sohn Gottes (For this purpose is the son of God manifested), BWV 40, is a church cantata composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. The title also appears in more modern German as Dazu ist erschienen der Sohn Gottes.

It was composed in Leipzig in 1723 for the second day of Christmastide, also known as Christmas Monday or St. Stephen's Day, which falls on 26 December. The work was thus premiered on 26 December 1723 and performed once more in Bach's lifetime, in either 1746 or 1747.

The prescribed readings for the day are Titus 3: 4-7 or Acts 6: 8-15 & 7: 55-60 and Matthew 23: 35-39 or Luke 2: 15-20.

The libretto is of mixed authorship, as follows^[1][2]:

• the Gospel of John, chapter 3, verse 8, as text for the first movement
• Kaspar Füger's poetry for the third movement (specifically, verse 3 of Wir Christenleut, 1592)
• Paul Gerhardt's poetry for the sixth movement (specifically, verse 2 of Schwing dich auf zu deinem Gott, 1648)
• Christian Keymann for the final chorale (from Freuet euch, ihr Christen alle, 1646)
• an anonymous poet for the remaining movements (W. Blankenburg^[3] proposes either Christian Weiss, Sr. or Bach himself).

The chorale theme for movement 3 is Wir Christenleut hab'n jetzund Freud (Zahn 2072)^[4], of unknown authorship.
The chorale theme for movement 6 is Schwing dich auf zu deinem Gott (Zahn 4870)^[5], of unknown authorship.
The chorale theme for movement 8 is Freuet euch, ihr Christen alle (Zahn 7880a)^[5] by Andreas Hammerschmidt, who published it in his Vierter Theill Musicalischer Andachten (1646), in Freiberg.

Bach re-used (parodied) the first movement of this cantata for the Cum Sancto Spiritu fugue in his 1738 Missa in F major, BWV 233.

Scoring and structure

The piece is scored for corni I/II, oboes I/II, violins I/II, viola, and basso continuo, along with three vocal soloists (altus, tenor, bass) and four-part choir.

It is in eight movements:

1. (Coro): Darzu ist erschienen for choral and orchestral tutti.
2. Recitativo: Das Wort ward Fleisch und wohnet in der Welt for tenor and continuo.
3. Chorale: Die Sünd macht Leid for choral and orchestral tutti colle parti.
4. Aria: Höllische Schlange, wird dir nicht bange for bass, oboes, strings, and continuo.
5. Recitativo: Die Schlange, so im Paradies for altus, strings, and continuo.
6. Chorale: Schüttle deinen Kopf und sprich for choral and orchestral tutti colle parti.
7. Aria: Christenkinder, freuet euch! for tenor, corni, oboes, and continuo.
8. Chorale: Jesu, nimm dich deiner Glieder for choral and orchestral tutti colle parti.

Recordings

• Bach Cantatas Vol. 14: New York - Alt.: Robin Tyson; Ten.: James Gilchrist; Bass: Peter Harvey; Monteverdi Choir/English Baroque Soloists; John Eliot Gardiner, conductor. Label: Soli Deo Gloria
• Bach Christmas Cantatas - Alt.: Gloria Raymond; Ten.: Frank Kelley (tenor); Bar.: Mark McSweeney; Orchestra and Chorus of Emmanuel Music; Craig Smith, conductor. Label: Koch International
• Bach Edition Vol. 15 - Cantatas Vol. 8 - Alt.: Sytse Buwalda; Ten.: Marcel Beekman; Bass: Bas Ramselaar; Holland Boys Choir/Netherlands Bach Collegium; Pieter Jan Leusink, conductor. Label: Brilliant Classics
• Bach Made in Germany Vol. 4 - Cantatas IX - Alt.: Ortrun Wenkel; Ten.: Peter Schreier; Bass: Siegfried Lorenz; Thomanerchor Leipzig/Neues Bachisches Collegium Musicum; Hans-Joachim Rotzsch, conductor. Label: Eterna/Leipzig Classics
• Bach: Cantata Advent/Cantata Christmas - Alt.: Reiner Schneider-Waterberg; Ten.: Kobie van Rensburg; Bass: Christian Hilz; Heinrich-Schütz-Ensemble München/Monteverdi-Orchester München; Wolfgang Kelber, conductor. Label: Calig-Verlag
• Die Bach Kantate Vol. 62 - Alt.: Verena Gohl; Ten.: Adalbert Kraus; Bass: Siegmund Nimsgern; Figuralchor der Gedächtniskirche Stuttgart/Bach-Collegium Stuttgart; Helmuth Rilling, conductor. Label: Hänssler
• J.S. Bach: Cantatas Vol. 15 - Cantatas from Leipzig 1723 - Alt.: Robin Blaze; Ten.: Gerd Türk; Bass: Peter Kooy; Bach Collegium Japan; Masaaki Suzuki, conductor. Label: BIS 1111
• J.S. Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 8 - Alt.: Bogna Bartosz; Ten.: Jörg Dürmüller; Bass: Klaus Mertens; Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir; Ton Koopman, conductor. Label: Erato/Antoine Marchand
• J.S. Bach: Das Kantatenwerk - Sacred Cantatas Vol. 3 - Alt.: René Jacobs; Ten.: Marius van Altena; Bass: Max van Egmond; Knabenchor Hannover (Chorus Master: Heinz Hennig)/Leonhardt-Consort; Gustav Leonhardt, conductor. Label: Teldec
• Les Grandes Cantatas de J.S. Bach Vol. 20 - Alt.: Claudia Hellmann; Ten.: Georg Jelden; Bass: Jakob Stämpfli; Heinrich-Schütz-Chor Heilbronn/Pforzheim Chamber Orchestra; Fritz Werner, conductor. Label: Erato/MHS

References

1. ^ Christoph Wolff (Eds.): Die Welt der Bach-Kantaten, Metzler/Bärenreiter, Stuttgart und Kassel, 3 Bände Sonderausgabe 2006 ISBN 3-476-02127-0
2. ^ C. S. Terry and D. Litti, Bach's Cantata Libretti, Journal of the Royal Musical Association 1917 44(1):71-125; doi:10.1093/jrma/44.1.71
3. ^ W. Blankenburg, Johann Sebastian Bach. Wege der Forschung. Darmstadt, 1970.
4. ^ Die Melodien der deutschen evangelischen Kirchenlieder, aus den Quellen geschöpft und mitgeteilt von Johannes Zahn (6 volumes), Verlag Bertelsmann, Gütersloh (1889–93). [further edited by the Gesellschaft zur wissenschaftlichen Edition des deutschen Kirchenlieds. Hildesheim, New York: Georg Olms Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1998. 6 volumes. ISBN 3-48709-319-7]
5. ^ ^{a b} Die Melodien der deutschen evangelischen Kirchenlieder, cit.

Sources

• Craig Smith, Programme notes - BWV 40, Emmanuel Music.
• Walter F. Bischof, Text and orchestration for BWV 40, Bach Cantatas, University of Alberta.
• Alfred Dürr: Johann Sebastian Bach: Die Kantaten. Bärenreiter, Kassel 1999, ISBN 3-7618-1476-3
• Alfred Dürr: The Cantatas of J.S. Bach, Oxford University Press, 2006. ISBN 0-19-929776-2
• Werner Neumann: Handbuch der Kantaten J.S.Bachs, 1947, 5th Ed. 1984, ISBN 3-7651-0054-4
• Hans-Joachim Schulze: Die Bach-Kantaten: Einführungen zu sämtlichen Kantaten Johann Sebastian Bachs. Leipzig: Evangelische Verlags-Anstalt; Stuttgart: Carus-Verlag 2006 (Edition Bach-Archiv Leipzig) ISBN 3-374-02390-8 (Evang. Verl.-Anst.), ISBN 3-89948-073-2 (Carus-Verl.)
• Christoph Wolff/Ton Koopman (Eds.): Die Welt der Bach-Kantaten, Metzler/Bärenreiter, Stuttgart und Kassel, 3 Bände Sonderausgabe 2006 ISBN 3-476-02127-0
• Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini. Studi sui testi delle Cantate sacre di J. S. Bach. Università di Padova, pubblicazioni della Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia, vol. XXXI, Padova & Kassel, 1956, xv-291.
• Geoffrey Turner. Singing The Word: The Cantatas of J S Bach. New Blackfriars, volume 87, issue 1008, pages 144-154.
• J. C. J. Day. The texts of Bach's Church cantatas: some observations. German Life and Letters, volume 13 (1960), num. 2, pages 137-144.
• Harald Streck. Die Verskunst in den poetischen Texten zu den Kantaten J. S. Bachs. Dissertation: Universität Hamburg 1971, 214 pages.

External links

• Piano & vocal score of BWV 40 on bach-cantatas.com
• Discussion of the work on bach-cantatas.com