![1662 Wilhelm Ernst](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/1662_Wilhelm_Ernst.jpg)
"Alles mit Gott und nichts ohn' ihn" (Everything with God and nothing without him),
BWV
The (BWV; ; ) is a catalogue of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was first published in 1950, edited by Wolfgang Schmieder. The catalogue's second edition appeared in 1990. An abbreviated version of that second edition, known as BWV2a ...
1127, is
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...
's October 1713 setting of a poem in 12 stanzas by ,
Superintendent
Superintendent may refer to:
*Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank
*Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator
*Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...
of
Buttstädt
Buttstädt is a municipality in the district of Sömmerda, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated 16 km northeast of Weimar. The former municipalities Ellersleben, Eßleben-Teutleben, Großbrembach, Guthmannshausen, Hardisleben, Kleinbr ...
, a town in the
Duchy of Saxe-Weimar
Saxe-Weimar (german: Sachsen-Weimar) was one of the History of Saxony, Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine duchies, Ernestine branch of the House of Wettin, Wettin dynasty in present-day Thuringia. The chief town and capital was Weimar. The Weima ...
. The poem is an
acrostic
An acrostic is a poem or other word composition in which the ''first'' letter (or syllable, or word) of each new line (or paragraph, or other recurring feature in the text) spells out a word, message or the alphabet. The term comes from the Fre ...
dedicated to
Duke Wilhelm Ernst of Saxe-Weimar, on his birthday (30 October). Bach, at the time employed as court
organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...
by the Duke, set Mylius's ode as an
aria
In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompanime ...
in
strophic form
Strophic form – also called verse-repeating form, chorus form, AAA song form, or one-part song form – is a song structure in which all verses or stanzas of the text are sung to the same music. Contrasting song forms include through-composed, w ...
, that is a melody for
soprano
A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...
accompanied by
continuo for the stanzas, alternated with a
ritornello
A ritornello (Italian; "little return") is a recurring passage in Baroque music for orchestra or chorus.
Early history
The earliest use of the term "ritornello" in music referred to the final lines of a fourteenth-century madrigal, which were usu ...
for
strings
String or strings may refer to:
*String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...
and continuo. When all stanzas are sung, a performance of the work takes around 45 to 50 minutes.
The work was likely first performed on the Duke's birthday.
[. ] The original print of Mylius's poem, with Bach's composition written on two pages at the end, was archived in Weimar, where it remained unnoticed for nearly three centuries, accidentally twice escaping a devastating fire, in 1774 and in 2004, until it was rediscovered in May 2005. After the discovery (in 1924) and publication (in 1935) of
''Bekennen will ich seinen Namen'', BWV 200, this was the first time an
autograph
An autograph is a person's own handwriting or signature. The word ''autograph'' comes from Ancient Greek (, ''autós'', "self" and , ''gráphō'', "write"), and can mean more specifically: Gove, Philip B. (ed.), 1981. ''Webster's Third New Inter ...
of a previously unknown vocal work by Bach had come to light.
Context
![Orgel Buttstädt](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Orgel_Buttst%C3%A4dt.jpg)
Wilhelm Ernst was born on (
O.S.) 19 October 1662. In 1683 he became
Duke of Saxe-Weimar
Saxe-Weimar (german: Sachsen-Weimar) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine branch of the Wettin dynasty in present-day Thuringia. The chief town and capital was Weimar. The Weimar branch was the most genealogically senior extant br ...
, jointly with his younger brother
Johann Ernst. The elder brother had chosen (everything with God and nothing without him) as his
motto
A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. Mot ...
. In 1700, when the
Gregorian calendar was adopted, Wilhelm Ernst decided that his birthday would henceforth be celebrated on 30 October. In 1703 Johann Sebastian Bach worked for some months at the ducal court in Weimar. In 1708, a year after the death of the younger duke, Bach came to work for the ducal court again, this time in the capacity of organist.
At the time,
Johann Samuel Drese
Johann Samuel Drese (c. 1644 – 1 December 1716) was a German composer. In 1683 he was appointed ''Kapellmeister'' of the ducal court in Weimar. He held this post until his death which meant that he was in charge of music at court during almost a ...
and his son
Johann Wilhelm were the court composers () at Weimar, and composition of new pieces was no part of Bach's assignment as court organist. In 1713 Bach composed the ''
Hunting Cantata
''Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd'' (The lively hunt is all my heart's desire), 208.1, BWV 208, also known as the ''Hunting Cantata'', is a secular cantata composed by Johann Sebastian Bach for the 31st birthday of Duke Chri ...
'' (''Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd'', BWV 208, first performed on 27 February in
Weißenfels
Weißenfels (; often written in English as Weissenfels) is the largest town of the Burgenlandkreis district, in southern Saxony-Anhalt, central Germany. It is situated on the river Saale, approximately south of Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Halle.
His ...
) and the
''Canon a 4 perpetuus'', BWV 1073 (2 August). Also from around this time are several entries in the ''
Orgelbüchlein
The ''Orgelbüchlein'' (''Little Organ Book'') BWV 599−644 is a set of 46 chorale preludes for organ — one of them is given in two versions — by Johann Sebastian Bach. All but three were written between 1708 and 1717 when Bach served as org ...
'', and likely the bulk of
his Weimar concerto transcriptions.
Johann Anton Mylius's life is relatively well-documented: in 1751–52 one of his sons published an extended chronicle of the Mylius family, and the family was later also subject of detailed historical research. After studies in
Erfurt
Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...
and
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...
in the 1680s, Johann Anton became a theologian working in Erfurt and
Niederroßla
Niederroßla is a village and a former Municipalities in Germany, municipality in the Weimarer Land Districts of Germany, district of Thuringia, Germany. Since 31 December 2013, it is part of the municipality Ilmtal-Weinstraße.
References
...
, and, having become Superintendent in 1674, he was from 1697 stationed in Buttstädt, a town some north of Weimar. There, he initiated reforms of the liturgical music, and grand renovation works to the town church (St Michael's), including its organ. Duke Wilhelm Ernst supported Mylius in these endeavours, and even organised a fund-raiser in his realm to finance the renovation works.
Every year Duke Wilhelm Ernst would typically receive over a dozen of written congratulatory tributes. The copies of these tributes which were presented to the Duke were mostly bound in luxurious
marbled paper
Paper marbling is a method of aqueous surface design, which can produce patterns similar to smooth marble or other kinds of stone. The patterns are the result of color floated on either plain water or a viscous solution known as size, and then ca ...
, and conserved in the court library. One of these, published by Mumbachische Schrifften, was by the court preacher , and congratulated the duke on his 52nd
icbirthday on 30 October 1713 (that date was in fact the Duke's 51st birthday). Mylius and Bach convened to produce a tribute for the same occasion. The title page of that tribute, also printed by Mumbachische Schrifften, reads in part:
The title page of Mylius's ode contains the same miscalculation of the Duke's age, which, according to
Michael Maul Michael Maul (born 1978) is a German musicologist noted for his work on Johann Sebastian Bach. Maul was born in Leipzig, and is still based in the city, although his work at the Bach Archive has involved travel to archives and libraries across Germa ...
, would not be down to any of the individual authors using the services of the Mumbachische Schrifften publishing house, but was likely a more widespread misapprehension. Several composers could have been Mylius's choice for this collaboration: there were not only father and son Drese, but also the musicians with whom he collaborated in Büttstadt – whatsoever, the one with whom he embarked on the project was the 28-year old Bach. The theme of Mylius's congratulatory poem is the Duke's motto, announced thus on the tribute's title page:
Notwithstanding that the occasion, a birthday, was of a secular nature—usually
Bach composed secular odes or cantatas for such occasions—, the result was a
sacred work, not in the least because of the religious nature of the motto that became the topic of Mylius's exegetic poem. Bach set it as a strophic aria, a genre that had been widely practised in Germany by the end of the 17th century, but was considered old-fashioned by the second decade of the 18th century. In 1713, Duke Wilhelm Ernst's birthday was officially celebrated on Sunday 5 November, a day before he consecrated the newly finished . It is unlikely that "Alles mit Gott und nichts ohn' ihn", BWV 1127, was first performed on either of these days, a weekday service in the court chapel on Monday 30 October, the Duke's actual birthday, seeming more likely for that first performance.
Music and lyrics
The printed text of Mylius's ode takes five pages in the dedication copy, while Bach's handwritten setting, titled "" (aria for solo soprano and ritornello), takes the last two pages of the pamphlet.
Mylius's ode
![ButtstädtStadtkirche4](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/Buttst%C3%A4dtStadtkirche4.JPG)
Mylius's poem is an acrostic in 12 stanzas of eight lines. The motto of Duke Wilhelm Ernst, in Latin and German, is given as the title of the poem on the page that holds its first stanza in the 1713 print. The first and last line of each stanza is the German version of the Duke's motto. In a footnote to the first line of the first stanza, Mylius gives these biblical references for the sovereign's motto ():
*
Psalm 18
Psalm 18 is the 18th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "I love you, O LORD, my strength.". In the Greek Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate, it is psalm 17 in a slightly different numbering system, known a ...
:30, "For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall."
*
Psalm 60
Psalm 60 is the 60th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast scattered us". In the slightly different numbering system of the Greek Septuagint version of the Bible and ...
:14, "Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies."
*
1 Chronicles
The Book of Chronicles ( he, דִּבְרֵי־הַיָּמִים ) is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Chronicles) in the Christian Old Testament. Chronicles is the final book of the Hebrew Bible, concluding the third sect ...
30:14, 16, "But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee. ... O LORD our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee an house for thine holy name cometh of thine hand, and is all thine own."
The second line of the first stanza reads:To which Mylius adds this footnote:The footnote indicates the scheme of the acrostic:
* The emphasized letters (W, E, H, W, S, and Z) are the initials of the Duke's name, i.e. (Wilhelm Ernst Duke of Saxe-Weimar).
* The third word, (wondrous), starts with the same letter as Wilhelm Ernst's name. The second line of each stanza starts with and ends on : the word between these two half-phrases, in the case of the first stanza, reads for the 12 consecutive stanzas:
*# ... ... (... wondrous ...)
*# ... ... (...
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
' ...)
*# ... ... (... country's ...)
*# ... ... (... heaven's ...)
*# ... ... (... noble ...)
*# ... ... (... life's ...)
*# ... ... (... many ...)
*# ... ... (... eternal ...)
*# ... ... (... rich ...)
*# ... ... (... new ...)
*# ... ... (... soul's ...)
*# ... ... (... thousand ...)
:The initials of these words read "WJLHELM ERNST" – that is the Duke's name.
The acrostic technique was very common in such congratulatory poetry, and the Duke apparently appreciated it. The seventh line of each stanza is a variant of its second line, starting with (Must ...) instead of (Will ...). The four middle lines of each stanza are an exegetic explanation of its second line, and Mylius indicates in footnotes which Bible passages support his theological interpretation. By stanza these biblical references for the four middle lines are,
# (wondrous blessings):
#*
Psalm 72
Psalm 72 is the 72nd psalm from the Book of Psalms. Traditionally seen as being written by King Solomon, its heading may be translated 'to or for Solomon'. In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate ...
:18, "Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things."
#*
Genesis
Genesis may refer to:
Bible
* Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind
* Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...
15:1, "After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward."
#*
Job
Work or labor (or labour in British English) is intentional activity people perform to support the needs and wants of themselves, others, or a wider community. In the context of economics, work can be viewed as the human activity that contr ...
14:1, "Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble."
# (Jesus' blessing):
#*
Luke 5
Luke 5 is the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, traditionally attributed to Luke the Evangelist, a companion of Paul the Apostle on his missionary journeys. The chapter relates the recruitment of ...
:3ff, "And
esus
Esus, Hesus, or Aisus was a Brittonic and Gaulish god known from two monumental statues and a line in Lucan's '' Bellum civile''.
Name
T. F. O'Rahilly derives the theonym ''Esus'', as well as ''Aoibheall'', ''Éibhleann'', ''Aoife'', and ...
entered into one of the ships, which was
Simon
Simon may refer to:
People
* Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon
* Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon
* Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...
's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship."
# (blessings for the country):
#*
Sirach
The Book of Sirach () or Ecclesiasticus (; abbreviated Ecclus.) is a Jewish work, originally in Hebrew, of ethical teachings, from approximately 200 to 175 BC, written by the Judahite scribe Ben Sira of Jerusalem, on the inspiration of his fa ...
10:5, "In the hand of God is the prosperity of man: and upon the person of the scribe shall he lay his honour."
#*
Deuteronomy 33
33 may refer to:
*33 (number)
*33 BC
*AD 33
*1933
*2033
Music
* ''33'' (Luis Miguel album) (2003)
* ''33'' (Southpacific album) (1998)
* ''33'' (Wanessa album) (2016)
*"33 'GOD'", a 2016 song by Bon Iver
* "Thirty-Three" (song), a 1995 song by th ...
:13, "And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the LORD be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath"
[ in ]KJV
The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of K ...
, translation o
Deut. 33:13
in Luther Bible
The Luther Bible (german: Lutherbibel) is a German language Bible translation from Latin sources by Martin Luther. The New Testament was first published in September 1522, and the complete Bible, containing the Old and New Testaments with Apocry ...
1704 edition (Kelp)
# (blessings from heaven):
#*
Hosea 2
Hosea 2 is the second chapter of the Book of Hosea in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains the prophecies attributed to the prophet Hosea son of Beeri and this chapter contains the application of the sym ...
:21, "And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the LORD, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth"
#*
Jeremiah 5:24, "Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest."
#*
Psalm 85
Psalm 85 is the 85th psalm of the Book of Psalms, one of a series of psalms attributed to the sons of Korah. In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate translations of the Bible, this psalm is Psalm ...
:11, "Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other."
# (noble blessings):
#*
Deuteronomy 33
33 may refer to:
*33 (number)
*33 BC
*AD 33
*1933
*2033
Music
* ''33'' (Luis Miguel album) (2003)
* ''33'' (Southpacific album) (1998)
* ''33'' (Wanessa album) (2016)
*"33 'GOD'", a 2016 song by Bon Iver
* "Thirty-Three" (song), a 1995 song by th ...
:13, "And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the LORD be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath"
# (life's blessings):
#*
Psalm 133
Psalm 133 is the 133rd psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity". In Latin, it is known as "Ecce quam bonum". The psalm is one of ...
:4, "for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore."
#*
Kohelet
Ecclesiastes (; hbo, קֹהֶלֶת, Qōheleṯ, grc, Ἐκκλησιαστής, Ekklēsiastēs) is one of the Ketuvim ("Writings") of the Hebrew Bible and part of the Wisdom literature of the Christianity, Christian Old Testament. The titl ...
1:8, "All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing."
# (many blessings):
#*
Psalm 139
Psalm 139 is the 139th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me". In Latin, it is known as "Domine probasti me et cognovisti me". The psalm is a hymn psalm. Attribu ...
:1, "O lord, thou hast searched me, and known me."
# (eternal blessings):
#*
2 Corinthians 4
2 Corinthians 4 is the fourth chapter of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It is authored by Paul the Apostle and Timothy ( 2 Corinthians 1:1) in Macedonia in 55–56 CE. Twice in this chapter (v ...
:17, "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory"
#*
Romans 8
Romans 8 is the eighth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It was authored by Paul the Apostle, while he was in Corinth in the mid-50s AD, with the help of an amanuensis (secretary), Tertius, who a ...
:18, "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."
# (rich blessings):
#*
Ephesians
The Epistle to the Ephesians is the tenth book of the New Testament. Its authorship has traditionally been attributed to Paul the Apostle but starting in 1792, this has been challenged as Deutero-Pauline, that is, pseudepigrapha written in Pau ...
3:20, "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us"
# (new blessings):
#*
Lamentations 3
Lamentations 3 is the third chapter of the Book of Lamentations in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christianity, Christian Bible, part of the Ketuvim, Ketuvim ("Writings").
Text
The original text was written in Biblical Hebrew, He ...
:23, "
he Lord's compassionsare new every morning: great is thy faithfulness."
#*
Isaiah 40
Isaiah 40 is the fortieth chapter of the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible, and the first chapter of the section known as "Deutero-Isaiah" (Isaiah 40- 55), dating from the time of the Israelites' ex ...
:31, "But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."
#*
Song of Songs 3:4, "It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me."
# (blessings for the soul):
#*
Wisdom
Wisdom, sapience, or sagacity is the ability to contemplate and act using knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense and insight. Wisdom is associated with attributes such as unbiased judgment, compassion, experiential self-knowledge, ...
3:3, "And their going from us to be utter destruction: but they are in peace."
#*
Matthew 10
Matthew 10 is the tenth chapter in the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament section of the Christian Bible. This chapter opens with Jesus calling some of his disciples and sending them out to preach and heal. This section is also known as the ...
:28, "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."
#*
John 11
John 11 is the eleventh chapter of the Gospel of John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It records the raising of Lazarus from the dead, a miracle of Jesus Christ, and the subsequent development of the chief priests' and Pharisees' pl ...
:26, "And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?"
#*
Matthew 16
Matthew 16 is the sixteenth chapter in the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament section of the Christian Bible. Jesus begins a journey to Jerusalem from the vicinity of Caesarea Philippi, near the southwestern base of Mount Hermon. Verse 24 spe ...
:26, "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"
# (thousand blessings):
#*
Daniel 7
Daniel 7 (the seventh chapter of the Book of Daniel) tells of Daniel's vision of four world-kingdoms replaced by the kingdom of the saints or "holy ones" of the Most High, which will endure for ever. Four beasts come out of the sea, the Ancient ...
:10, "A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened."
#*
Revelation 7
Revelation 7 is the seventh chapter of the Book of Revelation or the Apocalypse of John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is traditionally attributed to John the Apostle, but the precise identity of the author remains a point ...
:9, "After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands"
#*
Psalm 143
Psalm 143 is the 143rd psalm of the biblical Book of Psalms in the Masoretic and modern numbering, part of the final Davidic collection of psalms, comprising Psalms 138 to 145, which are specifically attributed to David in their opening verses ...
:11, "Quicken me, O LORD, for thy name's sake: for thy righteousness' sake bring my soul out of trouble."
Bach's setting
![BWV 1127 - autograph p2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/BWV_1127_-_autograph_p2.jpg)
The title Bach gave to his setting, in
C major
C major (or the key of C) is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and ...
, of Mylius's "Alles mit Gott und nichts ohn' ihn" indicates that the composition has two parts:
* – for soprano voice and
figured bass
Figured bass is musical notation in which numerals and symbols appear above or below (or next to) a bass note. The numerals and symbols (often accidentals) indicate intervals, chords, and non-chord tones that a musician playing piano, harpsic ...
(continuo)
* – for two
violin
The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...
s,
viola
The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...
,
cello
The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...
, and continuo
Bach's setting is in
common time
The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...
and its
tempo
In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...
indication is
adagio
Adagio (Italian for 'slowly', ) may refer to:
Music
* Adagio, a Tempo#Basic tempo markings, tempo marking, indicating that music is to be played slowly, or a composition intended to be played in this manner
* Adagio (band), a French progressive m ...
. The setting is a strophic aria: the same music is repeated for each of the 12 stanzas of Mylius's poem. Bach's score only contains the text of the first stanza: a
custos {{Wiktionary, custos
''Custos'' is the Latin word for guard.
Titles
* Custos rotulorum ("keeper of the rolls"), a civic post in parts of the United Kingdom and in Jamaica
* Custos (Franciscans), a religious superior or official in the Fran ...
and a repeat sign at the end indicate that the other stanzas are to be performed to the same music. Since a single pass of Bach's music takes around four minutes to perform, the entire work is performed in around 45 to 50 minutes. If a split performance was intended (e.g. before and after a sermon), then the split would most likely fall after the seventh stanza: that is the stanza with which the "WJLHELM" part of the acrostic ends, and the exegetic middle lines of that stanza are of a concluding nature, like those of the very last stanza of the poem.
Aria
The aria part of Bach's composition starts with a four-
bar
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
* Candy bar
* Chocolate bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
* Bar (u ...
instrumental introduction by the continuo: that introduction has exactly 52 bass notes, which may be seen as an allusion to the age of Duke Wilhelm Ernst. From the end of the fourth bar to the first note of the 17th bar the soprano sings the first two lines of Mylius's poem, that is the A section of its first stanza. On the first pass of the second line, Bach changed the word order: "" instead of "" in the poem. Maul describes Bach's setting of the A section as having "an artfully
melisma
Melisma ( grc-gre, μέλισμα, , ; from grc, , melos, song, melody, label=none, plural: ''melismata'') is the singing of a single syllable of text while moving between several different notes in succession. Music sung in this style is referr ...
tic and 'catchy' tune"
The B section of the stanza, consisting of its middle four explanatory lines, is sung from bar 17 to 25. The setting of this section is harmonically more expansive than that of the A section. The mirrored A section, consisting of the two last lines of the stanza, follows from bar 26 to 34. The word order of the seventh line of the stanza, sung in bars 26 to 27, is changed as the first pass of the second line (bars 8–10): "" instead of "" in the poem. In these bars Bach returns from the
subdominant
In music, the subdominant is the fourth tonal degree () of the diatonic scale. It is so called because it is the same distance ''below'' the tonic as the dominant is ''above'' the tonicin other words, the tonic is the dominant of the subdomina ...
(
F major
F major (or the key of F) is a major scale based on F, with the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative minor is D minor and its parallel minor is F minor
F minor is a minor scale based on F, consis ...
), at the end of the B section, to the
tonic (C major), after which the "catchy tune" with which the A section opened is repeated to the same words (line 8 = line 1, the Duke's motto in all stanzas). In this way Bach realises a free
da capo
Da capo (, also , ) is an Italian musical term that means "from the beginning" (literally, "from the head"). It is often abbreviated as D.C. The term is a directive to repeat the previous part of music, often used to save space, and thus is an ...
form, that is, instead of an exact repeat of the A section, a variant of the A section follows after the B section (A-B-A').
The voice and continuo part of the composition ends with a four-bar instrumental postlude, by the continuo, which keeps close to the four-bar introduction. Thus the build of the "aria" part of the composition is symmetrical:
* Introduction by continuo (four bars)
** First line of the stanza: "motto" tune for the Duke's "motto"
*** Second line of the stanza, containing (before the word ) the topic of the stanza
**** Four middle lines of the stanza: exegetic explanation on the topic of the stanza
*** Seventh line of the stanza, mirroring the second line
** Eighth line of the stanza, mirroring the first line: same "motto" tune for the Duke's "motto"
* Postlude by continuo, mirroring the first four bars
Or, approached as a free
da capo aria
The da capo aria () is a musical form for arias that was prevalent in the Baroque era. It is sung by a soloist with the accompaniment of instruments, often a small orchestra. The da capo aria is very common in the musical genres of opera and orator ...
:
Ritornello
The Ritornello starts on the last beat of the 37th bar, continuing in the 18 remaining bars of the composition. It consists of two
development
Development or developing may refer to:
Arts
*Development hell, when a project is stuck in development
*Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting
*Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped
*Photographi ...
sections (the second of these starting in the 45th bar), on the most prominent
motifs of the aria section.
Christoph Wolff
Christoph Wolff (born 24 May 1940) is a German musicologist. He is best known for his works on the music, life, and period of Johann Sebastian Bach. Christoph Wolff is an emeritus professor of Harvard University, and was part of the faculty sinc ...
describes the
four-part instrumental ritornello as "written in a dense, motivic and
contrapuntal
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...
texture reminiscent of the pieces in the contemporary ''
Orgel-Büchlein''." Maul elaborates an example of how motifs that have sounded on the words and in the aria part are combined in the last six bars of the first development of the Ritornello, and then again in the last three bars of its second development.
Reception
![Weimar Platz der Demokratie 1 Herzogin-Anna-Amalia-Bibliothek 22](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Weimar_Platz_der_Demokratie_1_Herzogin-Anna-Amalia-Bibliothek_22.jpg)
Five months after the presentation of the "Alles mit Gott und nichts ohn' ihn" poem and its setting to Duke Wilhelm Ernst, he promoted Bach to concertmaster (), and commissioned him to compose, once a month, a new piece of church music. According to Maul, Bach being promoted to compose church music was likely, at least in part, due to his setting of Mylius's ode. Possibly the aria was performed again in 1715 in
Pforta
Pforta, or Schulpforta, is a school located in Pforta monastery, a former Cistercian monastery (1137–1540), near Naumburg on the Saale River in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt.
The site has been a school since the 16th century. Notable past ...
.
Conservation and recovery of the dedication copy
The dedication copy of Mylius's ode, containing Bach's autograph of its setting, was stored in the library of the Duke's palace,
Schloss Weimar
Schloss Weimar is a ''Schloss'' (palace) in Weimar, Thuringia, Germany. It is now called ''Stadtschloss'' to distinguish it from other palaces in and around Weimar. It was the residence of the dukes of Saxe-Weimar and Eisenach, and has also been ...
. In 1766 the content of that library was moved to the nearby , out of reach of the fire that destroyed Schloss Weimar in 1774. The library in the Grünes Schloss was later renamed to
Duchess Anna Amalia Library
The Duchess Anna Amalia Library (German: ''Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek'') in Weimar, Germany, houses a major collection of German literature and historical documents. In 1991, the tricentennial of its opening to the public, the Ducal Library ...
(, HAAB). Together with other congratulatory documents received by the Dukes of Weimar, the dedication copy of BWV 1127 was stored on the second gallery level of the Rococo hall of the library. The luxurious binding of these pieces drew attention, and for classifying them they were moved to the restoration workshop outside the library building shortly before the Rococo hall burnt to the ground in September 2004.
In January 2005, as part of a program that had been initiated in 2002, Maul started his researches, looking for Baroque era music-related documentation, in the HAAB. On 17 June he was given access to the boxes with congratulatory tributes that were salvaged from the 2004 fire. Among these tributes was the dedication copy of Mylius's and Bach's "Alles mit Gott und nichts ohn' ihn". Authenticated, the newly discovered composition was given the ''
Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis
The (BWV; ; ) is a catalogue of compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was first published in 1950, edited by Wolfgang Schmieder. The catalogue's second edition appeared in 1990. An abbreviated version of that second edition, known as BWV2a ...
'' number 1127. The shelf number of the dedication copy containing Mylius's ode and its setting by Bach, in the HAAB, is D-WRz B 24.
The new find was valued for several reasons:
* It is the only known composition by Bach in the strophic aria format.
* It documents Bach's activities for civil occasions in his Weimar period.
Score editions
Bärenreiter
Bärenreiter (Bärenreiter-Verlag) is a German classical music publishing house based in Kassel. The firm was founded by Karl Vötterle (1903–1975) in Augsburg in 1923, and moved to Kassel in 1927, where it still has its headquarters; it also ...
published several editions of the score of BWV 1127:
* The first edition, in 2005, edited by Maul.
* A facsimile edition, edited by Wolff.
* The
New Bach Edition
The New Bach Edition (NBE) (german: Neue Bach-Ausgabe; NBA), is the second complete edition of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, published by Bärenreiter. The name is short for Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750): New Edition of the Complete W ...
(), completing its activities in 2007, published BWV 1127 in a supplement, edited by Maul.
A high resolution digital facsimile of D-WRz B 24 became available on the HAAB and
Bach Digital
Bach Digital (German: ), developed by the Bach Archive in Leipzig, is an online database which gives access to information on compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach and members of Bach family, his family. Early manuscripts of such compositions are ...
websites.
21st-century performances and recordings
Part of the rediscovered aria was recorded by soprano Ah Hong and harpsichordist Joseph Gascho on 9 June 2005, and aired the next day on
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
. Another preliminary performance, by
Claron McFadden
Claron McFadden (born 1961) is an American soprano. McFadden studied voice at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, finishing her degree in 1984.
She gained international fame when making her Glyndebourne Festival Opera debut in the ...
and , was broadcast in the Dutch TV-show ''
Nova
A nova (plural novae or novas) is a transient astronomical event that causes the sudden appearance of a bright, apparently "new" star (hence the name "nova", which is Latin for "new") that slowly fades over weeks or months. Causes of the dramati ...
''. The official world première recording of the aria, by
John Eliot Gardiner
Sir John Eliot Gardiner (born 20 April 1943) is an English conductor, particularly known for his performances of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Life and career
Born in Fontmell Magna, Dorset, son of Rolf Gardiner and Marabel Hodgkin, Gard ...
conducting the
English Baroque Soloists
The English Baroque Soloists is a chamber orchestra playing on period instruments, formed in 1978 by English conductor Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Its repertoire comprises music from the early Baroque to the Classical period.
History
The English B ...
and soprano
Elin Manahan Thomas
Elin Manahan Thomas (born 1977) is a Welsh soprano. A specialist in Baroque music, she sang at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in May 2018.
Biography
Thomas was born in Gorseinon near Swansea, Wales, the daughter of M. Wynn Thomas ...
, was released in September 2005.
[. ] This recording contained three stanzas of the aria, with a performance time of 12:16.
Ton Koopman
Antonius Gerhardus Michael Koopman (; born 2 October 1944), known professionally as Ton Koopman, is a Dutch conductor, organist, harpsichordist, and musicologist, primarily known for being the founder and director of the Amsterdam Baroque Orches ...
's recording, on which
Lisa Larsson
Lisa Larsson (born 14 February 1967) is a Swedish classical soprano singer.
Career
Larsson studied in Basel and since 1993 appeared in the ''Internationales Opernstudio'' of the Zurich Opera House under conductors such as Franz Welser-Möst, ...
sang the solo part, was released a few months later in Vol. 20 of
his complete recording of Bach's cantatas.
[. ] Koopman made a selection of four stanzas of the aria for his recording, with a performance time of 16:52.
The first complete recording of BWV 1127, that is, including all 12 stanzas of the aria with a recording time of 48:30, was realised by
Masaaki Suzuki
is a Japanese organist, harpsichordist and conductor, and the founder and music director of the Bach Collegium Japan. With this ensemble he is recording the complete choral works of Johann Sebastian Bach for the Swedish label BIS Records, for whi ...
,
Carolyn Sampson
Carolyn Sampson (born 18 May 1974) is an English soprano in opera and concert. Specialising in historically informed performance, she has sung in Masaaki Suzuki's recording project of Bach cantatas and has appeared at the English National Opera. ...
, and the
Bach Collegium Japan
Bach Collegium Japan (BCJ) is composed of an orchestra and a chorus specializing in Baroque music, playing on period instruments. It was founded in 1990 by Masaaki Suzuki with the purpose of introducing Japanese audiences to European Baroque music ...
, and released in January 2006 on the 30th volume of Suzuki's complete Bach cantatas project.
[. ] Daniel Abraham's recording, with
The Bach Sinfonia and soprano Amanda Balestrieri, was released in 2006.
Dorothee Mields
Dorothee Mields (born 15 April 1971) is a German soprano concert singer of Baroque and contemporary music.
Career
Mields was born in Gelsenkirchen. She studied at the University of the Arts Bremen with Elke Holzmann, Harry van der Kamp and Ga ...
recorded four stanzas of the aria with
L'Orfeo Barockorchester
L'Orfeo Barockorchester is an Austrian Ensemble of historically informed performance.
Presentation
The international baroque and opera orchestra, founded in 1996 by Michi Gaigg and Carin van Heerden at the Anton Bruckner Privatuniversität, ha ...
conducted by
Michi Gaigg
Michi Gaigg (born in Schörfling am Attersee, 1957) is an Austrian violinist and conductor. She is founder and conductor of the Baroque music, Baroque orchestras L'arpa festante and L'Orfeo.Goldberg: early music magazine: Issues 53-54 2008 "So alt ...
, in December 2014.
[. ] Carus-Verlag
Carus-Verlag is a German music publisher founded in 1972 and based in Stuttgart.
Carus was founded by choral conductor Günter Graulich and his wife Waltraud with an emphasis on choral repertoire. The catalogue currently includes more than 26,00 ...
released this recording, with a performance time of 15:03, a year later.
Mields released, courtesy of
Naxos of America, part of this recording, that is the first stanza of Bach's aria (3:50), on YouTube in 2016.
[. ]
References
Sources
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* Plain text version of these liner note
partially availableat
Christoph Prégardien
Christoph Prégardien (born 18 January 1956) is a German lyric tenor whose career is closely associated with the roles in Mozart operas, as well as performances of Lieder, oratorio roles, and Baroque music. He is well known for his performances an ...
's website. The subscription website
Scribd
Scribd Inc. is an American e-book and audiobook subscription service that includes one million titles. Scribd hosts 60 million documents on its open publishing platform.
The company was founded in 2007 by Trip Adler, Jared Friedman, and Tikhon ...
als
hosts a copy of these notes
*
*
External links
*
at
The LiederNet Archive
The LiederNet Archive (formerly The Lied, Art Song, and Choral Texts Archive) is a donation-supported web archive of art song and choral texts founded in 1995 by Emily Ezust, an American/Canadian computer programmer and amateur violinist. The websi ...
*
Bach Alles mit Gott und nichts ohn' ihn, BWV 1127at
Musopen
Musopen Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization located in Tarzana, California, launched by Aaron Dunn in 2005. It aims to "set music free" by providing music to the public free of charge, without copyright restrictions.
Mission and charit ...
website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alles mit Gott und nichts ohn' ihn BWV 1127
1713 compositions
Church cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach