HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

' (Now is omesalvation and strength), 50, is a choral movement long attributed to Johann Sebastian Bach and assumed to be part of a lost
cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of ...
. The text and scoring point towards its being written for a Michaelmas celebration. In Leipzig, where Bach was employed from 1723, the feast was celebrated with large-scale church music and also a trade fair. American Bach scholar William H. Scheide suggested that the work was written in 1723, Bach's first year in the city.Scheide, William H. 'Nun ist das Heil und die Kraft' BWV 50: Doppelchörigkeit, Datierung und Bestimmung.' (Leipzig, 1982: '' Bach-Jahrbuch'') However, the exact dates of composition and first performance are unknown.


History and text

The work was first published in 1860 in a volume of cantatas, part of the first complete edition of Bach's music, the Bach-Gesellschaft Ausgabe (BGA). It has fascinated Bach scholars because of questions about its provenance. No autograph sources exist, and the earliest copies extant do not mention Bach's name. In 1982, Scheide argued that the existing version (for double choir) is an arrangement by an unknown hand of a lost original for five voices by J. S. Bach. His argument was based on irregularities in BWV 50's
part Part, parts or PART may refer to: People *Armi Pärt (born 1991), Estonian handballer *Arvo Pärt (born 1935), Estonian classical composer *Brian Part (born 1962), American child actor *Dealtry Charles Part (1882–1961), sheriff (1926–1927) an ...
-writing, which are highly unlike the writing of Bach. In 2000, the American performer and scholar Joshua Rifkin argued that a more plausible solution of this puzzle is that the author of BWV 50 was not Bach at all, but an unknown (but highly gifted) composer of the era. The suggestion is controversial.Rifkin, Joshua. "Siegesjubel und Satzfehler. Zum Problem von ''Nun ist das Heil und die Kraft'' (BWV 50)" (Leipzig, 2000: '' Bach-Jahrbuch'' ) The prescribed readings for Michaelmas were from and ; this movement draws from Revelation 12:10. Its text is "'".


Scoring

The movement is a chorus, or "coro doppio", for two four-part choirs. The piece requires a relatively large
baroque orchestra A Baroque orchestra is an ensemble for mixed instruments that existed during the Baroque era of Western Classical music, commonly identified as 1600–1750. Baroque orchestras are typically much smaller, in terms of the number of performers, than t ...
; three trumpets, timpani, three oboes, two violins, viola, and
basso continuo Basso continuo parts, almost universal in the Baroque era (1600–1750), provided the harmonic structure of the music by supplying a bassline and a chord progression. The phrase is often shortened to continuo, and the instrumentalists playing th ...
. Bach cantatas known to be written for Michaelmas share similar "festive" instrumentation, for example ''Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir'', BWV 130, performed in 1724.


Music

Like other cantatas for Michaelmas, it features texture layering from the lowest range to the highest, and a
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 ...
representation of "battles and massing armies". It is in two distinct sections and uses
fugal In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the c ...
techniques. The movement begins with a "strong declaration in unharmonized octaves", pairing the low strings with the bass voice of the first choir. A rhythmic shift creates a "floating, turn-around feeling" before the tenor line enters, followed by alto and soprano. As this choir shifts into rhythmic counterpoint, the second choir, trumpet, and oboes enter. The movement also incorporates call-and-response, military-like tattoos, and an inversion of the previous order of thematic entry. The final twelve bars adopt a chromatic style not heard earlier in the piece.


Recordings

* Berliner Philharmonischer Chor / Berliner Philharmoniker, Carl Schuricht. ''J. S. Bach: Motet, Singet dem Herrn; Cantata No. 50; Cantata No. 104''. Telefunken, 1934/8. * Dresden Cathedral Choir & Orchestra, Kurt Bauer. ''Bach: Cantatas Nos. 31 & 50''. Janus Piroquette, 1960s–70s. * Leeds Festival Choir / London Symphony Orchestra, Hugh P. Allen. ''"Now Shall The Grace", Eight-part chorus from Cantata No. 50''. HMV, 1928. * Monteverdi Choir / English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardiner. ''J. S. Bach: Motets & Cantatas''. Erato, 1980. * Stuttgarter Chor & Orchester,
Marcel Couraud Marcel Just Théodore Marie Couraud (20 October 1912 in Limoges – 14 September 1986 in Loches) was a French orchestral and choral conductor and organist. Biography Couraud studied organ with André Marchal in Paris where he attended the Ecole N ...
. ''J. S. Bach: Cantata No. 21, Cantata No. 50''. Les Discophiles français, 1955. * The Sixteen,
Harry Christophers Richard Henry Tudor "Harry" Christophers CBE FRSCM (born 26 December 1953) is an English conductor. Life and career Richard Henry Tudor Christophers was born in Goudhurst, Kent. He was a chorister at Canterbury Cathedral under choirmaster Al ...
, ''J. S. Bach: Cantata No. 34, 50 and 147'', Coro, 1992.


References


External links

*
Cantata Nun ist das Heil und die Kraft, BWV 50
performance by the Netherlands Bach Society (video and background information) {{DISPLAYTITLE:''Nun ist das Heil und die Kraft'', BWV 50 Church cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach