' (Contented Pleisse-town), BWV 216.1 (formerly BWV 216), is a

secular 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 th ...

composed by

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 ...

, which survives in an incomplete state.

History and text

Bach composed this cantata for the wedding of Johann Heinrich Wolff and Susanna Regina Hempel. Susanna was the daughter of a customs official, and came from Zittau; her husband came from

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 ...

, where the work was first performed on 5 February 1728. The text was written by Picander, who published it in his collection ''Ernst-Schertzhaffte und Satyrische Gedichte''. Picander refers to the bride and groom by the rivers of their respective cities (the "Pleißenstadt" of the title is Leipzig, the city on the river

Pleiße The Pleiße is a river of Saxony and Thuringia, Germany. The Pleiße has its source southwest of Zwickau at Ebersbrunn, then flows through Werdau, Crimmitschau, Altenburg, and other towns and villages in Saxony and Thuringia, before flowing fr ...

). There was a related work ''Erwählte Pleißenstadt: Apollo et Mercurius'', BWV 216.2, the music of which is lost. This was written for Leipzig Town Council, and the text does not relate to Zittau.

Scoring and structure

The surviving music consists of parts 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 ...

and

alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: ''altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In 4-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in choruses by ...

voices, representing the characters of Neiße and Pleiße respectively. The instrumental forces are unknown, but for two numbers Bach drew on music he had composed for earlier cantatas, which may suggest a range of instrumental colour was called for. One

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...

source is a duet for alto and tenor from ''Zerreißet, zersprenget, zertrümmert die Gruft'', BWV 205, a festively scored work premiered in 1725. The parody source of movement 3 was ''Ich bin in mir vergnügt'', BWV 204, scored for

soloist, flauto traverso, two

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. A ...

s, 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 ...

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 ...

, 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 ...

and also premiered in the 1720s. It includes seven movements: #Duet aria: ' #Duet recitative: ' #Aria (soprano): ' #Recitative (alto): ' #Aria (alto): ' #Duet recitative: ' #Duet aria: '

Recording

*Bach Concertino Osaka, Joshua Rifkin. ''J.S. Bach: Hochzeitkantaten''. Mainich Classics, 2005.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vergnugte Pleissenstadt, BWV 216 Secular cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach 1728 compositions Wedding music by Johann Sebastian Bach