''Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme'' (Wake, o wake and hear the voices), Wf XV:2, is a German

chorale motet The chorale motet was a type of musical composition in mostly Protestant parts of Europe, principally Germany, and mainly during the 16th century. It involved setting a chorale melody and text as a motet. Stylistically chorale motets were simila ...

composed around 1780 by

Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach (21 June 1732 – 26 January 1795) was a harpsichordist and composer, the fifth son of Johann Sebastian Bach, sometimes referred to as the "Bückeburg Bach". Born in Leipzig in the Electorate of Saxony, he was ...

, a son of

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 ...

. It is based on Philipp Nicolai's hymn "

Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme "" (literally: Awake, the voice is calling us) is a Lutheran hymn written in German by Philipp Nicolai, first published in 1599 together with "". It appears in German hymnals and in several English hymnals in translations such as "Wake, Awake, f ...

". The motet in

E-flat major E-flat major (or the key of E-flat) is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has three flats. Its relative minor is C minor, and its parallel minor is E minor, (or enharmonically ...

is written for a four-part choir. It is structured in three movements, quoting in the last movement his fathers's chorale setting.

History and music

(21 June 1732 – 26 January 1795), born as a son of J. S. Bach and his second wife, Anna Magdalena, first began to study law, but in 1750 when he was still a teenager became a court musician of

Wilhelm, Count of Schaumburg-Lippe Wilhelm, Count of Schaumburg-Lippe-Bückeburg (9 January 1724 – 10 September 1777), born Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Graf zu Schaumburg-Lippe-Bückeburg, was a German ruler of the County of Schaumburg-Lippe-Bückeburg, an important military comma ...

Bückeburg Bückeburg (Northern Low Saxon: ''Bückeborg'') is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, on the border with North Rhine Westphalia. It is located in the district of Schaumburg close to the northern slopes of the Weserbergland ridge. Population: 21,0 ...

, where Italian style was preferred. He pursued a fusion of the

counterpoint 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 ...

he had learned with "the simpler textures and harmonies of the South". Bach composed the motet around 1780 in

for a four-part choir (

SATB SATB is an initialism that describes the scoring of compositions for choirs, and also choirs (or consorts) of instruments. The initials are for the voice types: S for soprano, A for alto, T for tenor and B for bass. Choral music Four-part harm ...

) which can be supported by a choir of four instruments or organ. It is structured in three movements, corresponding to the three stanzas of the hymn. The first movement is an extended

chorale fantasia Chorale fantasia is a type of large composition based on a chorale melody, both works for organ, and vocal settings, for example the opening movements of Bach's chorale cantatas, with the chorale melody as a cantus firmus. History Chorale fantas ...

, the second develops motifs from the first movement, the third includes a quotation of his fathers's closing choral chorale from his cantata ''Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme'', BWV 140. The first movement is structured in three sections. "Wachet auf" opens with fanfares of upward broke triads, first slow as the beginning of the hymn tune, then faster, all in

homophony In music, homophony (;, Greek: ὁμόφωνος, ''homóphōnos'', from ὁμός, ''homós'', "same" and φωνή, ''phōnē'', "sound, tone") is a texture in which a primary part is supported by one or more additional strands that flesh ou ...

. An extended

polyphonic Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, h ...

section in

coloratura Coloratura is an elaborate melody with runs, trills, wide leaps, or similar virtuoso-like material,''Oxford American Dictionaries''.Apel (1969), p. 184. or a passage of such music. Operatic roles in which such music plays a prominent part, an ...

s stills calls to wake up, only then the text "ruft uns die Stimme ..." is introduced. The second section is a

of the complete tune, with the

cantus firmus In music, a ''cantus firmus'' ("fixed melody") is a pre-existing melody forming the basis of a polyphonic composition. The plural of this Latin term is , although the corrupt form ''canti firmi'' (resulting from the grammatically incorrect tr ...

in long notes in the

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 ...

, while the lower voices add character to the text, for example by singing in a low register when the second line begins with the word "Mitternacht" (midnight). The third section is a short recapitulation of the beginning. The second Movement on the text of the second stanza begins with "Zion hört die Wächter singen", set freely with "only hints of the chorale tune". Its line "Hosianna" quotes the tune, followed by

word painting Word painting, also known as tone painting or text painting, is the musical technique of composing music that reflects the literal meaning of a song's lyrics or story elements in programmatic music. Historical development Tone painting of words ...

setting "Wir folgen all zum Freudensaal" (We follow all to the joyful hall). The musicologist S. Lachtermann notes: "The shape of the lines, and the contour of the harmonic progression are 'modern', but the interlacing of voices and the focus on individual words harken back to his father's art." Wachet auf 2

The final stanza, "Gloria sei dir gesungen" (Gloria be sung to you) is again structured in three sections. It opens with an extended "anthem-like" treatment, followed by a quotation of the complete closing choral chorale from his father's cantata ''Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme'', as a tribute to him. The conclusion has been described as "some fugal fun reiterating Nicolai's last four ecstatic lines." The duration of the motet is around 17 minutes. The autograph manuscript of the score is kept in Berlin, Westdeutsche Bibliothek-Marburg, Ms. P. 379. The motet was recorded, among others, by the

Rheinische Kantorei The Rheinische Kantorei is a German vocal ensemble of baroque music accompanied by an instrumental ensemble called Das Kleine Konzert. History The Rheinische Kantorei and Das Kleine Konzert were founded in 1977 by the German conductor Hermann M ...

under the direction of

Hermann Max Hermann Max (born 1941 in Goslar) is a German choral conductor. In 1977, he founded the Jugendkantorei Dormagen, which in 1985 became the basis of the Rheinische Kantorei and Das Kleine Konzert. In 1992 he founded the Knechtsteden Early Music Fes ...

References

External links

Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach / 1732–1795
Collegium Cantorum Köln {{italic title Motets Compositions in E-flat major Compositions by Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach 1780s compositions