(Pleasant Wiederau, rejoice in thy meadows),

BWV The (, ; BWV) is a Catalogues of classical compositions, 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 and the third edition in ...

30.1 (formerly BWV 30a),Work , ''Angenehmes Wiederau, freue dich in deinen Auen'', at

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 his family. Early manuscripts of such compositions are a major foc ...

website. is a 1737 secular cantata by

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

, on a

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

Christian Friedrich Henrici Christian Friedrich Henrici (January 14, 1700 – May 10, 1764), writing under the pen name Picander, was a German poet and librettist for many works by Johann Sebastian Bach, notably the St Matthew Passion of 1727. Life and career Henrici was ...

(Picander). Bach reused some of its music in later works, including ''Freue dich, erlöste Schar'', BWV 30.2, one of his church cantatas, which was nearly entirely modelled after the secular composition.Work , ''Freue dich, erlöste Schar'', at

website.

History and text

was composed in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

in 1737 by which time most of Bach's cantatas had already been completed. It was an homage to , who had acquired an estate at in

Pegau Pegau () is a town in the Leipzig district in Saxony, Germany, situated in a fertile plain, on the White Elster, 18 m. S.W. from Leipzig by the railway to Zeitz. It has two Evangelical churches, that of St. Lawrence being a fine Gothic structure ...

near

. The work was performed on 28 September at Hennicke's . The

of the cantata was written by

(Picander), a frequent collaborator of the composer.

Scoring and structure

The piece is scored for

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 ...

, along with four vocal soloists (

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical 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 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

as ''Zeit'' (Time),

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 four-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in ch ...

as ''Glück'' (Good Fortune),

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

as ''Elster'' (River

Elster Elster may refer to: Places * Black Elster (''Schwarze Elster''), a river in Germany * White Elster (''Weiße Elster''), a river in Germany and the Czech Republic ** Elster Viaduct, a railway bridge over the White Elster ** Elster Viaduct (Pirk ...

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

as ''Schicksal'' (Fate)) and four-part choir. The cantata has thirteen movements: #Chorus: ' #

Recitative Recitative (, also known by its Italian name recitativo () is a style of delivery (much used in operas, oratorios, and cantatas) in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms and delivery of ordinary speech. Recitative does not repeat lines ...

(bass, soprano, alto, tenor): ' #

Aria In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air (music), air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrument (music), instrumental or orchestral accompan ...

(bass): ' #Recitative (alto): ' #Aria (alto): ' #Recitative (bass): ' #Aria (bass): ' #Recitative (soprano): ' #Aria (soprano): ' #Recitative (tenor): ' #Aria (tenor): ' #Recitative (soprano, bass, alto): ' #Chorus: '

Music

The eleventh movement, a tenor aria, is a reworking of a soprano aria from

BWV 210 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 and the third edition in 2022.Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis (BWV). T ...

. The other major movements were later reused in BWV 30.2, while the recitatives were newly composed.Classical Net
/ref>

Recordings

Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir is a Dutch early-music group based in Amsterdam. The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir was created in two stages by the conductor, organist and harpsichordist Ton Koopman. He founded the Amsterdam Bar ...

;

Ton Koopman Antonius Gerhardus Michael "Ton" Koopman (; born 2 October 1944) is a Dutch conductor, organist, harpsichordist, and musicologist, primarily known for being the founder and director of the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir. He is a professor ...

. ''J.S. Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 22''. Antoine Marchand *

Gächinger Kantorei Gächinger Kantorei (Gächingen Chorale), which uses the old German spelling of its name, the Gaechinger Cantorey, is an internationally known German mixed choir, founded by Helmuth Rilling in 1954 in Gächingen (part of St. Johann close to Reutl ...

Bach-Collegium Stuttgart Bach-Collegium Stuttgart is an internationally known German instrumental ensemble, founded by Helmuth Rilling in 1965 to accompany the Gächinger Kantorei in choral music with orchestra. Its members are mostly orchestra musicians from Germany and ...

;

Helmuth Rilling Helmuth Rilling (born 29 May 1933) is a German choral conductor and an academic teacher. He is the founder of the Gächinger Kantorei (1954), the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart (1965), the Oregon Bach Festival (1970), the Internationale Bachakade ...

. ''Edition Bachakademie Vol. 139 – Congratulatory and Hommage Cantatas''.

Hänssler Hänssler-Verlag is a German music publishing house founded in 1919 as Musikverlag Hänssler by (died 1972) to publish church music. In 1941 the Nazi government shut down the publishing house. It was allowed by the West German authorities to reo ...

Leipziger Universitätschor The Leipziger Universitätschor (LUC) is the university choir of the University of Leipzig. A mixed choir, it is formed by approximately 100 students from all faculties. It was founded in 1926 as Madrigalkreis Leipziger Studenten (Madrigal circle ...

Neues Bachisches Collegium Musicum Neues Bachisches Collegium Musicum (NBCM, New Bach's Collegium Musicum) is a German chamber orchestra, founded in Leipzig, Saxony. It follows the tradition of collegia musica, developed by Johann Sebastian Bach, also in Leipzig. The orchestra is d ...

;

Max Pommer Max Pommer (born 9 February 1936) is a German musicologist and conductor, a director of the Leipziger Universitätschor and the founder and conductor of the Neues Bachisches Collegium Musicum. Career Born in Leipzig, Pommer was a student of ...

. ''Kantate "Angenehmes Wiederau" BWV 30a''. Eterna/Berlin Classic * Les Chantres du Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles/

Café Zimmermann The Café Zimmermann, or , was the coffeehouse of Gottfried Zimmermann in Leipzig which formed the backdrop to the first performances of many of Bach's secular cantatas, e.g. the ''Coffee Cantata'' ('' Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht''), and in ...

;

Gustav Leonhardt Gustav Maria Leonhardt (30 May 1928 – 16 January 2012) was a Dutch keyboardist, conductor, musicologist, teacher and editor. He was a leading figure in the historically informed performance movement to perform music on period instruments. Leo ...

. ''J.S. Bach: Weltliche Kantaten BWV 30a & 207 (Integrale delle Cantate profane Vol. 5)''. Alpha 118 *

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 musi ...

Masaaki Suzuki is a Japanese organist, harpsichordist, 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 ...

. ''J. S. Bach: Secular Cantatas, Vol. 10''. BIS, 2018.

References

Sources

Alfred Dürr Alfred Dürr (3 March 1918 – 7 April 2011) was a German musicologist. He was a principal editor of the Neue Bach-Ausgabe, the second edition of the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach. Professional career Dürr studied musicology and Clas ...

: ''Johann Sebastian Bach: Die Kantaten.'' Bärenreiter, Kassel 1999, * Alfred Dürr: ''The Cantatas of J.S. Bach'', Oxford University Press, 2006. *

Werner Neumann Werner Neumann (21 January 1905, Königstein – 24 April 1991, Leipzig) was a German musicologist. He founded the Bach-Archiv Leipzig on 20 November 1950 and was a principal editor of the Neue Bach-Ausgabe, the second edition of the complete ...

: ''Handbuch der Kantaten J.S.Bachs'', 1947, 5th Ed. 1984, *

Hans-Joachim Schulze Hans-Joachim Schulze (born 3 December 1934) is a German musicologist, a Bach scholar who served as the director of the Bach Archive in Leipzig from 1992 to 2000. With Christoph Wolff, he was editor of the ''Bach-Jahrbuch'' (Bach yearbook) from 19 ...

: ''Die Bach-Kantaten: Einführungen zu sämtlichen Kantaten Johann Sebastian Bachs''. Leipzig: Evangelische Verlags-Anstalt; Stuttgart:

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 includes more than 26,000 works ...

2006 (Edition

Bach-Archiv Leipzig The Bach-Archiv Leipzig or Bach-Archiv is an institution for the documentation and research of the life and work of Johann Sebastian Bach. The Bach-Archiv also researches the Bach family, especially their music. Based in Leipzig, the city wher ...

) (Evang. Verl.-Anst.), (

) *

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 ...

/Ton Koopman: ''Die Welt der Bach-Kantaten'' Verlag J.B. Metzler, Stuttgart, Weimar 2006

External links

* * Z. Philip Ambrose
BWV 30a: Angenehmes Wiederau, freue dich in deinen Auen!
– English translation of the libretto at

University of Vermont The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, commonly referred to as the University of Vermont (UVM), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont, United States. Foun ...

website.
Schloss Wiederau: Gerettet vor den Braunkohle-Baggern
at – history of Wiederau manor {{DEFAULTSORT:Angenehmes Wiederau BWV 30a Secular cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach 1737 compositions