Sie werden euch in den Bann tun
BWV 183
Church cantata by J. S. Bach
black and white portrait of Ziegler
Christiana Mariana von Ziegler, author of the cantata text
OccasionExaudi
Cantata textChristiana Mariana von Ziegler
Bible textJohn 16:2
Choraleby Paul Gerhardt
Performed13 May 1725 (1725-05-13): Leipzig
Movements5
VocalSATB soloists and choir
Instrumental
  • 2 oboes d'amore
  • 2 oboes da caccia
  • 2 violins
    • viola
    • violoncello piccolo
    • continuo

Sie werden euch in den Bann tun (They will put you under banishment),[1] BWV 183,[lower-alpha 1] is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in Leipzig for Exaudi, the Sunday after Ascension, and first performed it on 13 May 1725. The work includes some unusual woodwind scoring, two oboes da caccia and two oboes d'amore.

History and words

Bach wrote the cantata in his second year in Leipzig for the Sunday Exaudi, the Sunday after Ascension. The prescribed readings for the feast day were from the First Epistle of Peter, "serve each other" (1 Peter 4:8–11), and from the second Farewell discourse in the Gospel of John, the promise of the Paraclete, the "Spirit of Truth", and the announcement of prosecution (John 15:26–16:4).[2]

Some of the cantatas composed by Bach in his second year were chorale cantatas, a format he chose for services between the first Sunday after Trinity and Palm Sunday. For Easter he had returned to cantatas on more varied texts. Nine of the cantatas for the period between Easter and Pentecost are based on texts of Christiana Mariana von Ziegler, including this cantata. Bach later assigned it to his third annual cycle. Ziegler begins the cantata with the same quotation from the gospel as an unknown poet one year earlier in Sie werden euch in den Bann tun, BWV 44, the prediction of persecution of Christians. "They will put you under banishment, but the time will come, when, whoever kills you will think that he does God a service by it" (John 16:2). She continues stressing the lack of fear possible for a follower who relies on "Jesu Schutzarm" (the protective arm of Jesus).[1] In movements 3 and 4 she refers to the beginning of the gospel, the spirit who will assist. The closing chorale is the fifth stanza of Paul Gerhardt's "Zeuch ein zu deinen Toren".

Bach first performed the cantata on 13 May 1725.[2][3][4]

Publication

The autograph score was inherited by C.P.E. Bach. The music was not published until 1891 when it appeared as part of the first complete edition of the composer´s work, the Bach-Gesellschaft-Ausgabe. The editor of the volume in question was Alfred Dörffel.[5]

Ziegler published the text in a collection of her work, along with the other ones set by Bach.[6] These printed versions are slightly different from the texts used in the cantatas, and this is believed to be the result of the composer modifying the libretti with which he was presented.[7] In the case of Sie werden euch in den Bann tun the differences between the printed version and that set by Bach are less than in the preceding cantatas such as Auf Christi Himmelfahrt allein, BWV 128.[2]

Structure and scoring

Bach structured the cantata in five movements, beginning with what John Eliot Gardiner describes as a "curtain raiser",[8] a line from the gospel set as a recitative. This is followed by a sequence aria–recitative–aria, and the cantata is concluded by a four-part chorale. Bach scored the work for four vocal soloists (soprano, alto, tenor and bass), a four-part choir only in the closing chorale, and a Baroque instrumental ensemble in an unusual combination of instruments, two oboes d'amore (Oa), two oboes da caccia (Oc), two violins (Vl), viola (Va), a violoncello piccolo (Vp) and basso continuo.[2][3]

In the following table of the movements, the scoring follows the Neue Bach-Ausgabe.[3] The continuo, playing throughout, is not shown.

Movements of Sie werden euch in den Bann tun
No. TitleText TypeVocalWindsStrings Key Time
1 Sie werden euch in den Bann tun Ziegler Recitative B 2Oa 2Oc 3/4
2 Ich fürchte nicht des Todes Schrecken Ziegler Aria T E minor
3 Ich bin bereit, mein Blut und armes Leben Ziegler Recitative A 2Oa 2Oc 2Vl Va common time
4 Höchster Tröster, Heilger Geist Ziegler Aria S 2Oc 2Vl Va C major 3/8
5 Du bist ein Geist, der lehret Gerhardt Chorale SATB 2Oa 2Oc 2Vl Va common time

Music

In the first movement the words of Jesus are given to the bass, the voice type which by convention was the vox Christi (voice of Christ). A year earlier (in Sie werden euch in den Bann tun, BWV 44), Bach rendered the announcement of Jesus in a two-part movement, a duet for bass and tenor followed by an agitated chorus. In this cantata, he sets it as a recitative of only five measures.[2] The instrumentation is novel, having long chords of the four oboes, two oboes da caccia and two oboes d'amore, accompany the voice above a pedal point held by the continuo. This creates a "sepulchral" sound.[9] The Bach scholar Christoph Wolff notes that this "opulent oboe scoring" with all four oboes playing together is used only in the two recitatives (1 and 3).[10]

The second movement, the first aria, is the longest of the work. It is sung by the tenor with an obbligato part for violoncello piccolo, an instrument with a tenor-bass range.[11] The "dark and shaded" timbre of the movement has been seen as representing the protection provided by Christ.[9] Denying the fear of the threatening death, the violoncello piccolo plays continuous runs.[1]

Movement 3 is again a recitativo accompagnato, even more complex than the first one; the strings play long chords, whereas all the oboes repeat the same four-note motif throughout the movement, sung by the alto on the words "Ich bin bereit" (I am ready).[1]

The second aria is accompanied by the strings and the two oboes da caccia in unison as obbligato instruments, thus both arias are dominated by instruments with a relatively low range (oboes de caccia having a pitch below that of a normal oboe).[2]

The cantata is closed by a four-part chorale on the tune of "Helft mir Gotts Güte preisen".[12]

Recordings

The selection is taken from the listing on the Bach Cantatas Website.[13] Choirs with one voice per part (OVPP) and orchestras playing period instruments in historically informed performances are marked green.

Recordings of Sie werden euch in den Bann tun
Title Conductor / Choir / Orchestra Soloists Label Year Choir type Orch. type
Die Bach Kantate Vol. 36 Helmuth Rilling
Gächinger Kantorei
Bach-Collegium Stuttgart
Hänssler 1981 (1981)
J. S. Bach: Das Kantatenwerk – Sacred Cantatas Vol. 10 Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Tölzer Knabenchor
Concentus Musicus Wien
Teldec 1988 (1988) Period
J. S. Bach: Cantatas with Violoncelle Piccolo (Vol. 2) Christophe Coin
Das Leipziger Concerto Vocale
Ensemble Baroque de Limoges
Auvidis Astrée 1994 (1994) Period
Bach J. S: Cantatas Vol 25: Dresden/Sherborne John Eliot Gardiner
Monteverdi Choir
English Baroque Soloists
Soli Deo Gloria 2000 (2000) Period
J. S. Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 15 Ton Koopman
Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir
Antoine Marchand 2001 (2001) Period
J. S. Bach: Cantatas Vol. 391 Masaaki Suzuki
Bach Collegium Japan
BIS 2007 (2007) Period

Notes

  1. ↑ "BWV" is Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis, a thematic catalogue of Bach's works.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Dellal, Pamela. "BWV 183 – "Sie werden euch in den Bann tun"". Emmanuel Music. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Dürr, Alfred (2006). The Cantatas of J. S. Bach: With Their Librettos in German-English Parallel Text. Translated by Richard D. P. Jones. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-929776-4.
  3. 1 2 3 "BWV 183 Sie werden euch in den Bann tun". University of Alberta. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  4. ↑ "Sie werden euch in den Bann tun BWV 183; BC A 79". Bach Digital. 1960. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  5. ↑ Dominica Exaudi "Sie werden euch in den Bann tun" International Music Score Library Project.
  6. ↑ Christiane Mariane von Ziegler (1728). Versuch in gebundener Schreib-Art. Leipzig
  7. ↑ Among the authors who assume that Bach modified the libretti himself are Nele Anders in the introduction (1988) to volume 10 of the Teldec complete set, and John Eliot Gardiner in his 2013 book Bach: Music in the Castle of Heaven. Allen Lane.
  8. ↑ Gardiner, John Eliot (2013). Bach: Music in the Castle of Heaven. Allen Lane.
  9. 1 2 Mincham, Julian (2010). "Chapter 47 BWV 183 & 175, each commencing with a recitative". jsbachcantatas.com. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  10. ↑ Wolff, Christoph. "The Cantatas" (PDF). Bach Cantatas Website. p. 6. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
  11. ↑ Violoncello Piccolo in Bach's Vocal Works Bach Cantatas Website. Retrieved 27 June 2016
  12. ↑ "Chorale Melodies used in Bach's Vocal Works / Helft mir Gotts Güte preisen". Bach Cantatas Website. 2006. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
  13. ↑ Oron, Aryeh. "Cantata BWV 183 Sie werden euch in den Bann tun". Bach Cantatas Website. Retrieved 7 May 2016.

Sources

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