BWV 37 - Wer da gläubet und getauft wird

Week 37 (21 January – 26 January 2014)

Recording: Ton Koopman, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Choir; Sibylla Rubens, soprano; Bernhard Landauer, alto; Christoph Prégardien, tenor; Klaus Mertens, bass

Although nominally an Ascension cantata, this short work is first and foremost about Glaube – belief. The text (by an unknown poet) emphasizes the Lutheran concept that salvation will not be won by good deeds alone, but through unwavering, unquestioning faith. The word Glaube and its various grammatical forms appear in every movement but one (the chorale for soprano and alto) so that in Hubert Parry’s assessment, “…the whole work seems suffused with one idea, which is amply enforced by the music.”

The eingangschor echoes older models with “traces of the motet tradition,” as Klaus Hofmann notes. In its unembellished, sturdy 3/2 construction, the chorus is reminiscent of the opening choral movement from the Weimar cantata BWV 12 (albeit without the expressive force of that piece), suggesting the BWV 37 coro might be a remnant from Bach’s pre-Leipzig years; however, the form may simply be the master’s compositional response to the text. Setting a scripture verse, Bach avoids complex counterpoint in order to emphasize words. A notable instance of this begins in M. 63, where the higher voices (S/A) declaim the first line of the verse, with the T/B joining at M. 68 to emphasize der wird selig werden; this sequence is then reversed. Although recent recordings tend to move this coro briskly along, the words and structure seem to call out for a more relaxed, stately tempo. While Ristenpart for RIAS is a bit too lugubrious, he does provide a reference point (his other tempi for the ensemble movements in this cantata are not significantly different from Koopman’s, recorded a half-century later). This is a case where Karl Richter would have provided a guidepost, but unfortunately, he never recorded BWV 37.

Note that the public domain vocal score available on IMSLP omits the umlaut in gläubet, as does the Breitkopf & Härtel full score; in the RIAS recording, the German choristers pronounce the word glaubet. I believe the latter form is acceptable grammatically, in that it is a gender change to the pronoun (He that believes compared to The one who believes). However, consistent with modern performance practice (as well as the surviving manuscript parts), you should write in and sing the umlaut.

Bach scholars have agreed that a violin obbligato part belongs with the tenor aria, although the manuscript part has been lost. Ton Koopman reconstructed the part for his recording; Helmuth Rilling also uses a reconstruction; while the RIAS recording relies primarily on the original continuo part. As with Mozart cadenzas, this will probably be a matter of taste: I prefer Rilling’s version, but here, too, a Richter recording would provide a valuable insight.

The aria is a pleasant, confident statement that faith (dieses Kleinod) is a birthright; one has only to claim it. For a high tenor, the dal segno aria is not particularly demanding, but due to the problem with the scoring, this aria is probably not a good candidate for use outside the cantata.

The duetto utilizes again Nicolai’s Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, which means I’m back where I started about a year ago! In contrast to the chorale duet for soprano and alto in BWV 36 (which benefits from voices of similar timbre), this piece works better for high soprano and contralto, creating a different sonic world that echoes an older tradition. The blend of voices in Koopman’s recording is authentic, but in keeping with the chorale feel, I prefer a slightly freer tempo (Rilling, again). The movement can also be done with more than one voice on a part, although this will obviously increase the difficulty of maintaining ensemble in the melismatic passages, particularly the long concluding passage starting M.35. Whether soloists or sections, the singers need to be sensitive to the constantly changing prominence of their part. For example, in M. 10 the alto voice hands off to the soprano in a lovely sequence of triplet figures, but immediately in M. 11 the alto is again the most important voice for several beats, crossing above the soprano and then back down at which point both voices are given equal material on the final beat.

Some corrections to note for the IMSLP vocal score: there are missing dots on rests and the bracketing of the rhythms is inconsistent. The word eia (also eya) is an exclamation of praise, roughly equivalent to Hurrah, and if the recordings are any guide, with variable pronounciation: [æja] or [eja] both seem to be acceptable. Danish organist Peter Baekgaard has provided a transcription of the duetto for organ solo on IMSLP. Since it is in the same key as the vocal parts, his arrangement could also be used as an alternative to the piano reduction in the vocal score, which would make for a very nice anthem selection.

Note that Bach has used a similar dotted eighth and 32^nd-note figure to set the word Glaube in both the tenor and bass arias, though the similarity between arias ends there. The word-painting in the bass aria is more extensive and the writing more complex, e.g., the nice cadence in M. 34. The challenging melisma on the final getaufet depicts the water falling on the one being baptized, with the aria overall benefitting from a sprightly tempo such as Klaus Mertens achieves. Paired with the recitative, this is an excellent aria for worship or recital, and contains the most inspired text of the cantata – the imagery of faith giving the soul wings.

Some background on Johann Kolrose, the author of the text for the concluding chorale, since this is the only time in the project that we will encounter him. Born in the late 15^th-century in Germany, he eventually made his way to Basel where he ran a school and among other accomplishments published a book on orthography (that is, spelling – and yes, I had to look it up). His hymn Ich dank dir, lieber Herre, which provides the verse that Bach set, was published in Musika Deutsch (1532) and subsequently used by many composers, including Hassler and Buxtehude.

IMSLP also has Robert Franz’ arrangement of BWV 37 for augmented 19^th-century orchestral forces (including the addition of flute, clarinet, bassoon and horn). Remembered today for his lieder, Franz studied with a former Thomaskirche organist, and was consequently very familiar with Bach. More at home with the older forms than the blossoming Romanticism of his time, he himself said, “my music generally has its basis less in Schubert and Schumann than in Bach and Händel”. He produced editions of Bach’s major choral works as well as ten cantatas. These arrangements are ignored today in the name of authentic practice, and even in his own day were disparaged by some critics, but Franz sincerely intended his publications to bring a neglected body of work to a larger audience (and it would be interesting to hear the tenor aria of BWV 37 as Franz envisioned it). Later in life, having been forced by deafness to resign his professional positions, Franz began a quixotic search throughout Germany for Bach manuscripts: he never discovered any.

 

 

 

 

Cover Page from Robert Franz' Edition of BWV 37 (c.1875)

 

Finally, I have to give a shout out to the liner notes for Sir John’s Pilgrimage recording of BWV 37, which include a numerology factoid. The significance of numerology in Bach’s works is far beyond the scope of this project, but I wanted to reference it at some point, and this is a most convincing example. The liner notes present the analysis showing that the numerical values of the letters in the first line of text (the opening line of scripture) add up to the number of measures in the cantata (283 for both), “a bit too exact to be coincidental,” in Gardiner’s opinion. The mind boggles – as if composing a musically-complex and spiritually-profound expression of faith on a weekly basis wasn’t enough, the master set himself these additional challenges and/or constraints as well. Just all in a day’s work – Soli Deo Gloria!