Johann Sebastian Bach by Christoph Wolff Page B

EAVEN’S C ASTLE ”
    Unlike any other member of his extended family, Bach had from the very beginning engaged in composition, as he explored in particular—indeed in a systematic way—the various genres of keyboard music. The extent to which he devoted himself to composing a substantial repertoire of organ and harpsichord works was by no means common practice, let alone a requirement for the job of organist. Bach had also gained substantial experience in creating vocal music: the three Mühlhausen town council cantatas and the large-scale Weissenfels Hunt Cantata of 1713 clearly defined both his remarkable accomplishment and his promise, while establishing his reputation beyond that of organist and keyboard virtuoso. However, his deliberate career decision of early 1714 translated for the first time into a real mandate as a composer in that he assumed the principal responsibility for composing new works, specifically cantatas for the palace church according to a monthly schedule. Where the opportunity of composing vocal works had until then been most agreeable and sought-for yet random and exceptional, it now became his job, and the newly appointed concertmaster threw himself wholeheartedly into the task. Indeed, he managed to turn the novel assignment into a real program, spurred by the same kind of self-propelled energy he had previously directed toward keyboard composition.
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    Bach’s concertmaster promotion dated from March 2, 1714, two days before Oculi Sunday, so that the fourth Sunday following his new appointment fell on March 25. It was this double feast day of Palm Sunday and Annunciation for which Bach prepared the inaugural cantata to be performed in his new capacity: “Himmelskönig, sei willkommen,” BWV 182, scored for four voices (SATB), recorder, violin, two violas, violoncello, and continuo (violone and organ) (Table 6.1). The concurrence that year of Palm Sunday and the Marian feast, a rarity in the liturgical calendar, provided an incentive for the ambitious overall design of the piece. Consisting of eight movements, with ten-part scoring for the tutti movements, it permitted Bach to make a major artistic statement and, at the same time, to show the court capelle at its best.
    The poetic makeup of the libretto links it to Salomo Franck, the secretary of the ducal consistory in Weimar, who was to publish two annual cycles of cantata texts, for 1715 and 1717. 16 The text draws on Psalm 40:8–9 for the recitative (no. 3) and on Paul Stockmann’s 1633 Passion hymn “Jesu Leiden, Pein und Tod” for the penultimate movement (no. 7). In a typical Lutheran reinterpretation, the Marian Feast of the Annunciation is given a Christological focus: instead of honoring Mary, it venerates Christ as the true King of Heaven. Through the sacred poetry of the cantata, the piece becomes an effective and expressive musical sermon on the Palm Sunday gospel (Matthew 21: Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem), lauding Christ the healer of the world (no. 4), admonishing the faithful to meet him properly (no. 5), praying “Let me not abandon, Lord, the banner of thy cross” (no. 6), foreshadowing Christ’s Passion and its meaning (no. 7), and culminating in the anticipation of the believers’ entry into the eternal Jerusalem, “the Salem of gladness” (no. 8). The Sonata is designed in overture manner and, by featuring a concerted violin-recorder duo accompanied almost exclusively by plucked strings, creates a distinct ensemble sound that draws immediate attention to the unfolding musical score and, no less important, insures that the leading role of the new concertmaster would not be lost on the audience.
    T ABLE 6.1. Cantata “Himmelskönig, sei willkommen,” BWV 182

1. Sonata:
Grave. Adagio—rec, v, [rip v], 2va, bc (C [4/4]; G major)
2. Chorus:
Himmelskönig, sei willkommen—SATB, instrumental tutti (C; G major)
3.