Two cantatas for solo alto by J. S. Bach on texts by G. C. Lehms: A poetic and musical analysis.

摘要

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) used texts by many librettists for his church cantatas, the better known including Erdmann Neumeister, Salomo Frank, Marianne von Ziegler, Christian Friedrich Henrici, and Georg Christian Lehms. It is the latter who is of special interest in the present paper. Three of the four solo cantatas for the solo voice are settings of libretti by Lehms. (The librettist for the fourth is unknown.);The present treatise is a poetic and musical analysis of Bach's first setting of a Lehms libretto, BWV 54 Widerstehe doch der Sunde (Resist the Sin), written for solo alto in Weimar in 1714, and of a later solo alto cantata, BWV 170, Vergnugte Ruh', beliebte Seelenlust (Contented rest, beloved desire of the Soul), written in Leipzig in 1726. There is a brief discussion of the cantata librettists which Bach used in different periods of his life. Special emphasis is placed on Georg Christian Lehms, including stylistic characteristics of his poetry as found in the libretti of cantatas 54 and 170. Bach' s musical interpretation of these texts is discussed as well as his rather complex aria forms, which look back to older compositional styles while at the same time reach forward to new and larger musical conceptions. Bach's innovative and remarkable use of Ariaeingebau within a large ritornello form in several arias is of particular interest. It is my hope that this information will be useful for musicians, singers in particular, who love and perform these cantatas.