“Meine Freundin, du bist schön” (“My beloved, you are beautiful”) is a wedding cantata composed by Johann Christoph Bach (1642-1703), probably in 1679.
The piece appears in the “Altbachisches Archiv” (“ABA”), a collection of works by the older (i.e., pre-JSB) members of the Bach family. It was likely first compiled by Johann Sebastian’s first cousin, Johann Ernst, preserved and edited carefully by Johann Sebastian, and labeled with the title “Altbachisches Archiv” (“Archive of the elder Bachs”) by his son, Carl Philipp Emmanuel. Johann Christoph Bach, first cousin of JSB’s father, is one of the composers best represented in the ABA, with about 12 pieces attributed to him.
“Meine Freundin…”, technically speaking a “spiritual concerto” (“geistliches Konzert”), is, on its surface, a love dialogue: bride and groom (soprano and bass, respectively) trade compliments, agree to meet, search for one another in the garden, and end at a picnic table eating and drinking with friends. However, the text of the libretto is almost entirely scriptural, drawn mostly from the Book of Songs and skillfully rearranged to become this tongue-in-cheek wedding entertainment. This makes the work read simultaneously as biblical bridal poetry and secular entertainment. The text for this closing chorale is a stanza from a “table hymn” (“Tischlied”) titled “Singen wir aus Herzensgrund” (“Let us sing from the depths of our hearts”), by Hans Vogel, dating back to 1563.
Adding to this ambiguity in the libretto, the surviving parts preserve a witty running commentary, almost like a “stage direction” voice, attributed to Johann Ambrosius Bach (JSB’s father), who also copied the original parts that have come down to us. Ambrosius titled these notes “Description of this piece” (“Beschreibung dieses Stückes”). The commentator tells us about the lover trying not to betray “his heartful thoughts in his eyes,” the beloved “who was by no means naïve,” the teasing but courteous companions who join her, and several other twists and turns of the plot, leading up to the guests calling for “the gratias” and everybody joining in song. There’s even a comment for after the music is all done – describing how the party wraps up and everybody says their goodbyes as they leave.
The cantata is scored for one violin and three violas (or two violins and two violas), four solo voices (SATB), and basso continuo. Additional voices can be added to grow the sound of the “group of friends” during the picnic scene and the final chorale. Structurally, it unfolds in six compact panels, each one flowing uninterrupted into the next one.
1. Duetto / Dialog. After a brief introduction by the continuo to illustrate the sneaking around of the lover (if we’re to go along with Ambrosius!), the bass calls to his beloved. His opening statements are declamatory, arioso style, with word painting on key expressions such as “wende” (“turn”) and “brünstig” (“inflame”). The soprano responds, highlighting “draußen” (“outside”) with leaps to syncopated notes, and “daß mich niemand höhnete” (“so that no one would mock me”) with a descending chromatic scale imitated by the basso continuo (as if mocking her?). The two characters talk alternatively, with almost no overlap between their respective lines, especially at the beginning. As the dialog unfolds, their alternations become shorter and closer to each other, all the way to the sharp “komm, komm”, “ich komm” exchanges that close the scene.
2. Soprano aria / Chaconne. Over 66 repetitions of the four-bar “ground bass”, in triple time “Adagio”, the violin and the soprano embark in a series of variations, sometimes together, sometimes alternatively, while the middle strings harmonize. As Ambrosius tells us in the commentary, the bride is “full of happy thoughts” about her planned encounter with her beloved. The seemingly endless variations afford plenty of opportunity to word-paint the beloved’s “grazing”, or being “faint with love”.
3. Trio. Suddenly, the troublemaker friends appear – the alto and the tenor. With imitative lines and melismas on keywords such as “gone” and “woman”, they pose their inoportune questions supported by the continuo only. The bride answers with an unhurried line, as if still lost in her daydreaming. The friends reply with excited runs of sixteenths, offering to accompany her to the garden in search of her groom. The orchestra closes the scene depicting the search via an animated walking bass line up and down the scale, punctuated by alternating piano and forte chords on the upper strings.
4. Bass aria. The search party finds the groom, and the tempo changes to “adagio” as we hear him on text from the Book of Songs chapter 5, verse 1. We learn that he has been spending time in the garden, gathering spices, eating and drinking. His statements are accompanied by the full orchestra.
5. Tutti. Another tempo change, into “presto”, leads to the couple extending an invitation to their friends to join them for food and drinks. The lines are imitative and animated, with dotted rhythms and triplets, both for voices and instruments. The alto and tenor accept the invitation and, on the only text not from the Book of Songs (Ecclesiastes 5: 18, taken severely out of context!), they start a long “drinking song” in which all characters and even the instruments participate. A melisma passed around for “trinket” (“drink”), homophonic utterances of “denn das ist eine Gabe Gottes” (“for this is a gift from God”) and “und gut’s Mut’s ist” (“and to be in good spirits”) are repeated over and over as the party goes on. Even the violin and violas seem to get a bit tipsy as they accompany the words “und werdet trunken” (“and become drunk”)!
6. Chorale. Suddenly, the tenor proposes a song of thanksgiving. His proposal is promptly seconded by everybody – “das gratias!”. After an introductory couple of verses by the instruments alone, the voices deliver a four-part chorale setting of the last stanza of Vogel’s Tischlied. The lower strings double the voices, while the violin flies high above everyone on a neverending string of eighth notes, seemingly having a hard time snapping out of the drunken debauchery.
