This cantata is another example of Bach repurposing a secular piece from his Cöthen years, adapting it for use as a church cantata in Leipzig. The original, catalogued as BWV 134a, was a New Year’s Day Serenata composed in 1719 for the Royal House of Anhalt-Köthen, with text by Christian Friedrich Hunold. Bach reused some of its movements (1 through 4, 7, and 8) with a new libretto by an anonymous poet and made it into an Easter Tuesday cantata, first performed in 1724. The text is a celebration of Christ’s resurrection, and a song of praise and joy. However, it does not directly reference the Gospel or other scriptures of the day.
Just like with BWV 66, which we examined in our last session, Bach performed the cantata twice more in later years, first in 1731 and another time possibly in 1735. Each time, he refined the work, even completely recomposing the recitatives.
The cantata requires two solo voices, alto and tenor, stemming from the fact that the serenata was structured as a dialog between two characters (which explains the abundance of movements with participation of the two soloists, notably all recitatives). The rest of the scoring is quite standard with 2 oboes, strings, continuo and 4-part choir.
The piece opens with a secco recitative for the tenor, with a final line for the alto with melismas on the word “freuet” (“rejoice”). It leads to an energetic and rhythmic “da capo” aria for the tenor, accompanied by the full orchestra, which exhorts the believers to “sing delightful songs” and offer thanks to the Saviour. The word “auf” (“up”) is repeatedly emphasized by wide leaps, including melodic octaves, and “Lieder” (“songs”) by long melismas.
An extensive recitative follows, set up as a dialog between the two soloists. The text describes the battle between God and our enemies and how our Saviour defeats Satan on our behalf. This leads to an animated aria-duet in “cut-time”, for the two soloists accompanied by the strings and continuo, which features a highly virtuosic line for the first violins in constant 16th notes, resembling a concertante role.
Another shared recitative much in the style of the previous one leads to the final number, which is not a chorale but a fully developed “da capo” chorus with the full orchestra, with bridge passages for the solo singers. Could this movement be interpreted as the community of believers delivering the “delightful songs” requested in the second movement?
