Chapter 10
Baroque Vocal
Music
The Church
Cantata
Key Terms
Church cantata
Chorales
Gapped chorale
The Church Cantata
Second in importance to oratorio
Cantata = work in several movements for
voices & instruments
• Could use sacred or secular texts
• Featured solo voice(s) & sometimes chorus
Church cantata
• Always based on sacred text
• Used solo voices; usually used chorus
• Texts for Lutheran church cantatas had to fit
with fixed Bible readings for each Sunday of
the church year
The Lutheran Chorale
Most Lutheran cantatas use chorales
Chorale = German congregational hymn
Martin Luther favored hymn singing–he
wanted audience participation
From that time on, the body of German
hymns grew steadily
Hymns well-known & well-loved by
Lutheran congregations
When used in cantatas, chorales provided
rich source of associations
Cantatas & Chorales
Cantatas used chorales in several ways
• Final movement of typical Bach cantata used
single verse of a chorale sung straight through
with simple harmonization
• Longer choruses could present chorale
phrases one by one, with a point of imitation on
each one
• Gapped chorales presented chorale melody in
spurts, with a continuously recurring ritornellolike idea in between phrases
Bach Cantatas
Bach wrote over 200 cantatas, most of
them for church
In Leipzig Bach had to produce cantatas
for the entire church year
Cantatas were used for every Sunday
service at the Thomaskirche
• Performed between the Gospel reading & the
sermon
• Provided reflection on the reading in
preparation for the all-important sermon
Typical Bach Cantata
Began with substantial chorus
• Usually based on a chorale tune (same as the
one used at the end)
Continued with recitatives & arias for solo
voices
Concluded with straightforward
harmonized chorale
• Carefully selected to fit with Bible readings for
that Sunday
Bach, Cantata No. 4, “Christ
lag in Todesbanden” (1)
Written in 1707 while Bach was still a
small-town organist
Cantata for Easter Sunday
• Surprisingly serious & stern for Easter
• Reflects on battle between Life & Death
• Each stanza does end with a Hallelujah
For voices, string orchestra, & continuo
Bach, Cantata No. 4, “Christ
lag in Todesbanden” (2)
Based on a chorale by Luther
• “Christ Lay in Death’s Dark Prison”
Bach, Cantata No. 4, “Christ
lag in Todesbanden” (3)
Uses all seven stanzas—unusual!
• One stanza per movement–seven movements
altogether
Bach arranged the seven movements in
symmetrical fashion
Bach, Cantata No. 4, Stanza 3
(1)
For tenor, solo violin, & continuo
Gapped chorale setting
• Tenor sings chorale melody with gaps in
between phrases
• Violin plays ritornello melody at beginning,
end, & in gaps between phrases
Celebrates Christ’s victory over death
• Engaging, vivacious, dance-like rhythms
• Rather serious in mood
Bach, Cantata No. 4, Stanza 3
(2)
Dramatic contrast at “Da bleibet nichts”
• Violin abandons ritornello for fast chords
• Short pause after “nichts” (nothing) interrupts
motor rhythms
• Pause followed by short, slower cadenza on
“denn Tod’s Gestalt”
• Unusual passages in Bach sacred works
usually point us to the words
• Pause illuminates heart of stanza’s message–
 Nothing is left of Death’s power because Christ has
done away with our sins
Stanza 3
Jesus Christus, Gottes
Sohn,
An unser Statt ist kommen
Und hat die Sünde
weggetan,
Damit den Tod genommen
All’ sein Recht und sein’
Gewalt;
Da bleibet nichts–denn
Tod’s Gestalt;
Den Stach’l hat er verloren,
Hallelujah!
Jesus Christ, the Son of
God,
Has come on our behalf,
And has done away with
our sins,
Thereby robbing Death
Of all his power and his
might;
There remains nothing but
Death’s image;
He has lost his sting.
Hallelujah!
Bach, Cantata No. 4, Stanza 4
(1)
For alto solo, soprano, tenor, & bass
voices, & continuo
Alto voice sings gapped chorale melody
• Double by the pipe organ
• Long, slow note values
The other voices introduce each phrase
• Soprano, tenor, & bass
Bach, Cantata No. 4, Stanza 4
(2)
The other voices
introduce each phrase
They sing fragments
from each chorale
phrase in imitation
Faster note values
Continuous feel
Bach, Cantata No. 4, Stanza 4
(3)
Expressive devices
• Busy imitative polyphony suggests warfare
against Death
• Jaunty rhythm & close imitation at “Ein Spott”
seems to mock Death
Stanza 4
Es war ein wunderlicher
Krieg,
Da Tod und Leben rungen;
Das Leben da behielt das
Sieg,
Es hat den Tod
verschlungen.
Die Schrift hat verkündiget
das
Wie ein Tod den andern
frass;
Ein Spott aus dem Tod ist
worden.
Hallelujah!
It was a marvelous war
Where Death and Life
battled.
Life there gained the
victory;
It completely swallowed up
Death.
Holy Scripture has
proclaimed
How one Death gobbled up
the other;
Death thus became a
mockery.
Hallelujah!
Bach, Cantata No. 4, Stanza 7
For voices, orchestra, & continuo
Straightforward presentation of the hymn
•
•
•
•
Simple homophonic texture
Soprano takes the melody
Four-part vocal harmony
Vocal parts doubled by instruments
Text turns from battles to confidence of
faith
Musical setting offers restful, serene
conclusion
Stanza 7
Wir essen und leben wohl
Im rechten Osterfladen.
Der alter Sauerteig nicht
soll
Sein bei dem Wort der
Gnaden.
Christus will die Koste sein
Und speisen die Seel’ allein,
Der Glaub’ will keins andern
Leben.
Hallelujah!
We eat and live fitly
On the true unleavened
bread of the Passover
The old yeast shall not
Contaminate the word of
grace.
Christ will be the cost
And alone will feed the
soul:
Faith will live on nothing
else.
Hallelujah!