Cantata 39/Cantata 40/Cantata 46 [antikvár]

J. S. BACH CANTATA No. 39: „BRICH DEM HUNGRIGEN . Many of Bach's church cantatas owe their peculiar poetic and musical attitude to some special and singular occurrence in the church life of Leipzig. Thus the Cantata No. 39 which is designated for the 1st Sunday after Trinity. Rud. Wust-mann has made it seem probable that it was performed in June 1732 in the course of a service held in honour of the emigrants driven from Salzburg who passed through Leipzig. According to Riemer's Chronic 1000 of these poor emigrants arrived in Leipzig on the 13th June at 5 o'clock in the evening, and another 800 the next day. They were accorded a splendid reception by the population and were given food at the expense of the City Council. The following Sunday a thanksgiving service was held at St. Nicholas'. The vesper preacher of the church, Mag. Hoffmann, delivered a sermon "on the steadfast worshippers of God", "to which the emigrants listened with fervent passion". Bach did not miss this fine opportunity of influencing the community also by way of the choir. As the gospel for the 1st Trinity Sunday relates the story of the rich man and the beggar Lazarus (Luke, XVI) it happened by chance that the noble act of charity coincided surpris- ingly with the content of the portion of the gospel. The present cantata was the result. Whether Picander wrote the text, we do not know. The opening passage (chorus) is taken from Isaiah LVIII, 7-8, the text of the Arioso at the beginning of the second part from Hebrews XIII, 16. The broad opening chorus is in keeping with the festive occasion of the day, but its beginning surprises. What is the nature of the peculiariy pointed quaver pairs exchanged between flutes, oboes and violins? Applied to the text their meaning is twofold: they indicate the "breaking" of the bread and then suggest the "distribution". The broken staccato-line serves the first purpose, whilst the quaver-motif, wandering here and there, refers to the second: as if busy hands were continually carrying something here and there. Bach visualized the public scene of the bread distribution as it may actually have taken place on the market-place in Leipzig. The singular motif-movement continues until after the entry of the choral exclamations. These first resound in a sharp, declamatory manner, almost like stern commands. At "so im Elend sind" they become softer, almost pitiful. At "fähre