This tag was created by James A. Brokaw II. The last update was by Angela Watters.
Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt BWV 68 / BC A 86
Pentecost Monday, May 21, 1725
The cantata Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt BWV 68 (And God so loved the world) was heard for the first time on May 21, 1725, and thus belongs to that remarkable period of transition between the premature end of Bach’s chorale cantata cycle and, presumably, the beginning of a new project after Trinity 1725. That is, our cantata is subject to a strange circumstance: that Bach broke off work only a few weeks before completing a cycle of cantatas for nearly all Sundays and holidays in the church year, based on chorales and/or on texts derived from them, and turned abruptly to other libretti. These “other libretti,” nine in total, were the work of the Leipzig poet and patron of the arts Christiane Mariane von Ziegler, who, as a member of the circle of Johann Christoph Gottsched, quickly advanced to wide recognition and fame in under a decade before her poetic star vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
Thanks to a contemporary who occasionally visited her salon and quickly jotted down his impressions, we have an attractive description of the Leipzig poet:
The nine cantata texts that she delivered in early 1725—if we are not completely mistaken, on commission from the Thomaskantor—range from Jubilate Sunday to the Feast of Trinity. Of his nine compositions, Bach was later able to work two of them into his chorale cantata cycle, even though he had not envisioned this originally, and, in particular, the von Ziegler texts deviate sharply from the others in the cycle. Even so, her libretti for the Feast of the Ascension and the second day of Trinity begin with a chorale strophe, so that Bach had a point of contact for his usual procedure. This was exceptional for von Ziegler; her texts usually begin with a biblical passage. She was able to begin with a chorale strophe because the opening lines of Samuel Liscow’s 1675 hymn largely coincide with the beginning of the Gospel reading for the second day of Pentecost. This reading is found in the third chapter of John; it belongs to Jesus’s conversation with Nicodemus and begins: “Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt, daß er seinen eingeborenen Sohn gab, auf daß alle, die an ihn glauben, nicht verloren werden, sondern das ewige Leben haben” (16; For God so loved the world that he gave his only son in order that all who believe in him shall not be lost but rather have eternal life). After the chorale strophe, Mariane von Ziegler’s cantata text continues with free poetry: two arias frame a recitative, and the libretto concludes with the Bible verse “Wer an ihn glaubet, der wird nicht gerichtet” (Whoever believes in him, he will not be condemned), from the Gospel reading for the second day of Pentecost. Of the three freely versified movements, the recitative remains fairly close to the Gospel reading. In alluding to a place in Luke where Peter indicates to Cornelius, who is praying to him, that he is only human, the recitative reads:We were invited to Madame von Ziegler’s. . . . She is a daughter of Mayor Romanus and lives with her mother in the famous Romanesque house. . . . She is still a young woman but is unlikely to marry due to various circumstances. Among others, her manner is almost overly feminine and her spirit much too cheerful and bright to have to subordinate herself to common masculine sensibilities. Outwardly she is not ugly, but large boned with a plain face and smooth brow, beautiful eyes, healthy, rather dark in color; about thirty-six years of age, quiet but rather clever and charming, in conversation more friendly, humorous, and jesting than ponderous. . . . She participates in everything; she plays all sorts of musical instruments and also sings; she shoots with rifles, pistols, and crossbows in hunting parties. She speaks French, she is remarkably strong in the German style and poetry, in which she tutored Herr Magister Corinus as a youth. She now needs no mentor, as can be seen in her writings and samples, of which I am a witness. . . . Madame von Ziegler is so noble that she scorns unsubstantiated gossip and is not at all shy about encouraging several of her gender to improve themselves through reading good books and honest conversation. After her example, there are several here in Leipzig and Saxony who study and apply themselves to proper accomplishments. Among gentlemen Madame herself is so popular that no distinguished company can make merry without her. Her learning is certainly as special as her deportment. I regard her as an honor to our nation.1
Ich bin mit Petro nicht vermessen;
Was mich getrost und freudig macht,
Daß mich mein Jesus nicht vergessen.
Er kam nicht nur die Welt zu richten,
Nein, nein, er wollte Sünd und Schuld
Als Mittler zwischen Gott und Mensch vor diesmal schlichten.
I am not presumptuous with Peter,
Which makes me confident and joyful
That my Jesus does not forget me.
He came not only to judge the world,
No, no, he wanted to straighten out sin and guilt
As mediator between God and Man, once and for all to reconcile.
Bach appears to have reformulated and abbreviated the last lines of this text for his purposes.2 The original text by von Ziegler reads:
Nein, nein, er wollte Sünd und Schuld
Durch die besondere Leib und Huld,
Als Mittler zwischen Gott und Menschen völlig schlichten.
No, no, he wanted sin and guilt,
Through the particular body and grace,
As mediator between God and man to completely straighten out.
The first aria also was subject to significant alteration. In von Ziegler’s version it reads:
Getröstetes Herze,
Frohlocke und scherze,
Dein Jesus ist da.
Weg, Kummer und Plagen,
Ich will euch nur sagen:
Mein Jesus ist nah.
Comforted heart,
Rejoice and jest,
Your Jesus is here.
Be gone, tribulation and plagues,
I will to you only say:
My Jesus is near.
In contrast, Bach’s version reads:
Mein gläubiges Herze,
Frohlocke, sing, scherze,
Dein Jesus ist da.
Weg, Jammer, weg, Klagen,
Ich will euch nur sagen:
Mein Jesus ist nah.
My faithful heart,
Rejoice, sing, jest,
Your Jesus is here.
Be gone, distress, be gone, lamentation,
I will to you only say:
My Jesus is near.
By contrast, the second aria text, “Du bist geboren mir zugute” (You have been born for my benefit), is hardly changed at all.
In Bach’s composition, new additions and the reuse of materials already on hand are interwoven in a peculiar way. A reuse in the figurative sense is seen in the first movement. The Thomaskantor formed it after the pattern he had been using for nearly a year: chorale cantus firmus in large note values, performed by the soprano; motet-like leading of the other voices; and a thematically unified orchestral component. As mentioned earlier, this gave him the option of including the work in the chorale cantata cycle. Strictly speaking, this was a compromise solution, since in our cantata the chorale melody certainly does not remain untouched. Rather, it is often included in the motivic development instead of remaining in its original version. Like the opening chorus, the bass recitative in the center of the work as well as the closing chorus can be regarded as original compositions.
On the other hand, both arias turn out to be incorporations of movements from the Hunt Cantata BWV 208, twelve years older. The bass aria “Du bist geboren mir zugute” goes back to the aria “Ein Fürst ist seines Landes Pan” (A prince is his country’s Pan), from the Weissenfels congratulatory work. The oboe trio, conceived in association with the instrument of Pan, the forest god, remains in the sacred version although without any connection to the text. Thus one can assume that at the time the text was being drawn up, neither von Ziegler nor the composer considered the possibility of drawing upon an older work, and that this occurred to Bach only later. Although he invested little effort in revising the bass aria, his approach to the first aria, “Mein gläubiges Herze” (My faithful heart), was radical and comprehensive. The original in the Hunt Cantata is a modest piece for soprano and basso continuo; the contrapuntally ambitious instrumental texture is obviously built upon the spare basso continuo ritornello. From these preliminary components Bach developed something new for the Pentecost cantata, a soprano aria with a completely transformed vocal part, accompanied by an obbligato part with elaborate figuration for violoncello piccolo, a small instrument whose appearance has not yet been completely researched.
In contrast to the modern form of the arias and the relatively relaxed handling of the choral material in the opening movement, the effect of the concluding biblical passage with its motet-like composition seems quite archaic. The supremely artistic movement for voices with doubled instruments is laid out as a double fugue: an initial exposition of the first theme is followed by the countertheme, and then both themes are combined. One occasionally hears the criticism that Bach has underlaid the same thematic substance with different, indeed opposed texts, represented by the keywords “gerichtet” (condemned) and “nicht gerichtet” (not condemned). But it does not appear that the composer was primarily interested in a close, limited relationship between word and tone; instead, thematic invention and its development hew closely to the biblical passage in its totality, not sentences, phrases, or individual words. Seen in this way (unlike the opening chorus, a well-practiced model realized once again; or the arias, which draw upon existing materials), the concluding movement is the musical and spiritual high point of the entire work.