Die Elenden sollen essen, BWV 75
Encyclopedia
Die Elenden sollen essen (The miserable shall eat), BWV 75, is a church cantata
Bach cantata
Bach cantata became a term for a cantata of the German Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach who was a prolific writer of the genre. Although many of his works are lost, around 200 cantatas survived....

 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...

. Bach composed the cantata for the first Sunday after Trinity
Trinity Sunday
Trinity Sunday is the first Sunday after Pentecost in the Western Christian liturgical calendar, and the Sunday of Pentecost in Eastern Christianity...

 and first performed it in Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...

 on 30 May 1723. It is the first cantata of his first annual cycle of cantatas.

History and words

Bach composed the cantata for the First Sunday after Trinity and first performed it in the service in the Nikolaikirche on 30 May 1723, to take up his position as Kantor
Cantor (church)
A cantor is the chief singer employed in a church with responsibilities for the ecclesiastical choir; also called the precentor....

. From then he was responsible for the education of the Thomanerchor
Thomanerchor
The Thomanerchor is a boys' choir in Leipzig, Germany. The choir was founded in 1212. At present, the choir consists of 92 boys from 9 to 18 years of age...

, performances in the regular services in the Thomaskirche and the Nikolaikirche, and until 1725 also for one of two services in the Paulinerkirche
Paulinerkirche, Leipzig
The Paulinerkirche was a church on the Augustusplatz in Leipzig, named after the "Pauliner", its original Dominican friars. It was built in 1231 as the Klosterkirche St. Pauli for the Dominican monastery in Leipzig. From the foundation of the University of Leipzig in 1409, it served as the...

. He started a project of composing one cantata for each Sunday and holiday of the liturgical year, termed by Christoph Wolff
Christoph Wolff
Christoph Wolff is a German-born musicologist, presently on the faculty of Harvard University. Born and educated in Germany, Wolff studied organ and historical keyboard instruments, musicology and art history at the Universities of Berlin, Erlangen, and the Music Academy of Freiburg, receiving a...

 "an artistic undertaking on the largest scale".

The autograph score is written neatly on non-Leipzig paper, probably while Bach lived still in Köthen.

The prescribed readings for the Sunday were from the First Epistle of John
First Epistle of John
The First Epistle of John, often referred to as First John and written 1 John, is a book of the New Testament. This fourth catholic or "general" epistle is attributed to John the Evangelist, traditionally thought to be the author of the Gospel of John and the other two Epistles of John. This...

, , and from the Gospel of Luke
Gospel of Luke
The Gospel According to Luke , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Luke or simply Luke, is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It details his story from the events of his birth to his Ascension.The...

, , the parable of the Rich man and Lazarus. The unknown poet begins the cantata with a verse from a psalm
Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...

, (verse 27 in the Luther Bible), "The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the Lord that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.", connecting the gospel to the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...

 as a starting point. The later cantata for the same occasion, Brich dem Hungrigen dein Brot, BWV 39, (Break your bread for the hungry) started similarly with a quotation from the Old Testament. The poet expands the contrast of "Reichtum und Armut" (wealth and poverty, rich and poor) in elaborate 14 movements, arranged in two parts to be performed before and after the sermon. The focus of the second part is to be poor or rich in spirit. Both parts are concluded by a stanza of Samuel Rodigast's chorale
Chorale
A chorale was originally a hymn sung by a Christian congregation. In certain modern usage, this term may also include classical settings of such hymns and works of a similar character....

 Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan, stanza 2 in movement 7, stanza 6 in movement 14.

A Leipzig chronicle, "Acta Lipsiensium academica", reported the social event: "... führte ... Hr. Joh. Sebastian Bach ... mit gutem applauso seine erste Music auf" (... performed ... with good applause his first music). "Good applause" means "great approval" rather than clapping of hands. A different translation renders the note as "... the new Cantor and Director of the Collegium Musicum, Herr Johann Sebastian Bach, who has come hither from the Prince's court of Cöthen, produced his first music here with great success."

Scoring and structure

The cantata is scored for four soloists, soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...

, alto
Alto
Alto is a musical term, derived from the Latin word altus, meaning "high" in Italian, that has several possible interpretations.When designating instruments, "alto" frequently refers to a member of an instrumental family that has the second highest range, below that of the treble or soprano. Hence,...

, tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...

 and bass
Bass (voice type)
A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C...

, a four-part choir, trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...

, two oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...

s, oboe d'amore
Oboe d'amore
The oboe d'amore , less commonly oboe d'amour, is a double reed woodwind musical instrument in the oboe family. Slightly larger than the oboe, it has a less assertive and more tranquil and serene tone, and is considered the mezzo-soprano of the oboe family, between the oboe itself and the cor...

, two violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

s, viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...

, and basso continuo including bassoon
Bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...

.
Part I
1. Coro: Die Elenden sollen essen
2. Recitativo (bass): Was hilft des Purpurs Majestät
3. Aria (tenor): Mein Jesus soll mein alles sein
4. Recitativo (tenor): Gott stürzet und erhöhet
5. Aria (soprano): Ich nehme mein Leiden mit Freuden auf mich
6. Recitativo (soprano): Indes schenkt Gott ein gut Gewissen
7. Chorale: Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan
Part II
8. Sinfonia
9. Recitativo (alto): Nur eines kränkt
10. Aria (alto): Jesus macht mich geistlich reich
11. Recitativo (bass): Wer nur in Jesu bleibt
12. Aria (bass): Mein Herze glaubt und liebt
13. Recitativo (tenor): O Armut, der kein Reichtum gleicht!
14. Chorale: Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan

The two parts are composed as the same arrangement of alternating recitative
Recitative
Recitative , also known by its Italian name "recitativo" , is a style of delivery in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms of ordinary speech...

s and aria
Aria
An aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term is now used almost exclusively to describe a self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment...

s with a concluding chorale, only Part II is opened by a sinfonia
Sinfonia
Sinfonia is the Italian word for symphony. In English it most commonly refers to a 17th- or 18th-century orchestral piece used as an introduction, interlude, or postlude to an opera, oratorio, cantata, or suite...

 instead of a chorus.

Music

Bach marked the occasion, creating the opening chorus reminiscent of a French overture, with a slow first section in dotted rhythm and a fast fugue. He chose the same form one year later to begin his second annual cycle with the chorale cantata
Chorale cantata
In music, a chorale cantata is a sacred composition for voices and instruments, principally from the German Baroque era, in which the organizing principle is the words and music to a chorale. Usually a chorale cantata is in multiple movements or parts. Most chorale cantatas were written between...

 O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort, BWV 20. The composition can also be seen as a prelude and fugue on a large scale. The prelude
Prelude
Prelude may refer to:*Sheaffer Prelude, a series of fountain pens, ballpoints and rollerball pens made by the Sheaffer Pen company*Prelude , a musical form*Prelude , an English based folk band...

 is again in two sections separated by a short interlude, in the way of a motet
Motet
In classical music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions.-Etymology:The name comes either from the Latin movere, or a Latinized version of Old French mot, "word" or "verbal utterance." The Medieval Latin for "motet" is motectum, and the Italian...

 according to the different ideas of the text. In the fugue on the words "Euer Herz soll ewiglich leben" (your heart shall live for ever), the subject is developed three times, again separated by interludes.

Four of the recitatives are "secco", accompanied only by the continuo, but the first one of each part is "accompagnato", brightened by the strings. In the arias, the voice and the instruments mostly share the themes. The arias can be considered as a Suite of French dance movements, the tenor a Polonaise
Polonaise
The polonaise is a slow dance of Polish origin, in 3/4 time. Its name is French for "Polish."The polonaise had a rhythm quite close to that of the Swedish semiquaver or sixteenth-note polska, and the two dances have a common origin....

, the soprano aria a Minuet
Minuet
A minuet, also spelled menuet, is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually in 3/4 time. The word was adapted from Italian minuetto and French menuet, and may have been from French menu meaning slender, small, referring to the very small steps, or from the early 17th-century popular...

, the alto aria a Passepied
Passepied
The passepied is a 17th- and 18th-century dance that originated in Brittany. The term can also be used to describe the music to which a passepied is set...

 and the bass aria a Gigue
Gigue
The gigue or giga is a lively baroque dance originating from the British jig. It was imported into France in the mid-17th century and usually appears at the end of a suite...

. In the last aria, the trumpet opens the setting and then accompanies the bass in virtuoso figuration, adding splendour to the words "Mein Herze glaubt und liebt" (My heart believes and loves).

The music of the two stanzas of the chorale is identical. The tune is not a simple four-part setting as in most of Bach's later cantatas, but the voices are embedded in a concerto of the orchestra, lead by violin I and oboe I. The instrumental theme is derived from the first line of the chorale tune.

The sinfonia beginning Part II, rare in Bach's cantatas anyway, is especially remarkable, because it is a chorale fantasia on the same chorale melody. The tune is played by the trumpet which was silent throughout Part I, as the cantus firmus
Cantus firmus
In music, a cantus firmus is a pre-existing melody forming the basis of a polyphonic composition.The plural of this Latin term is , though the corrupt form canti firmi is also attested...

 against a polyphon
Polyphony
In music, polyphony is a texture consisting of two or more independent melodic voices, as opposed to music with just one voice or music with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords ....

 string setting, emphasizing once more "Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan" (What God does is well done).

Recordings

  • Die Bach Kantate Vol. 38, Helmuth Rilling
    Helmuth Rilling
    Helmuth Rilling is an internationally known German choral conductor, founder of the Gächinger Kantorei , the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart , the Oregon Bach Festival , the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart and other Bach Academies worldwide, and the "Festival Ensemble Stuttgart"...

    , Frankfurter Kantorei, Bach-Collegium Stuttgart
    Bach-Collegium Stuttgart
    Bach-Collegium Stuttgart is an internationally known German instrumental ensemble, founded by Helmuth Rilling in 1965 to accompany the Gächinger Kantorei in choral music with orchestra...

    , Ingeborg Reichelt
    Ingeborg Reichelt
    Ingeborg Reichelt is a German soprano singer. She is known for singing works of Johann Sebastian Bach.- Biography :...

    , Julia Hamari
    Julia Hamari
    Julia Hamari, originally Hamari Júlia , is a Hungarian mezzo-soprano and alto singer in opera and concert, appearing internationally. She is an academic voice teacher in Stuttgart.- Professional career :...

    , Adalbert Kraus
    Adalbert Kraus
    Adalbert Kraus is a German tenor in opera and concert, known for singing the works of Johann Sebastian Bach.- Biography :...

    , Hanns-Friedrich Kunz, Hänssler
    Hänssler Classic
    Hänssler Classic is a German classical record label based in Holzgerlingen.Friedrich Hänssler Senior founded Musikverlag Hänssler in 1919 to publish church music. Since 1972 Hänssler Classic has also published contemporary and jazz music...

     1970
  • J.S. Bach: Das Kantatenwerk - Sacred Cantatas Vol. 4, Gustav Leonhardt
    Gustav Leonhardt
    Gustav Leonhardt is a highly renowned Dutch keyboard player, conductor, musicologist, teacher and editor. Leonhardt has been a leading figure in the movement to perform music on period instruments...

    , Knabenchor Hannover, Collegium Vocale Gent, Leonhardt Consort, Marcus Klein (soloist of the Knabenchor Hannover), Paul Esswood
    Paul Esswood
    Paul Esswood is an English countertenor. He is best known for his singing in Bach cantatas and the operas of Handel and Monteverdi. Along with his countrymen Alfred Deller and James Bowman, he led the revival of countertenor singing in modern times.Esswood was born in West Bridgford, England. He...

    , Adalbert Kraus
    Adalbert Kraus
    Adalbert Kraus is a German tenor in opera and concert, known for singing the works of Johann Sebastian Bach.- Biography :...

    , Max van Egmond
    Max van Egmond
    Max van Egmond is a Dutch bass and baritone singer. He has focused on oratorio and Lied and is known for singing works of Johann Sebastian Bach.- Professional career :...

    , Teldec
    Teldec
    The Teldec is a German record label in Hamburg, Germany. Today the label is a property of Warner Music Group.-History:...

     1977
  • J.S. Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 6, Ton Koopman
    Ton Koopman
    Ton Koopman is a conductor, organist and harpsichordist.Koopman had a "classical education" and then studied the organ , harpsichord and musicology in Amsterdam...

    , Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir
    Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir
    The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir is a Dutch early-music group based in Amsterdam.The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir was created in two stages by the conductor, organist and harpsichordist Ton Koopman. He founded the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra in 1979 and the Amsterdam Baroque Choir in...

    , Ruth Ziesak
    Ruth Ziesak
    - Biography :Ruth Ziesak studied voice at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts with Elsa Cavelti and Christoph Prégardien. She has been a member of the Municipal Theatre Heidelberg since 1988 and the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in 1990....

    , Elisabeth von Magnus
    Elisabeth von Magnus
    Elisabeth von Magnus is an Austrian classical mezzo-soprano.- Family :...

    , Paul Agnew
    Paul Agnew
    Paul Agnew is a Scottish operatic tenor.Agnew read music as a Choral Scholar at Magdalen College, Oxford. He became associated with the Consort of Musicke, the Tallis Scholars, the Sixteen and the Gothic Voices, before embarking on a solo career in the early 1990s.Closely associated with William...

    , Klaus Mertens
    Klaus Mertens
    Klaus Mertens is a German bass and bass-baritone singer who is known especially for his interpretation of the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach.-Professional career:Klaus Mertens took singing lessons while attending school...

    , Antoine Marchand 1998
  • J.S. Bach: Cantatas Vol. 8 - Leipzig Cantatas), Masaaki Suzuki
    Masaaki Suzuki
    is a Japanese organist, harpsichordist and conductor, and the founder and musical director of the Bach Collegium Japan.He was born in Kobe to parents who were both Christians and amateur musicians...

    , Bach Collegium Japan
    Bach Collegium Japan
    Bach Collegium Japan is composed of an orchestra and a chorus specialising in Baroque music, playing with period instruments. It was founded in 1990 by Masaaki Suzuki with the purpose of introducing Japanese audiences to European Baroque music. Suzuki still remains its music director...

    , Midori Suzuki, Yoshikazu Mera
    Yoshikazu Mera
    born May 21, 1971, in Miyazaki, Japan, is a Japanese countertenor. His range is three and a half octaves.Originally wanting to become a pop singer, Mela now primarily sings classical music from the West but also classical Japanese music...

    , Robin Blaze
    Robin Blaze
    - Childhood and education :The son of a professional golfer Peter, Robin Blaze grew up in Shadwell, near Leeds and was educated at Leeds Grammar School, Uppingham School, and Magdalen College, Oxford....

    , Gerd Türk
    Gerd Türk
    - Biography :Gerd Türk received his first musical training as a choir boy at the cathedral of Limburg. He studied in Frankfurt and then at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis with Richard Levitt and René Jacobs, continuing in master classes with Ernst Haefliger and Kurt Equiluz.In the field of...

    , Peter Kooy
    Peter Kooy
    Peter Kooy is a Dutch bass singer specialized in baroque music.- Biography :Peter Kooy started his musical career at 6 years as a choir boy. However he started his musical studies as a violin student...

    , BIS
    BIS Records
    BIS Records is a record label founded in 1973 by Robert von Bahr. It is located in Åkersberga, Sweden.BIS focuses on classical music, both contemporary and early, especially works that are not already well represented by existing recordings....

     1998
  • Bach Cantatas Vol. 1: City of London / For the 1st Sunday after Trinity, John Eliot Gardiner
    John Eliot Gardiner
    Sir John Eliot Gardiner CBE FKC is an English conductor. He founded the Monteverdi Choir , the English Baroque Soloists and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique...

    , Monteverdi Choir
    Monteverdi Choir
    The Monteverdi Choir was founded in 1964 by Sir John Eliot Gardiner for a performance of the Monteverdi Vespers in King's College Chapel, Cambridge. A specialist Baroque ensemble, the Choir has become famous for its stylistic conviction and extensive repertoire, encompassing music from the early...

    , English Baroque Soloists
    English Baroque Soloists
    The English Baroque Soloists is a chamber orchestra playing on period instruments, formed in 1978 by English conductor Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Its repertoire comprises music from the early Baroque period to the Classical period...

    , Gillian Keith
    Gillian Keith
    Gillian Keith is a Canadian operatic soprano.Gillian Keith was educated at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University, Montreal and at the Royal Academy of Music in London.-Opera:Gillian Keith's roles include:...

    , Wilke te Brummelstroete, Paul Agnew
    Paul Agnew
    Paul Agnew is a Scottish operatic tenor.Agnew read music as a Choral Scholar at Magdalen College, Oxford. He became associated with the Consort of Musicke, the Tallis Scholars, the Sixteen and the Gothic Voices, before embarking on a solo career in the early 1990s.Closely associated with William...

    , Dietrich Henschel, Soli Deo Gloria 2000
  • J.S. Bach: Weinen, Klagen…, Philippe Herreweghe
    Philippe Herreweghe
    Philippe Herreweghe is a Flemish conductor.In his school years at the University of Ghent, Herreweghe combined studies in medical science and psychiatry with a musical education at the Ghent Conservatory, where Marcel Gazelle, Yehudi Menuhin's accompanist, was his piano teacher...

    , Collegium Vocale Gent, Carolyn Sampson, Daniel Taylor
    Daniel Taylor (countertenor)
    Daniel Taylor is a Canadian countertenor and early music specialist. He completed his undergraduate studies in English, philosophy, and music at the the Faculty of Music of McGill University and his graduate work in religion and music at the Université de Montréal...

    , Mark Padmore
    Mark Padmore
    Mark Padmore is a British tenor appearing in concerts, recitals, and opera.Born in London 8 March 1961, and raised in Canterbury, Kent in England. Padmore studied clarinet and piano prior to his gaining a choral scholarship to King's College, Cambridge...

    , Peter Kooy
    Peter Kooy
    Peter Kooy is a Dutch bass singer specialized in baroque music.- Biography :Peter Kooy started his musical career at 6 years as a choir boy. However he started his musical studies as a violin student...

    , Harmonia Mundi France 2003

External links

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