First performance
19 April 1729, Leipzig

Text

Christian Friedrich Henrici (Picander), Leipzig, 1728/32

• Movement a (added later for a performance on Easter Day): Caspar Neumann (Breslau, around 1700)
• Movement b (added later from TWV 1:1350 for a performance on Easter Day); Romans 10:9
• Movement 5: Nikolaus Herman (1560)

The historical sources passed down as well as the stylistic features of cantata BWV 145 render it one of the most puzzling compositions included in the performance practice of Bach’s oeuvre: unresolved issues about the work’s authorship and whether it is even complete abound. The two editions of the libretto printed in 1728/29 by Picander, Bach’s “house poet” in Leipzig, certainly indicate a proximity to Bach’s work. Nevertheless, the extant manuscript stems from the 19th century and is thought to be associated with Carl Friedrich Zelter’s choir academy in Berlin; this version prefaces Picander’s five-movement libretto with two additional movements that can be traced to Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (chorale movement “Auf, mein Herz”) and Georg Philipp Telemann (chorus movement “So du mit deinem Munde”, from a cantata of the same name), thus providing evidence of an arrangement from the late 18th century. Furthermore, obvious disparities in musical style even among the five movements set to the Picander text cast doubt on Bach’s sole authorship, making it conceivable that the Thomascantor prepared the work for performance together with a student – for example the young Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. Indeed, this is no far-fetched assumption: the limited number of surviving settings of what is known as the “Picander cycle” by Bach senior has led Peter Wollny and other Bach scholars to posit that the work was distributed among various composers.

In its traditional form, the cantata begins with the chorale setting “Auf, mein Herz, des Herren Tag” (Rise, my heart, the Lord’s own day). Although the setting was included by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach in a publication of his father’s four-part chorales, the work has since been proven to be written by the son, which corresponds to the music’s somewhat plainer style. The Telemann chorus “So du mit deinem Munde bekennest Jesum” (If thou with thine own mouth dost acknowledge Jesus) originates from an Easter cantata of the same name (TWV 1:1350) composed in 1723. Set in two parts, it opens with a charming sopranoalto duet followed by a vivace choral fugue, which, thanks to its obbligato trumpet part (and despite some breathless melodic writing and static cadences) generates considerable musical energy.

The actual Picander setting opens with the duet “Ich lebe, mein Herze” (I live now, my spirit) featuring a violin obbligato part. Considering the setting’s somewhat eager manner, it is not unreasonable to think it a parody of a secular work from Bach’s Cöthen period or perhaps the work – at least partially – of a younger composer emulating Bach’s style. The following tenor recitative “Nun fordre Moses, wie du willt” (Now order, Moses, as thou wilt) bids adieu with a decisive gesture to the “dräuende Gesetz” (threatening law) of the Old Covenant; the moving adagio passage “Mein Herz, das merke dir” (My heart, remember this) is particularly typical of Bach’s recitative style. By contrast, the following bass aria – the only setting of the five Picander movements to employ the score’s full instrumentation, including trumpet, transverse flute and two oboes d’amore – leaves an oddly inconsistent impression. While some passages (such as the harmonically interesting conclusion to the introductory ritornello) are convincingly Bachian in style, the simple opening unison figure and occasionally hesitant progressions seem somewhat incomplete – an impression that does not, however, impede the effect of the lecturing bass part. In the following recitative, the soprano returns to proclaim how solace and the strength to renounce earthly pleasures is found in the life and resurrection of Jesus. Finally, the closing chorale, which with its archaic, Early Reformation melody stands in clear contrast to the galant style of the arias and the Telemann chorus, seems to only reinforce the idiosyncratic nature of this pasticcio cantata.

It is clear that the later additions to the Picander version were made with an eye to improving the work’s structural balance and, in particular, to make better use of its full orchestration. Inspired by the fact that it would have been entirely atypical of Bach to open a cantata with a four-part chorale setting, but that Picander’s libretto nevertheless in no way precludes the work from being preceded by a sinfonia (as for instance in cantata BWV 42), Rudolf Lutz, as part of his musical analysis and preparation for the performance, composed a short three-section instrumental movement. Written in the style of an overture and featuring various baroque topoi, this new composition introduces the probable torso of the work into a coherent form – an alternative arrangement that we also offer in this recording for discussion.