Froher Tag, verlangte Stunden, BWV Anh. 18

Froher Tag, verlangte Stunden (Happy day, long hoped-for hours), BWV Anh. 18,[a] is a cantata by J.S. Bach. He composed the work for the inauguration of a renovation of the Thomasschule, Leipzig. It was first performed on 5 June 1732. The music is lost but the words have survived. They are by Johann Heinrich Winckler, a teacher at the school.[1][2]

In 1731 work began on the reconstruction of the school building, giving it two more storeys. The Bach family, along with other residents, had to move out for a year. On the Bachs' return they benefited from an enlarged apartment. The building is no longer extant.

The Thomasschule where Bach had his apartment

Libretto and structure

Winckler was a colleague of Bach at the Thomasschule. He was a versatile scholar whose interests included experimental physics, and he was later elected Fellow of the Royal Society.

The cantata has 10 movements. In the middle of the work there was a pause for speeches, rather as some church cantatas were performed before and after the sermon. The movements are as follows:

  1. Froher Tag, verlangte Stunden
  2. Wir stellen uns jetzt vor
  3. Väter unsrer Linden-Stadt
  4. Begierd und Trieb zum Wissen
  5. So laßt uns durch Reden und Mienen entdecken
  6. Geist und Seele sind begierig
  7. So groß ist Wohl und Glück
  8. Doch man ist nicht frey und los
  9. Wenn Weisheit und Verstand
  10. Ewiges Wesen, das alles erschafft

Music

Bach often reused music written for one-off occasions. In this case, he is believed to have reused the music for firstly another lost work Frohes Volk, vergnügte Sachsen, BWV Anh. 12 (composed in 1733 for the name day of the Elector of Saxony to a libretto by Picander).[3] Additionally it was likely used for the chorus which opens Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen, BWV 11 (probably composed in 1735).[4] The chorus employs Lombard rhythm and is given a festive scoring with an instrumental ensemble featuring three trumpets.

Notes

  1. ^ "BWV" is Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis, a thematic catalogue of Bach's works.

References

  1. ^ "Words of BWV Anh. 18" (PDF) (in German). Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  2. ^ "Cantata BWV Anh 18". Bach Cantatas. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  3. ^ "Cantata BWV Anh 12. Frohes Folk". Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  4. ^ "Cantata BWV 11, Ascension Oratorio: Lobet Gott in seinen Reichen". The Bach Choir of Bethlehem. Retrieved 12 May 2015.

External links

  • v
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  • e
Cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach by BWV number
  • v
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  • e
  • BWV 30a: Angenehmes Wiederau
  • BWV 36a: Steigt freudig in die Luft
  • BWV 36b: Die Freude reget sich
  • BWV 36c: Schwingt freudig euch empor
  • BWV 66a: Der Himmel dacht auf Anhalts Ruhm und Glück
  • BWV 134a: Die Zeit, die Tag und Jahre macht
  • BWV 173a: Durchlauchtster Leopold
  • BWV 193a: Ihr Häuser des Himmels, ihr scheinenden Lichter
  • BWV 198: Mourning Ode
  • BWV 201: The Contest between Phoebus and Pan
  • BWV 202: Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten
  • BWV 203: Amore traditore
  • BWV 204: On Contentedness
  • BWV 205: Aeolus Placated
  • BWV 205a: Blast Lärmen, ihr Feinde
  • BWV 206: Schleicht, spielende Wellen
  • BWV 207: Vereinigte Zwietracht der wechselnden Saiten
  • BWV 207a: Auf, schmetternde Töne der muntern Trompeten
  • BWV 208: Hunting Cantata
  • BWV 208a: Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd
  • BWV 209: Non sa che sia dolore
  • BWV 210: O holder Tag, erwünschte Zeit
  • BWV 210a: O angenehme Melodei
  • BWV 211: Coffee Cantata
  • BWV 212: Peasant Cantata
  • BWV 213: Hercules at the Crossroads
  • BWV 214: Tönet, ihr Pauken! Erschallet, Trompeten!
  • BWV 215: Preise dein Glücke, gesegnetes Sachsen
  • BWV 216: Vergnügte Pleißenstadt
  • BWV 216a: Apollo and Mercurius
  • BWV 249a: Shepherd Cantata
  • BWV 249b: The Celebration of Genius
  • BWV Anh. 9: Entfernet euch, ihr heitern Sterne
  • BWV Anh. 11: Es lebe der König, der Vater im Lande
  • BWV Anh. 18: Froher Tag, verlangte Stunden