Jauchzet, frohlocket! Auf, preiset die Tage, BWV 248 I
Jauchzet, frohlocket! Auf, preiset die Tage, BWV 248I, is a 1734 Christmas cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach that serves as the first part of his Christmas Oratorio. Bach was then Thomaskantor, responsible for church music at four churches in Leipzig, a position he had assumed in 1723. For the oratorio, the libretto by an unknown author followed the nativity of Jesus from the Gospel of Luke, interspersed with reflecting texts for recitatives and arias, and stanzas from Lutheran hymns.
The cantata is structured in nine movements. An extended choral introduction is followed by two scenes, each a sequence of four movements. Both scenes are composed of a quotation from the Gospel of Luke, a recitative reflecting the narration, an aria-like prayer or meditation, and a chorale setting a stanza from a Lutheran hymn. Bach scored the cantata for three vocal soloists, a four-part choir and a festive Baroque orchestra with trumpets, timpani, flutes, oboes and strings. A tenor soloist narrates the Biblical story in secco recitative, as the Evangelist. There are two chorales: a four-part setting of Paul Gerhardt's "Wie soll ich dich empfangen" and a closing score with an independent orchestra set to text for a stanza from Martin Luther's "Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her".
The opening movement and the two arias rely on secular cantatas composed for members of the Dresden court. The opening and one aria are based on Tönet, ihr Pauken! Erschallet, Trompeten! BWV 214, BWV214, which he had composed for the birthday of Maria Josepha of Saxony on 8 December 1733. The other aria is based on Laßt uns sorgen, laßt uns wachen, BWV 213, written for the 11th birthday of Crown Prince Friedrich Christian the same year.
Bach led the first performances with the Thomanerchor at the two main churches of Leipzig on 25 December 1734 during morning and vespers services.
Background
Since his appointment as director musices in Leipzig in 1723, Bach had been presenting church cantatas for the Christmas season in the Thomaskirche and Nikolaikirche, including the following Christmas Day cantatas:- 1723: ;
- 1725: Unser Mund sei voll Lachens, BWV 110, part of Bach's third cantata cycle;
- 1728 : Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe, BWV 197a, a partly lost cantata of the Picander cycle of 1728–29.
Dresden court
In 1733, Augustus III of Poland succeeded his father, Augustus the Strong, as Elector of Saxony and took residence in Dresden. Bach hoped to become court composer, and dedicated Missa of 1733 to Augustus.One of Bach's secular cantatas, Laßt uns sorgen, laßt uns wachen, BWV 213, also known as Hercules am Scheidewege, on a libretto by Picander, was performed on, the 11th birthday of the son of the elector. He wrote a further cantata for the elector's wife, Maria Josepha, to honour her 34th birthday on 8 December: Tönet, ihr Pauken! Erschallet, Trompeten! BWV 214. It is also known as "Glückwunschkantate zum Geburtstage der Königin", although Maria Josepha was not crowned Queen of Poland until January 1734.
Three extended movements of are based on music from these two cantatas: the opening chorus follows the opening of Tönet, ihr Pauken!, and the alto and bass arias are derived from Laßt uns sorgen and Tönet, ihr Pauken!, respectively.
Readings and text
Bach composed Jauchzet, frohlocket! in 1734. The cantata forms Part I of his Christmas Oratorio, which was performed on six occasions during Christmas time, beginning with Part I on Christmas Day. The prescribed readings for the feast day were one from the Epistle to Titus, "God's mercy appeared", or Isaiah, "Unto us a child is born", and a second from the Gospel of Luke describing the nativity, annunciation to the shepherds and angels' song. The identity of the librettist is unknown; he may have been Picander, an earlier collaborator. After the opening chorus, the story is told following the Gospel of Luke, interspersed with reflecting recitatives, arias and chorales. Part I describes the nativity of Jesus until the child is born.The work is structured in nine movements. The text of the opening chorus is a free paraphrase of the beginning of Psalm 100. The chorus is followed by two groups of four movements each, following the pattern: reading / recitative / aria / chorale. Alfred Dürr notes that the theologian August Hermann Francke and others had recommended three steps when reading the Bible: reading / meditation / prayer, and sees a similar approach, with the chorale comparing to the amen confirming the prayer.
The tenor soloist narrates from Martin Luther's translation of the Bible in recitative as the Evangelist. The choir sings two chorales, a four-part setting of Paul Gerhardt's "Wie soll ich dich empfangen" and a setting for choir and independent orchestra of the 13th stanza from Martin Luther's "Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her", to close the cantata. In the seventh movement, a recitative is combined with the sixth stanza of Luther's hymn "Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ".
First performance
Bach led the first performance during a morning rendition at the Nikolaikirche in 1734. The libretto was printed and bears the title of the oratorio, Oratorium, welches die Heilige Weyhnacht über in beyden Haupt-Kirchen zu Leipzig musiciret wurde. Anno 1734. The title for Jauchzet! frohlocket! reads: "Am 1sten Heil. Weynachts-Feyertage. Frühe zu St. Nicolai, und Nachmittage zu St. Thomas".Music
Scoring and structure
Bach structured the cantata in nine movements, beginning with an extended chorus. The other eight movements contain a Gospel reading in a tenor secco recitative, a meditative, accompanied recitative, a prayer-like aria, and an affirming chorale. It features three vocal soloists, a four-part choir and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of three trumpets, timpani, two traversos, two oboes, two oboes d'amore, two violins, viola and basso continuo. A typical performance lasts 29 minutes.The following scoring adheres to the Neue Bach-Ausgabe. The keys and time signatures are taken from Dürr and use the symbol for common time. The continuo, played throughout, is not shown.
Movements
1
The text of the opening chorus is "Jauchzet, frohlocket! Auf, preiset die Tage", translated by Richard D. P. Jones as "Shout for joy, exult, rise up, praise the day!" and by Pamela Dellal as "Celebrate, rejoice, rise up and praise these days". It is an extended complex ternary form. Unusually for Bach's music, it opens with the timpani alone. The trumpets then enter, followed by strings and woodwinds. This sequence follows the secular model Tönet, ihr Pauken, where the text asks the instruments to enter in this order: "Tönet, ihr Pauken! Erschallet, Trompeten! Klingende Saiten, erfüllet die Luft! Singet itzt Lieder, ihr muntren Poeten,". The extended instrumental ritornello presents the musical material of the whole movement in changing instrumental colours. The first measures explore the D major triad in different colours of instrumental sounds.The voices enter in unison, imitating at first timpani then trumpets. In the following section, the vocal lines are mostly homophonic and sometimes imitative, while the instrumental forces drive the movement. With the text "Lasset das Zagen, verbannet die Klage", the voices, now in imitation, dominate while the instruments accompany. The second section is a modified repetition of the first.
The middle section also comprises two passages. "Dienet dem Höchsten mit herrlichen Chören" is an imitative section in B minor, accompanied only by the strings. "Laßt uns den Namen des Herrschers verehren!" is set mostly in homophony with strings and woodwinds. After the middle section, the beginning A is repeated in full.
The musicologist Markus Rathey notes that in the secular model, Tönet, ihr Pauken, Bach had not initially thought of beginning with the timpani alone, but arrived at the present version in a later revision. Rathey suggests that Bach sought a more dramatic way to begin with reduced force and let the music increase, in keeping with his endeavor to transfer operatic features from Dresden to Leipzig. Rathey observes that listeners at the time may have interpreted the dominant trumpets as royal instruments, here three trumpets and timpani, corresponding to the obbligato trumpet in the aria "Großer Herr uns starker König", which addresses the newborn as both king and saviour.
2
The tenor begins with the secco recitative "Es begab sich aber zu der Zeit", from Luke 2:1,3–6. It is one of the longest recitatives in the oratorio, beginning with the decree for a census by Caesar Augustus. It follows a pattern influenced both by operatic recitatives and liturgical singing, with phrases often beginning with an upward fourth and ending with a downward fourth, in rhythm as if speaking and in moderate range. Accents are made by high notes, here for the word "Joseph", and changes of harmony, here for "David". The building of harmonic tension ends when Mary's pregnancy is mentioned.3
The alto provides the narration, particularly the announcement of a birth, in a recitative, "Nun wird mein liebster Bräutigam, nun wird der Held aus Davids Stamm", expressing eagerness to meet her bridegroom, a descendant of David, in the imagery of the Song of Songs. In an accompanied recitative, two oboes d'amore support the voice.4
In the alto da capo aria "Bereite dich, Zion, mit zärtlichen Trieben", the singer prepares herself to meeting her beloved. The oboe d'amore supports the tender expressiveness. The movement is based on the aria "Ich will dich nicht hören" from the secular cantata Laßt uns sorgen, laßt uns wachen, BWV 213, with a different affect. While the secular model demands destruction, the aria in the oratorio speaks of the most beautiful beloved.5
A chorale concludes the first scene, "Wie soll ich dich empfangen", deepening the right preparation for the reception of the beloved. It is the first stanza of Paul Gerhardt's Advent song, with the melody which was associated with it in Leipzig, the same melody also used for Gerhardt's Passion hymn "O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden". The same melody of this first chorale in the oratorio reappears in the final movement of the final Part VI, "Nun seid ihr wohl gerochen".6
The tenor continues the narration with another secco recitative, "Und sie gebar ihren ersten Sohn", after Luke 2:7, reporting the birth of the baby which is laid in a manger.7
In a combination of chorale and recitative, the soprano sings the sixth stanza, "Er ist auf Erden kommen arm", from Luther's hymn "Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ" in a triple metre and embellished. Line by line, it is interspersed with comments by the bass, who begins "Wer will die Liebe recht erhöhn", in contrasting common time. The voices are supported by two oboes d'amore.8
The bass da capo aria, "Großer Herr, o starker König, liebster Heiland, o wie wenig", contrasts the birth of Our Lord with poverty. The movement is taken from the bass aria in Tönet, ihr Pauken, in which the Queen is addressed, accompanied by an obbligato trumpet to refer to her royalty.9
The cantata is closed with the chorale "Ach mein herzliebes Jesulein", the 13th stanza of Luther's hymn "Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her". While the compassionate text addresses the baby, interjections by trumpets and timpani recall the opening movement and refer to his godly nature.Performances and legacy
Bach may have performed Jauchzet, frohlocket! again, but there is no record of it. Although performances of Jauchzet, frohlocket! in Christmas Day services have become rare, they are regularly held in Leipzig where the work was first performed. The cantata is often presented in concerts that usually combine several of the parts of the Christmas Oratorio, most frequently parts I to III. It is a Christmas tradition for German-speaking people to attend such a concert.Dürr and Jones described the cantata as "one of the pinnacles of world music literature". Rathey observes that although the Christmas Oratorio is one of Bach's most frequently performed works, it has not attracted much scholarship in English.