Program Notes for "A Bach Christmas"
Written by Michael Ruhling, HIP Research Fellow
Questions about the program notes or pre-concert lectures? Email Michael

Cantata 191: Gloria in excelsis Deo
Cantata 151: Süßer Trost, mein Jesus kömmt
Magnificat in D
Overview of Works

How fortunate we are!  Two weeks ago we were treated to Handel’s Messiah, one of the most frequently performed large scale works in history, and this week we continue in the Christmas spirit with A Bach Christmas, featuring three pieces by one of the most prolific composers of all time, who excelled in music for worship.  Hearing this seasonal music by the two giants of early eighteenth-century music, one can’t help but recognize how effectively both composers communicated the dramatic images found in their religious texts, especially in drawing attention to the duality of Jesus’s essence:  the greatness of his destiny as King of Kings, despite his humble, lowly birth among the shepherds. Indeed, many eighteenth-century composers were fascinated by the prospect of musically illustrating the Christological paradox of “truly God and truly human,” but perhaps none were so clearly inspired as was Bach.  This inspiration is particularly evident in Bach’s music for the Easter and Christmas seasons.  Time and time again Bach’s complex counterpoint, rising melodic lines and bright, full orchestral palette, including three trumpets and timpani, proclaim Christ’s glory, while simple, flowing vocal melodies accompanied by solo strings and softer winds, especially flutes and the lush and rustic oboe d’amore, bring Him to earth to walk among us.  

The exact occasion for which Bach wrote his Latin Cantata 191: Gloria in excelsis Deo is not known, but according to Gregory Butler, it is may have been performed on Christmas Day 1745 at the Leipzig University chapel (Paulinerkirche), at a service celebrating the signing of the peace treaty at Dresden in response to the Prussian invasion of Saxony.  Bach adapted the music from Gloria of his Missa of 1733, familiar to us now as part of the great Mass in B minor. He retained the first sentence of the standard Gloria text, and followed it with the “doxology.”  The opening triple-meter passage for instruments alone highlights the three trumpets, while flutes, oboes and violins all play a strong unison counterpoint to the trumpets. This rising melody becomes the main melody when the five-part chorus enters, carrying their cries of “Gloria” up to the heavens.  A relaxing of tempo, removal of trumpets and downward melodic lines adequately express the Earthly realm and peace of the second text phrase of the first movement, thereby separating Heavenly and Earthly realms much like Handel had in “Glory to God” in part one of Messiah.  Bach marked the second movement “Post Orationem,” suggesting that this and the third movement, which together constitute the “doxology” text, were done after a sermon or other spoken message. Muted strings and unison flutes intermingle with the duet of soprano and tenor soloists, who still focus us on the word “gloria” with their long ornamented passages.  Although the words here were adaptation to the Missa “Domine Deus, rex coelestis” section from the original Missa, the flute line and two solo voices deftly illustrate the Trinity praised in this text.  (It was not uncommon to use flutes to dramatically represent “spirit” in eighteenth century music.) Full orchestra and chorus return for the jubilant final movement, with the voices proclaiming the text together much of the time while the instruments express eternity in their many independent contrapuntal lines.  Unlike the first movement, the bulk of the melodic interest lies in the vocal fugue as well as flutes, oboes and violins rather than with the trumpets, who offer only harmonic support except for a push to the movement’s central cadence, and the last “saecula saeculorum, amen,” when the top trumpet part swirls above the rest of the ensemble with a wonderfully decorated clarino passage.

In stunning contrast to Gloria in excelsis Deo, Cantata 151: Süßer Trost, mein Jesus kömmt, written for the third day of Christmas 1725, is an explication of God’s willingness to humble Himself in the incarnation, thus becoming our personal Redeemer and Comforter.  As is so often the case in his cantatas on the topic of redemption, Bach’s music in this workexquisitely conveys the humility of Jesus and the very personal, even private relationship that became possible because of the incarnation, matching the sentiments so clearly laid out in the text by Georg Christian Lehms.  Bach and Lehms put us face to face with Jesus; He who mightily “opened the gates of Heaven” for us walks along side us here on our own roads to Emmaus.  Bach’s music here couldn’t be more different than Gloria in excelsis Deo.  Rather than five-part chorus, Süßer Trost, mein Jesus kömmt is for solo voices, with soprano, bass, alto and tenor each singing a movement, coming together only for the last-movement in a typical Bachian four-part a cappella setting (unaccompanied: instruments all double the vocal lines) of one stanza of the chorale Lobt Gott, ihr Christen, allzugleich by Nikolaus Hermann.  The chamber quality of the solo voices is matched by the small orchestra of strings, continuo, a single flute and oboe d’amore, a large oboe with a rustic yet serene tone quality that Bach often used to accompany texts referring to Christ’s birth or “the Good Shepherd.”  The flowing compound meter (triple division of each beat: count 1-2-3-2-2-3-3-2-3-4-2-3), flute solo and rich tone of the oboe d’amore of the opening soprano aria focus our attention on the pastoral surroundings of the first Christmas night.  The text and faster-paced music of middle portion of this da capo aria (A-B-A form) convey the rejoicing (freuet) of heart (Herz) and soul (Seele) upon being redeemed, and the stark contrast in the character of the music serves to emphasize the peace and serenity of Christ’s birth as described in the first and last portions of the movement.  A bass recitative recounts the rejoicing of the middle of the first aria, and leads to in the third movement alto solo, which is in the same key (e minor) as the middle of the soprano aria.  Bach’s music in the third movement continues to illustrate the lowliness, poverty and humility of God Incarnate in every way.  The alto sings in a simple syllabic style (one pitch per syllable of text) throughout, except for a short scale passage on the word “wealth” (Reichthum) and one long “weaving” (windet) melisma.  She is accompanied by the simplest of instrumental textures: violins, violas and oboe d’amore play in unison between the phrases of the alto solo, with only the rustic oboe d’amore continuing on when the voice is heard, supported by a bouncy bass line.  A tenor recitative bridges the alto aria to the final chorale, where all four solo voices finally join as a congregation giving God “glory, honor and praise” (Lob, Ehr’ und Preis) in response to His goodness. 

The Magnificat or “Canticle of Mary” from the Gospel of Luke was one of the few Latin texts retained in 18th century Lutheran practice.  In Bach’s day the Magnificat could be used for at least 15 feast days in Leipzig, and was usually chanted by the congregation using the tonus peregrinus (“changing” psalm tone) during the Sunday Vespers Service.  Bach’s Magnificat in D dates from sometime in the early 1730s, and is a reworking of the Magnificat in E-flat, which he had written for performance on his first Christmas in Leipzig, in 1723. The famous words Mary uttered during her visit to her sister Elizabeth convey a wide range of dramatic meaning, from the intimate to the collective, and the humble to the grand.  Bach’s prodigious ability for grandeur so well demonstrated in Gloria in excelsis Deo and for intimacy and humility as in Süßer Trost, meine Jesus kömmt, magnificently illuminated this range of drama in his Magnificat in D.  The same choral and orchestral forces used in the outer movements of Gloria in excelsis Deo amplify Mary’s opening “Magnify” (Magnificat).  Several contrapuntal lines reveal the many instrumental colors and introduce a group of motives that are recast to the words of text when the five-part chorus enters.  Among all of the motives the dotted rhythm (long-short) of the middle two syllables of mag-ni—fi-cat intensifies the word’s affect.  The full choral-orchestral forces return for the march-like central chorus “Fecit potentium” (movement seven) suggesting the battle-hero God showing “strength with His arm,” and in the final “Gloria patri” doxology chorus, where the strong music from the first movement, alternating orchestral sounds with vocal praises, returns to energetically and decisively conclude the work.  In between these full ensemble “pillars” lie more intimate sentiments. The leitmotif of personal redemption comes to the fore in the second movement soprano aria, accompanied only by strings, yanking us away from the magnificence of the opening chorus and turning us inward toward our own spirit’s personal rejoicing “in God my Saviour” (salutary). Then we regard “the lowliness of His handmaiden” Mary in the slow and serene third movement, with the soprano solo and rustic oboe d’amore working together as a humble duet, until Mary realizes that she will henceforth be called “blessed,” at which time the music changes to the major mode and becomes a more lively.  The chorus doubled by flutes, oboes d’amore and strings complete her sentence, representing “all generations” (omnes generations), in a more traditional fugue.  Bass soloist and cello depict “He that is mighty” (Quia fecit), but this might is juxtaposed to the merciful God who became incarnate in the alto-tenor duet “Et misericordia” (movement six), a lovely pastoral movement in a flowing compound meter, delicately rendered by flutes and muted strings.  The heroic march-like character of the central “Facit potentium” chorus carries forward into the next aria “Deposuit,” where the tenor soloist takes on the role of the military hero suggested in the previous chorus, putting “down (deposuit) the mighty from their seats” in a series of descending melodic passages, and then exalting (exaltavit) “the humble and meek” with ascending motives.  The next alto aria, “Esurientes,” is quite different.  Bach’s use of the flutes with the alto solo gives this music a child-like innocence, perhaps an allusion to the good things from plentiful Eden, except when the flutes are silent as the rich are being “sent empty (inanes) away.”  God’s “servant Israel” (Suscipe Israel) is represented by a fugue for women’s chorus, sung over the two oboes playing the plainchant tonus peregrinus as a cantus firmus (steady, foundational use of a pre-existing tune in a new musical context).  As mentioned above, the typical method of rendering the Magnificat text was the congregation chanting the whole text to the tonus peregrinus. Was Bach equating the congregation of faithful Lutherans with “servant Israel” by including the chant melody usually sung by the congregations as a cantus firmus for this movement?  In another brilliant symbolic gesture, Bach set the text “as he promised to our forefathers” (Sicut locutus est) as an old-style a cappella fugue:  music of the past for past generations.  But this old covenant is superseded by the revelation of the Trinity, glorified in the doxology text and concerted style of the grand final movement. 

You will notice that the numbers in the orchestra and chorus for this concert are considerably lower than in the Messiah concert and other performances this season.  Bach sent a memorandum to the Leipzig town council in 1730, about the time he wrote the Magnificat in D, lamenting the few number of singers and players he had at his disposal for major works.  In the memorandum he stated that he required four to eight solo vocalists and eight or more other choristers, two or three first violins, the same number of second violins, two violas for each viola part, two cellos and one violone (bass).  Thus, the size of the ensemble in this concert probably closely reflects the number of musicians Bach could call upon for the performance of these pieces.

Overview of Works
Cantata 191: Gloria in excelsis Deo
Adapted from the 1733 Missa, which would later be part of the Mass in B minor.  Probably performed Christmas Day 1745 at the Leipzig University Chapel, at a service marking the signing of the peace treaty at Dresden following the Prussian invasion of Saxony. 
Instrumentation:  2 flutes, 2 oboes, bassoon, 3 trumpets, timpani, strings, continuo.  Soprano Tenor soloists, SSATB chorus.

1. Chorus “Gloria in excelsis Deo” (D major)
    Text:  “Glory to God in the highest, And on Earth peace to men of good will.”
    Instrumentation:  Full
2. Post Orationem: ST duet  “Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui sancto” (G major)
    Text:  “Glory to the Father, and Son and Holy Spirit,”
    Instrumentation: 2 flutes (unison), strings (with mutes), continuo. ST soloists.
3. Chorus “Sicut erat in principio” (D major)
    Text:  “As it was in the beginning, is now and will be for ever and ever, Amen.”
     Instrumentation:  Full

Cantata 151: Süßer Trost, mein Jesus kömmt
For third day of Christmas, 1725.  Text by Georg Christian Lehms.  Chorale (mvt. 5) is 8th stanza of Lobt Gott, ihr Christen, allzugleich (Nikolaus Herman, 1560).
Instrumentation: flute, oboe d’amore, strings, continuo. SATB soloists.

1. Soprano aria “Süßer Trost, mein Jesus kömmt” (G major—E minor—G major)
    Text:  “Sweet comfort, my Jesus comes, Jesus is now born. Heart and soul rejoice, for my dearest God has chosen me now for heaven.”
    Instrumentation:  Full, with oboe d’amore doubling violin 1.  Soprano soloist.
2. Baritone secco recit. “Er freue dich, mein Herz”
    Text: “Rejoice, my heart, for now the pain vanishes which has for so long oppressed you. God has sent His beloved Son, whom He holds so high and dear, into this world. He leaves His heavenly throne and would deliver the whole world from its chains of slavery and its servitude. O wondrous deed!  God becomes a man and would on earth become still lowlier than we and far poorer.”
    Instrumentation:  continuo.  B soloist.
3. Alto aria “In Jesus Damut kann ich Trost” (E minor)
    Text: “In Jesus’s humility I can find comfort, In His poverty, wealth. His poor station makes known to me naught but salvation and well-being, yea, his wondrous hand will weave me naught but garlands of blessing.”
     Instrumentation:  oboe d’amore, violin 1 & 2 & viola unison, continuo.  A soloist.
4.  Tenor secco recit. “Du theurer Gottessohn”
     Text:  “You precious Son of God, now for me you have opened up heaven, And through Your lowliness brought about the Light of Salvation. Since You have now, quite alone, left the Father’s citadel and throne out of love towards us, we want to embrace You for this in our heart.”
     Instrumentation:  continuo.  T soloist.
5. Chorale “Heut schleußt er wieder auf die Tür”
    Text:  “Today He opens the door again to fair Paradise; The cherub stands before it no longer; To God be glory, honor and praise.”
    Instrumentation:  Full. SATB. (a cappella style)
(Translation: Alfred Dürr, The Cantatas of J. S. Bach. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.)

Magnificat in D, BWV 243
This version was probably performed in the early 1730s (1733?), and is a reworking of the Magnificat in E-flat, which was written for Christmas Day 1723, Bach’s first Christmas in Leipzig. 
Text:  “Canticle of Mary” in Luke 1: 46-55.
Instrumentation:  2 flutes, 2 oboes/oboes d’amore, bassoon, 3 trumpets, timpani, strings, continuo.  SSATB soloists, SSATB chorus.

1.  Chorus “Magnificat, anima mea Dominum” (D major)
     Text: “My soul doth magnify the Lord,”
     Instrumentation:  Full (oboes).  SSATB chorus.
2.  Soprano 2 aria “Et exultavit” (D major)
     Text:  “And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior.”
     Instrumentation: strings, continuo. S2 soloist.
3.  Soprano1 aria “Quia respixit” (B minor)
     Text:  “For he hath regarded the lowliness of His handmaiden; for, behold, from henceforth shall call me blessed . . .”
     Instrumentation:  oboe d’amore, continuo.  S1 soloist.
4. Chorus “Omnes generationes” (f-sharp minor)
    Text:  “. . . all generations.”
   Instrumentation:  2 flutes, 2 oboes d’amore, bassoon, strings, continuo.  SSATB chorus.
5. B recit “Quia fecit mihi magna” (A major)
    Text:  “For He that is mighty hath magnified me; and holy is His name.”
     Instrumentation: cello, continuo.  B soloist.
6. Alto-Tenor duet “Et misericordia” (E minor)
    Text:  “And His mercy is on them that fear Him throughout all generations.”
    Instrumentation:  2 flutes (unison with violin 1 & 2), strings (with mutes), continuo. Alto Tenor soloists.
7. Chorus “Fecit potentium” (D major)
    Text:  “He hath showed strength with His arm; He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.”
    Instrumentation: Full.  SSATB chorus.
8. Tenor aria “Deposuit” (f-sharp minor)
    Text:  “He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and hath exalted the humble and meek.”
     Instrumentation: violins unison, continuo. Tenor soloist
9. Alto aria “Esurientes” (E major)
    Text:  “He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich He hath sent empty away.”
     Instrumentation: 2 flutes, continuo. A soloist.
10. Soprano-Soprano-Alto Chorus “Suscipe Israel” (B minor)
     Text:  “He remembering his mercy hath helped his servant Israel.”
     Instrumentation: 2 oboes unison*, cello, continuo.  Soprano-Soprano-Alto chorus.
    *oboes play plainchant tonus peregrinus cantus firmus.
11. Chorus “Sicut locutus est” (D major)
      Text:  “As He promised to our forefathers, Abraham and his seed, forever.”
      Instrumentation:  continuo.  SSATB chorus.
12. Chorus “Gloria” (D major)
       Text:  “Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.”
       Instrumentation:  Full (oboes).  SSATB chorus.

We encourage you to use these notes as a reference. If you do so for any publication, please cite Michael E. Ruhling and the Handel and Haydn Society as a source.

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