J. S. Bach's Johannine Theology: The St. John Passion and the Cantatas for the Spring 1725 by Eric Chafe (review)

Abstract

Review Eric Chafe. J. S. Bach's Johannine Theology: The St. John Passion and the Cantatas for the Spring 1725 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), 608 pages. As is widely known in Bach scholarship, Alfred Dürr and Georg von Dadelsen's revised chronology of Bach's vocal music in the 1 950s inspired - we might even say required - entirely new considerations of Bach's compositional output, particularly his vocal works.1 Especially significant in the revised chronology was the discovery that, while Bach's first two years in Leipzig were characterized by intense compositional attention to the church cantata, he never again returned to cantata composition in such a systematic or regular fashion. Bach's first two yearly cantata cycles (Jahrgang I and Jahrgang II, spanning the period from May 1723 to May 1725) represent his most intensive and systematic treatment of the genre, with approximately eighty-eight cantatas composed in this two-year period. Bach's approaches to the church cantata in these first two years is also well known. During his first Leipzig Jahrgang (1 723-1 724), Bach re-used his earlier cantatas whenever possible, through re-performance , revision, and parody. It was only for those occasions for which he did not have a suitable cantata that he composed a new work. The result is a somewhat heterogeneous cycle incorporating a variety of text types and musical styles. By contrast, Bach began his Jahrgang II (1 724-1725) with an ambitious and systematic approach, in which he wrote a new cantata based on a chorale for each liturgical occasion from 1 1 June 1724 to 25 March 1725. These chorale cantatas represent the most intensive and unified approach to the church cantata in Bach's compositional output. But for reasons scholars today can only speculate about, Bach abandoned his chorale cantata project after Lent 1725. After re-performing some earlier cantatas and 1 Alfred Dürr, Zur Chronologe der Ledger Vokalwerke J. S. Bachs, 2nd ed. (Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1976 [1957]) and Georg von Dadelsen, Beiträge %ur Chronologie der Werke Johann Sebastian Bachs , Tübinger Bach-Studien 4/5 (Trossingen: Hohner, 1958). BACH: Journal of the Riemenschneider Bach Institute of Baldwin Wallace University Review 95 composing three new wo Bach concluded his seco Leipzig poet Christiane Jahrgang II on Trinity composed cantatas with Given such focused at these two years, it is s study of Bach's church c compositional perspecti terms of Bach's composi performing cantatas wit days of the Lutheran litu Eric Chafe's /. S . Bach* s the Cantatas for Spring Bach scholarship, presen thirteen cantatas for t Chafe broadens the scope Passion, the second versi 1725, just before this Sunday. The following ta of the book: 96 Bach SP ^ 1a2«W *£L iL iL il A J. J. iL IL X è. h. JL iL iL« LO ON fO 00 OOfO toso zi (Niooor-tNooTj-oor-rPQ es cs| so oo -r- *-■ oo t-H T-t r- vo *-■ *g !| 1 ►. I OJ á -Ì C3QW^ o OJ C3QW^ ^ S^-S-g^! o OJ J "3 •SUn^^cñajU 3 •SUn^^cñajU '~2 _, 0 O O Sb wiWíS.y^íáWíS^uuuf^ '~2 _, 0 O O Sb 3*3¿áiá'lSá3ft,S35á5á0-f wiWíS.y^íáWíS^uuuf^ JLÍ1ÁÁ¿¿J,¿ÁÁÍLA¿¿¿ í O Vh fO IOCNCN WrrHM00r^(N(Nv-O^g^^^ VO N N (S (N lL»*fî - - - . - • - , VO rH rH N N (S (N & J2 OhûhCUOHOHOH^JJS^S^jS^^S O S J2 ^ OhûhCUOHOHOH^JJS^S^jS^^S ^ S Š Š Š S S S m