Cantata No. 18: the one with the Litany

Once again, I'm on a cantata kick - this time, it's Bach's Weimar cantatas.  Stylistically, these differ a bit from the later, more "practical" Leipzig cantatas intended for the school and resident musicians to rehearse and perform every week.  At Weimar, Bach's main duties constituted leading the instrumental ensemble and playing organ in the court, but the unstable health of the current Capellmeister obligated him to begin writing cantatas for performance there.  Weimar's resident poet, Salomo Franck, also supplied libretti for many of Bach's cantatas, beginning with BWV 182, 12, 172, and 21, so that connection certainly proved helpful.  This work, however, uses a text by the father of the chorale cantata, Erdmann Neumeister, who also wrote our beloved hymn "God's Own Child, I Gladly Say It."

Violists need not feel ignored any longer.  The sinfonia for Bach's personal group of instrumentalists individually uses FOUR of them (!) with a thunderous triple figure under a contrapuntal interplay of two recorders, emulating the rumbling and flashing of a precipitous storm and its fruition on the earth.

As Jesus' voice, the bass reads these very words in a descriptive secco recit, picking up tempo for the mention of rain and snow falling from heaven, and slowing for its response.  Next, we run into a scene from courtly devotional life:  the tenor, in a corner as it were, sings "My God, here is my heart:  I open it to you in Jesus' name," essentially asking the classic sermon blessing, "May with words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight" (Psalm 19:14).  Suddenly, the continuo picks up and the sopranos chant a portion of the Litany: "That You would lend your Spirit and power with Your word..." with a four-part cadence "Hear us, dear Lord God!" just as it would be intoned in church.

The Litany chant tone, as heard in the soprano

 Next, the bass bequests the Father to guard Christians from the Devil's tricks, jumping around delightfully crunchy intervals, and acknowledging that Satan's purpose is to rob us of the Word, with escaping melismas outlining a fully-diminished chord.  Again, the trebles stomp in with "That Satan may be crushed under our feet..." and all "Hear us...!"

Back to the tenor, in his other corner.  In commentary, he expresses disgust at the fall (text-painting!) of those who are not careful when they endure persecution (also depicted by a very long, persecuting, run in one breath with accidentals galore).  Sadly, he concludes that they instead bring themselves eternal suffering in its place.  "That we, from the Turks' and Pope's great murder and blasphemy..." "Hear us...!"

The bass returns, shaking his head at those who serve their gut, earthly goods, and lust.  Recalling Romans 1:26, the world becomes heaven to them since they have erred (a tangled, beastly diminished-interval melisma). "That all erring and misled ones may be brought back - hear us, dear Lord God!"

"My soul's treasure is God's Word!" exclaims the solo soprano, trying not too get too involved in the nets of ornaments all over the aria.  "Away, away!" she tells the riches of the world, carrying them up the staff to heaven, where the Lord can deal with them.

The closing chorale draws upon Lazarus Spengler's hymn "By Adam's Fall Is All Forlorn," including all voice parts to pray that God's Word remain in their mouth, and for trust in His salvation despite total unworthiness, which will shield them so that they will not see death.

Score: http://javanese.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/4/40/IMSLP00743-BWV0018.pdf
Translation:  http://www.emmanuelmusic.org/notes_translations/translations_cantata/t_bwv018.htm
Recording:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGz2Npl7oL0