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Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern
BWV 1
Chorale cantata by J. S. Bach
First page of the manuscript of a solo violin part
Key	F major
Occasion	Annunciation Palm Sunday
Chorale	"Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern" by Philipp Nicolai
Performed	25 March 1725 (1725-03-25): Leipzig
Movements	6
Vocal	SATB choir S T B soloists
Instrumental	2 horns 2 oboes da caccia 2 violins (and 2 solo violins) viola continuo

Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern (How beautifully the morning star shines), BWV 1, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in 1725 in Leipzig for the feast of the Annunciation and led its first performance on 25 March 1725, which that year fell on Palm Sunday. Based on Philipp Nicolai's hymn "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern" (1599), it is one of Bach's chorale cantatas. Bach composed it in his second year as Thomaskantor in Leipzig, where this Marian feast was the only occasion during Lent when festive music was permitted. The theme of the hymn suits both the Annunciation and Palm Sunday occasions, in a spirit of longing expectation of an arrival. As usual for Bach's second cantata cycle, the hymn was paraphrased by a contemporary poet who retained the hymn's first and last stanzas unchanged, but transformed the themes of the inner stanzas into a sequence of alternating recitatives and arias.

Bach scored the work for three vocal soloists, a four-part choir and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of two horns, two oboes da caccia, two solo violins, strings and continuo. The chorale melody of Nicolai's hymn appears in the opening and closing choral movements of the cantata. All instruments play in the opening festive chorale fantasia, while the soprano carries the hymn tune and the lower voices answer in counterpoint of instrumental motifs. An oboe da caccia accents the first aria, the solo violins and strings return in the second aria, and an independent horn part crowns the closing chorale.

Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern is the last chorale cantata of Bach's second cantata cycle, possibly because the librettist who provided the paraphrases for the middle movements of these cantatas was no longer available. The work was chosen to open the Bach-Gesellschaft-Ausgabe, the first publication of Bach's complete works, begun a century after his death.

Background

Bach in Leipzig

In 1723, Bach was appointed as Thomaskantor (director of church music) in Leipzig. He was employed by the town of Leipzig to this position, which made him responsible for the music at four churches and for the training and education of boys singing in the Thomanerchor. Cantata music had to be provided for two major churches, Thomaskirche (St. Thomas) and Nikolaikirche (St. Nicholas), and simpler church music for two others, Neue Kirche (New Church) and Peterskirche (St. Peter).

Bach took office in the middle of the liturgical year, on the first Sunday after Trinity. In Leipzig, cantata music was expected on Sundays and on feast days, except during the "silent periods" (tempus clausum) of Advent and Lent. In his first twelve months in office, Bach decided to compose new works for almost all liturgical occasions. These works became known as his first cantata cycle.

Chorale cantata cycle

In his second year in office, Bach composed a cycle of chorale cantatas, with each cantata based on one Lutheran hymn, for the liturgical occasions—including Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern. The choice of hymn for each of the cantatas was probably made according to the wishes of a local minister, who based the choices upon the prescribed readings and his plans for sermons. Compared to the first cycle, the music has less emphasis on biblical texts, but more on the use of chorale text and melody.

Bach followed a specific structure for most of the cantatas in this cycle. He deviated from using the strophic hymn text and tune in all stanzas (per omnes versus) that he used in the early Christ lag in Todes Banden. Instead, he retained the original text and melody only in the outer stanzas, typically treating the first as a chorale fantasia and the last as a four-part chorale setting, while the inner stanzas were reworded by a librettist as the basis for recitatives and arias, often with music independent of the hymn tune.

Annunciation

Lutheran Leipzig observed several Marian feasts, including Annunciation on 25 March, nine months before Christmas. In 1725 the feast fell on Palm Sunday. Annunciation was the only occasion for festive music during Lent. The prescribed readings were as the epistle Isaiah's prophecy of the birth of the Messiah (Isaiah 7:10–16), and from the Gospel of Luke, the angel Gabriel announcing the birth of Jesus (Luke 1:26–38).

Hymn

Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern is based on Philipp Nicolai's "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern" (1599). The hymn in seven stanzas was associated with Epiphany but also with the Annunciation. The hymn, expressing the longing for the arrival of the Saviour, can be connected to Jesus' birth being announced to Mary. The theme of arrival was also fitting for Palm Sunday, when the arrival of Jesus in Jerusalem is celebrated. The hymn tune with which Nicolai published his "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern" chorale, Zahn No. 8359, in 1599, was over 60 years older than the hymn.

Libretto

A librettist retained the first and last stanzas of the hymn and paraphrased the other stanzas, using the second stanza for the first recitative, the third stanza for the first aria, the fourth stanza and part of the fifth for the second recitative, and the sixth stanza for the second aria. The Bach scholar Alfred Dürr noted: "The librettist must be credited with the empathy he shows for that fervour which characterizes Nicolai's poem and which has made his hymns into an enduring possession of the Protestant Church." While the identity of the librettist, a "poetically and theologically competent specialist", is not certain, scholars have suggested Andreas Stübel, a former headmaster of the Thomasschule.

First performance, last chorale cantata

Bach led the first performance of the cantata on 25 March 1725. Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern turned out to be the last chorale cantata of Bach's second cantata cycle. If Stübel was the librettist, his death in January 1725 would explain the end of the chorale cantatas in the second cycle, because Bach lost a competent collaborator and source of inspiration. Bach returned to other texts for the remaining liturgical times of Easter, Pentecost and Trinity. The completion of the cycle of chorale cantatas was so important to him that he included the early chorale cantata for Easter, Christ lag in Todes Banden, BWV 4, in 1725, and over the following decade added a few chorale cantatas for some missing occasions.

Music

Scoring and structure

Bach structured the cantata in six movements. Both text and tune of the hymn are retained in the outer choral movements, a chorale fantasia and a four-part closing chorale, which frame a sequence of alternating recitatives and arias. Bach scored the work for three vocal soloists (soprano (S), tenor (T) and bass (B)), a four-part choir, and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of two horns (Co), two oboes da caccia (Oc), two violins (Vl), two obbligato violins (Vs), viola (Va) and basso continuo. A festive scoring like this, including brass, was usually performed on holidays. The duration of the cantata is given as 25 minutes.

In the following table of the movements, the scoring, keys and time signatures are taken from Alfred Dürr, using the symbol for common time (4/4). The continuo, which plays throughout, is not shown.

Movements of Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern

No.	Title	Text	Type	Vocal	Winds	Strings	Key	Time
1	Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern	Nicolai	Chorale fantasia	SATB	2Co 2Oc	2Vs 2Vl Va	F major	8
2	Du wahrer Gottes und Marien Sohn	anon.	Recitative	T
3	Erfüllet, ihr himmlischen göttlichen Flammen	anon.	Aria	S	Oc		B-flat major
4	Ein irdscher Glanz, ein leiblich Licht	anon.	Recitative	B
5	Unser Mund und Ton der Saiten	anon.	Aria	T		2Vs 2Vl Va	F major	8
6	Wie bin ich doch so herzlich froh	Nicolai	Chorale	SATB	2Co 2Oc	2Vl Va	F major

Movements

The scoring provides a rich orchestration. The sparkle of the morning star is illustrated by two solo violins, first in the first chorus, and reappearing with the other strings in the second aria. The sound of the oboe da caccia returns in the first aria. The horn sound returns in the closing chorale, with the second horn enriching the texture of the four-part setting by an independent line. The scoring is reminiscent of Sie werden aus Saba alle kommen, BWV 65, written for Epiphany. Bach would later use the pair of horns in Part IV of his Christmas Oratorio, dealing with the naming of Jesus as announced to Mary. These works are all set in F major, observed by the musicologist Julian Mincham to be a key of "personal and contemplative" joy, compared to the "rousing, communal, major, sharp-key" joy of the opening chorus of the Christmas Oratorio, for example.

1

The cantus firmus, "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern" (How beautifully the morning star shines), in the chorale fantasia of the opening chorus is sung by the sopranos. The orchestra, with the two solo violins illustrating the sparkle of the morning star, plays independently and festively. Bach achieves "unusual animation" by setting the hymn not in common time but 12/8. John Eliot Gardiner, who conducted the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage in 2000, notes that the movement begins intimately with a phrase of the second solo violin, answered by other instruments together and echoed individually, preparing the entrance of the soprano. The lower voices counter the cantus firmus with a version of the theme heard at the beginning in the solo violin. In further lines, the lower voices even enter first in their counterpoint, preparing the chorale tune entry. One phrase stands out as composed in chordal writing: "lieblich, freundlich" (loving, friendly).

2

The tenor expresses in secco recitative the belief "Du wahrer Gottes und Marien Sohn" (You, very son of God and Mary).

3

In the first aria, the soprano renders "Erfüllet, ihr himmlischen göttlichen Flammen" (Fill utterly, you divine celestial flames), accompanied by an obbligato oboe da caccia, an instrument in alto range. The instruments illustrate the celestial flames in coloraturas.

4

In another secco recitative, the bass contrasts earthly light ("Ein irdscher Glanz, ein leiblich Licht rührt meine Seele nicht" (An earthly flash, a corporeal light does not stir my soul)) with heavenly light. Melisma embellishment illustrates on both "Freudenschein" (joyful radiance) and "Erquickung" (refreshment).

5

The two solo violins from the first movement return, accompanying with the other strings the tenor in the second aria, an expression of thanks and praise, "Unser Mund und Ton der Saiten" (Our mouths and the tones of strings). The song of praise is intensified by a dance-like motion, described as "graceful minuet pulse" by the Bach scholar Klaus Hofmann. The vocal soloist has to master coloraturas on the repeated word "Gesang" (singing).

6

The closing chorale, "Wie bin ich doch so herzlich froh" (How heartily glad I am indeed), is embellished by an independent part of the second horn, while the other instruments double the voices. Thus, the last chorale cantata in the second cantata cycle reaches an "air of baroque festive splendour".

Manuscripts and publication

While the autograph score has not survived, but copies of the vocal and instrumental parts are extant, and held by the Bach Archive in Leipzig. This set of performance parts is marked as original source at the Bach Digital website, meaning that these copies were produced under Bach's supervision, and partly in his handwriting, for contemporary Leipzig performances. The title page of the set, written around a quarter of a century after the cantata's first performance, reads: "Festo Annunciationis / Mariae / Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern / â / 4. Voc. / 2. Corn. / 2. Hautbois. / 2. Violini Concert. / 2. Violini Rip. / Viola. / e / Continuo / di Signor / J. S. Bach".

Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern was chosen by the Bach-Gesellschaft to begin the first volume of the Bach-Gesellschaft Ausgabe (BGA), the first edition of Bach's complete works. The edition was begun in 1850, a century after Bach's death. The BGA's first volume was published in 1851, edited by Moritz Hauptmann. In 1950, the cantata was listed as BWV 1 in the Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis. The New Bach Edition (Neue Bach-Ausgabe, NBA) published the work in 1995, edited by Matthias Wendt, with critical commentary added the same year.

Recordings

The following table of recordings of Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern is derived from the list on the Bach Cantatas Website, which has 30 recordings as of 2021. The earliest known recording was conducted in 1952 by Fritz Lehmann. The cantata is part of the complete cycles of Bach's church cantatas by Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Gustav Leonhardt, Helmuth Rilling, Ton Koopman, Pieter Jan Leusink, John Eliot Gardiner and Masaaki Suzuki. Choirs with one voice per part (OVPP) and ensembles playing period instruments in historically informed performances are marked in green are marked by green background.

References

1. ^ Dellal 2019.
2. Wolff 2002, pp. 237–240.
3. Wolff 2002, pp. 269–273.
4. Wolff 2002, pp. 275–278.
5. ^ Hofmann 2006, p. 5.
6. Jones 2007, p. 144.
7. Wolff 2002, p. 275.
8. Petzoldt 2013, pp. 5–6.
9. ^ Dürr & Jones 2006, p. 666.
10. ^ Dürr & Jones 2006, p. 668.
11. Zahn 1892, pp. 129–130.
12. Terry 1917, pp. 302–303.
13. ^ Wolff 2002, p. 278.
14. ^ Bach Digital 1 2019.
15. ^ Gardiner 2013, p. 256.
16. Gardiner 2013, pp. 256–257.
17. ^ Dürr & Jones 2006, pp. 666–668.
18. ^ Bischof 2019.
19. Jones 2007, p. 154.
20. ^ Hofmann 2006, p. 6.
21. Mincham 2010.
22. Dürr & Jones 2006, p. 669.
23. Dahn 2019.
24. ^ Bach Digital 3216 2020.
25. Oron 2020.

Cited sources

Bach Digital

• "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern BWV 1; BC A 173 / Chorale cantata (Annunciation Day [25 March])". Bach Digital. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
• "Leipzig, Bibliothek der Thomasschule / D-LEb Thomana 1 (Depositum im Bach-Archiv)". Bach Digital. Retrieved 25 March 2020.

Book sources

• Dürr, Alfred; Jones, Richard D. P. (2006). "3.2 The Feast of the Annunciation (25 March)". The Cantatas of J. S. Bach: With Their Librettos in German-English Parallel Text. Oxford University Press. pp. 666–670. ISBN 978-0-19-929776-4.
• Gardiner, John Eliot (2013). "Music in the Castle of Heaven: A Portrait of Johann Sebastian Bach". Penguin UK. pp. 256–257. ISBN 978-1-84-614721-0.
• Jones, Richard D. P. (2007). "Leipzig Cycle II: chorale cantatas". The Creative Development of Johann Sebastian Bach, Volume II: 1717–1750. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 142–157. ISBN 0-19-816440-8.
• Petzoldt, Martin (2013). Liturgy and Music in Leipzig’s Main Churches (PDF). Translated by Braatz, Thomas. Bach Cantatas Website.
• Wolff, Christoph (2002). Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-393-32256-9.
• Zahn, Johannes (1892). Die Melodien der deutschen evangelischen Kirchenlieder (in German). Vol. V. Gütersloh: Bertelsmann. {{cite book}}: External link in |volume= (help)

Journals

• Terry, C. Sanford (1 July 1917). "A Note on the Tune, 'Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern'". The Musical Times. 58 (839): 302–303.

Online sources

• Bischof, Walter F. "BWV 1 Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern". University of Alberta. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
• Dahn, Luke (2019). "BWV 1.6". bach-chorales.com. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
• Dellal, Pamela. "BWV 1 – 'Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern'". Emmanuel Music. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
• Hofmann, Klaus (2006). "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern / How beautifully shines the morning star, BWV 1". Bach, Johann Sebastian (1685-1750) / Cantatas 34 · Leipzig 1725 (PDF) (liner notes). BIS Records. pp. 5−6. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
• Mincham, Julian (2010). "Chapter 41: BWV 1 Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern / How beautiful is the Morning Star". jsbachcantatas.com. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
• Oron, Aryeh (2020). "Cantata BWV 1 / Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern". Bach Cantatas Website. Retrieved 19 January 2021. {{cite web}}: Missing |author1= (help)

External links

• Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, BWV 1: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• BWV 1 Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern English translation, University of Vermont
• Cantata for soloists (3), choir and orchestra BWV.1, "Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern" at Muziekweb website (recordings).

• Church cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach
• 1725 compositions
• Compositions in F major
• Chorale cantatas