Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd (The lively
hunt is all my heart's desire), BWV 208, also known as
the Hunting Cantata, is a secular cantata composed in
1713 by Johann Sebastian Bach for the 31st birthday of
Duke Christian of Saxe-Weissenfels on 23 February 1713.
The aria "Schafe können sicher weiden" ("Sheep May
Safely Graze"), is the most familiar part of this
cantata. A performance lasts about forty minutes.
It is Bach's earliest surviving secular cantata,
composed while he ...(+)
Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd (The lively
hunt is all my heart's desire), BWV 208, also known as
the Hunting Cantata, is a secular cantata composed in
1713 by Johann Sebastian Bach for the 31st birthday of
Duke Christian of Saxe-Weissenfels on 23 February 1713.
The aria "Schafe können sicher weiden" ("Sheep May
Safely Graze"), is the most familiar part of this
cantata. A performance lasts about forty minutes.
It is Bach's earliest surviving secular cantata,
composed while he was employed as court organist in
Weimar. The work may have been intended as a gift from
Bach's employer, William Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Weimar,
for his neighbouring ruler, Duke Christian, who was a
keen hunter.
Bach is known to have stayed in Weißenfels in 1713 for
the birthday celebrations. He went on to earn more
commissions from Saxe-Weissenfels, and in 1729, Bach
was appointed Royal Kapellmeister, but this position as
court composer did not require residence at court.
Bach appears to have revived the work a few years after
its original performance, this time in honour of Duke
Ernst-August, the co-ruler of Saxe-Weimar, who was also
a hunter. Bach often re-used music written for
"one-off" occasions, but this cantata is unusual for
the extent to which he recycled it. While he was living
in Leipzig he arranged music from two arias for the
church cantata Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt, BWV 68
(composed in 1725) and the final chorus for Man singet
mit Freuden vom Sieg, BWV 149 (1728 or 1729). Also Bach
appears to have adapted the cantata in 1742 as a name
day cantata for Augustus III, BWV 208a. The score of
that (version of the) cantata went lost, but it is
considered largely identical to BWV 208.
TThe cantata was scored for four vocalist soloists and
the instrumental parts comprised two horns, two
recorders, two oboes, taille, bassoon, two violins,
viola, cello, violone, and continuo. Recorders are
appropriate for their pastoral associations and horns
for their hunting associations. So far as is known, it
is Bach's earliest work featuring horns. He is assumed
to have been writing for horn players employed at the
Weissenfels court, where there was a tradition of brass
playing. There has been speculation that the cantata
opened with a sinfonia (BWV 1046a), which has similar
scoring to the cantata and is an early version of
Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F major (BWV 1046). The
sinfonia seems to be intended for more able horn
players than required for the cantata, and may have
been composed later.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Was_mir_behagt,_ist_nur_
die_muntre_Jagd,_BWV_208).
I created this arrangement of the opening Recitative:
"Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd! (What pleases
me is the lively hunt alone!) for Concert (Pedal) Harp.
SHEET MUSIC