Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen (Weeping, lamenting,
worrying, fearing), BWV 12 is a church cantata by
Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in Weimar for
Jubilate, the third Sunday after Easter, and led the
first performance on 22 April 1714 in the
Schlosskirche, the court chapel of the Schloss in
Weimar.
Bach was appointed Konzertmeister in Weimar in the
spring of 1714, a position that called for the
performance of a church cantata each month. He composed
Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen a...(+)
Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen (Weeping, lamenting,
worrying, fearing), BWV 12 is a church cantata by
Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in Weimar for
Jubilate, the third Sunday after Easter, and led the
first performance on 22 April 1714 in the
Schlosskirche, the court chapel of the Schloss in
Weimar.
Bach was appointed Konzertmeister in Weimar in the
spring of 1714, a position that called for the
performance of a church cantata each month. He composed
Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen as the second cantata in
the series, on a text probably written by court poet
Salomon Franck. The work is structured in seven
movements, an instrumental Sinfonia, a choral
passacaglia, a recitative on a Bible quotation, three
arias and, as the closing chorale, the last stanza from
Samuel Rodigast's hymn "Was Gott tut, das ist
wohlgetan" (1674). The cantata is scored for three
vocal soloists, a four-part choir, trumpet, oboe,
bassoon, two violins, two violas, and basso
continuo.
Bach performed the cantata again in his first year as
homaskantor – director of church music – in
Leipzig, on 30 April 1724. He reworked the first
section of the first chorus to form the Crucifixus
movement of the Credo in his Mass in B minor. Franz
Liszt based extended keyboard compositions on the same
material.
The cantata in seven movements is scored for three
vocal soloists (alto (A), tenor (T) and bass (B)), a
four-part choir SATB, trumpet (Tr), oboe (Ob), bassoon
(Fg), two violins (Vl), two violas (Va) and basso
continuo (Bc).
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weinen,_Klagen,_Sorgen,_
Zagen,_BWV_12).
The first of three arias, "Kreuz und Krone sind
verbunden" (Cross and crown are bound together),
reflects the conflicting motifs of "Kreuz und Krone"
(cross and crown) and "Kampf und Kleinod" (conflict and
jewel). The aria for alto voice and an oboe which
almost always present, is in da capo form, ABA. A
ritornello frames part A, but also accompanies the
vocal entry. It is thus heard six times in different
context, related to the repetitions of the passacaglia
of movement 2. The music illustrates the union of the
four contrasting elements (all beginning with K): Kampf
is sung as a melisma with a trill in measure 15, the
preciousness of the jewel appears as a trill in the
voice or the accompaniment. The text is also repeated
in the middle section, as Bach was still experimenting
with the da capo form.
I created this arrangement of the first Aria: "Kreuz
und Krone sind verbunden" (Cross and crown are bound
together) for Flute, Oboe & Cello.
SHEET MUSIC