O holder Tag, erwünschte Zeit, BWV 210

BWV 210.2
BWV 210

Relatedbased on BWV 210aOccasionWeddingMovements10Vocalsolo sopranoInstrumental

flauto traverso
oboe d'amore
2 violins
viola
continuo

O holder Tag, erwünschte Zeit (O lovely day, o hoped-for time), BWV 210.2, BWV 210,^[1] is a secular cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He wrote the solo cantata for soprano in Leipzig for a wedding and first performed it between 1738 and 1746. Bach used material from a "Huldigungskantate" (homage cantata), O angenehme Melodei, first performed in January 1729.

History and words

Bach wrote the cantata for a wedding; scholars suggest different possible events. Werner Neumann mentions the wedding of Anna Regina Bose and Friedrich Heinrich Graf (3 April 1742), and of Christina Sibylla Bose and Johann Zacharias Richter (6 February 1744); Herrmann von Hase suggests the wedding of Johanna Catharina Amalie Schatz and Friedrich Gottlob Zoller (11 August 1746).^[2] According to Michael Maul, the cantata celebrated the wedding of the Prussian Court Counsellor Georg E. Stahl (1741).^[3] The cantata text of an unknown poet suggests an influential man who esteemed music. The parts for soprano and continuo are written in exquisite calligraphy, probably as a gift for the couple. The words center on the relationship between music and marital love, ending in praise of the bridegroom as a supporter of music.

The cantata may have been performed at least twice.^[2]

Scoring and structure

Bach titled the work Cantata a Voce sola. The cantata is scored for soprano, flauto traverso, oboe d'amore, two violins, viola, violone, and harpsichord continuo.^[4]

Recitative: O holder Tag, erwünschte Zeit
Aria: Spielet, ihr beseelten Lieder (A major)
Recitative: Doch, haltet ein, ihr muntern Saiten
Aria: Ruhet hie, matte Töne (E major)
Recitative: So glaubt man denn, dass die Musik verführe
Aria: Schweigt, ihr Flöten, schweigt, ihr Töne (B minor)
Recitative: Was Luft? was Grab?
Aria: Großer Gönner, dein Vergnügen
Recitative: Hochteurer Mann, so fahre ferner fort (A major)
Aria: Seid beglückt (A major)

Music

Bach used material from a "Huldigungskantate" (homage cantata), O angenehme Melodei, BWV 210.1, for all the arias, the first recitative and part of the last recitative.^[2] Alexander Ferdinand Grychtolik edited a reconstruction of the lost homage cantata based on the wedding cantata, published by Edition Güntersberg.^[5] Bach's music is demanding, especially for the soprano and the flutist. The movements show different instrumentation, to ensure variety in spite of only one singing voice. The arias show a "decrescendo" (Alfred Dürr), a diminishing of the number of instruments, towards the central Schweigt, ihr Flöten, schweigt, ihr Töne (Silence, you flutes, silence, you tones), in which the voice corresponds with the flute as in a duet. The following arias are scored "crescendo" until the final festive movement. While all other recitatives are secco, the last one is accompanied by figuration in the flute and the oboe d'amore, long chords in the strings.^[2]

Selected recordings

J. S. Bach: Cantata No. 210, Hermann Scherchen, Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera, Magda László, Westminster 1950
J. S. Bach: Cantata BWV 210, Aria for Soprano, Helmut Winschermann, Deutsche Bachsolisten, Ursula Buckel, Cantate 1963
Bach made in Germany Vol. VII – Secular Cantatas III, Peter Schreier, Kammerorchester Berlin, Lucia Popp, Eterna 1981
Bach: Wedding Cantatas, Christopher Hogwood, The Academy of Ancient Music, Emma Kirkby, Decca 1996
J. S. Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 5, Ton Koopman, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Lisa Larsson, Antoine Marchand 1996
Die Bach Kantate Vol. 66, Helmuth Rilling, Sibylla Rubens, Hänssler 1998
J. S. Bach: Wedding Cantatas, Reinhard Goebel, Musica Antiqua Köln, Christine Schäfer, Deutsche Grammophon 1999
J. S. Bach: Cantatas Vol. 30, Masaaki Suzuki, Bach Collegium Japan, Carolyn Sampson, BIS 2003

References

^ Work 00265 at Bach Digital website.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Alfred Dürr. 1971. "Die Kantaten von Johann Sebastian Bach", Bärenreiter (in German)
^ Bach and the Story of an "Aria tempo di Polonaise" for Joachim Friedrich Flemming Archived 2011-09-03 at the Wayback Machine Szymon Paczkowski (Institute of Musicology, Warsaw University), 2006 Biennial Meeting of the American Bach Society
^ BWV 210, University of Alberta, retrieved January 9, 2014
^ O angenehme Melodei Johann Sebastian Bach, edited by Alexander Ferdinand Grychtolik. Edition Güntersberg, January 2008, Retrieved January 18, 2011

External links

O holder Tag, erwünschte Zeit, BWV 210: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
Cantata BWV 210 O holder Tag, erwünschte Zeit, BWV 210 on bach-cantatas.com
German text and English translation, Emmanuel Music
BWV 210 O holder Tag, erwünschte Zeit on uvm.edu
O holder Tag, erwünschte Zeit (Oh glorious day, longed-for time) Simon Crouch, 1999, classical.net
Cantata No. 210, "O holder Tag, erwünschte Zeit," BWV 210 allmusic.com
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) / Secular Cantatas Johan van Veen, 2005, musicweb-international.com
Entries for BWV 210 on WorldCat

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1040
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1083
1127
1138.1–1139.1
1140–1141
Anh. 5
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Anh. 18 — ^[d]discography; ^*(doubtful); ^**~~spurious~~

Lists: Compositions
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v t e Secular cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach
BWV 30a: Angenehmes Wiederau BWV 36a: Steigt freudig in die Luft BWV 36b: Die Freude reget sich BWV 36c: Schwingt freudig euch empor BWV 66a: Der Himmel dacht auf Anhalts Ruhm und Glück BWV 134a: Die Zeit, die Tag und Jahre macht BWV 173a: Durchlauchtster Leopold BWV 193a: Ihr Häuser des Himmels, ihr scheinenden Lichter BWV 198: Mourning Ode BWV 201: The Contest between Phoebus and Pan BWV 202: Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten BWV 203: Amore traditore BWV 204: On Contentedness BWV 205: Aeolus Placated BWV 205a: Blast Lärmen, ihr Feinde BWV 206: Schleicht, spielende Wellen BWV 207: Vereinigte Zwietracht der wechselnden Saiten BWV 207a: Auf, schmetternde Töne der muntern Trompeten BWV 208: Hunting Cantata BWV 208a: Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd BWV 209: Non sa che sia dolore BWV 210: O holder Tag, erwünschte Zeit BWV 210a: O angenehme Melodei BWV 211: Coffee Cantata BWV 212: Peasant Cantata BWV 213: Hercules at the Crossroads BWV 214: Tönet, ihr Pauken! Erschallet, Trompeten! BWV 215: Preise dein Glücke, gesegnetes Sachsen BWV 216: Vergnügte Pleißenstadt BWV 216a: Apollo and Mercurius BWV 249a: Shepherd Cantata BWV 249b: The Celebration of Genius BWV Anh. 9: Entfernet euch, ihr heitern Sterne BWV Anh. 11: Es lebe der König, der Vater im Lande BWV Anh. 18: Froher Tag, verlangte Stunden
Bach cantata List of Bach cantatas

Secular cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach