Johann Sebastian Bach Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen BWV 12 Marco Mencoboni Conductor

Performers

CHIARA BRUNELLO alto
ALESSIO TOSI tenore
MATTEO BELLOTTO, basso

CORO DA CAMERA RICERCARE ENSEMBLE
ROMANO ADAMI Maestro del coro
ORCHESTRA ACCADEMIA DEGLI INVAGHITI
FEDERICO GUGLIELMO Orchestra leader

MARCO MENCOBONI Conductor

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 Thomaskantor – 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.


1
Sinfonia
Oboe, Violino I/II, Viola I/II, Continuo e Fagotto
2
Chorus [S, A, T, B]
Violino I/II, Viola I/II, Continuo e Fagotto
Weinen, Klagen,
Weeping, lamentation,
Sorgen, Zagen,
worry, apprehension,
Angst und Not
anxiety and distress
Sind der Christen Tränenbrot,
are the bread of tears of Christians
Die das Zeichen Jesu tragen.
who bear the mark of Jesus.
3
Recitative [Alto]
Violino I/II, Viola I/II, Continuo e Fagotto
Wir müssen durch viel Trübsal in das Reich Gottes eingehen.
We must enter through much tribulation into God's kingdom.
4
Aria [Alto]
Oboe, Continuo
Kreuz und Krone sind verbunden,
Cross and crown are joined together
Kampf und Kleinod sind vereint.
struggle and treasure are united.
Christen haben alle Stunden
Christians have at all hours
Ihre Qual und ihren Feind,
their anguish and their enemy,
Doch ihr Trost sind Christi Wunden.
but Christ's wounds are their consolation.
5
Aria [Bass]
Violino I/II, Continuo
Ich folge Christo nach,
I follow after Christ,
Von ihm will ich nicht lassen
I do not want to leave him
Im Wohl und Ungemach,
in prosperity and adversity
Im Leben und Erblassen.
in living and dying
Ich küsse Christi Schmach,
I kiss Christ's shame,
Ich will sein Kreuz umfassen.
I want to embrace his cross.
Ich folge Christo nach,
I follow after Christ,
Von ihm will ich nicht lassen.
I do not want to leave him.
6
Aria [Tenor]
Tromba, Continuo
Sei getreu, alle Pein
Be faithful, all pain
Wird doch nur ein Kleines sein.
will then be only a little thing.
Nach dem Regen
After the rain
Blüht der Segen,
blessing blossoms,
Alles Wetter geht vorbei.
all bad weather passes by.
Sei getreu, sei getreu!
Be faithful, be faithful!
7
Chorale [S, A, T, B]
Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan
What God does that is done well.
Dabei will ich verbleiben,
I shall stay with this.
Es mag mich auf die rauhe Bahn
It may be that on the rough road
Not, Tod und Elend treiben,
I shall be driven by distress, death and misery,
So wird Gott mich
yet God will
Ganz väterlich
just like a father
In seinen Armen halten:
hold me in his arms:
Drum laß ich ihn nur walten.
therefore I let only him rule over me.