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Alles mit Gott und nichts ohn' ihn, BWV 1127

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Johann Anton Mylius, the author of the lyrics of "Alles mit Gott und nichts ohn' ihn", BWV 1127, initiated a renovation of St Michael's Church in Büttstadt [de], including its organ (loft pictured). A plaque on the parapet in front of the organ commemorates Duke Wilhelm Ernst's support to these endeavours, reading, "Der theure Wilhelm Ernst ist selbst des Herren Tempel und baut viel Tempel auf zum hohen Ruhm Exempel" (The beloved Wilhelm Ernst is himself a temple of the Lord, and erects many temples as an example of high honour).[1]

"Alles mit Gott und nichts ohn' ihn" (Everything with God and nothing without him), BWV 1127, is Johann Sebastian Bach's October 1713 setting of a poem in 12 stanzas by Johann Anton Mylius [de], Superintendent of Buttstädt, a town in the Duchy of Saxe-Weimar.[2][3] The poem is an acrostic dedicated to Duke Wilhelm Ernst of Saxe-Weimar, on his birthday (30 October).[4] Bach, at the time employed as court organist by the Duke, set Mylius's ode as a strophic aria, that is a melody for soprano accompanied by continuo for the stanzas, alternated with a ritornello for strings and continuo.[5] When all stanzas are sung, a performance of the work takes around 45 to 50 minutes.[6][7]

The work was likely first performed on the Duke's birthday.[2][8] The original print of Mylius's poem,[9] with Bach's composition written on two pages at the end,[10] was archived in Weimar,[11] where it remained unnoticed for nearly three centuries, accidentally twice escaping a devastating fire, in 1774 and in 2004,[12] until it was rediscovered in May 2005.[13] After the discovery (in 1924)[14] and publication (in 1935) of Bekennen will ich seinen Namen, BWV 200, this was the first time an autograph of a previously unknown vocal work by Bach had come to light.[15][16]

Context

Duke Wilhelm Ernst
St Michael's Church in Büttstadt: the leftmost portrait on the right wall is that of Johann Anton Mylius.[17]

Wilhelm Ernst was born on (O.S.) 19 October 1662.[18] In 1683 he became Duke of Saxe-Weimar, jointly with his younger brother Johann Ernst. The elder brother had chosen Omnia cum Deo et nihil sine eo (everything with God and nothing without him) as his motto.[19][20] In 1700, when the Gregorian calendar was adopted, Wilhelm Ernst decided that his birthday would henceforth be celebrated on 30 October.[18] In 1703 Johann Sebastian Bach worked for some months at the ducal court in Weimar. In 1708, a year after the death of the younger duke, Bach came to work for ducal court again, this time in the capacity of organist.

At the time, Johann Samuel Drese and his son Johann Wilhelm were the court composers (Hofkapellmeister) at Weimar, and composition of new pieces was no part of Bach's assignment as court organist.[3][21] In 1713 Bach composed the Hunting Cantata (Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd, BWV 208, first performed on 27 February in Weißenfels) and the Canon a 4 perpetuus, BWV 1073 (2 August).[22] Also from around this time are several entries in the Orgelbüchlein,[22] and likely the bulk of his Weimar concerto transcriptions.

Johann Anton Mylius's life is relatively well-documented: in 1751–52 one of his sons published an extended chronicle of the Mylius family,[23] and the family was later also subject of detailed historical research.[24] After studies in Erfurt and Leipzig in the 1680s, Johann Anton became a theologian working in Erfurt and Niederroßla, and, having become Superintendent in 1674, he was from 1697 stationed in Buttstädt, a town some 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of Weimar.[3][24][25] There, he initiated reforms of the liturgical music, and grand renovation works to the town church (St Michael's), including its organ.[26] Duke Wilhelm Ernst supported Mylius in these endeavours, and even organised a fund-raiser in his realm to finance the renovation works.[1]

Every year Duke Wilhelm Ernst would typically receive over a dozen of written congratulatory tributes.[27][28] The copies of these tributes which were presented to the Duke were mostly bound in luxurious marbled paper, and conserved in the court library.[29][30] One of these, published by Mumbachische Schrifften, was by the court preacher Johann Kless [de], and congratulated the duke on his 52nd [sic] birthday on 30 October 1713 (that date was in fact the Duke's 51st birthday).[31] Mylius and Bach convened to produce a tribute for the same occasion.[32] The title page of that tribute, also printed by Mumbachische Schrifften, reads in part:[9]

den XXX. Octobr. MDCCXIII. ... des on 30 October 1713. ... the
... ...
Hochfürstl. Geburths-Tage birthday of the sovereign,
  und gesegnetem Antritt Dero 53sten Lebens-Jahres     and blessed start of the 53rd year of his life  

The title page of Mylius's ode contains the same miscalculation of the Duke's age, which, according to Michael Maul, would not be down to any of the authors using the services of the Mumbachische Schrifften publishing house, but was likely a more widespread misapprehension.[31] Several composers could have been Mylius's choice for this collaboration: there were not only father and son Drese, but also the musicians with whom he collaborated in Büttstadt – whatsoever, the one with whom he embarked on the project was the 28-year old Bach.[21] The theme of Mylius's congratulatory poem is the Duke's motto, announced thus on the tribute's title page:[9][22]

  Unsers gnädigst-regierenden Landes-Fürsten   Our benevolent sovereign's
und Herrns and lord's
Christ-Fürstlicher Wahl-Spruch christian-princely motto
Oder or
SYMBOLUM, creed:
Omnia cum DEO, & nihil sine eo. Omnia cum Deo et nihil sine eo.
Alles mit GOTT und nichts ohn Ihn.   Everything with God and nothing without him.  

Notwithstanding that the occasion, a birthday, was of a secular nature—usually Bach composed secular odes or cantatas for such occasions—, the result was a sacred work, not in the least because of the religious nature of the motto that became the topic of Mylius's exegetic poem.[33] In 1713, Duke Wilhelm Ernst's birthday was officially celebrated on Sunday 5 November, a day before he consecrated the newly finished St Jacob's Church [de].[31][34] It is unlikely that "Alles mit Gott und nichts ohn' ihn", BWV 1127, was first performed on either of these days, a weekday service in the court chapel on Monday 30 October, the Duke's actual birthday, seeming more likely for that first performance.[35]

Music and lyrics

The printed text of Mylius's ode takes five pages in the dedication copy, while Bach's handwritten setting, titled "Aria Soprano Solo è Ritornello", takes the last two pages of the pamphlet.[11][22]

Mylius's ode

Mylius's poem is an acrostic in 12 stanzas of eight lines.[36][37] The motto of Duke Wilhelm Ernst, in Latin and German, is given as the title of the poem on the page that holds its first stanza in the 1713 print.[38][39] The first and last line of each stanza is the German version of the Duke's motto.[36][37] In a footnote to the first line of the first stanza, Mylius gives these biblical references for the sovereign's motto (Symb. regium):[38][39]

  • Psalm 18:30, "For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall."[40]
  • Psalm 60:14, "Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies."[41]
  • 1 Chronicles 30:14, 16, "But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee. ... O LORD our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee an house for thine holy name cometh of thine hand, and is all thine own."[42]

The second line of the first stanza reads:[43]

To which Mylius adds this footnote:[38]

The footnote indicates the scheme of the acrostic:[36]

  • The emphasized letters (W, E, H, W, S, and Z) are the initials of the Duke's name, i.e. Wilhelm Ernst Herzog Zu Sachsen-Weimar (Wilhelm Ernst Duke of Saxe-Weimar).
  • The third word, Wunder (wondrous), starts with the same letter as Wilhelm Ernst's name. The second line of each stanza starts with Wird Ein-Her and ends on Seegen Ziehn: the word between these two half-phrases, Wunder in the case of the first stanza, reads for the 12 consecutive stanzas:
    1. ... Wunder ... (... wondrous ...)
    2. ... Jesus ... (... Jesus ...)
    3. ... Landes ... (... country's ...)
    4. ... Himmels ... (... heaven's ...)
    5. ... Edlen ... (... noble ...)
    6. ... Lebens ... (... life's ...)
    7. ... Manchen ... (... many ...)
    8. ... Ewgen ... (... eternal ...)
    9. ... Reichen ... (... rich ...)
    10. ... Neuen ... (... new ...)
    11. ... Seelen ... (... soul's ...)
    12. ... Tausend ... (... thousand ...)
The initials of these words read "WJLHELM ERNST" – that is the Duke's name.

The acrostic technique was very common in such congratulatory poetry, and the Duke apparently appreciated it.[44] The seventh line of each stanza is a variant of its second line, starting with Soll ... (Must ...) instead of Wird ... (Will ...).[37][45] The four middle lines of each stanza are an exegetic explanation of its second line, and Mylius indicates in footnotes which Bible passages support his theological interpretation.[6] By stanza these biblical references for the four middle lines are,[37]

  1. ... Wunderseegen ... (a wondrous blessing):
    • Psalm 72:18, "Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things."[46]
    • Genesis 15:1, "After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward."[47]
    • Job 14:1, "Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble."[48]
  2. ... Jesus Seegen ... (Jesus' blessing):
    • Luke 5:3ff, "And [Jesus] entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship."[49]
  3. ... Landesseegen ... (a blessing for the country):
    • Sirach 10:5, "There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, as an error which proceedeth from the ruler"[50]
    • Deuteronomy 33:13, "And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the LORD be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath"[51]
  4. ... Himmelsseegen ... (a blessing from heaven):
    • Hosea 2:21, "And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the LORD, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth"[52]
    • Jeremiah 5:24, "Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest."[53]
    • Psalm 85:11, "Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other."[54]
  5. ... edlen Seegen ... (a noble blessing):
    • Deuteronomy 33:13, "And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the LORD be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath"[51]

Bach's setting

The aria is scored for soprano voice, two violins, viola, cello, and basso continuo.[55] Bach set the text in strophic form.[citation needed] The duke's motto serves as the incipit for the aria. Each strophe also begins with a 52-note bass prelude, representing the duke's age, and concludes with a "dense, motivic, and contrapuntal" ritornello.[15] The vocal line includes "an artfully melismatic and 'catchy'" A section and a "harmonically expansive" B section.[56]

Reception

The autograph score has been preserved since the eighteenth century in Weimar's Duchess Anna Amalia Library, where it was archived with material relating to the duke's birthday celebrations.[citation needed]

Score editions

The New Bach Edition (German: Neue Bach-Ausgabe), completing its activities in 2007, published BWV 1127 in a supplement, edited by Maul.[57][58]

21st-century performances and recordings

Part of the rediscovered aria was recorded by soprano Ah Hong and harpsichordist Joseph Gascho on 9 June 2005, and aired the next day on NPR.[13][59] Another preliminary performance, by Claron McFadden and Polo de Haas [nl], was broadcast in the Dutch TV-show Nova.[7] The official world première recording of the aria, by John Eliot Gardiner conducting the English Baroque Soloists and soprano Elin Manahan Thomas, was released in September 2005.[7][60][61] This recording contained three stanzas of the aria, with a performance time of 12:16.[7][61] Ton Koopman's recording, on which Lisa Larsson sang the solo part, was released a few months later in Vol. 20 of his complete recording of Bach's cantatas.[62] Koopman made a selection of four stanzas of the aria for his recording, with a performance time of 16:52.[15]

The first complete recording of BWV 1127, that is, including all 12 stanzas of the aria with a recording time of 48:30, was realised by Masaaki Suzuki, Carolyn Sampson, and the Bach Collegium Japan, and released in January 2006 on the 30th volume of Suzuki's complete Bach cantatas project.[63][64] Dorothee Mields recorded four stanzas of the aria with L'Orfeo Barockorchester conducted by Michi Gaigg, in December 2014.[65] Carus-Verlag released this recording, with a performance time of 15:03, a year later.[65] Mields released, courtesy of Naxos of America, part of this recording, that is the first stanza of Bach's aria (3:50), on YouTube in 2016.[66]

References

  1. ^ a b Maul 2005, p. 13.
  2. ^ a b Alles mit Gott und nichts ohn' ihn (aria) BWV 1127 at Bach Digital.
  3. ^ a b c Maul 2006, p. 8.
  4. ^ Ambrose & Maul.
  5. ^ Maul 2005, p. 25.
  6. ^ a b Maul 2005, p. 20.
  7. ^ a b c d Van der Lint 2005.
  8. ^ RISM 201003534
  9. ^ a b c Mylius 1713.
  10. ^ Bach 1713.
  11. ^ a b Rettinghaus 2020.
  12. ^ Maul 2005, pp. 26–27.
  13. ^ a b Child & Ronish 2005.
  14. ^ Wollny 2008, p. 125.
  15. ^ a b c Wolff 2005.
  16. ^ Bach 2005.
  17. ^ Maul 2005, pp. 12–13, 33.
  18. ^ a b Maul 2005, p. 17.
  19. ^ Maul 2006, p. 16.
  20. ^ Maul 2005, pp. 10, 13, 33.
  21. ^ a b Maul 2005, p. 14.
  22. ^ a b c d Maul 2005, p. 10.
  23. ^ Mylius 1751–1752.
  24. ^ a b Maul 2005, p. 12.
  25. ^ Mylius, Johann Anton at CERL Thesaurus.
  26. ^ Maul 2005, pp. 12–13.
  27. ^ Maul 2006, p. 7.
  28. ^ Maul 2005, p. 9.
  29. ^ Maul 2006, p. 7, 10.
  30. ^ Maul 2005, pp. 10–11, 26.
  31. ^ a b c Maul 2005, p. 18.
  32. ^ Maul 2005, pp. 10–11.
  33. ^ Maul 2005, p. 16.
  34. ^ Als der Durchlauchtigste Fürst und Herr, Herr Wilhelm Ernst, Hertzog zu Sachsen, Jülich, Cleve und Berg ... Seinen Höchst-erfreulichsten Geburths-Tag Welcher den Lande zu allem Trost d. 30. Octobr. 1713. glücklich angeschienen, Den 5. Nov. celebrirte, Und den Tag darauf Die neu-erbaute S. Jacobs-Kirche Feyerlich einweihete (etc) at the website of Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg.
  35. ^ Maul 2005, pp. 18–19.
  36. ^ a b c Maul 2005, p. 21.
  37. ^ a b c d Mylius 1713, pp. 6–10.
  38. ^ a b c Maul 2005, p. 31.
  39. ^ a b c d Mylius 1713, p. 6.
  40. ^ Ps 18:29 in KJV, translation of Ps. 18:30 in Luther Bible, 1704 edition (Kelp).
  41. ^ Ps 60:12 in KJV, translation of Ps. 60:14 in Luther Bible, 1704 edition (Kelp).
  42. ^ 1 Chronicles 29:14, 16 in KJV, translation of I. Chron. 30:14, 16 in Luther Bible, 1704 edition (Kelp).
  43. ^ Maul 2005, pp. 21, 31.
  44. ^ Maul 2005, pp. 22–23.
  45. ^ Maul 2005, p. 23.
  46. ^ Ps 72:18 in KJV, translation of Ps. 72:18 in Luther Bible, 1704 edition (Kelp).
  47. ^ Genesis 15:1 in KJV, translation of Genesis 15:1 in Luther Bible, 1704 edition (Kelp).
  48. ^ Job 14:1 in KJV, translation of Hiob 14:1 in Luther Bible, 1704 edition (Kelp).
  49. ^ Luke 5:3 in KJV, translation of Luc. 5:3 in Luther Bible, 1704 edition (Kelp).
  50. ^ Ecclesiastes 10:5 in KJV, translation of Sir. 10:5 in Luther Bible, 1704 edition (Kelp).
  51. ^ a b Deuteronomy 33:13 in KJV, translation of Deut. 33:13 in Luther Bible, 1704 edition (Kelp).
  52. ^ Hosea 2:21 in KJV, translation of Hos. 2:21 in Luther Bible, 1704 edition (Kelp).
  53. ^ Jeremiah 5:24 in KJV, translation of Jer. 5:24 in Luther Bible, 1704 edition (Kelp).
  54. ^ Ps 85:10 in KJV, translation of Ps. 85:11 in Luther Bible, 1704 edition (Kelp).
  55. ^ "Aria for Soprano BWV 1127". bach-cantatas. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  56. ^ Maul 2006, p. 10.
  57. ^ Maul 2011.
  58. ^ Wolf 2007.
  59. ^ Wollny et al. 2005.
  60. ^ Bach 2007.
  61. ^ a b Bach: Alles mit Gott at Muziekweb website
  62. ^ J.S. Bach: Cantatas Vol. 20 at Muziekweb website
  63. ^ Maul 2006.
  64. ^ 30: Alles mit Gott at Muziekweb website
  65. ^ a b Johann Sebastian Bach: Kantaten für Solo-Sopran at Muziekweb website
  66. ^ Alles mit Gott und nichts ohn' ihn, BWV 1127: Verse 1, Alles mit Gott und nichts ohn' ihn wird einher Wundersegen ziehn · Dorothee Mields on YouTube

Sources

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