Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140

Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme
BWV 140
Chorale cantata by J. S. Bach
The first page of the bassoon part in Bach's hand from the archives of the Thomaskirche, one of few surviving instrumental parts written by him
Known as	Sleepers Wake
Occasion	27th Sunday after Trinity
Performed	25 November 1731 (1731-11-25): Leipzig
Movements	7
Cantata text	anonymous
Chorale	"Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme" by Philipp Nicolai
Vocal	SATB choir soprano, tenor and bass solo
Instrumental	horn 2 oboes taille bassoon violino piccolo 2 violins viola continuo

Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (Awake, calls the voice to us),^[1] BWV 140,^{[lower-alpha 1]} also known as Sleepers Wake, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach, regarded as one of his most mature and popular sacred cantatas. He composed the chorale cantata in Leipzig for the 27th Sunday after Trinity and first performed it on 25 November 1731.

Bach composed this cantata to complete his second annual cycle of chorale cantatas, begun in 1724. The cantata is based on the hymn in three stanzas "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme" (1599) by Philipp Nicolai, which covers the prescribed reading for the Sunday, the parable of the Ten Virgins. The text and tune of the hymn appears unchanged in movements 1, 4 and 7. An unknown author supplied poetry for the inner movements as sequences of recitative and duet, based on the love poetry of the Song of Songs. Bach structured the cantata in seven movements, setting the first stanza as a chorale fantasia, the second (movement 4) in the style of a chorale prelude, and the third as a four-part chorale. He set the new texts as dramatic recitatives and love-duets, similar to contemporary opera. Bach scored the work for three vocal soloists (soprano, tenor, bass), a four-part choir and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of horn (to enforce the soprano), two oboes, taille, violino piccolo, strings and basso continuo including bassoon.

Bach used movement 4 of the cantata as the basis for the first of his Schübler Chorales, BWV 645. Bach scholar Alfred Dürr notes that the cantata is an expression of Christian mysticism in art, while William G. Whittaker calls it "a cantata without weakness, without a dull bar, technically, emotionally and spiritually of the highest order".^[2]

History and text

Bach composed the cantata in Leipzig for the 27th Sunday after Trinity. This Sunday occurs only when Easter is early.^[3] The prescribed readings for the Sunday were from the First Epistle to the Thessalonians, be prepared for the day of the Lord (1 Thessalonians 5:1–11), and from the Gospel of Matthew, the parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1–13).^[4]

Bach composed this cantata to complete his second annual cycle of cantatas of 1724/25, a cycle planned to be of chorale cantatas.^[3]^[5] It is based on Philipp Nicolai's Lutheran hymn in three stanzas, "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme", which is based on the Gospel.^[3] The text of the three stanzas appears unchanged and with the melody in movements 1, 4 and 7, while an unknown author supplied poetry for movements 2 and 3, 5 and 6, both a sequence of recitative and duet.^[6] He refers to the love poetry of the Song of Songs, showing Jesus as the bridegroom of the Soul.^[5] According to the Bach scholar Christoph Wolff, the text was already available when Bach composed his cycle of chorale cantatas.^[7]

Bach performed the cantata only once, in Leipzig's main church Nikolaikirche on 25 November 1731.^[5] According to Wolff, Bach performed it only this one time, although the 27th Sunday after Trinity occurred one more time during his tenure in Leipzig, in 1742.^[3] He used movement 4 of the cantata as the base for the first of his Schübler Chorales, BWV 645.^[7]

As the text and its eschatological themes are also associated with the season of Advent, the cantata is commonly performed during that season.

Structure and scoring

Bach structured the cantata in seven movements. The text and tune of the hymn are kept in the outer choral movements and the central movement, set as two chorale fantasias and a four-part closing chorale, which frame two sequences of recitative and aria. Bach scored the work for three vocal soloists (soprano (S), tenor (T), bass (B)), a four-part choir and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of horn (Co), two oboes (Ob), taille (Ot), violino piccolo (Vp), two violins (Vl), viola (Va), and basso continuo including bassoon.^[4]^[8] The heading of the original parts reads: "Dominica 27. post Trinit. / Wachet auf, rufft uns die Stime / â / 4. Voc. / 1. Violino picolo. / 2. Hautbois. / Taille. / Basson. / 2 Violini. / Viola. / e / Continuo. / di Signore / J.S.Bach."^[9] The duration is given as 31 minutes.^[4]

In the following table of the movements, the scoring follows the Neue Bach-Ausgabe.^[8] The keys and time signatures are taken from the book on all cantatas by the Bach scholar Alfred Dürr, using the symbol for common time (4/4).^[4] The continuo, playing throughout, is not shown.

Movements of *Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme*, BWV 140
No.	Title	Text	Type	Vocal	Winds	Strings	Key	Time
1	Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme	Nicolai	Chorale fantasia	SATB	Co 2Ob Ot	Vp 2Vl Va	E-flat major	3/4
2	Er kommt	anon.	Recitative	T			C minor
3	Wann kommst du, mein Heil?	anon.	Aria	S B		Vp	C minor	6/8
4	Zion hört die Wächter singen	Nicolai	Chorale	T		2Vl Va (unis.)	E-flat major
5	So geh herein zu mir	anon	Recitative	B		Vp 2Vl Va
6	Mein Freund ist mein!	anon.	Aria	S B	Ob		B-flat major
7	Gloria sei dir gesungen	Nicolai	Chorale	SATB	Co 2Ob Ot	Vp 2Vl Va	E-flat major

Music

1

The first movement, "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme" ("Awake", we are called by the voice [of the watchmen]),^[4] is a chorale fantasia based on the first verse of the chorale, a common feature of Bach's earlier chorale cantatas.^[10] The cantus firmus is sung by the soprano. The orchestra plays independent material mainly based on two motifs: a dotted rhythm and an ascending scale "with syncopated accent shifts". The lower voices add in unusually free polyphonic music images such as the frequent calls "wach auf!" (wake up!) and "wo, wo?" (where, where?),^[5] and long melismas in a fugato on "Halleluja".^[10]

conductor John Eliot Gardiner at work in rehearsal, looking to the left

John Eliot Gardiner, who conducted the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage, in 2007

John Eliot Gardiner, who conducted the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage in 2000, notes two instrumental choirs, the strings and the double-reeds (two oboes, taille and bassoon), playing in the style of a French overture double-dotted motifs in triple rhythm. He writes:

From this a rising syncopated figure emerges, taken up later on by the altos as they lead off with their funky 'alleluia' figure and adopted by all the other singers. If anyone in the posh world of classical music ever doubted that JS Bach could also be considered the father of jazz, here is the proof.^[2]

2

"Er kommt" (He comes),^[4] is a recitative for tenor as a narrator^[10] who calls the "Töchter Zions" (daughters of Zion).^[5]

3

In the following duet, "Wann kommst du, mein Heil?" (When are You coming, my Salvation?),^[4] with obbligato violino piccolo, the soprano represents the Soul and the bass is the vox Christi (voice of Jesus). In a slow siciliano, the obbligato violino piccolo illustrates "the flickering of lamps 'lit with burning oil'" in arabesques.^[2] Gardiner comments: "A rich tradition of similarly sensual musical allegories, including fine examples by Bach's own cousin, Johann Christoph, stands behind this ravishing number."^[2]

4

The hymn in the first publication, 1599

The third stanza as the closing chorale

The fourth movement, "Zion hört die Wächter singen" (Zion hears the watchmen singing),^[4] is based on the second verse of the chorale. It is written in the style of a chorale prelude, with the phrases of the chorale, sung as a cantus firmus by the tenors (or by the tenor soloist), entering intermittently against a famously lyrical melody played in unison by the violins (without the violino piccolo) and the viola, accompanied by the basso continuo. Bach later transcribed this movement for organ (BWV 645), and it was subsequently published along with five other transcriptions Bach made of his cantata movements as the Schübler Chorales.^[4]

5

The fifth movement, "So geh herein zu mir" (Then come in to me),^[4] is a recitative for bass, accompanied by the strings. It pictures the unity of the bridegroom and the "chosen bride".^[4]

6

The sixth movement, "Mein Freund ist mein!" (My Friend is mine!),^[1] is another duet for soprano and bass with obbligato oboe. This duet, like the third movement, is a love duet between the soprano Soul and the bass Jesus.^[11] Gardiner notes that Bach uses the means of "contemporary operatic love-duets in his use of chains of suspensions and parallel thirds and sixths".^[2] Dürr describes it as giving "expression to the joy of the united pair", showing a "relaxed mood" in "artistic intensity".^[4]

7

The closing chorale, "Gloria sei dir gesungen" (Let Gloria be sung to You),^[1] is a four-part setting of the third verse of the hymn. The high pitch of the melody is doubled by a violino piccolo an octave higher, representing the bliss of the "heavenly Jerusalem".^[4]

Evaluation

The Bach scholar Klaus Hofmann sees the cantata as one of the composer's "most beautiful, most mature and, at the same time, most popular sacred cantatas".^[5] Dürr notes that the cantata, especially the duets in a unity of "earthly happiness in love and heavenly bliss", are an expression of Christian mysticism in art.^[4] William G. Whittaker calls it "a cantata without weakness, without a dull bar, technically, emotionally and spiritually of the highest order".^[2]

Selected recordings

The listing is taken from the selection on the Bach-Cantatas website.^[12] Choirs and orchestras are roughly marked as large by red background; instrumental groups playing period instruments in historically informed performances are highlighted green under the header Instr..

Recordings of *Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme*, BWV 140
Title	Conductor / Choir / Orchestra	Soloists	Label	Year	Choir type	Instr.
Les Grandes Cantates de J.S. Bach Vol. 4	Werner, FritzFritz Werner Heinrich-Schütz-Chor Heilbronn Pforzheim Chamber Orchestra	Ingeborg Reichelt Helmut Krebs Franz Kelch	Erato	1959 (1959)		Chamber
Bach Made in Germany Vol. 2 – Cantatas IV	Thomas, KurtKurt Thomas Thomanerchor Gewandhausorchester	Elisabeth Grümmer Hans-Joachim Rotzsch Theo Adam	Eterna	1960 (1960)	Boys	Symphony
J. S. Bach: Cantata No. 140, Cantata No. 57	Ristenpart, KarlKarl Ristenpart Chorus of the Conservatory of Sarrebruck Chamber Orchestra of the Saar	Ursula Buckel Jakob Stämpfli	Accord	1962 (1962)	Chamber	Chamber
J. S. Bach: Cantatas BWV 140 & BWV 148	Gönnenwein, WolfgangWolfgang Gönnenwein Süddeutscher Madrigalchor Consortium Musicum	Elly Ameling Theo Altmeyer Hans Sotin	EMI	1967 (1967)		Symphony
Les Grandes Cantates de J.S. Bach Vol. 24	Werner, FritzFritz Werner Heinrich-Schütz-Chor Heilbronn Pforzheim Chamber Orchestra	Hedy Graf Kurt Huber Jakob Stämpfli	Erato	1970 (1970)		Chamber
Die Bach Kantate Vol. 6	Rilling, HelmuthHelmuth Rilling Gächinger Kantorei Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn	Arleen Augér Aldo Baldin Philippe Huttenlocher	Hänssler	1984 (1984)		Chamber
J. S. Bach: Das Kantatenwerk • Complete Cantatas • Les Cantates, Folge / Vol. 35 – BWV 140, 143–146	Harnoncourt, NikolausNikolaus Harnoncourt Tölzer Knabenchor Concentus Musicus Wien	boy soprano Alan Bergius Kurt Equiluz Thomas Hampson	Teldec	1984 (1984)	Boys	Period
J. S. Bach: Cantatas BWV 140 & BWV 51	Rifkin, JoshuaJoshua Rifkin The Bach Ensemble	Julianne Baird Drew Minter Jeffrey Thomas Jan Opalach	L'Oiseau-Lyre	1986 (1986)	OVPP	Period
J. S. Bach: Cantatas (27th Sunday after Trinity)	Gardiner, John EliotJohn Eliot Gardiner Monteverdi Choir English Baroque Soloists	Ruth Holton Anthony Rolfe Johnson Stephen Varcoe	Archiv Produktion	1990 (1990)		Period
J. Ch. F. Bach / J. S. Bach: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme	Hennig, HeinzHeinz Hennig Knabenchor Hannover Barockorchester L'Arco	Marietta Zumbült Jan Kobow Peter Frank	Thorofon	1995 (1995)	OVPP	Period
Bach Edition Vol. 15 – Cantatas Vol. 8	Leusink, Pieter JanPieter Jan Leusink Holland Boys Choir Netherlands Bach Collegium	Ruth Holton Nico van der Meel Bas Ramselaar	Brilliant Classics	2000 (2000)	Boys	Period
J. S. Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 21	Koopman, TonTon Koopman Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir	Sandrine Piau James Gilchrist Klaus Mertens	Antoine Marchand	2003 (2003)		Period
Bach: Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern – Cantata BWV 1, 48, 78 & 140	Beringer, Karl-Friedrich Karl-Friedrich Beringer Windsbacher Knabenchor Deutsche Kammer-Virtuosen Berlin	Sibylla Rubens Markus Schäfer Klaus Mertens	Sony Music	2011 (2011)	Boys	Chamber
J. S. Bach: Cantatas Vol. 52 – Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, Cantatas · 29 · 112 · 140	Suzuki, MasaakiMasaaki Suzuki Bach Collegium Japan	Hana Blažíková Gerd Türk Peter Kooy	BIS	2011 (2011)		Period

Media

The following recordings of movements 1 to 7 of Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme were performed by the MIT Chamber Chorus.

ROYAL PHILHARMONIC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIOH2sCW13U

Notes

↑ "BWV" is Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis, a thematic catalogue of Bach's works.

References

1 2 3 Dellal, Pamela. "BWV 140 – Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme". Emmanuel Music. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Gardiner, John Eliot (2010). "Cantatas for the Twentythird Sunday after Trinity / Winchester Cathedral" (PDF). Bach-Cantatas website. pp. 13–14. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
1 2 3 4 Wolff, Christoph (2000). Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 280. ISBN 0-393-04825-X.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Dürr, Alfred; Jones, Richard D. P. (2006). The Cantatas of J. S. Bach: With Their Librettos in German-English Parallel Text. Oxford University Press. pp. 648–653. ISBN 0-19-929776-2.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Hofmann, Klaus (2012). "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme / Wake up, the voice calls to us, BWV 140" (PDF). Bach-Cantatas website. p. 5. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
↑ Dürr, Alfred (1981). Die Kantaten von Johann Sebastian Bach (in German). 1 (4 ed.). Deutscher Taschenbuchverlag. pp. 531–535. ISBN 3-423-04080-7.
1 2 Wolff, Christoph. "The late church cantatas from Leipzig, I" (PDF). Bach-Cantatas website. pp. 21–24. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
1 2 Bischof, Walter F. "BWV 140 Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme". University of Alberta. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
↑ Grob, Jochen (2014). "BWV 140 / BC A 166" (in German). s-line.de. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
1 2 3 Mincham, Julian (2010). "Chapter 55 BWV 140 Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme / Awake! The Watchman's voice commands us.". jsbachcantatas.com. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
↑ Grout, Donald; Palisca, Claude (200). Norton Anthology of Western Music: Volume 1 – Ancient to Baroque. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 547. ISBN 0-393-97690-4.
↑ Oron, Aryeh. "Cantata BWV 140 Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme". Bach-Cantatas website. Retrieved 18 November 2015.

Sources

Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 140: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
Cantata BWV 140 – Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (Johann Sebastian Bach) ChoralWiki
Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme BWV 140; BC A 166 / Chorale cantata (27th Sunday after Trinity) Leipzig University
BWV 140 Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme: English translation, University of Vermont
Cantata BWV 140, Wachet auf The Bach Choir of Bethlehem

Church cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach

Before Leipzig	Early: BWV 4 131 71 106 196 150 143 Weimar: BWV 61 70a 186a 132 174a 63 152 155 18 54 80a 182 31 12 172 165 21 185 199 161 162 163 Köthen: BWV Anh. 5

First cycle (1723–24)	Between Trinity and Advent: BWV 75 76 24 167 147 186 136 105 46 179 69a 77 25 138 95 148 48 109 89 60 90 70 From Advent to Trinity: BWV 40 64 190 153 65 154 73 81 83 144 181 22 23 66 134 67 104 166 86 37 44 59 184

Second cycle (& chorale cantatas)	Chorale cantatas between Trinity and Easter: BWV 20 2 7 135 10 93 107 178 94 101 113 33 78 99 8 130 114 96 5 180 38 115 139 26 116 62 91 121 133 122 41 123 124 3 111 92 125 126 127 1 Continuation of the second cycle: BWV 6 42 85 103 108 87 128 183 74 68 175 176 Later additions to the chorale cantata cycle: BWV 80 137 129 58 112 140 177 9 14 Other late chorale cantatas: BWV 117 192 100 97

Third cycle	After Trinity 1725: BWV 168 164 79 Liturgical year 1725–26: BWV 110 57 151 28 16 32 13 72 146 43 39 88 170 187 45 102 35 17 19 27 47 169 56 49 98 55 52 1727: BWV 82 84 34 173

Later and other	Picander cycle: BWV 149 188 197a 171 156 159 145 174 Late parodies: BWV 36 30 191 200 1083 Council election: BWV 119 193 Anh. 3 29 120 69 Wedding: BWV 34a 195 120a 197 Funeral: 157 244a Other: 194 190a 120b 51 158 50 248/VIa Doubtful: 53 142 189 217 220 221 223 224

Bach cantata List of Bach cantatas Discography: Monteverdi Choir/Koopman/Teldec

Cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach by BWV number

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 (oratorio) 12 13 14 15^** 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 30a 31 32 33 34 34a 35 36 36a 36b 36c 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 (53)^* 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 66a 67 68 69 69a 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 80a 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 (motet) 119 120 120a 120b 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 (131a)^* 132 133 134 134a 135 136 137 138 139 140 ~~141~~^** (142)^* 143 144 145 146 147 147a 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 ~~160~~^** 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 173a 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 (189)^* 190 190a 191 192 193 193a 194 195 196 197 197a 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 205a 206 207 207a 208 208a 209 210 210a 211 212 213 214 215 216 216a (217)^* ~~218~~^ ~~219~~^ (220)^* (221)^* ~~222~~^** 223 224 244a 248a 249a 249b 1040 1045 1083 1127 Anh. 3 Anh. 5 Anh. 9 Anh. 11 Anh. 18 — ^(Doubtful) ^*~~Spurious~~

Lists: Compositions Cantatas ; Church cantatas: Chorale cantatas Early Weimar 1st cycle 2nd cycle 3rd cycle Picander cycle Late ; Secular cantatas

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 186446659 LCCN: n82111939 GND: 300008341 BNF: cb13909494k (data) NLA: 35256940

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