JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
Cantata No. 170: “Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust” (for alto voice, organ, oboe d’amore, and strings) T H I S C A N T A T A was first performed on the Sixth Sunday after
Johann Sebastian
BACH
(1685-1750)
Trinity, on July 28, 1726, a year in the latter part of which Bach was particularly productive, with a new cantata composed, rehearsed and performed almost every week. No. 170 is shorter than most, and it requires only one singer. It is thought that Bach also included a cantata by his cousin in that day’s worship service, which kept the choir busy. This work follows the standard sequence of an Italian secular cantata, with arias and recitatives in alternation. The text is taken from a book of sacred poems from 1711 by George Christian Lehms. It concentrates on sin and the sinfulness that is all around us, leading to the third aria in which the Christian voice longs for death, sung in music that expresses only joy. Only in heavenly thoughts, the singer muses, does the soul find rest from sin. Bach devises some unusual instrumentation, with an oboe d’amore running with the first violins in the obbligato line of the opening aria, which is pastoral and reflective in character. The second aria gives the violins and violas the bass line, while the organist’s two hands provide intricate and sometimes piercing counterpoint to the singer’s line. The bass line being an octave higher than usual, unsupported by a continuo keyboard instrument, represents the “perverted hearts” that have abandoned God. After a recitative that is accompanied by the full strings, the third aria brings back the oboe d’amore, and the organ has some showy interjections (probably originally played by Bach himself). All three arias are in da capo form, thus “returning” to the opening music after a contrasting middle section. See sung text and translation on pages 86-87.
THE BEER OF TRISTAN A N D I SO L D E
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About the Music: Divine Ecstasy
The Cleveland Orchestra