Mache dich, mein Geist, bereit, BWV 115

Mache dich, mein Geist, bereit
BWV 115
Chorale cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach
The ungrateful servant. topic of the Gospel, Jan Luyken etching in the Bowyer Bible
Occasion	22nd Sunday after Trinity
Chorale	"Mache dich, mein Geist, bereit" by Johann Burchard Freystein
Performed	5 November 1724 (1724-11-05): Leipzig
Movements	6
Vocal	SATB choir and solo
Instrumental	horn flauto traverso oboe d'amore 2 violins viola violoncello piccolo continuo

Johann Sebastian Bach composed the church cantata Mache dich, mein Geist, bereit (Make yourself ready, my spirit),^[1] BWV 115, in Leipzig for the 22nd Sunday after Trinity and first performed it on 5 November 1724. The chorale cantata is based on the hymn by Johann Burchard Freystein (1695).

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History and words

Bach composed the cantata in his second year in Leipzig for the 22nd Sunday after Trinity.^[2] That year, Bach composed a cycle of chorale cantatas, begun on the first Sunday after Trinity of 1724.^[3]^[4] The prescribed readings for the Sunday were from the Epistle to the Philippians, thanks and prayer for the congregation in Philippi (Philippians 1:3–11), and from the Gospel of Matthew, the parable of the unforgiving servant (Matthew 18:23–35).

The cantata is based on a hymn in ten stanzas by Johann Burchard Freystein (1695),^[5] which expands a single theme related to the Gospel: be prepared by awareness and prayer for the arrival of the Lord.^[2] An unknown poet retained the first and the last stanza as movements 1 and 6 of the cantata. He derived the inner movements as a sequence of alternating arias and recitatives from the inner stanzas, using stanza 2 for 2, stanzas 3 to 6 for 3, stanza 7 for 4, keeping the first two lines unchanged, and stanzas 8 to 9 for 5.^[2] The chorale is sung to the anonymous melody of "Straf mich nicht in deinem Zorn" (1681).^[6]

Bach first performed the cantata on 5 November 1724.^[2]^[7]

Scoring and structure

The cantata in six movements is scored for four vocal soloists (soprano, alto, tenor and bass), a four-part choir, horn to double the soprano in the chorale, flauto traverso, oboe d'amore, two violins, viola, violoncello piccolo and basso continuo.^[2]

Chorale: Mache dich, mein Geist, bereit
Aria (alto): Ach schläfrige Seele, wie? ruhest du noch?
Recitative (bass): Gott, so vor deine Seele wacht
Aria (soprano): Bete aber auch dabei
Recitative (tenor): Er sehnet sich nach unserm Schreien
Chorale: Drum so laßt uns immerdar

Music

The opening chorus is a chorale fantasia in the form of a passacaglia. The instruments perform independent concertante chamber music, set for three parts, the flute, the oboe d'amore and the strings in unison. The soprano sings the melody as a cantus firmus, the lower voices are set partly in imitation, partly homophonically. The alto aria (Oh, sleepy soul – are you still at rest?) begins, as Klaus Hofmann notes, "as a musical sleep scene of a kind that could have graced any opera of the time".^[3] Marked Adagio, the oboe d'amore plays a solo in siciliano rhythm, leading to a "long, peaceful, quasi-'sleeping' note". The text's admonition to be vigilant ("Punishment might suddenly awaken you and, if you were not alert, conceal you in the sleep of eternal death") appears in the contrasting middle section, marked Allegro.^[3]

In the soprano aria "Bete aber auch dabei" (But you should also pray),^[1] flute and violoncello piccolo play chamber music, to which the solo adds a "noble cantilena". The closing chorale is a four-part setting of the final call: "Therefore let us forever be alert, entreat and pray".^[3]

Recordings

Bach Cantatas Vol. 5 – Sundays after Trinity II', Karl Richter, Münchener Bach-Chor, Münchener Bach-Orchester, Edith Mathis, Trudeliese Schmidt, Ernst Haefliger, Peter Schreier, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Archiv Produktion 1978
J. S. Bach: Das Kantatenwerk · Complete Cantatas · Les Cantates, Folge / Vol. 29 – BWV 115-117, 119, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Tölzer Knabenchor, Concentus Musicus Wien, soloist of the Tölzer Knabenchor, Paul Esswood, Kurt Equiluz, Philippe Huttenlocher, Teldec 1979
Die Bach Kantate Vol. 57, Helmuth Rilling, Gächinger Kantorei, Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, Arleen Augér, Helen Watts, Lutz-Michael Harder, Wolfgang Schöne, Hänssler 1980
J. S. Bach: Cantatas with Violoncelle Piccolo, Christophe Coin, Das Leipziger Concerto Vocale, Ensemble Baroque de Limoges, Barbara Schlick, Andreas Scholl, Christoph Prégardien, Gotthold Schwarz, Auvidis Astrée 1993
J. S. Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 11, Ton Koopman, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir, Lisa Larsson, Annette Markert, Christoph Prégardien, Klaus Mertens, Antoine Marchand 1999
Bach Edition Vol. 11 – Cantatas Vol. 5, Pieter Jan Leusink, Holland Boys Choir, Netherlands Bach Collegium, Marjon Strijk, Sytse Buwalda, Nico van der Meel, Bas Ramselaar, Brilliant Classics 1999
Bach Cantatas Vol. 12: Tooting/Winchester / For the 22nd Sunday after Trinity, John Eliot Gardiner, Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, Joanne Lunn, Robin Tyson, James Gilchrist, Peter Harvey, Soli Deo Gloria 2000
J. S. Bach: Cantatas Vol. 27 – Cantatas from Leipzig 1724 – BWV 5, 80, 115, Masaaki Suzuki, Bach Collegium Japan, Susanne Rydén, Pascal Bertin, Gerd Türk, Peter Kooy, BIS 2003

References

^ ^a ^b Dellal, Pamela. "BWV 115 – Mache dich, mein Geist, bereit". Emmanuel Music. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Dürr, Alfred (1981). Die Kantaten von Johann Sebastian Bach (in German). Vol. 1 (4 ed.). Deutscher Taschenbuchverlag. pp. 504–506. ISBN 3-423-04080-7.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Hofmann, Klaus (2005). "Mache dich, mein Geist, bereit, BWV 115 / Make yourself ready, my spirit" (PDF). Bach Cantatas Website. pp. 5, 8, 9. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
^ Wolff, Christoph (2000). Chorale Cantatas from the cycle of the Leipzig / church cantatas, 1724–25 (III) (PDF). Bach Cantatas Website. p. 9. Retrieved 28 August 2012.
^ "Mache dich, mein Geist, bereit / Text and Translation of Chorale". Bach Cantatas Website. 2006. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
^ "Chorale Melodies used in Bach's Vocal Works / Straf mich nicht in deinem Zorn". Bach Cantatas Website. 2006. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
^ Gardiner, John Eliot (2010). Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) / Cantatas Nos 52, 55, 60, 89, 115, 139, 140 & 163 (Media notes). Soli Deo Gloria (at Hyperion Records website). Retrieved 28 October 2018.

Sources

Mache dich, mein Geist, bereit, BWV 115: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
Mache dich, mein Geist, bereit BWV 115; BC A 156 / Chorale cantata (22nd Sunday after Trinity) Bach Digital
Cantata BWV 115 Mache dich, mein Geist, bereit history, scoring, sources for text and music, translations to various languages, discography, discussion, Bach Cantatas Website
BWV 115 Mache dich, mein Geist, bereit English translation, University of Vermont
BWV 115 Mache dich, mein Geist, bereit text, scoring, University of Alberta
Chapter 23 BWV 115 Mache dich, mein Geist, bereit / Come, prepare yourself, my soul. Julian Mincham, 2010
Luke Dahn: BWV 115.6 bach-chorales.com

v t e Church cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach
Before Leipzig	Early: BWV 4 131 71 1138.1 & .2 106 196 150 143 Weimar: BWV 61 70a 186a 132 147a 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 (and 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 30 191 200 248 (I, II, III, IV, V, VI) 1083 Council election (Leipzig): BWV 119 193 29 120 69 (lost: 1139.1, 1140–1141) Wedding: BWV 34a 195 120a 197 Funeral: 157 244a Other: 194 190a 120b 51 158 50 Doubtful: 53 142 189 217 220 221 223 224
Bach cantata List of Bach cantatas Discography: Monteverdi Choir/Koopman/Teldec

This page was last edited on 10 March 2024, at 07:49

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