Bach's Cantatas -- what are they, where are they?

Bach's cantatas are one of the largest bodies of his work, and in many people's opinion, the greatest. Surely, they are the greatest works written under the title cantata (when he actually used that title), and the model for all since who have tried to write cantatas.

Although the content and length of Bach's cantatas vary widely, from a few minutes to most of an hour (the average is about 20 minutes), what they all share that gives them their name is singing (from the Italian, cantare, to sing). Each cantata is usually several movements long, each movement lasting several minutes. Occasionally, the first movement is an instrumental Sinfonia, with no singing. All of Bach's cantatas involve instruments and instrumental accompaniments. Most of the cantatas have movements for instruments and both chorus and solo voices (but not all), and some have movements with wonderful combinations of choral and solo voices. Bach wrote both sacred cantatas, for use in the various churches with which he was affiliated (the vast majority for the Thomaskirche in Leipzig), and secular cantatas, about other themes. Although we have over 200 sacred Cantatas by Bach, we have very few secular cantatas, although it is believed far more were lost. The sacred cantatas are rooted in Bach's Lutheran Theology, and some understanding of this system is necessary to appreciate the concepts they discuss, for instance, rejoicing in one's own death or the Death of Jesus.

The different movements in a Cantata are related in their texts and feelings to convey a particular impression or message: in the case of a sacred cantata, this is usually the Gospel or Epistle of a particular Sunday, for use on which the Cantata may be written. A cantata does not tell a specific dramatic story -- at that point, it becomes an oratorio, or if the story is that of the Crucifixion, a Passion. As far as we know, Bach did not write the texts for any of his cantatas (although he occasionally edited them). He employed several librettists during the course of his career. The texts of all but one of the cantatas are in German -- please see our Bach Vocabulary List for common terms appearing in them. Walter F. Bischof has made the texts of all the Bach cantatas, in correctly-typeset German, available on the World Wide Web at http://www.cs.ualberta.ca/~wfb/bach.html.

During the first years of his Cantorate at Leipzig, Bach produced one of these incomparable sacred cantatas per week. Although this achievement seems remarkable, this was not uncommon: that was one clause of his job description, and that of other music directors of large churches -- for instance, Telemann produced something on the order of 1400 cantatas! Nevertheless, not one Telemann cantata is frequently performed, recorded, or studied today.

The types of movements one is likely to find comprising Bach cantatas, oratorios, and Passions are:

Arias, ornate, elaborate song-like forms for a single vocal soloist, continuo, and usually, but not always, other instruments (in certain rare senza basso arias, e.g., Wie zittern und wanken, BWV 105.3, there is no continuo). Often, one of the instruments (called obbligato) engages in a florid duet with the vocal soloist, using much of the same thematic material as the vocal part. These gorgeous high-baroque masterpieces are the special treasures of every vocalist who has the technique and depth to perform them
Chorales, German hymns, sung by a four-part (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) chorus, whose melody, which was not written by Bach, is often used elsewhere in the cantata. Very frequently, the last movement of the cantata is a chorale. Usually, the instrumental parts play the same notes as the choral parts, although occasionally (e.g., BWV 161.6) there are additional independent instrumental parts. Please see our separate exposition on chorales, and chorale prelude movements below. The boundary is often fuzzy.
Recitatives, declamations of text by a vocal soloist in a simple, free, prose-like, one-note-per-syllable manner, with an accompaniment of mere chords, usually by continuo alone, but sometimes, strings. Unlike arias, text in recitatives is never repeated, and there are no instrumental obbligati. Recitatives in sacred cantatas are often biblical texts. In the Passions and oratorios, the recitatives are (almost) always the text of the Gospel telling the story.
Ariosi (singular arioso) , half way between arias and recitatives, involve a text declaimed by a vocal soloist in a simple, but rhythmic, style, and usually some independent instrumental accompaniment. When these do occur, they are often at the end of recitatives, which "break into" arioso. Ariosi are more common in the Passions than the cantatas, where they usually precede an aria by the same soloist.
Choruses, large, impressive complex pieces, usually at the beginning of the Cantata, or after the Sinfonia, if there is one, for chorus in four parts and all sorts of instruments, from continuo alone (e.g., BWV 38.1) to strings, trumpets and drums and more (e.g., BWV 80.1). Usually, Bach cantata choruses employ extremely intricate and sophisticated counterpoint, are often fugues (e.g., BWV 176.1), and frequently based on chorales (e.g., BWV 4, all), and not infrequently both at the same time (e.g., BWV 25.1). Some of Bach's Cantata choruses (e.g., BWV 77.1, BWV 79.1) stretch the limits of the imagination in the depth of their accomplishment. Often they are on biblical texts, or combine biblical texts with chorale texts. In the Passions and oratorios, choruses (often fugal) are used to set the dramatic utterances of crowds (hence, such a chorus is called turba, i.e. "crowd", Lat.) such as "the Disciples", "the Jews", "the High Priests", etc.
Duets and trios (e.g., BWV 21.8, BWV 140.3), just like an aria, but for two or three vocal soloists. There is always a continuo , and often other instruments. These movements are quite often incredibly beautiful, and frequently portray a conceptual dialog (often between Jesus and the Soul), and not infrequently approach erotic rhetoric: (from BWV 21.8) -- Jesus (bass) sings to the Soul (soprano), "I love you", the Soul answers, "you hate me", Jesus replies, "oh no, I love you", etc. Although the Christian metaphors of love between Christ and the Church (e.g., the Christian exegesis of the Song of Solomon) and Christ and the Soul (e.g., the cited movements, or "God's Lamb, my Bridegroom" ( Jesu, meine Freude, BWV 227)) are ancient and venerable, Bach's Jesus/Soul duets convey an indisputable erotic sense when performed, now or 250 years ago.
"Chorale prelude movements." We use quotes here because the chorale prelude is really an organ form, which Bach (and others) adapted to the cantata. These movements are other movements (arias, choruses, or recitatives) that employ a choral section (BWV 80.2), or, less frequently (e.g., BWV 23.2) an instrument or a soloist (BWV 180.3) to sing a chorale melody, known in counterpoint technique as the cantus firmus, sometimes adorned, but more frequently not. Along with the cantus may be an obbligato instrument or instrumental section (e.g., BWV 140.4, the famous Sleepers, wake, or BWV 180.3), as in an organ chorale prelude, or even an instrumental Sinfonia (e.g., BWV 147.10, the famous Jesu, Joy of Man's desiring). But as frequently, Bach spins an entire movement of one of these other types, an aria (BWV 56.1, BWV 49.6), or a duet (BWV 93.1), or a chorus (BWV 21.9), or a recitative (BWV 23.2) who proceed as though nothing at all is unusual while the cantus magically appears at the most ingeniously well-chosen and subtle moments. These movements are more often than not indescribably exquisite; no one else has written movements of this type that approach the sensitivity and beauty of Bach's.
Sinfoniae, wholly instrumental movements at the beginning of the cantata (e.g., BWV 12, BWV 4, BWV 35). Many of these were adapted by Bach from previously-written instrumental concerti, sometimes with a change of instrumentation.
Combinations. As already hinted, Bach not infrequently combines these forms, sometimes alternating Chorus with Recitative sections, or arioso with recitatives, for the same or different voice (e.g., BWV 159.1). Perhaps typical and outstandingly beautiful is the Bass Aria cum chorale Mein teurer Heiland (My dear Saviour), from the St. John Passion, BWV 245.60, in which a lengthy aria for Basso and continuo periodically finds in its background a four-part chorale, a setting of a verse of Jesu Leiden, Pein, und Tod.

Those particularly interested in the Cantatas, learning more about them, discussing them and their background, reading reviews of performances, and much more, should visit the beautiful and comprehensive Bach Cantatas Website (http://www.bach-cantatas.com) by Aryeh Oron and others, which is dedicated exclusively to them and other Bach vocal works.

You said Bach wrote 300 sacred cantatas, but the record store only has 200. So what happened to the other hundred?

In short, nobody knows. There are enough chorales and chorale-prelude movements seemingly excerpted from Cantatas, as well as contemporary receipts and records and references, to lead us to believe that we now have only 2/3 to 4/5 of Bach's cantatas. As stated, during Bach's lifetime, his church music was not held in the tremendous esteem we hold it today; not surprisingly, people found it too hard to sing, to play, to understand, to tap their feet to -- Bach clearly knew he was writing for an audience not present in Leipzig.

Thus, when Bach died and the position of Thomaskantor was taken over by Gottlob Herrer (1703-55), people did not exactly scour the Thomaskirche for any piece of paper with his handwriting on it: Standard practice was to replace the previous occupant's legacy with your own. His sons rented some scores he had, and at one point some of his scores were even given away as trash. Some of his scores were actually sold as paper to wrap meat. The discovery of even one lost Bach cantata would be one of the great musicological events of the century.

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