October 6
Cantata 122 was written for the first Sunday after Christmas in 1724 and, as the title Das neugeborne Kindelein suggests, is focused on the newborn Jesus. (Note that I would have reviewed Cantata 133 today, written for the Third Day of Christmas, but I already covered it on March 7th, 2020.)
When I first heard the trio below, I immediately recognized that it was in a form I had never heard in the Bach Cantatas. I since confirmed that it is actually unique in the whole oeuvre. As diverse as the cantata movements are in every regard, from instrumentation to the combination of voices to the use of styles and forms from far off times and places, there are only three vocal trios in all of the cantatas. The trio of Cantata 122, however, is the only one where one voice sings a chorale while the other two sing a duet aria.
The soprano and tenor sing a melancholy duet in response to the alto’s slow recitation of the chorale. The duet incorporates into their contrapuntal interplay imitative musical motifs that are derived from the chorale tune being sung. This is all set in the highly distinctive Siciliano rhythm of the continuo (organ and viola da gamba), which is characterized by slow 6/8 time with a lilting dotted rhythm in a minor key and loosely meant to evoke the pastoral mood of Sicily. Like the other two movements of Cantata 122 based on the chorale tune, this movement is compact (lasting only ~2 minutes) to match the short 16 measures of the chorale.
This trio is a small experiment in form that lulls the listener with its solemn pastoral air and quiet assurance of the reconciliation with God that the infant Jesus represents.
Komentar