Er rufet seinen Schafen mit Namen, BWV 175
Encyclopedia
Er rufet seinen Schafen mit Namen (He calls His sheep by name), BWV 175, is a church cantata
Bach cantata
Bach cantata became a term for a cantata of the German Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach who was a prolific writer of the genre. Although many of his works are lost, around 200 cantatas survived....

 by Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...

. Bach composed the cantata in Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...

 for the Third Day of Pentecost
Pentecost
Pentecost is a prominent feast in the calendar of Ancient Israel celebrating the giving of the Law on Sinai, and also later in the Christian liturgical year commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Christ after the Resurrection of Jesus...

 and first performed it on 22 May 1725.

History and words

Bach wrote the cantata in his second year in Leipzig for Pentecost Tuesday and first performed it on 22 May 1725. In this second year Bach had composed chorale cantata
Chorale cantata
In music, a chorale cantata is a sacred composition for voices and instruments, principally from the German Baroque era, in which the organizing principle is the words and music to a chorale. Usually a chorale cantata is in multiple movements or parts. Most chorale cantatas were written between...

s between the first Sunday after Trinity
Trinity Sunday
Trinity Sunday is the first Sunday after Pentecost in the Western Christian liturgical calendar, and the Sunday of Pentecost in Eastern Christianity...

 and Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in all four Canonical Gospels. ....

, but for Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...

 returned to cantatas on more varied texts, possibly because he lost his librettist. Nine of his cantatas for the period between Easter and Pentecost
Pentecost
Pentecost is a prominent feast in the calendar of Ancient Israel celebrating the giving of the Law on Sinai, and also later in the Christian liturgical year commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Christ after the Resurrection of Jesus...

 are based on texts of Christiana Mariana von Ziegler
Christiana Mariana von Ziegler
Christiana Mariana von Ziegler was a German poet and writer. She is best known for the texts of nine cantatas, which Johann Sebastian Bach composed after Easter of 1725.-Biography:...

. Bach later assigned most of them, including this cantata, in his third annual cycle.

The prescribed readings for the feast were :14–17 and :1–10, the Good Shepherd
Good Shepherd
Good Shepherd may refer to:In Christianity:* The Good Shepherd , pericope found in John 10:1-21, and a popular image in which the Good Shepherd represents Jesus...

. The cantata is thematically divided in two parts, movements 1 to 4 and movements 5 to 7, but performed consecutively. Both begin with a quotation from the gospel. The first part deals with Jesus as the Good Shepherd and the sheep who hear his voice. The second part deals with those who don't hear this voice. The poetess uses the term "verblendete Vernunft" (deluded reason), possibly addressing the attitude of the intellectual movement "Aufklärung" (Age of Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...

). The cantata is closed with the ninth stanza of Johann Rist's O Gottes Geist, mein Trost und Ruh.

Scoring and structure

The cantata is distinctively scored for three soloists, alto
Alto
Alto is a musical term, derived from the Latin word altus, meaning "high" in Italian, that has several possible interpretations.When designating instruments, "alto" frequently refers to a member of an instrumental family that has the second highest range, below that of the treble or soprano. Hence,...

, tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...

 and bass
Bass (voice type)
A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C...

, a four-part choir only in the closing chorale, two trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...

s, three recorder
Recorder
The recorder is a woodwind musical instrument of the family known as fipple flutes or internal duct flutes—whistle-like instruments which include the tin whistle. The recorder is end-blown and the mouth of the instrument is constricted by a wooden plug, known as a block or fipple...

s, two violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

s, viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...

, violoncello piccolo and basso continuo. The recorders give a pastorale
Pastorale
For Beethoven's Pastoral symphony, see Symphony No. 6 Pastorale refers to something of a pastoral nature in music, whether in form or in mood....

 character to the first part about the Good Shepherd.
  1. Recitativo (tenor): Er rufet seinen Schafen mit Namen
  2. Aria (alto): Komm, leite mich
  3. Recitativo (tenor): Gott will, o ihr Menschenkinder
  4. Aria (tenor): Es dünket mich, ich seh dich kommen
  5. Recitativo (alto, bass): Sie vernahmen aber nicht
  6. Aria (bass): Öffnet euch, ihr beiden Ohren
  7. Chorale: Nun, werter Geist, ich folg dir

Music

The first quotation from the Bible is sung by the tenor, like an Evangelist
Evangelist (Bach)
The Evangelist in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach is the tenor part in his oratorios and Passions who narrates the exact words of the Bible, translated by Martin Luther, in recitative, namely in the works St John Passion, St Matthew Passion, and the Christmas Oratorio, also in the St Mark...

. This recitative
Recitative
Recitative , also known by its Italian name "recitativo" , is a style of delivery in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms of ordinary speech...

, saying "Er rufet seinen Schafen mit Namen und führet sie hinaus" (He calls His sheep by name and leads them out), is accompanied by three recorders, providing a pastorale approach. The recorders also colour the first aria
Aria
An aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term is now used almost exclusively to describe a self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment...

 in 12/8 time. The second aria is accompanied by an obbligato
Obbligato
In classical music obbligato usually describes a musical line that is in some way indispensable in performance. Its opposite is the marking ad libitum. It can also be used, more specifically, to indicate that a passage of music was to be played exactly as written, or only by the specified...

 violoncello piccolo. Bach took the music from the secular cantata Durchlauchtster Leopold, BWV 173a
Durchlauchtster Leopold, BWV 173a
Durchlauchtster Leopold , BWV 173a, is a secular cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach composed the cantata in Köthen for the birthday of Leopold von Anhalt-Köthen.-History and words:...

, although the meter of Ziegler's poetry does not fit, as if Bach had not communicated the idea of the parody with the poet.

The following short recitative asks in a dramatic way full of dissonance, like a lost sheep for its shepherd: "Wo find ich dich? Ach, wo bist du verborgen?" (Where can I find you? Ah, where are you hidden?). To show the relief of his expected arrival, Bach transposes movement 7 from his congratulatory cantata, an extended da capo
Da capo
Da Capo is a musical term in Italian, meaning from the beginning . It is often abbreviated D.C. It is a composer or publisher's directive to repeat the previous part of music, often used to save space. In small pieces this might be the same thing as a repeat, but in larger works D.C...

 Bourrée
Bourrée
The bourrée is a dance of French origin common in Auvergne and Biscay in Spain in the 17th century. It is danced in quick double time, somewhat resembling the gavotte. The main difference between the two is the anacrusis, or upbeat; a bourrée starts on the last beat of a bar, creating a...

 with obbligato cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...

 and bassoon
Bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...

 as obbligato
Obbligato
In classical music obbligato usually describes a musical line that is in some way indispensable in performance. Its opposite is the marking ad libitum. It can also be used, more specifically, to indicate that a passage of music was to be played exactly as written, or only by the specified...

 instruments, up a minor third
Minor third
In classical music from Western culture, a third is a musical interval encompassing three staff positions , and the minor third is one of two commonly occurring thirds. The minor quality specification identifies it as being the smallest of the two: the minor third spans three semitones, the major...

 for a five-string violoncello piccolo.

The central recitative, movement 5, is the first movement of the cantata accompanied by the strings. It begins with the quotation from the gospel "Sie vernahmen aber nicht, was es war, das er zu ihnen gesaget hatte" (But they did not grasp what it was, that He had said to them), sung by the alto as the Evangelist, and leads to an arioso
Arioso
In classical music, arioso is a style of solo opera singing between recitative and aria. Literally, arioso means airy. The term arose in the 16th century along with the aforementioned styles and monody. It is commonly confused with recitativo accompagnato....

 on the final warning not to overhear the words of Jesus, which "may be to your well-being" (zu deinem Heil geschicht). This warning is enforced by two trumpets in the bass aria which reminds of the death of Jesus: "Jesus hat euch zugeschworen, daß er Teufel, Tod erlegt" (Jesus has sworn to you that He has laid low devil, death). The trumpets are silent in the middle section, dealing with the gifts of Jesus, "grace, sufficiency, abundant life" (Gnade, Gnüge, volles Leben). The aria may also be a parody, but the model is not known.

The chorale is repeated from the cantata for Pentecost, Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten, BWV 59
Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten, BWV 59
Wer mich liebet, der wird mein Wort halten , BWV 59, is a church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach composed the cantata for Pentecost and probably first performed it in Leipzig on 28 May 1724, but an earlier performance on 16 May 1723 at the University Church of Leipzig is possible.-History...

. The melody of the chorale for Pentecost Komm, Heiliger Geist, Herre Gott is set for four parts and three independent recorder parts, instead of strings in the earlier version, thus returning to the scoring of the beginning of the cantata.

Recordings

  • J.S. Bach: Cantatas BWV 100 & BWV 175, Heinz Wunderlich, Kantorei St. Jacobi Hamburg
    St. Jacobi, Hamburg
    The St. Jacobi church is one of the five principal Lutheran churches of Hamburg, Germany. The church is located directly in the city center, has a 125 m tall tower and features a famous organ by Arp Schnitger from 1693. It is dedicated to St James the Greater and often incorrectly known in English...

    , Hamburger Kammerorchester, Lotte Wolf-Matthäus, Hans-Joachim Rotzsch
    Hans-Joachim Rotzsch
    Hans-Joachim Rotzsch is a German choral conductor, conducting the Thomanerchor from 1972 until 1991 as the fifteenth Thomaskantor since Johann Sebastian Bach. He is also a tenor and an academic.- Biography :...

    , Hans-Olaf Hudemann, Cantate 1961
  • Bach Cantatas Vol. 3 - Ascension Day, Whitsun, Trinity, Karl Richter, Münchener Bach-Chor
    Münchener Bach-Chor
    Münchener Bach-Chor is a mixed choir for concert and oratorio in Munich. Performances, international tours and recordings with Karl Richter and the Münchener Bach-Orchester made the choir internationally known.- Heinrich-Schütz-Kreis :...

    , Münchener Bach-Orchester, Anna Reynolds
    Anna Reynolds (singer)
    Anna Reynolds is an English classical mezzo-soprano and contralto singer in opera and concert.- Professional career :Ann Reynolds first studied piano, then voice at the Royal Academy of Music...

    , Peter Schreier
    Peter Schreier
    Peter Schreier is a German tenor and conductor.-Early life:Schreier was born in Meissen, Saxony, and spent his first years in the small village of Gauernitz, near Meissen, where his father was a teacher, cantor and organist...

    , Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
    Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
    Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau is a retired German lyric baritone and conductor of classical music, one of the most famous lieder performers of the post-war period and "one of the supreme vocal artists of the 20th century"...

    , Cantate 1975
  • Die Bach Kantate Vol. 38, Helmuth Rilling
    Helmuth Rilling
    Helmuth Rilling is an internationally known German choral conductor, founder of the Gächinger Kantorei , the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart , the Oregon Bach Festival , the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart and other Bach Academies worldwide, and the "Festival Ensemble Stuttgart"...

    , Gächinger Kantorei
    Gächinger Kantorei
    Gächinger Kantorei is an internationally known German mixed choir, founded by Helmuth Rilling in 1954 in Gächingen and still conducted by him. A "Kantorei" is a choir of high standard dedicated mostly, but not exclusively, to sacred music. The ensemble operates in Stuttgart now and is therefore...

    , Bach-Collegium Stuttgart
    Bach-Collegium Stuttgart
    Bach-Collegium Stuttgart is an internationally known German instrumental ensemble, founded by Helmuth Rilling in 1965 to accompany the Gächinger Kantorei in choral music with orchestra...

    , Carolyn Watkinson
    Carolyn Watkinson
    The English mezzo-soprano Carolyn Watkinson is a well-known singer of baroque music.Watkinson was born in Preston and studied at the Royal Manchester College of Music and in The Hague. In 1978 she sang Rameau's Phèdre at the English Bach Festival at London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden...

    , Peter Schreier
    Peter Schreier
    Peter Schreier is a German tenor and conductor.-Early life:Schreier was born in Meissen, Saxony, and spent his first years in the small village of Gauernitz, near Meissen, where his father was a teacher, cantor and organist...

    , Philippe Huttenlocher
    Philippe Huttenlocher
    Philippe Huttenlocher is a Swiss baritone.He was born in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. He first studied violin at the conservatory in Neuchâtel, and then voice in Fribourg...

    , Hänssler
    Hänssler Classic
    Hänssler Classic is a German classical record label based in Holzgerlingen.Friedrich Hänssler Senior founded Musikverlag Hänssler in 1919 to publish church music. Since 1972 Hänssler Classic has also published contemporary and jazz music...

     1981
  • J.S. Bach: Das Kantatenwerk - Sacred Cantatas Vol. 9, Gustav Leonhardt
    Gustav Leonhardt
    Gustav Leonhardt is a highly renowned Dutch keyboard player, conductor, musicologist, teacher and editor. Leonhardt has been a leading figure in the movement to perform music on period instruments...

    , Knabenchor Hannover, Collegium Vocale Gent, Leonhardt-Consort, Paul Esswood
    Paul Esswood
    Paul Esswood is an English countertenor. He is best known for his singing in Bach cantatas and the operas of Handel and Monteverdi. Along with his countrymen Alfred Deller and James Bowman, he led the revival of countertenor singing in modern times.Esswood was born in West Bridgford, England. He...

    , Marius van Altena, Max van Egmond
    Max van Egmond
    Max van Egmond is a Dutch bass and baritone singer. He has focused on oratorio and Lied and is known for singing works of Johann Sebastian Bach.- Professional career :...

    , Teldec
    Teldec
    The Teldec is a German record label in Hamburg, Germany. Today the label is a property of Warner Music Group.-History:...

     1988
  • J.S. Bach: Cantatas with Violoncelle Piccolo (Vol. 2), Christophe Coin, Das Leipziger Concerto Vocale, Ensemble Baroque de Limoges, Barbara Schlick
    Barbara Schlick
    Barbara Schlick is a German soprano who is particularly admired for interpretations of the concert literature of the baroque era.-Career:...

    , Andreas Scholl
    Andreas Scholl
    Andreas Scholl is a German countertenor, a male classical singer in the alto vocal range. He is noted as a specialist in Baroque music.-Childhood:...

    , Christoph Prégardien
    Christoph Prégardien
    Christoph Prégardien is a German lyric tenor whose career is closely associated with the roles in Mozart operas, as well as performances of Lieder, oratorio roles, and Baroque music...

    , Gotthold Schwarz, Auvidis Astrée 1994
  • Bach Cantatas Vol. 27: Blythburgh/Kirkwell, John Eliot Gardiner
    John Eliot Gardiner
    Sir John Eliot Gardiner CBE FKC is an English conductor. He founded the Monteverdi Choir , the English Baroque Soloists and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique...

    , Monteverdi Choir
    Monteverdi Choir
    The Monteverdi Choir was founded in 1964 by Sir John Eliot Gardiner for a performance of the Monteverdi Vespers in King's College Chapel, Cambridge. A specialist Baroque ensemble, the Choir has become famous for its stylistic conviction and extensive repertoire, encompassing music from the early...

    , English Baroque Soloists
    English Baroque Soloists
    The English Baroque Soloists is a chamber orchestra playing on period instruments, formed in 1978 by English conductor Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Its repertoire comprises music from the early Baroque period to the Classical period...

    , Nathalie Stutzmann
    Nathalie Stutzmann
    Nathalie Stutzmann is a contemporary opera singer, renowned for her contralto voice.Born in Suresnes, France, 1965, she first studied with her mother , then at Nantes Conservatoire and later, at the Ecole d’Art Lyrique de l’Opéra de Paris, focusing on lied, under Hans Hotter's tutelage...

    , Christoph Genz
    Christoph Genz
    - Biography :Christoph Genz was a member of the Thomanerchor. He studied at the King’s College, Cambridge where he was a member of the King’s College Choir. He studied voice with Hans-Joachim Beyer at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater „Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy“ Leipzig and with Elisabeth...

    , Stephan Loges, Soli Deo Gloria 2000
  • J.S. Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 15, Ton Koopman
    Ton Koopman
    Ton Koopman is a conductor, organist and harpsichordist.Koopman had a "classical education" and then studied the organ , harpsichord and musicology in Amsterdam...

    , Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir
    Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir
    The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir is a Dutch early-music group based in Amsterdam.The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir was created in two stages by the conductor, organist and harpsichordist Ton Koopman. He founded the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra in 1979 and the Amsterdam Baroque Choir in...

    , Bogna Bartosz
    Bogna Bartosz
    Bogna Bartosz is a Polish classical mezzo-soprano and alto.- Biography :Bogna Bartosz studied voice at the Academy of Music in Gdansk and graduated with distinction...

    , Christoph Prégardien
    Christoph Prégardien
    Christoph Prégardien is a German lyric tenor whose career is closely associated with the roles in Mozart operas, as well as performances of Lieder, oratorio roles, and Baroque music...

    , Klaus Mertens
    Klaus Mertens
    Klaus Mertens is a German bass and bass-baritone singer who is known especially for his interpretation of the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach.-Professional career:Klaus Mertens took singing lessons while attending school...

    , Antoine Marchand 2001
  • J.S. Bach: Cantatas Vol. 39 (Cantatas from Leipzig 1725), Masaaki Suzuki
    Masaaki Suzuki
    is a Japanese organist, harpsichordist and conductor, and the founder and musical director of the Bach Collegium Japan.He was born in Kobe to parents who were both Christians and amateur musicians...

    , Bach Collegium Japan
    Bach Collegium Japan
    Bach Collegium Japan is composed of an orchestra and a chorus specialising in Baroque music, playing with period instruments. It was founded in 1990 by Masaaki Suzuki with the purpose of introducing Japanese audiences to European Baroque music. Suzuki still remains its music director...

    , Robin Blaze
    Robin Blaze
    - Childhood and education :The son of a professional golfer Peter, Robin Blaze grew up in Shadwell, near Leeds and was educated at Leeds Grammar School, Uppingham School, and Magdalen College, Oxford....

    , Gerd Türk
    Gerd Türk
    - Biography :Gerd Türk received his first musical training as a choir boy at the cathedral of Limburg. He studied in Frankfurt and then at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis with Richard Levitt and René Jacobs, continuing in master classes with Ernst Haefliger and Kurt Equiluz.In the field of...

    , Peter Kooy
    Peter Kooy
    Peter Kooy is a Dutch bass singer specialized in baroque music.- Biography :Peter Kooy started his musical career at 6 years as a choir boy. However he started his musical studies as a violin student...

    , BIS
    BIS Records
    BIS Records is a record label founded in 1973 by Robert von Bahr. It is located in Åkersberga, Sweden.BIS focuses on classical music, both contemporary and early, especially works that are not already well represented by existing recordings....

     2007

External links

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