Bach Cantata Day Information:
Trinitatis XV or 15th Sunday after Trinitatis
15th Sunday after Trinitatis. Liturgical period : Ordinary time II.
Occurrences: September 8 2024, September 28 2025, September 13 2026, September 5 2027, September 24 2028, September 9 2029, September 29 2030, September 21 2031, September 5 2032, September 25 2033, September 17 2034, September 2 2035, September 21 2036, September 13 2037.
Music for this day
- Warum betrübst du dich, mein Herz, BWV 138
(first performance 5 September 1723, Leipzig period) - Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan, BWV 99
(first performance 17 September 1724, Leipzig period) - Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen, BWV 51
(first performance 17 September 1730, Leipzig period)
Trinitatis XV is the 15th Sunday after Trinitatis. Three Leipzig cantatas for you.
Warum betrübst du dich, mein Herz, BWV 138, is from the first cycle, but is a bit odd because Bach uses the lyrics from a well-known Protestant chorale, so you could say this is Bach experimenting with this musical form to which he would devote a complete chorale cantata cycle one year later.
Bach created three cantatas with the title Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan, based on the hymn with the same title. Only at the end of the 1950s it was determined that the three cantatas (often referred to as I, II and III) actually date from 1726, 1724 and 1734. This one, Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan II, BWV 99, is part of the chorale cantata cycle in 1724.
The last cantata, Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen, BWV 51, is from much later, written in 1730, a time when Bach did not compose many cantatas. It is also believed that the cantata was written for another special occasion, but the first formal performance known was in Leipzig on Trinitatis XV, 1730. It is also Bach's only cantata written for solo soprano and trumpet. Considering a female soprano was highly unlikely in conservative Leipzig, the soprano was probably a young boy (possibly the later composer Christoph Nichelmann, 13 at the time).
Extra information
The Netherlands Bach Society website has more information and performances of BWV 51 and BWV 99:
https://bachvereniging.nl/en/bwv/bwv-51/
https://bachvereniging.nl/en/bwv/bwv-99/
Playlist
WBC56-Trinitatis XV or 15th Sunday after Trinitatis
Choose one of these streaming services to listen to this playlist:
Image of the day
On Saturday September 11, 2021, the Swiss Andreas Reize took office as the new Thomaskantor, in succession of Gotthold Schwarz, who retired in June of 2021. For his inauguration concerto with the Thomaner, he performed (among others) Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan, BWV 99, the cantata for Trinitatis XV, which fell on the following Sunday September 12th. Andreas Reize is the first non-German and non-Protestant to hold the post (he is a Catholic), which apparently led to some discussion.