Birthday of Carl Heinrich von Dieskau
30 August 2023 – Mer hahn en neue Oberkeet, BWV 212, is the last definitely dated Bach cantata, from 1742. It was written for the 36th birthday of Carl Heinrich von Dieskau (1706–1782), Kammerherr to the prince, and responsible for the tax collection in Leipzig.
As such he was the boss of Christian Friedrich Henrici, known as Picander, a librettist with whom Bach worked intensively in Leipzig. It is believed that Picander himself asked Bach to put the poetry for his boss to music.
Bach called this work a cantata burlesque, which it clearly is. It is now better known as the Peasant Cantata.
I heard on the Flemish classical music radio Klara (thank you, Katelijne Boon!) that when Albert Fisher, a school principal, found out that his wife descended from Carl Heinrich von Dieskau, he added that name to the family name, including that of his very talented son... Dietrich Fisher-Dieskau.
Music for today
- Mer hahn en neue Oberkeet, BWV 212
(first performance 30 August 1742, Leipzig period)
Playlist
WBCF08302-Birthday of Carl Heinrich von Dieskau
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Image of the day
Schloss Kleinzschocher, southwest of Leipzig in Bach's time, but now engulfed by the city, was the residence of Carl Heinrich von Dieskau.