Marriage

Friday 11 August 2023

Marriage

11 August 2023 – An extra cantata today next to the liturgical cycle. Bach wrote O holder Tag, erwünschte Zeit, BWV 210, somewhere between 1738 and 1746. It is a cantata for a wedding, but it is not clear whose wedding it might have been. Several names and dates have been proposed by different Bach scholars, and I've picked quite randomly the wedding of Johanna Catharina Amalie Schatz and Friedrich Gottlob Zoller (11 August 1746).

This work is based on O angenehme Melodei, BWV 210a, a homage cantata he wrote in 1729 (and which you can hear on January 12th each year). The performance I've chosen is by Christopher Hogwood's Academy of Ancient Music and the truly delightful Dame Emma Kirkby as soprano.

Music for today

  • O holder Tag, erwünschte Zeit, BWV 210
    (first performance ? 1738, Leipzig period)

Playlist

WBCF0811-Marriage

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Image of the day

On display in the Bachhaus in Eisenach is the Bach Goblet, one of very few undoubtedly authentic household items left from Bach's possessions. It is a Bohemian-Saxon work from around 1735. In the front, there is a VIVAT with a double (mirrored) monogram of the letters JSB underneath. The ends of the letters terminate in points. In total, there are 14 of these points – the Bach number, since B+A+C+H = 2+1+3+8 = 14 according to baroque numerology. In the back, there is a dedication poem that includes the name of Bach both in letters and in (German) musical notation. It is still an unsolved riddle who may have been the donor of the goblet, and on what occasion Bach received it.

On display in the Bachhaus in Eisenach is the Bach Goblet, one of very few undoubtedly authentic household items left from Bach's possessions. It is a Bohemian-Saxon work from around 1735. In the front, there is a VIVAT with a double (mirrored) monogram of the letters JSB underneath. The ends of the letters terminate in points. In total, there are 14 of these points – the Bach number, since B+A+C+H = 2+1+3+8 = 14 according to baroque numerology. In the back, there is a dedication poem that includes the name of Bach both in letters and in (German) musical notation. It is still an unsolved riddle who may have been the donor of the goblet, and on what occasion Bach received it.