Girish Mahajan (Editor)

Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten, BWV 202

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Vocal
  
soprano

Instrumental
  
oboe, violins, viola, continuo

Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten (Yield now, troubling shadows), BWV 202, is a secular cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach, most likely composed for a wedding in Köthen around 1718, possibly his own to Anna Magdalena on 3 December 1721 where she might have sung it herself. It is one of Bach's most recorded cantatas. The aria "Sich üben im Lieben" (To practice sweet courtship, to joyously cuddle) is frequently performed as a concert piece.

Contents

Scoring and movements

The work is scored for a solo soprano, oboe, violin I and II, viola, and basso continuo. It consists of nine movements, interspersing arias with varied texture and recitative with continuo. The librettist is not known with certainty, but Harald Streck suspects Salomon Franck.

  1. Aria (soprano, oboe, violins, viola, continuo) "Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten"
  2. Recitative (soprano, continuo) "Die Welt wird wieder neu"
  3. Aria (soprano, continuo) "Phoebus eilt mit schnellen Pferden"
  4. Recitative (soprano, continuo) "Drum sucht auch Amor sein Vergnügen"
  5. Aria (soprano, solo violin, continuo) "Wenn die Frühlingslüfte streichen"
  6. Recitative (soprano, continuo) "Und dieses ist das Glücke"
  7. Aria (soprano, oboe, continuo) "Sich üben im Lieben"
  8. Recitative (soprano, continuo) "So sei das Band der keuschen Liebe"
  9. Aria – Gavotte (soprano, oboe, violins, viola, continuo) "Sehet in Zufriedenheit"

Recordings

  • Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields, Neville Marriner. Bach Cantatas. EMI, 1973.
  • Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Ton Koopman. J.S. Bach: Complete Cantatas Vol. 5. Erato, 1996.
  • Bach Babes, Jenny Gettel (soprano). Stravagante. BP Music, 2004.
  • Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, Eugen Jochum. Centenaire Eugen Jochum 3. Tahra, 1973.
  • Kammerorchester Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Peter Schreier. Bach Kantaten. EMI Classics, 1989.
  • Münchener Bach-Orchester, Karl Richter. J.S. Bach: Kantaten BWV 51 & BWV 202. Archiv Produktion, 1959.
  • Orchestra of the Bach Guild, Felix Prohaska. J.S. Bach: Cantata No. 202; Cantata No. 161. Vanguard Classics, 1952.
  • RIAS-Kammerorchester, Karl Ristenpart. The RIAS Bach Cantatas Project. Audite, 1951.
  • Stuyvesant Quartet; Mitchell Miller (Oboe); Philip Sklar (Bass-viol); Yella Pessl (Hapsichord), Yella Pessl and Elizabeth Schumann (soprano). RCA-Victor, 1939.

    • References

    Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten, BWV 202 Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA