Bach: Cantata No. 134a “Die Zeit, die Tag und Jahre macht” / Masaaki Suzuki, Bach Collegium Japan
During the Köthen period (1717-1723), Bach was not obligated to compose church cantatas. Therefore, during this period, Bach concentrated his energies mainly on composing instrumental music. The other hand, It is said that he composed 12 festive cantatas for the birthday of Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Köthen and for the New Year, but only a few of them, including BWV 66a, BWV 134a, and BWV 173a, are known to exist. BWV134a is a cantata for the New Year, written in the form of a dialogue between the personified “Time (Zeit)” (tenor) and “Divine Providence (Göttliche Vorsehung)” (alto). Such “personification of concepts” is a technique that can be found in Handel’s oratorio “The Triumph of Time and Truth” for example. Bach later used the music of this work as a church cantata “Ein Herz, das seinen Jesum lebend weiß” in Leipzig. #baroque #bach #cantata #片山俊幸
