| Preface to the Revisions of 2020 Since Catherine Winkworth first published her Lyra Germanica in 1855, (reprinted last in 2016), the German chorale tradition has found a home in standard English hymnbooks from which we have become familiar with her gracefully rhymed translations. Even the distinguished Bach translators Charles Sanford Terry, J.S. Bach, Cantata Texts (London, 1926; reprinted 1964) and Henry Sandwith Drinker, Texts of the Vocal Works of J.S. Bach (New York, 1942-1943) sometimes use her versions of the chorales. The present translations of the vocal texts of Johann Sebastian Bach first appeared as liner notes for Helmut Rilling's recordings of the sacred cantatas in 1983. In 1984 Hänssler-Verlag included in book format the translations along with detailed performance particulars of Rilling's work. In 2005, I went beyond the sacred cantatas to publish translations of virtually all of Bach's extant vocal texts. A second edition appeared in 2006 with the addition of some new material. This revision now includes most of Bach's existing vocal texts, the sacred and secular cantatas, motets, oratorios, passions, magnificats, texts of works for which the music has been lost, and other works from various sources. I have included some works no longer attributed to Bach. The translations are primarily based upon Werner Neumann, Sämtliche von Johann Sebastian Bach vertonte Texte (Leipzig, 1974). The works are numbered and ordered according to Wolfgang Schmieder's catalogue, Bach Werke-Verzeichnis (BWV) (1950, 1990, and 1998) or, for the texts whose music is lost, with Neumann's Roman numerals and BWV Anhang (Anh.) numbers. When the German texts are not easily available, I have transcribed these texts from Neumann's facsimiles and maintained their original orthography in order to show how they differ from modernized German spelling. The following information is found in the introductory material to each work: Sacred Occasion Author, if known Printed source, if any Facsimile, if any Biblical Text (Dictum) Parody: ← left arrow from other Bach works; → right arrow to other Bach works. Chorale Text with verses used and modern printed sources. Date and place of first performance. Bach Gesellschaft (BG) and Neue Bach Ausgabe (NBA) editions Subtitles such as Dramma (sic) in Musica, Dialogus, or Serenata. Dramatis Personae such as Soul, Jesus, mythical characters with Bach's vocal assignments to each. Footnotes to each work report scriptural passages cited, historical allusions to persons and events, various poetical and rhetorical features, and parallel passages both from within Bach's corpus and from such classical authors as Vergil, Horace, and Ovid. For historical and critical information on each work I have consulted both Neumann's edition of the texts and his Handbuch der Kantaten Johann Sebastian Bachs (Leipzig, 1971); also Alfred Dürr's invaluable Die Kantaten von Johann Sebastian Bach (Kassel, 1971); and the Critical Commentaries (Kritischer Bericht) of the NBA. The Table of Occasions lists the Epistle and Gospel lections for each sacred occasion. At the end of the volume there is an alphabetical list of work titles. The librettos of many cantatas are of unknown authorship. Others are by published poets like Salomo Franck of Weimar, Christian Friedrich Heinrici (Picander), Prof. Johann Christoph Gottsched and his student Christiane Mariane von Ziegler (née) Romanus, all three of Leipzig, to name just a few. The printed texts (PT) of the cantatas of such poets were available to audiences. The concepts of the cantatas were appropriate to the church year, and usually expressed in the librettos as direct passages from scripture and traditional hymns Translation comes in various styles and purposes. Bach's compositions themselves are translations of the printed texts into music, indeed, translations from one language into another, for the language of Baroque music had its own grammar and syntax in the so-called Doctrine of the Affections (Affektenlehre). My purpose was to make as clear as possible Bach's treatment of critically important words while maintaining the metrical pattern and word and line divisions in the texts of his librettists. My translations can therefore be sung, but my purpose was not that of Catherine Winkworth, who wanted to enrich English hymnody with the German tradition. Because today the vocal works of Bach are rarely performed in English, my intent is to lead performers and hearers back to the original language of the texts and to Bach's translation of those texts into music. There are, admittedly, two unfortunate results of this style of translation: 1) normal English idiom, if not obscuring meaning, must sometimes be stretched; 2) rhyming becomes difficult. I do, here and there, find opportunities to introduce some rhyming and have rhymed, at least partially, several of the secular cantatas, including the Coffee Cantata (BWV 211) and Hercules at the Crossroads (BWV 213). Some four decades ago, Prof. Christoph Wolff encouraged me to undertake the translation of Bach's works. He made the challenge seem more intriguing by suggesting that German speakers who read my English, namely singers, instrumentalists, and audience would pause to ponder concepts they had hitherto passed over without much thought simply because of familiarity. I hoped, in turn, that English performers and audience would gain a better understanding of the German original. This present third revision will have benefited from the suggestions, corrections, and added material, kindly offered over the years by many friends of Bach. Questions and comments are still welcome via e-mail at philip.ambrose@uvm.edu. Finally, I must express my gratitude to Rubin Goldberg for his patient, diligent, and competent revisions to this website. Z. Philip Ambrose Lyman-Roberts Professor Emeritus of Classical Languages & Literature The University of Vermont 26, June, 2020 63 Robinson Parkway Burlington, VT 05401 © Copyright Z. Philip Ambrose |